9. Ghost

I hate shopping. I'd never tell Lennox, but I don't shop for groceries either—gas stations occasionally notwithstanding. Somehow, Lennox made it fun. It is damn good, however, that before I took her to Kohls, we came back to the club and got my truck. There's no way all this shit would have fit on my bike. Hell, Lennox helped, and it still took two trips.

As we carry the last of it inside, she shoots me an accusing look over her shoulder. "Why couldn't you ask for a ground-floor apartment?"

"Penthouse suite is always the best."

She laughs so freely that she lets out an adorable snort. The damn sound makes me hard. Lennox has me by the balls and the woman has no idea. That's a good thing. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I had all these plans to just fuck her out of my system, to test her, and a million other asinine thoughts. After today, my only thought is to soak her in and drown in the taste of her. She's not Millie, or even Toi. Lennox is nothing like either of them. I feel at ease with her and that's something that hasn't happened since I woke up in the hospital.

"It's not a bad apartment, but I'm not sure you can call it a penthouse, Ghosty."

"You need to stop calling me that. Got a rep to uphold."

"Ghosty? But it's just so cute. Like you, really." She puts the last of the groceries in the fridge and turns around, giving me a smile.

I growl at her under my breath, making her laugh again. "You can call me that when I'm fucking you, but only then."

"Why then?" she asks, studying me.

"Because hopefully I'll be too satisfied with the way it feels to have your tight as hell cunt milking my cock and not get annoyed. If I do, I'll just spank your ass red and fuck you harder."

"For a man who doesn't speak a lot of words at one time, umm, that was well done." I smirk at her. "Although, I'm not having sex with you tonight, so we need to change the subject."

"You are, but if you want to keep pretending, we'll eat." I grab the to-go bag from Whataburger and wave it at her.

"You don't have anything cold to drink. I can offer you warm beer or soda," she murmurs, looking in the fridge. I stare at her, enjoying the way her jeans caress her ass. Slowly, I tear my gaze up, taking in the way her dark hair is pulled up in a ponytail, revealing the curve of her neck to me. Fuck, Lennox is gorgeous. She's much too good for the likes of me. I ignore the little voice inside my head that says she will figure that out. It's not like we're in a relationship. We're fucking. If she didn't like what I gave her, she sure as hell wouldn't be here now. "Which one?" she prompts, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Beer is beer, even warm."

Lennox makes a face that says she doesn't agree but grabs one. I notice she takes out a bottle of water for herself, before walking over and plopping down on the floor in front of the table. I shake my head as I spread our food out on the painted white coffee table that Liberty left.

"What?" she asks.

"Huh?"

"You were shaking your head at me, Ghosty. Why?"

"You could have joined me on the couch."

"Nah, you might have given me cooties," she snarks.

"You're going to be a pain in my ass, aren't you, Tiger?"

"Not for long. I'm leaving soon."

"Retirement." She frowns at me, and I shrug. "I heard you on the phone."

"Oh. Yeah."

"Kind of young to retire, aren't you? What do you do?"

"Does it matter?"

"Just curious," I admit.

"Who were you arranging to meet with?"

"A friend."

"Who's Teddy? Your boss?"

"You seem to have a lot of questions, Ghosty," she mutters, neatly ignoring me and not answering a damn thing I asked. I have to give her credit for that.

"You're an interesting woman," I respond, letting it slide for now.

"Nah, I'm boring."

"You couldn't be boring if you tried, Lennox."

"Hmm ...," she hums, taking a bite of her burger. "I'll make a deal with you. You tell me about you, and I'll tell you about me."

"Not much to say. I'm not that interesting."

"Same with me," she says with a gleam in her eye.

"Eat your damn burger," I mutter, giving up for now.

"Yes, sir."

"You're sleeping in my bed tonight."

"No."

"Yes," I insist.

"Ghosty, we're not having sex."

"Fine, I'll let you sleep, but it will be in my bed."

"Clothes on," she relents.

"Clothes optional," I rebut.

"If you're going to be naked, little Ghosty better not touch me."

"He likes to be called Massive Ghosty."

She throws her head back and all but cackles. I sit back and enjoy the show. Just watching her makes me feel lighter than I've felt in years. "I wish I didn't like you so much," she finally replies when she gets control of her humor.

"I'm harmless," I assure her—and I am, at least to her.

"Yeah, being with you is like skinny dipping in a tank of piranhas."

"You said no sex, but if it's what you want, I'll eat you out all night."

"Ghost!"

"You're the sweetest piece I've ever had in my mouth."

"Ghosty, I know you probably meant that as a compliment, but never—ever—refer to a woman as a piece. It's gross."

"Strange stance for a woman who came to the club as a hanger-on."

"A what?"

"Women attend club parties because they want to fuck members, Tiger. Weasel has told the club how much you like it."

"I… He what?" she screeches.

"He told the club?—"

I stop talking because she gets up and starts marching toward the door. "I'm going to kill him," she snarls.

I follow her. "Tiger," I murmur, wondering how I can get her to calm down.

"Is he at the club right now?"

"It's early, but probably. E-Z has the prospects cleaning."

"Good, maybe I can find a mop handle to stick up his fucking ass."

I laugh, but I do it while following her. Weasel is an idiot, but he's strong. If he tries to touch her, I'll step in and stop it before it gets out of hand. She practically marches over to the club. I'm enjoying following her and it might make me a bastard, but I'm finding that Lennox's ass can almost hypnotize me when she moves.

The men at the door are instantly on alert, probably picking up on her anger. It's rolling off her in waves. "Get out of my way," she snaps. They look over at me and I nod, giving them the okay. "Don't look at him. It's me you need to worry about. Let me in there. I have a prospect's ass to kick."

The men look over at me again but let her enter. I follow close behind her with a smile on my face. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the club lighting when we get inside. Apparently, it doesn't take Lennox quite as long. She's already zeroed in on her target and is walking straight to him.

Weasel turns around, leaning on a broom handle and grins at her. Proving he's an idiot who cannot read the room—or the anger that Lennox is emitting—he decides to open his mouth. "Hot Stuff! You're early. Did you bring some friends like I asked?"

"Did you tell the club that you fucked me, Weasel?"

"I—"

"You fucking asshole. Did you tell everyone here that I let you fuck me?" she yells.

"I—Well, you did. There's no shame in it, baby. You like what I got to offer. We can have a go here tonight if you want. I know the others would like a taste of you, too."

At this point, I'm walking over, pissed beyond words. I'm going to put this motherfucker in his place. I'm about halfway to him when Lennox strikes, and I stand still and watch. E-Z and Brick come over to where I am, but I don't take my eyes off the woman in front of me as she brings back her fist. Weasel proves he's not smart because he stands there and laughs. Lennox makes this move where you think she's going to hit him in the face, but pulls back, quickly shifting and delivers the blow to his cut. My nerves are on end as I start to spring forward. She's a woman and Weasel has muscle. There's no way that hit will make a difference. She's liable to hurt herself, and I can't allow him to hurt her.

E-Z grabs me, not letting me move forward. "Think the lady has some shit she needs to work through," he says calmly.

I pull against him but stop when Weasel bends over, grasping his stomach. What the hell?

"Girl has skills. Not many people know exactly where to hit the stomach like that," Brick praises.

I don't respond, because I'm watching as she grabs the broom, wielding it like a weapon in some kind of martial arts movie. She twirls it and then brings it up between Weasel's legs, connecting so hard that the man immediately falls to his knees and begins vomiting.

"Fucking hell," E-Z practically purrs.

"I didn't fuck you. I didn't even kiss you and I never would, you moron!" she growls. "You disgust me. I know your type. I have too much self-worth than to sleep with a one-pump chump."

"Damn, this girl is making me hard," Brick says.

"Join the club," Shadow adds, walking over to us. I calm down slightly. I decide to hold off until I see what else my woman wants. She's earned the right to call out the asshole. I'll make sure she's safe while doing it.

"If I ever hear you spreading shit about me again, I'll come back and gut you. You don't know much about me, but believe I can carry through on my threats, Weasel," she threatens.

I watch her, and I believe she could do it, too. This is not an idle threat at all. My Lennox has some hidden talents. I'm going to have to find out more about her—that's for damn sure.

"I'm going to kill you, you fucking bitch," Weasel heaves, trying to get up on his feet.

"What did you say?" she asks, as if she's daring him to repeat it.

"I said I'm going to kill you," he roars.

Iron is right there, and as a patched member, I expect him to react. He's one of the few I trust. He hasn't let me down. Iron doesn't get a chance to help, however. It happens so fast that I can't even believe what I'm seeing. Lennox spins around, her hand moves under Iron's cut, somehow popping the button on his holster, while grabbing his gun with the ease of a practiced professional. She has the barrel of the gun pointed at Weasel's temple in the blink of an eye. She holds him by his hair, forcing him to submit. It's actually a work of art, seeing how she maneuvers her body so that he can't use her weaknesses to get the upper hand. Lennox has been trained and trained heavily.

"If you so much as try to breathe the same air as me, I will end you. You won't even see me coming before it's too late. In fact, I'm so pissed at you right now that I might just do it for the hell of it. I'll visit you while you sleep and slice your throat open and leave you to bleed out." Before Weasel can respond, she throws the gun up, catches the barrel and slams it into the side of his head.

Weasel goes down like a pile of bricks. Lennox hands Iron's gun back to him, which he takes slowly. He's as stunned as the rest of us. She dusts herself off and finally looks at me. I can see a moment of worry moving over her face before she hides it. "I need a drink," she announces.

"Prospect," E-Z booms. "Get the lady a drink."

"You got it, Boss," the man responds, and Lennox slowly walks over to us. "What will it be?"

Lennox frowns. "Whiskey, neat."

He pours it, putting it in front of her. She lifts it up, gives me a wink, and downs it in one gulp. "Can we go finish our burgers now?" she asks me.

"You and I are going to have to talk, Tiger," I murmur, realizing she's right. That name does fit her a lot more than kitten.

"Eventually, but right now, I'm hungry."

"Then, we'll go eat."

She walks in front of me. I give E-Z a look and he slightly nods. We're going to have to research Lennox fully. I put that worry behind me for now, even as I consider the fact that maybe she's using me, just like she used Weasel… to get inside the club. Things just got a fuck of a lot more complicated.