Chapter 4

Chapter Four

M olly tried to tune out the assistant minister's snide comments all morning as she worked. By the time their boss arrived, she was ready to pull her hair out. Immediately, her thoughts returned to the kind lady he'd gone to visit.

"Is she…" Molly asked.

"Adele is gone. Her family and I were at her side. It was peaceful," the minister assured her.

Blinking away the tears, Molly nodded. "I went through all the other messages and set a few notes on your desk." She heard the slam of a door opening so vigorously it banged against the wall. "Oh…"

"Steve, you need to get rid of this woman," Lester blathered over her.

"Get rid of Molly? The church would fall apart without her," her boss answered. "Besides, the parishioners would not be happy."

"They would if they'd been here this morning to see her conduct with that tattooed biker. I walked in to see her sitting on his lap!" The man's tone increased with each word to a final shout of indignation.

"That does not sound like our Molly," the minister observed, turning to look at Molly.

"He walked in just after I'd gotten off the phone with you. I was upset," she tried to explain. "Like I told you earlier, I had a flat tire last night. The Shadowridge Guardians MC came to my rescue. One of the bikers talked to me while two of his brothers put my donut on."

"How nice of them to stop and help you."

"It was. I was scared at first, but they took care of my tire in minutes. I liked them."

"And one of them came to your rescue again?" the minister asked with a smile.

"Yes, Faust came in this morning to offer to fix my tire. I was upset after getting off the phone with you. He didn't ask any questions but comforted me."

"Comforted," Lester snorted and received a disapproving look from the head minister.

"This is the same man who helped you last night?" Steve asked, refocusing their conversation.

"It was. He saw the church sticker in my window." Molly smiled. The stickers had been her idea to advertise the church.

"And now there's a motorcycle in the parking lot. That could scare off new churchgoers," Lester observed.

"That's Faust's. He took my car to get a tire to replace the donut. I told him I'd take care of it, but he insisted," Molly told him.

"Faust, hmmm. I think I'll like this guy. The Shadowridge Guardians MC are known for doing some good things for the community. They're also known for not hesitating to bend the rules. Be careful, Molly."

"I will," Molly promised.

"I'll go work on those messages," Steve said, finishing the conversation. "Lester, did you get all the volunteers you needed for the chili competition after church next weekend?"

"I'm still working on it," Lester admitted.

"That should be your first priority for today. Molly, need anything from me?"

"There are some bills for your approval, but they can wait until you have a free minute," she answered quickly.

"Thank you, Molly. Let's get busy." Steve waited until Lester turned to walk into his office before entering his.

Molly collapsed into her chair. Lester always was unpleasant, but he'd never threatened her job. She picked up Angel and hugged her close. "It's going to be okay," she whispered before forcing herself to tuck the stuffie back into her tote bag.

As she shifted the motorcycle helmet to the side of her desk, she caught a whiff of Faust's distinctive scent. Leaning forward, she inhaled again and felt her body's reaction. Molly squeezed her legs together as she felt herself becoming wet. She rubbed the top of the helmet before forcing herself to get to work.

Grabbing her own checklist for the chili cookoff from her in process clipboard, Molly noticed that Lester had written on her sheet.

Find twenty volunteers.

She rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time he'd dumped a job on her. Molly always did whatever he didn't. It was easier that way and she made sure the church event went off smoothly. He'd obviously added that to her list the evening before and didn't think of mentioning to the head minister that he'd asked her to cover for him.

Pulling up her church directory, she scanned the names and started making calls. She had twenty people quickly. Jotting their names down in a post, she sent them to Lester without any comment.

Just before lunch, the door opened and Faust strode in. He commanded a room, seeming to occupy all the space. She stood up and forced herself to not to dart to hug him.

"Faust, hi!"

"Your car's back in its space with fresh tires in place."

"Tires?" she echoed.

"They were one sharp rock away from springing a leak." He held out her keys.

Molly looked down and thought furiously. She was never going to afford to pay him back. "Faust, I'm sorry. I don't have money for four new tires. Is there a way I can do something at your shop to work to pay back the money? If you'll let me pay you back over time." Molly crossed her fingers, hoping he wouldn't be mad.

"No charge, Little girl. The shop owed me a favor. You're all set," Faust assured her. He leaned forward and set her keys on her desk before bracing one hand on the desk to look into her eyes. "Taking care of you is your Daddy's job."

She nodded before she even processed what she was agreeing to. As his words registered fully in her mind, Molly felt her cheeks heat. Darting a glance around the room, she double-checked that her bosses were still in their offices. "You just met me, Faust. You can't be this sure we're supposed to be together."

He simply looked at her for a few seconds. "I'm off to work. I'll be at the shop for a few extra hours tonight. Will you go out with me tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"I'll pick you up at five. Write your address down for me," he directed.

Molly grabbed a pad of sticky notes and wrote down her address. After handing it to him, she watched Faust thrust the note into his jeans pocket. Unable to stop, she considered the considerable bulge that filled his worn soft jeans.

His fingers under her chin tilted her head up until their gazes meshed. "Five o'clock tomorrow. If something happens before then, call me."

Nodding her agreement, Molly dropped her focus to his full sensuous lips. She bet he knew how to kiss. Without consciously trying to affect him, she licked her lips and heard him groan softly. Her gaze rebounded to meet his.

"You're killing me, Little girl. Be good."

She nodded, willing to promise him anything. Being good was easy.

"You must be the thoughtful man who helped our Molly with her tire last night."

Molly looked quickly to see Steve standing in the doorway of his office. He walked forward and held out his hand to shake Faust's.

"Minister Steve, this is Faust. Faust, this is the amazing leader of this church, Steve Zigler." Molly quickly made introductions as the men shook hands.

"Steve," Faust greeted him brusquely. "I need to get to work."

Faust grabbed his helmet from her desk and turned to leave. He froze and pulled a cord from his back pocket. Turning back to her, he held out the charger. "Plug your phone in."

"Yes, Faust. Thank you." Molly was very touched. He'd made a special stop so she could charge her phone. She walked forward to hug him and grinned when he returned her squeezing embrace. When she stepped back, he was gone in seconds.

"That's an interesting man, Molly," Steve suggested.

Molly knew he was warning her. "He's unlike anyone I've ever met before."

"He threatened to punch me," Lester chimed in, acting brave now that Faust was gone.

"Only if you don't speak nicely to me. Avoiding being hit is totally possible," Molly clarified.

"We should all speak to each other politely. It shouldn't take a promise of physicality to get us to do so." Minister Steve looked at Lester meaningfully.

"Of course not. Matthew 7:12 and all that," Lester said righteously.

Molly couldn't prevent rolling her eyes as he quoted the same biblical verse that Faust had used. She quickly changed the subject.

"Do you have time to talk to me now, Steve?"

"This is the perfect time," the supportive minister agreed.