Bash (Diablo Disciples MC #6)

EIGHT

Bash

Bash’s gut rumbled. Not because he was hungry.

He carried two coffees in one of those cardboard carriers. Held by the other hand, he’d already slipped off the heavy leather jacket because it was hell hot today. Mirrored shades covered Bash’s eyes, and he took the familiar direction through the ER department to find a pretty girl with fire in her eyes.

He’d felt the same anticipation in his torso for days while viewing for sale warehouses with Axel. Was this anything like how his brothers felt about their old ladies? Then no fucking wonder they acted insane most of the time.

Not having her phone number bothered him. And though he could have found it easy, he wanted Charlotte to give it to him. His previous attempts to ask for it didn’t go smoothly. Chasing a woman who didn’t want him wasn’t his norm. It was even worse when she failed to notice his attempts to pursue her. With a laugh at himself, he made a left turn and entered a waiting area where sick people were seated in rows.

It was like a game he played with himself on what color scrubs Charlotte would wear today. He’d never gotten it right yet and didn’t today. He’d guessed green, but as she came out of a room holding a stack of folders, he saw she was dressed all in purple. There was nothing sexy about the scrubs. They were functional for her job, but the way her ass and full hips filled out the thin fabric made his cock jerk, and he had to grind his teeth to calm down before he popped a boner right there in the emergency room.

As he willed it, her head whipped around, and their eyes locked.

Bash knew in that intense moment when Charlotte looked at him, she would be his girl. There was no other outcome. As he neared her, the air felt heavy, and he noticed her cheeks were a shade of pink. The color he wanted to taste on his tongue.

“Are you sick?” she exclaimed, and Bash grinned slowly.

She was fucking delicious.

“You gonna ask me that every time I turn up, darling? I’m in good working order.” She’d find out soon just how good.

“ Darling ?” he heard another feminine voice joining them, and Bash anchored his head to see a nurse coming from around the desk. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but no one else registered with Bash when he was near Charlotte, so he only raised his eyebrow at her question. “Who’s this, Lottie?”

Charlotte shot her friend/colleague an embarrassed glance, and Bash chewed the inside of his cheek to keep his amusement in check.

Yeah, little darling, who am I ?

If she dared say a friend, he was going to go nuclear.

Bash’s self-control was stretched to its limit. One by one, the threads holding it together snapped, leaving it hanging with a whisper of control as the grip on the coffee carrier tightened in his palm. He deserved an award for this. But he’d take a kiss from Charlotte as his prize for waiting for so. Fucking. Long.

When she shot her gaze his way, he gave Charlotte a warning stare. Daring her to let those disgusting two words come out of her mouth. My friend .

“He’s no one you know.” She answered, and then the sweet girl grabbed his arm and body-checked him out of there with fast steps.

Bash chuckled and went along with her. It was his plan, after all, to be alone with her, so this worked out perfectly.

“Who was the chick?” he asked when she had pushed him far enough out of the electronic doors.

“No one that you know.”

Again, a spurt of laughter escaped Bash’s lips, and he dipped his head low to look her in the eyes. “You know a lot of no one’s, Charlotte. Do I have to worry you’re losing your memory?”

“Funny.” She huffed, smiling a little. “Toni is a nosy friend. I won’t hear the last of this now. Why are you here? Give me that.” She said, taking a coffee and drinking half with a happy sigh once finished. “Is this one for me, too?” She took it but returned it, making a face after tasting it. “Yuck. It’s black.”

“If I’d known you would steal it, I would have creamed and sugared both.”

“Well, you’ll know for next time, won’t you?”

“Hm. I will,” Bash rumbled and placed a hand on the base of Charlotte’s back, directing them to their bench.

“I can’t stay, Bash. My shift isn’t over for another hour.”

“I know, darling, just a coffee drop off. I’m heading out of town.”

“Oh.” She frowned, and he loved seeing her disappointed. It gave him hope. “Going anywhere nice?”

“Just a quick run to Colorado and back. What do you want for lunch tomorrow?”

Her eyes flashed, and her sweet, tempting lips became lax. Bash’s gaze dropped, and he wanted to suck hard on that full lower lip until it turned a deep red.

Before she could refuse, he walked away. “Catch you tomorrow, darling. Get home safe.”

“Bash. Wait! I never said…” she called out. But he carried on walking. He’d be here tomorrow, even if she refused. “Fine, I’ll have a deli chicken sandwich, please. No chunky chicken, Bash. Bash! Are you even listening to me?” she huffed, and that’s when he turned to look back at her. The stretch of the parking lot separating them was about twenty feet, but he mapped every inch of her while watching him.

He was an observant man.

Right now, he was a liar, acting like he was only Charlotte’s friend when he wanted so much more from her and knew he would get it. If only she’d let down her walls. Nothing in her passionate eyes said she was indifferent to him. So many times, he caught her checking him out, streaking her greedy eyes over his tattooed hands. He’d let her see the rest of his ink if she asked. Nicely .

“I always listen, Charlotte. Tomorrow.” He winked and strode to where he’d parked his bike. He was already looking forward to getting this fast trip out of the way so he could sit on a bench with a beautiful girl.

* * *

Charlotte

“You did not!” she went into a fresh round of uncontrollable laughter, unconsciously holding Bash’s arm to balance herself. Once under control, she wiped away laughter tears and saw how intensely Bash was watching her. He wasn’t laughing like she was, and her heart fluttered. She quickly took back her hand and placed it in her lap.

“I can’t believe you walked a baby piglet. I need to see pictures.”

“Ruin brought him to the clubhouse, and then was called away, so it was down to me to take it out to have a piss. I never knew pigs were so curious; he had me walking the entire length of the compound and back again.”

“A pig on a leash.” She chuckled again at the image. “I think that might be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. And he wears outfits, you say?”

“Ridiculous ones for all seasons, bells and bow ties included. I don’t know how Ruin isn’t embarrassed to be seen with Lenny.” She could see by his smile that Bash was teasing. He probably thought the tiny pig was adorable.

“Will you send me some pictures the next time you see him?”

“Now I have your number. I can send you all the pictures you want.”

“Not dick pics.” She exclaimed, immediately regretting her words and wishing she could take them back. She let out a groan and hid her face. When she dared to drop her hand, Bash was smoldering. There was no other word for it. It was bad enough she’d folded like a wet napkin when he asked (more like demanded) for her phone number. In case of emergencies, he’d argued.

“I’m forty, darling. I don’t do immature boyish tricks.”

Bash was far from a boy.

She didn’t just mean his age. He was every inch a man . All hard lines and determined eyes. He was the take charge and deal with a chaotic situation kind of man. The longer she spent with him, the more she realized how intelligent he was, not just with for work but with current events in pop culture, politics, and she discovered they had a shared love for foreign food. The guy could pack the food away like a bridge troll coming off a hunger strike. She wondered how he kept so trim. She only had to look at a bag of Skittles to gain twelve pounds.

Four days had passed since Bash’s Colorado trip. She didn’t really resist meeting him that following day, and even though she sensed he had ulterior motives, she was having a great time with him, sharing food and laughing at his funny stories.

She expected him every day now, watching the doorway like some besotted fool. Every night, she dreamed about him.

Back in the day, before she ditched her sister’s drama and realized those guys she was hanging out with were bad news, she spent some time with them. Thorn and his buddies were super creepy, definitely not friend material. They were the kind of people who believed sexual harassment was their manly privilege. Those who belittled and mistreated women, doing drugs and getting into fights. Real stand up guys.

It was difficult to distance herself from Nora initially, but she needed to prioritize a stable life. She couldn’t resist the pull towards Bash and enjoyed their time together, but she knew he wanted a deeper connection. She was inexperienced, not dead. The low-lidded way he looked at her or dropped his gaze to her mouth told her he still had dating on his mind.

She would have dated him in a hot second if only he wasn’t in his gang… or club.

She was judging him based on others’ behavior, which she hated. It was wrong, especially because so far, Bash hadn’t given her a reason to mistrust his motives, though Denver blackmailing her hadn’t helped his friend’s cause. But she wanted peace, not always worrying about what would happen next. If only half the rumors about the Diablos were true, then Bash was into some heavy stuff. His magnificent smile and effortless way of making her feel comfortable didn’t alter that.

It was unfortunate because whenever she sat with Bash, she couldn’t help but fantasize about feeling the softness of his goatee against her cheeks.

Thank god Bash couldn’t read minds, or hers would make him laugh.

The biker’s eyes, which were shining brightly, abruptly shifted toward her lips as she spoke, causing her already confused mind to lose focus. Lottie wondered if he’d kiss as passionately as they did in the movies. She wondered if he could sense her growing crush, making her mind empty of everything but him when he was around.

From day one, she’d been overwhelmed by Bash. Almost like his gravitational pull gave her no choice but to go where he was, to bask in that face and his deep, addictive laugh.

His age did nothing to quell just how wildly he set her hormones to a high level. If anything, his maturity was even hotter. He was too handsome for his own good. A total force of nature who owned whatever space he was in. And for someone who’d never been in a long, short or intimate relationship before, choosing a man like that, a total storm of a man, would not be the best decision.

Not only that, but she could only imagine the women he was used to, and she was guaranteed not to live up to his expectations.

Yesterday, he had growled while inquiring about a doctor who’d been on her back a few months ago. Bash confronted Doctor Harris after seeing him yell at Lottie. She felt a mixture of gratitude and anger towards him. But you know what? Doctor Harris’s unpleasant attitude had given Lottie a wide berth ever since.

The fact he’d intervened in a situation still gave Lottie goosebumps.

Bash called Doctor Harris Doctor Dick. It always made her chuckle.

“You tell me if he bothers you, Charlotte.” He’d growled. Literally growled with his teeth bared, and her brain glitched for a full minute while she tried to rally her hormones like unruly toddlers.

Today, she rushed out of the hospital to find him leaning against a wall. His boots crossed at the ankle. He was without a jacket because of the atrocious weather, and his Diablo Disciples insignia t-shirt was sleeveless. A pair of shades covered his eyes, but his mouth twitched with a grin, as if he’d been waiting for her.

“Sorry! I can’t stop for lunch, Bash, because I have to go home. I checked my home cameras, and Prince has gone ballistic and tipped over his feeder. He’ll tear down the curtains if he waits all day to eat.”

She didn’t want to miss their lunch, but Prince was a total diva and would pee in her bed if he didn’t get his snacks.

“I’ll take you.” He hooked up her hand, and she was so stunned that she was standing by his motorcycle before she realized what he’d said.

“I have my car, Bash.”

“I can weave through traffic and get you home to the cat quicker.”

“Are you just trying to find out where I live?” she narrowed her eyes, shielding them from the sun.

“I know your address, darling.”

“How?”

“We’re wasting time. Hop on.” He straddled the powerful machine and held out a hand to Lottie.

Oh, god , this was her fantasy coming true.

All those nights in bed dreaming of this exact scenario. Only now, her heart beat triple time as she stared at his outstretched hand.

How could she say no when she felt all giddy and terrified inside?

“Okay. Just for Prince.” She said, and he smiled slowly.

“Of course.” He told her how to climb on and where to hold.

He wanted her to wrap her arms around his waist. Sweet lord . If she fell off his bike and died, it would be because she was holding onto his waist and smelling his amazing cologne. No girl could want anything else.

Bash was right. The journey was faster on his bike as she leaned with him in and out of the traffic. Lottie loved every terrifying second of it and couldn’t hold back her beaming smile when he stopped outside her suburban neighborhood, with only six houses on the block.

“How was that? I got you home in one piece.”

“It was incredible. I can’t wait to do it again.” She grinned and realized that meant she was inviting herself onto his motorcycle again. “You’re a great driver.”

“Thank you. Now invite me in to meet this cat of yours.”

Because Lottie was a neat freak, her house was always guest-ready. She unlocked the door, fully aware of the looming biker behind her, as she turned off the alarm.

“Don’t mind Prince. He’s a grump with everyone, especially strangers. If he hisses, hiss back at him,” she advised, hoping her baby boy was on his best behavior today. Knowing his feeding machine had been knocked over wasn’t a positive sign for a good mood.

Lottie crossed the living room into the kitchen, where the cat feeder was on its side. She crouched down to fix it, and that’s when she heard.

“Fuck me. Charlotte, there’s a tiger on your couch.”

Laughing, she turned to see Bash staring at her regalness Prince, blinking slowly, watching the new person in the room. Once the feeder was put right and the timer reset, she walked over to the couch to stroke a hand over her cat’s head. As always, he was aloof to her presence. She was the only person who spoiled him rotten, and he couldn’t give her a token hello meow.

“Bash, this is my baby boy, Prince Scratchy Mittens, Viscount of Meowington. Prince, this is Bash; he has a cool motorcycle, so be nice.”

“That’s some name for the gigantic beast. Where did you find him? In the depths of the Amazon jungle?”

“Isn’t he gorgeous? He’s a Maine Coon and was only this big when I got him.” She held her hands out a foot apart. “He’s not the friendliest kitty, but he calls the shots.” After another ear scratch, she said. “Let me make you a sandwich before I head back to work.”

“You don’t need to do that, darling.”

“I want to.” She blushed to high heaven, hating that her skin colored every time she looked at Bash. “And it’s a thank you for bringing me home.”

He grunted, obviously wanting to refuse, but he said nothing when she went to the kitchen to first wash her hands.

It wasn’t a fancy sandwich, but she packed it with sliced deli meats and pickles, which she knew Bash favored. But the wrapped sandwich nearly fell out of her hand when she entered the living room again and saw the biker sitting on the couch with Prince sprawled across his lap, being petted. Petted! And he wasn’t clawing or biting Bash’s hands.

“ Oh, my god . What’s going on here?”

“I’m trapped under a tiger. I sat down, and he jumped on top of me.” Bash smirked, scratching behind Prince’s ears. That traitor’s eyes were all glazed with ecstasy, purring like he was a docile kitty cat!

Lottie scowled and pointed a finger at her furry roommate. “You little heathen! I clean your litter tray and give you all the treats, and this is how you repay me by slutting it up with a strange man? I can’t even look at you right now, Prince. You don’t even know Bash! He could have cooties, and you hopped onto his lap, anyway, begging for pets.”

“Thanks, little darling,” the man smirked at her motherly outrage. “If you wanna get on my lap, I promise I’m cooties free.”

Well, didn’t that make her flame up?

She huffed. “We need to go.” When Bash freed himself from underneath Prince, she glared at the cat again as he curled up to watch his bird show. “You better think long and hard about what you’ve done, Prince. We’ll be having a family meeting later. Unbelievable .” She huffed under her breath as she reached the door, after shoving the sandwich into Bash’s hands. The hand on the bottom of her back almost caused her steps to falter.

“I’m sure he loves you, Charlotte.”

“That rotten monster would eat my decaying corpse.” She said, then wanted to kick rocks. She was so jealous that her big baby boy liked someone better than her.

It was Bash, so she couldn’t blame Prince too much, since she’d fantasized often about sliding onto his lap and begging for his touch.

On another bike ride, he went slower, and she loved it even more and wished they could ride longer. But soon, they were back at the hospital entrance. She reluctantly let go of Bash and got off the bike.

“I’ll be here tomorrow,” Bash told her, and before she could insist he didn’t have to or that he must have something better to do than sit and eat lunch with her, he placed a gloved finger on her lips. Rendering Lottie frazzled from the touch.

“I’ll be here, no talking back.”

“Yes, sir.” She joked, but saw a flash of heat going through his eyes. Not realizing what she’d said, Lottie walked into work dry-mouthed, looking back only once to see Bash straddled over his motorcycle. Watching her.

He turned up the next day and for the following week.

But she didn’t take him home.

Not until her cat loved her the best.

And that looked like it would take until the end of time.