When the instruction was over, Alex quickly bypassed me for the bathroom to change. “Did I dance good?” Willow asked.
“You did good, kid,” I replied.
“She did well,” Rev emphasized behind me.
After turning around, I rolled my eyes at his grammar-correcting ass and then managed to smack him in the balls with Willow’s bag. “Be careful getting her home.”
Bending double, Rev wheezed out a few breaths. “My pleasure,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
Willow happily reached for Rev’s hand. “Can we get ice cream today?”
Rev refused to meet my glare. Instead, he placed a finger over his lips. “What did I say about keeping secrets?”
She giggled. “Okay.”
As they started for the door hand in hand, I shook my head. I’d seen Rev, with busted and bloodied knuckles, beat a man within an inch of his life. But you put him in a room with a kid, especially Willow, and he was a fucking teddy bear. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like when he finally had a kid of his own.
Although I had indulged in a few X-rated fantasies involving Alexandra, I still thought she was a good match for him. I needed to stay on his ass about asking her out. When I’d first mentioned it to him, he’d argued that he didn’t want to make things complicated for Willow. I told him he was being a pussy, and then he’d walked away. I guess it wasn’t the best pep talk to get him back into the game.
Alexandra emerged from the bathroom wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She looked a hell of a lot different out of her school clothes. I also couldn’t help imagining for a second what she looked like without any clothes on at all.
She slung her bag over her shoulder and threw her hand up at me before heading out the side door. Whether or not she realized it, she was easing into our world. She didn’t find it necessary to ask where Willow was. She knew that someone had come to escort her home. Maybe she didn’t realize whoever drove Willow was followed by two prospects for added protection. Of course, she might’ve had some questions as to why Archer slunk out of the gym after her. I knew Case wanted her watched regardless of where she was.
When Bishop came out of the ring ten minutes later, I decided it was time to head back to the compound. As I started out to my bike, Alex’s car still sat in its space. One of her jeans-clad legs hung out of the door. The hood was up, and Archer was bent over it, assessing the damage. At the screeching sound of the car refusing to start, I knew a shot alternator was the reason she was still there. When I walked up to the car, she banged her fists on the steering wheel. “Dammit!” she cried.
“Easy, now.”
Her gaze snapped up to mine. “This is the second time this week my car won’t start. The mechanic who worked on it swore to me it was fixed.” Under her breath, she mumbled, “Asshole.”
“Come on,” I said, urging her with my hand.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, come on. You’re not going to solve anything by sitting there and pitching a fit.”
“I was not pitching a fit,” she growled.
“Easy, White-Bread. I’m not the enemy here—got it?”
She exhaled a frustrated breath. “Fine. I’m sorry.”
“Look, I’ll get one of the club’s mechanics to come over and fix your car. Archer can wait here with it and make sure nothing happens to it. In the meantime, you can ride home with me so you can still teach Willow.”
Alex contemplated my words. “Is this mechanic good, or is he just going to take me for a ride?”
I laughed at the potential double meaning of her words. “He’ll do a good job, or he’ll answer to me.”
“And that’s sufficient motivation?” she asked curiously.
Cocking my brows at her, I asked, “What do you think?”
Instead of replying, she exhaled a long breath. “Fine,” she muttered before she grabbed her purse. “Feel free to take the cost out of my pay.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” When she started to protest, I held up my hand. “What you do is worth far more than we pay you.”
Ducking her head, she nibbled on her lip. “Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.”
“You’re welcome.” Dammit. If fired-up, angry Alex didn’t turn me on, then shy, appreciative Alex made my dick twitch.
When I got to my bike, I picked up my helmet to give to her. “Since I don’t have an old lady, my bike isn’t outfitted with a bitch seat. You’ll just have to sit really close to me.” Instead of taking the helmet, Alex remained frozen, staring at the bike.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head furiously back and forth. “I’m not getting on that motorcycle.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Because I just can’t.”
“You don’t strike me as the chickenshit type.”
Her dark eyes flashed venom at me. “I’m not … chickenshit. I’m just practical. Motorcycles are very dangerous.”
“What happened to you wanting to ride one?”
“That was about me finding a way to change the subject before so you and Rev wouldn’t upset Willow any further by brawling at the table.”
“We weren’t brawling,” I countered. Once again, I shoved the helmet at her. “Look, White-Bread, I ain’t got the time or the energy for your particular line of bullshit. It’s really pretty simple. You ride home with me and teach Willow, or you sit here in the hot-as-fuck parking lot, waiting on our mechanic, who may or may not be able to fix your car right now.”