Hyde's Absolution (Sydney Storm MC 4)

She continued to watch me with appreciation. “You sure do know how to make a woman feel good. I’ll let you off the hook since you appear hell-bent on not touching me. But let the record show that I may not let you walk away a second time if, say, you were to show up here again.”

Jesus, it had been a long fucking time since I’d wanted to flirt with a woman rather than simply fucking her. I pushed off from the counter I was leaning against. “Is that an invitation?”

She shrugged drunkenly. Her body moved with an easy and natural sexiness that sucked me right in. Even when she was intoxicated and not trying to be sexy, she fucking was. “I’ll leave that up to you.”

Not a smart move. If shit were up to me, I’d be back to fuck her tomorrow. But with all her talk of dating, I figured Monroe was probably looking for a relationship rather than what I had to offer. And again, for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to chance disappointing a woman.

Chapter 8

Monroe

“You wishing you hadn’t had all those drinks last night yet?” Fox asked me as I dropped my head into my hands and groaned for about the hundredth time. Well a hundred was an exaggeration, but not by much.

I cracked an eye open to look at him but didn’t lift my head. It hurt too much to move, so I restricted that to only when it was absolutely necessary. “You think if I promised God I’d clean up my act, he’d wipe this headache?”

“You don’t believe in God.”

“Just because I don’t go to church, doesn’t mean I don’t believe.”

He glanced towards the front door of the shop as a guy entered. “You reckon you’ve got it in you to clean up your act, Roe? Like, I don’t see that happening at all.”

He was right. I didn’t. But a girl could pretend.

I straightened because we had a customer. Thank God for Fox—he’d opened up this morning and had taken care of almost all the customers so that I could rest and feel sorry for myself over how damn hung-over and sick I was.

“You okay on your own for a bit while I do this tat?” Fox asked after chatting with the guy about what he wanted.

“Yeah.” I didn’t even have it in me to talk much. Everything I did or said exacerbated the headache.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You sure? It looks like you’re getting worse rather than better.”

I waved him away. “It’s a slow day. I’ll be fine.”

With some hesitation, he left me, and I sighed with relief as I settled into the chair we had at the front counter and rested my head again. The day had been a waste. I’d achieved none of my goals, but at that point, I didn’t have it in me to care.

Fifteen minutes later, my headache eased a little thanks to the silence. I was beginning to drift off to sleep when a deep voice rum

bled, “How’s that head, sugar?”

I’d know that voice anywhere. It was the voice of sin and sex. Well, at least, that was what it made me want to do. However, it was also the voice of danger, and it set alarm bells ringing all over the place. Hyde was a biker and best to avoid when it came to sex.

Without lifting my head, I mumbled, “How do you think?”

His chuckle filled the room, and I cursed him silently for being so damn sexy. “Gotta say, I’m surprised to see you here. Figured you’d stay home and sleep it off.”

I was beginning to wish I had, too, as my memory reminded me of what I’d said to him last night. Not to mention the fact I’d fallen on my ass and stumbled all over the place. Sure, I was a woman who liked to flirt with men, but I usually refrained from doing that with men who could bring trouble into my life. It was okay to have Storm around in the form of Nitro, but I didn’t want to invite one of them into my life on a regular basis. And yet, I’d pretty much invited him to pop on by for a quickie when he was next in the neighbourhood.

Reluctantly, I met his gaze. The heat I found there caused my legs to squeeze together. Shit. “Look, about last night, I was so drunk I hardly remember any of it, but I do remember you helping me into my house. Thank you for that.” I prayed hard that he’d let me off the hook and not bring up anything I’d said to him.

His eyes firmly held mine, but his face gave nothing away. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Finally, though, he nodded. “No worries.” Then, glancing around the shop, he said, “Is your workmate in?”

I could have kissed him for not pushing the point. But, kissing him was off the table. Must remember that. “Yeah, but he’s with a customer. He’ll be a while. I could get him to call you when he’s finished.”

Those dark eyes of his found mine again. With a shake of his head, he said, “No, I need to speak to him now.”

I lifted a brow. God these bikers could be pushy. Nitro sure as hell was, and it seemed Hyde had the same bossy streak. “So when I said he’s busy, I meant he can’t speak with you now.”

“I won’t be long.” With that, he walked away from the counter and towards where Fox was working.