Chapter 6

Iwas in a daze from Doc's kiss as I followed Cat into the kitchen. It wasn't until she had me seated at a long table and was asking me what I wanted to eat that I realized how out of it I was. "Um, I'm actually not hungry. I already had dinner and a big bowl of popcorn tonight."

She quirked a brow. "Being kidnapped didn't work up an appetite for you?"

"Kidnapped?" I echoed softly, remembering what the guy who'd let us past the gate had said. "Why does everyone think that? Doc just brought me back here because he didn't like the idea of me taking a rideshare and wasn't sure it was safe for him to take me straight to my place. I'm sure once he's done with his talk with that guy who seemed really angry with him, we'll talk about what he was doing at the judge's office and then he'll take me home."

I sounded as disappointed by the last part as I felt, which Cat didn't miss. "You really think you're going home anytime soon?"

Nodding, I strummed my fingers against the top of the table. "Yeah."

"Even with how Doc just laid that kiss on you, insisted you stay in his room, and growled at you about never wandering around the clubhouse alone?"

She had me there because it certainly seemed as though he was expecting me to be around longer than I'd anticipated when I got on the back of his motorcycle. "I…ah…"

"You strike me as a really sweet girl, so I hate to be the one to tell you this…but you're the most willing kidnapping victim I've seen around here since Mac took Bridget. And she provided the ladder they used to climb out her bedroom window."

My eyes widened in shock. "One of the Silver Saints kidnapped a woman? And she helped him do it?"

"Remember that guy who was so angry with Doc?" she asked with a grin.

I nodded. "Uh-huh."

"That was Mac, the president of the Silver Saints MC."

"Oh." I twisted around to look through the doorway behind me as I muttered, "I knew I shouldn't have let Doc go for that chat by himself. Mac probably thinks he really did kidnap me."

"Because he did," she murmured, her smile widening.

I leaned back in my chair and aimed my own grin at her. "We'll just have to agree to disagree until Doc proves you wrong."

"This is gonna be fun." Cat rubbed her palms together. "I'm so glad I was here tonight so that I have a front-row view of all of this going down."

She seemed confident enough in what she thought was happening that I started having some doubts. "On the off chance that you're actually right, I'm going to have to do something about Snowball."

"Who's Snowball?" she asked, dropping onto the chair across from me.

"My cat." I tugged my cell phone out of my pocket and pulled up a photo of my little fluff ball. "He's kind of spoiled and won't be happy if I'm not home at some point tonight to give him a treat and cuddle with him in bed. He can be a bit of a grump when he doesn't get exactly what he wants."

"Why am I not surprised you have a grumpy but adorable cat?"

I traced my fingertip over the image of his sweet face on the screen. "He's really a sweetie once you get to know him."

"You're adorable. I'd bet just about anything my old man is going to call you something like Sunny or Sunshine." At my look of confusion, she explained, "He likes to hand out nicknames to all the Silver Saints' old ladies."

I tugged on a lock of my dark hair. "But I'm not a blonde."

And I wasn't a Silver Saints' old lady, no matter how much I liked the sound of it.

"Yeah, but you've got the sunniest personality of anyone I've ever met." She shook her head with a soft laugh. "Which cracks me up since Doc is one grumpy dude."

He was a little on the quiet side, and I'd only seen him smile once tonight, but Doc didn't strike me as a grump. "He was really nice to me."

"I'm sure he was," she snorted. "He wants to get into your panties. Bad."

"I—" I was about to protest, but then I realized how silly that would be after the way Doc had kissed me. "You might be right about that, but it makes your kidnapping theory less believable because it would lower his odds of…um…getting in…um…"

"Your panties," she finished for me with a laugh. "I can see how you'd think that, but you don't know the Silver Saints men like I do. Mac wasn't the only one who resorted to kidnapping his woman before he claimed her."

I shook my head with a sigh. "I guess I can kind of sort of understand why you're so excited about that front-row seat even though I still think you have it all wrong when it comes to Doc and me. He'll probably take me home as soon as he's had a chance to explain why he was in the judge's office tonight."

"I don't know who the judge is—"

"Judge Timkins. I'm interning in his office," I interrupted. "When I went in tonight to make some copies he needs first thing tomorrow morning, I kind of stumbled across Doc breaking and entering."

Cat waved off my explanation. "And I don't need to know. If it's something I need to worry about, Scout will loop me in. That's how it works with club business. Most of the time, us women don't know a whole lot because the guys like us not to worry too much when it's shit they're gonna handle without our help anyway. These men are seriously invested in making sure their women sleep easy and don't take shit from anyone."

"Yeah, but this is different since I'm directly involved."

She lifted a shoulder before resting her elbow against the tabletop and propping up her chin with her palm. "I can see how you'd think so, but you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think Doc is going to see it the same way. That's just not how these guys operate."

I narrowed my eyes with a harumph. "Not even when it's the smart play?"

"Maybe then." She lifted her other hand and squeezed her thumb and forefinger close together so there was only a tiny gap between them. "But I gotta tell you that based on my years of experience, the odds of that happening are slim. Especially with Doc since he tends to be a man of few words under normal circumstances."

"Doc is clearly involved in something connected to the judge, and I've worked for him for a couple of months. I'm pretty sure he'll see the benefit of filling me in on what's going on."

She beamed a smile at me. "Keep up with that sunshiny attitude. It's sweet, and I bet Doc can't get enough of it."

My cheeks heated at the innuendo in her tone. "I don't know about that."

"Trust me, I've been around the block long enough to recognize the signs." Her expression turned serious. "And if you're open to a bit of advice, the best way you can help Doc with the situation with the judge is not to give him a hard time when he tells you that he wants you to stick around until it's all figured out."

Spending time with Doc wouldn't be a hardship, but it wasn't that simple. "Assuming Doc asks me to stay here—which I don't think is going to happen—and that I agree, what about Snowball? I can't just leave him at my place alone."

"With the way Doc looked at you, I have no doubt he'll arrange for someone to pick up your kitty," she assured me.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yup, his room isn't the biggest in the clubhouse, but there's plenty of space for your cat." She stood and gestured for me to do the same. "I should probably take you up there since you're not hungry and that's where Mac and Doc told me to put you."

Curious about what Doc's room looked like, I followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"There is one thing that does surprise me about this whole thing," she murmured as she stopped at a room that I assumed was Doc's.

"What's that?"

"That Doc let you keep your cell." She jerked her chin toward my pocket where I'd tucked my phone. "I'm not going to take it away from you since he obviously trusted you enough not to do anything stupid with it, like tell someone where you are while you're waiting for him."