Page 36 of Steele

He nodded. Even from outside the gate, scents of barbecue lingered on the air. Music drifted from the old church, and motorcycles revved from inside the fencing.

“Pull up to the box.” He leaned into me. “I’ll have to trust you with the code.”

“Who am I going to tell? No one is supposed to know about us.”

“Is there an us?”

Inside the car, with only the lights from the dash, I wanted more nights with him. I breathed in the scent of his cologne and remembered the touch of his hands on me. “There can’t be an us.” I barely spoke the words because they caused a sharp flare of need through me. “Not that anyone can know about.”

The veiled invitation was there.

“One, nine, seven, two,” he said.

The gate slid open. Rows of bikes lined the parking lot. Guys wearing the same leather vest as Brett loitered around the front of the church. The hum of their laughter and conversation permeated into the interior of the car.

“There’s parking along the fence.” He pointed to an area in the darkened corner of the lot. Several cars parked near a dumpster and a large flatbed truck.

“Maybe I should just drop you off.” I drove through a narrow passageway between rows of Harleys.

“Or you can come inside with me?”

My heart and my mind were having a difference of opinion. Clearly, autopilot was making the decision since I pulled alongside an expensive looking Audi and a yellow compact because I did want to stay.

I turned off the engine and pivoted toward Brett. “These are your friends. What are they going to think if you bring me inside with you?”

“No one is going to think anything but that I’ve brought a friend to the MC.”

“Do you bring girls to the MC often?”

He smiled. “Never. I’ve been anti old lady for the last year. If you tell Kodiak or Vega you’ve been on the back of my bike, they might make assumptions. Kodiak is my best friend. All three of us patched into the Hellers together.”

“I’m not sure what that means, and I’m not sure about meeting your friends.”

“Trust me. No one here is in the PTA.” He popped open his door. “Come on. How many Hellers have you run into at school?”

“Just you.” I shoved my purse under my seat, grabbed my keys, and opened my door.

He set the leftover pizza on the hood of my car then closed the space between us. In the darkened corner of the lot, he backed me against the driver’s door. “You’re safe here. Safe to be with me.”

I dropped my keys into the pocket of my jacket and then slid my hands into his vest. “I feel safe when I’m with you.”

He curled his palm around the nape of my neck. “Can I kiss you?”

My chest rose and fell with rapid breaths as his face hovered above mine. “This is dangerous for both of us. Just the appearance of impropriety will have my contract with the school district terminated.”

“Outside of the MC, we’ll be careful, but here, no one is going to care about school rules or the appearance of impropriety.” He lowered his head and slid his mouth over mine. His tongue touched the seam of my lips, and I opened my mouth. A low groan rumbled out of him as he tasted me. Tongues tangled, and he cradled my face in his palm, holding me with the gentlest touch as his mouth wreaked havoc on mine.

His lips were soft, but the kiss was fire. He tasted me again and again as his cock hardened between us. I canted my hips, grinding my pelvis against him.

“Fuck.” He pulled me flush against him and held me in his arms.

I chuckled and rested my forehead against his chest. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Because if I stayed, I wanted back in his bed.

“Don’t overthink it,” he said. “You need to have some fun.”

My heart hiccupped. He hadn’t meant the words to hurt, but they always did. I couldn’t have fun. I shouldn’t want to be here. I should get in my car and go home. But when he linked our fingers with one hand and grabbed the pizza with the other, I let him lead me toward a group of men standing around an old oil drum. Fire snapped and sparked into the night air. Music sounded from inside, and a handful of kids ran around the outside of the church. Some kids were Matti’s age, and some seemed a little bit older.

I couldn’t remember the last time Jeff had held my hand. When we’d been boyfriend and girlfriend, we’d hold hands in the hallways at school. But once he’d graduated, and I’d gotten pregnant, we stopped dating, and everything revolved around getting ready for the baby. Once we’d become parents, my hands were always full with Matti.