“Thank you.”  Jesus, this woman was something else.

“What for?”  Confusion littered her face; she really had no fucking idea what that meant to me.

“Babe, you met the kid last night, you don’t know her at all, and yet you’ve shown her more fucking kindness than her own mother.  She’s not used to people like you but I bet you’ve touched her in ways you’ll never fucking know.  You want to give her your phone number?  Go right fucking ahead and if anyone’s got something to say about it, they’ll be answering to me.”

“Okay,” she whispered, nodding.

“Good.  Now, I’ve got a meeting to get to.  And, I want you to get your mother to give me a call later because I want to organise cakes for my restaurants.”

“Why do you want cakes for your restaurants?”

“So people can eat them for dessert.”

“Smartass,” she muttered, and I grinned at her.  “Why suddenly do you want them from my mother?”

“Let’s just say that someone we both know showed me the error of my ways by not buying my cakes from your mother.”  Madison had rung me yesterday and nagged me until I agreed.

“Madison,” she stated when the penny dropped.

“Yeah.  Madison.  Now, will you get your mum to call me?”

“Will do,” she promised and gathered up her things so we could leave.

As we walked down the front steps, I saw a Black Deeds member parked across the street.  What the fuck was he doing here?  I ushered Harlow to her car and saw her off before crossing the road to find out.

“Morning,” he greeted me with a lazy grin.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Bullet sent me over for a little recon.”

“And why the hell are you doing recon on me?”

“For when this shit with Blade goes south.  Bullet’s gathering info now so he’s ready if the time comes.  And can I just say, that’s some sweet ass you’ve got there in that blonde.”

Motherfucker.

My fist connected with his jaw before I even fully realised what was happening.  The crunch of his bones was the most satisfying fucking sound I’d heard in a long time.  “You so much as touch her and you’ll regret it,” I snarled.

I expected him to take a shot at me but he didn’t.  Holding his jaw he said, “Smart move, asshole.  She obviously means something to you.”

Fuck.

“Get the fuck out of here, and don’t come back.”

“See, that depends on whether you convince Blade to pull out of coke.”

I’d heard enough.  Turning my back on him, I made my way to my bike.  We had a meeting with Bullet tomorrow night, and it was not going to go well.

***

“I was just about to call you,” she answered her phone.

I smiled to myself; one, her voice was so goddamn sexy, and two, she sounded breathless and excited to hear from me.  Those two things turned me the fuck on.

“Need to speak to your Mum, babe.”

“Do you call all women babe?”

Where the fuck had that come from?  “No.  Why?”

“I’m not used to men I’ve just met calling me babe straight away.  You know, usually we have to be dating for a man to call me babe.”

“You want me to take you on a date?”  Shit, now where the fuck had that come from?

“Not necessarily, I just wanted to know if the babe thing was something special.”

“It is.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

“And babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Lunch, today.  I’m taking you on a date.  Be ready at twelve thirty.”

“Scott, you don’t have to take me on a date.  That was just an example.”

“I don’t make a habit out of doing things I don’t want to do; especially not with women.  So, when I say I’m taking you on a date, it’s because I want to take you on a date.”

“Okay.”  Soft again.  Christ, that hit the spot.

“Now, put your Mum on.”

Cheryl came on the phone and I placed my cake order and then hung up and sat back in my chair.  My dick was so fucking hard right now and my ability to concentrate was shot.  I had a shitload of work to do but I needed a break, to clear my head.  Leaving the office, I walked out into the bar area of the clubhouse, adjusting myself as I went.

Griff came through the door just after me.  “I think I’ve figured out who’s been hanging around Indigo lately and who might have tried to break the back lock,” he said.

I gave him my full attention.  “Who?”

“A couple of Bullet’s boys.”

“Shit.  What the fuck are they playing at?”

He shrugged.  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about Bullet at the moment.  He sent one of his boys around to my place this morning with subtle threats.  I think he’s betting on Blade continuing his expansion so he’s putting a plan into place to come after us as well as Blade.”

Griff considered what I’d said.  “Sounds about right.  Might pay for us to up security at Indigo, plus I’ll check our other businesses to see if they’ve had any problems.”