Page 97 of Fox (Road Rebels MC 4)
“I’m out of ideas then,” Jamison mumbled, and I drew in a deep breath.
“Okay, well I have one. Protection for hire,” I stated and crossed my arms over my chest.
My brothers were staring up at me like they had no idea what I was talking about.
“How hard is it to get it into your thick skulls?” I snapped, and they looked at each other.
“You mean like bodyguards?” Brooks clarified, and I clenched my jaw and turned to him.
“You can call it whatever you want, but yeah, something like that. Someone pays us to protect them,” I said, and they looked at each other again.
“There is nothing we are better at than scaring the shit out of people. Why not make some money out of it?” I continued before they could start changing their minds.
“So, what? We follow a couple of beer-bellied businessmen around in their limousines and make sure they don’t get shot?” Beckett asked, and a couple of laughs rang out in the group.
“Beer bellied businessmen, rising actresses-whatever, paying clients should be good enough for us,” I replied.
“Rising actresses?” Topher asked. That had caught his attention finally.
“Ever heard of Ensley Adams?” I said and his eyebrows crossed.
“That blond cutie on TV?” he said.
“Wait she’s the one on that new show. The one with the perfect tits!” Beckett commented, and I had to do everything in my power to not punch him in the face. Of course, I had no reason to. We’d slept together, that was all there was to it. It wasn’t like she was my woman now. She was a celebrity. Why would she want anything more from this other than a business relationship? Besides, my brothers didn’t know how well I knew her.
“Yeah, well, she’s going to pay us for our first gig,” I said, and both Beckett and Topher cheered and exchanged high-fives.
“How did you bag that?” Brooks asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I have contacts. What do you think I’ve been up to these last few days?” I said. I was going to have to play it cool. None of these guys were in relationships, and we had never spoken about women seriously. I didn’t want to be the first one to start a conversation about a woman having a hold over me.
“Fuck, brother, that’s a good idea!” Jamison stood up from his chair, and he stretched his hand to me. We clapped hands, and he thumped my back. Suddenly, an idea that they were all against seemed to have turned into a good one now that they knew who our first client was going to be.
“Okay, should we vote on this? All those in favor of this new gig,” I said. All four of them raised their hands. It was a unanimous decision, which was great because for Ensley’s sake; I needed all my brothers to be equally in on this.
“Great,” I said and finally pulled a chair out so I could sit down.
“So, what does she need protection from? Some lunatic fans?” Jamison asked.
“A lunatic ex,” I replied.
There was a new sizzle of excitement in the room, now that the guys knew we had a specific target. The prospect of just protecting a beautiful celebrity from crazy fans wasn’t as enticing as protecting her from an aggressive guy. My brothers were thirsty for blood. We had been sitting on our asses for too long since the raid, and we needed to get all this pent-up energy out on something or someone.
“We need to formulate a plan,” I said.
We finally had an idea that was going to work.
Chapter 16
Ensley
I wasn’t sure what to do with myself, now that Thorn had gone.
After he left, I remained in bed for several minutes, surrounded by the scent of him. My bed was still warm from his presence, and I thought I could still feel him around me in the room.
I knew I shouldn’t have slept with him, but the previous night had been like a gift. Before he touched me the way he did, I didn’t think I would ever be able to sleep again. Then, after the orgasm, I felt like I had the best night’s sleep in a long time.
No other man, and especially not Ryan, had made me feel the way that Thorn had. Despite looking the way he did, despite his lifestyle; with me, he had been gentle and thoughtful and selfless.
Sleeping with him had been good for my mood, but it was bad because now potentially, he could be working for me. I sat up in bed with a jerk when I thought about whether being together might have affected that decision. He had told me the previous night that he would take it upon himself to keep me safe, even if the rest of the MC didn’t agree, but that was before anything happened.
There was a very good chance that he might have changed his mind now. What if he didn’t want to get into the complication of working for someone he had slept with? I had his cock in my mouth this morning, I had gulped down his come-that was a pretty personal thing to do. We had already crossed all the boundaries of a professional relationship.
I was beginning to feel miserable again. When could I leave my apartment again? It was a Sunday, so it was okay for me to stay in, but I had work the next day, I had appointments to keep. If Thorn didn’t want to provide protection for me anymore, I would be scared to even step out of my house.
I guess I could hire a protection service. Several celebrities in the area had their own security detail. But would a professional security detail really deter Ryan?
I showered listlessly, and changed into a fresh summer dress and did my hair. That was an hour gone, and there was still no word from him. I was anxious again. I was itching to pick up the phone and call him, but I didn’t want to come across as someone who was too clingy. I
didn’t want him to think that I had turned into someone whiny and needy just because he had slept in my bed the previous night.
I walked around the house, tidying the place up. I put all the letters away. Ryan’s letter was already in the bin where Thorn had thrown it, so I didn’t have to worry about it.
I looked at my phone again, scrolling through the call list-just to see his name on my screen when the phone rang. It was Thorn calling.
“Hey,” he said to me, and I could already feel the butterflies in my belly. Just his voice was good enough to calm me down.
“Hi,” I replied and perched myself on the arm of the couch.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked. I couldn’t believe that he was still so concerned and polite towards me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I haven’t left the house if that’s what you’re wondering,” I said, and I could feel the tops of my cheeks flushing.
“Good. Well, I wanted to call you and let you know that I spoke to my brothers and the club has unanimously agreed to take you up on your offer,” he said. I stood up again with a jerk. My heart was racing in my chest. My face was pulled into a wide smile. It was possibly the best thing I had heard all year!
“Really? Thank you, Thorn, for convincing them. I’ll always be grateful to you for this,” I said, and I was pacing around the room again.
“You can stop thanking me now, Ensley, I’m officially your employee. Everything I do, I’m getting paid for,” he said, and I felt a quick sag of my heart. What did he mean by that exactly? Did he make me come last night as a part of the deal too? To make me feel safe?
“Of course, yeah, how do you want to be paid? How much?” I said. It seemed like Thorn had already discussed the figure with his friends because he gave me a number quickly and I agreed to it. I didn’t care about the cost right now. I had the money, and I wanted to use it to keep me safe.
“You can pay me in cash,” he added, and I agreed to that too.
