The Men of CCD: Help Wanted Read online

  “What if I don’t come over there?” Keira asked placing her hands on her hips.

  “Keira, you don’t want me to get off here.” The warning was loud, clear and not up for debate.

  Stomping over to the bike, Keira glared at Jim. She didn’t want to do this at all, but she wasn’t going to let him get the best of her. She wasn’t about to admit that she was scared as hell.

  “How do you get on this thing?

  “Swing your leg over and place your butt on the seat, wrap your arms around my waist. But the first thing you need to do is place that helmet on your head. Charisma would kill me if you got hurt while you were riding with me.”

  “See, that’s a good reason for me to not go with you,” Keira said trying to get out of it one last time.

  “Nice try. Get on and hold on tight.”

  Jim waited while Keira did as he instructed. He could tell she was scared as hell, but trying to hold it in. He couldn’t blame her. Anyone who hadn’t been on a bike before always harbored a hint of nervousness.

  His body reacted the instant Keira slid behind him and the warmth of her body touched his. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He had to calm himself down or he wouldn’t be able to control the motorcycle on the road.

  “Okay, I’m on,” Keira said wrapping her arms loosely around his waist. “Let’s go, so I can get back. I’m taking you on your word that this place serves good food.”

  “First, you need to move closer to my back and wrap your arms tighter around my waist. Without a doubt, you will fall off before we get half way there.”

  “Mr. Russell, you are getting on my nerves,” Keira complained as she did as he instructed.

  Jim’s cock jumped in his jeans as Keira pressed her breasts against his back and wrapped her arms around him. He had forgotten how good it felt to have a woman pressed to him especially one as attractive as Keira Winters.

  He quickly started the motorcycle and pulled away from the curb before he said something that would get the both of them into trouble. He was trying to build a cordial bridge between him and Keira, so he couldn’t do anything to burn it down before the first piece of it was formed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Keira couldn’t believe she was on the back of a motorcycle with a man that she barely knew. It was just a couple of days ago that Jim was her most hated enemy. Now, he was taking her to his favorite restaurant for hot wings and beer. What was going on with her?

  She shouldn’t be doing this with him. She needed to be at home figuring out if she might have to change careers. The nightmares weren’t getting any better. In fact, they were getting worse. As much as she wanted to tell Charisma about it she couldn’t because her best friend would do nothing but worry and then drag her to the shrink’s office. A place she wasn’t ready to visit yet.

  Anyway, Charisma had her own family to take care of now. She was woman enough to deal with her own issues and overcome them without any outside help. She would go back to her job in her own good time. Plus if the worst happened and she couldn’t go back to being a flight attendant then she would deal with it and move on.

  Taking her mind off her problems, Keira focused her attention more on how good Jim’s body felt beneath her fingers. She ran her fingers across the flatness of his stomach and liked the hardness she found there. It was like Jim spent as much time working out as he did at Choppers.

  All of her girlfriends seemed to think Jim was so nice and would make the perfect boyfriend for her, but she thought he was a little too domineering. He came across like a man who loved to get his way and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  Jim had already proven her half right by not taking the offer she gave him for her father’s shop. It wouldn’t have killed him to let her buy it back from him. Sure, it might have been his dream for years to own a motorcycle shop. However, Choppers has been in her family for years and she had more of a right to it than he did.

  Maybe over dinner, she could plead her case again and he would give it back to her. She wasn’t expecting him to hand the keys over to her, but it was worth a shot. Keira noticed that Jim pulled into a bar at the very end of an alley where several motorcycles were already parked along with a few cars. A huge sign with the word ‘Dante’s’ was positioned on the roof of the building. It looked like the ultimate biker bar on the outside. She could only guess how it looked on the inside.

  Jim pulled his motorcycle into an empty parking spot and then turned it off. He took off his helmet placing it on the handle bars and then looked back over his shoulder at her. “Are you okay back there? It looks like you made it all in one piece.”

  Keira took off her helmet and handed it to him. “I’m fine. I have to say that I enjoyed the ride a lot more than I thought I would.”

  “Good, I’m glad you did. Maybe after tonight you might be up for another ride.” Jim got off the motorcycle and helped her off after placing her helmet on the other handlebar.

  “I never said that,” Keira said tugging down her shirt that had risen up during the ride. “Let’s just see how tonight goes. I haven’t been out in a while, so I might not be the best company.”

  “As long as you can carry on a decent conversation with me over dinner and know how to enjoy the best hot wings in town, I think the two of us will get along perfectly. Are you ready to go inside?”

  “Sure, why not?” Keira smiled at Jim as he took her by the elbow and lead her inside the building.

  * * * *

  The second Jim walked inside Dante’s, his hideaway, all of his worries from the day left his body and the familiar smells of food and beer filled his senses. The jukebox was playing an upbeat country tune. Dave had introduced him to this place several years ago and he had been coming back ever since. There was something about Dante’s that really relaxed him making him become more of a frequent customer while going through his divorce from Kathy. This was the place he would come after Trevor was asleep to get away from Kathy’s bitchy ways and any argument she was trying to start. It gave him peace and solitude.

  “This place could have been in the movie Road House,” Keira said.

  Moving his attention away from her and back to the busy establishment, Jim realized that Keira was right. Dante’s did have a Road House feel to it. He was surprised that he never noticed it before. “How about we grab a booth unless you want to sit at a table?”

  “No, a booth is fine with me.” With his hand still on her elbow, Jim took Keira to his favorite booth in the back of the room. He knew what he wanted, so he didn’t even bother looking at the menus already placed there.

  “How often do you come here?” Keira asked looking at him from across the table.

  “At least twice a week,” Jim answered. “If I can make it three I do. I love it here. I find it very relaxing.”

  Keira tried not to let the loud country music get under her skin, but it wasn’t something that she was used to hearing. It wasn’t her favorite style of music.

  “So, you’re a regular?”

  “I guess you could say that I am.” Jim nodded. “The owner and I have become pretty good friends. I’ve done some work on his bike. He’s a good guy. What about you?”

  “What about me?” Keira leaned back in the booth like she was preparing herself for his next question.

  “I know that you’re a flight attendant, but what do you do for fun when you aren’t working? You’re a good-looking woman. I’m sure that you get asked out on dates a lot.”

  “Nothing…work usually keeps me pretty busy. So, I don’t have time for a huge social life. I mostly just work, stay at home or visit Charisma and the baby. I could ask you the same question.” Keira tossed the ball back into his court. “You aren’t too bad looking with your long hair and goatee. Most women would find your bad boy image very appealing, maybe down right sexy. Why aren’t you remarried or at least dating someone?”

  “I’m not interested in dating a woman who thinks I might ask her to marry me in the future. On
e bad marriage is enough for me in the lifetime. I want to focus my attention on making Choppers over and raising Trevor. Any woman who enters my life would have to understand those two things come first.”

  Keira couldn’t blame Jim wanting to give most of his attention to work and his little boy. Those two things would keep him from getting his heart broken. She had heard Charisma and Jenisha talking about how nasty his ex-wife Kathy was, but she never got involved in the conversation about her.

  “How is Trevor doing? He’s a very cute little boy.”

  “My son is getting smarter every day. Sometimes I forget that he’s only seven because he acts so much older. I don’t know what I would do without him in my life.”

  “I can tell that you love him a lot.”

  “I do. He’s a wonderful kid.” Jim grinned like the proud father he was.

  “Jim, I thought you might not show up this week,” a female voice gushed over Keira’s shoulder. Instead of turning around, she waited for the woman to come to them. Keira didn’t have to wait too long, because a second or two later a statuesque red-head with huge robin’s egg blue eyes wearing a black waitress uniform stopped at their table.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Where have you been keeping that gorgeous body of yours? You know that my day hasn’t been made until I’ve seen you.”

  Jim looked at Keira and then back at the overly friendly waitress. “I’ve been busy with the motorcycle shop I bought. I haven’t had the time to come here until now,” he answered.

  Keira didn’t know what to say about what was going on in front of her. The waitress was flirting with Jim like she wasn’t even at the same booth as him let alone in the same building. If this was a real date she wouldn’t stand for getting disrespected like this.

  Hell, wait a second! She wasn’t going to let it happen even if she wasn’t on a real date with Jim. She was with him right at this moment and this chick shouldn’t treat her like she was invisible.

  “Excuse, me, miss.,” Keira interrupted. “Do you mind taking our order instead of gushing over Jim? Yes, he’s a nice looking man, but I came here to eat not to see you come on to him.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were so hungry for something to eat,” the waitress exclaimed giving her a hateful look.

  “Bambi, be nice. Keira wasn’t being nasty to you,” Jim chastised.

  Bambi…Jim had to be kidding. No one named their child after a Disney cartoon deer. It had to be a nickname, but she was going to keep her opinion to herself.

  Blue eyes flashed with anger as Bambi glared at her. Keira was dying for her to say something so she would be able to respond. Bambi had already pissed her off and she was ready to give her a piece of her mind.

  “Jim, would you and your date like to order now? Or are the two of you still looking over the menus?”

  “We’re ready,” Jim answered. “We both want a plate of hot wings and a pitcher of beer.”

  “Thanks.” Bambi wrote down the order without even glancing in her direction. “I’ll be back in a minute or two with your food.” Spinning away from the booth, Bambi left without even giving her another look.

  “Did I step on her territory or something?” Keira asked as soon as the waitress was out of hearing range.

  “No, Bambi isn’t anyone important to me,” Jim replied. “She’s just a waitress I talk to when I come here.”

  Leaning across the table, Keira got closer to Jim enjoying the hint of cologne as it filled her nose. “I think she wants to be more than your friend. Hell, I’d even go so far to say that she’s jealous that I’m having hot wings and beer with you tonight. She doesn’t understand there isn’t anything going on between us.”

  “Don’t pay any attention to Bambi. She gets off on pushing people’s buttons, but she is a lot of hot air and nothing will come of it. However, I want to know why you think that we wouldn’t be on a real date with each other?”

  Keira let several thoughts run through her mind. She wondered if Jim was pulling her leg. He couldn’t be serious. They were barely out of the enemies’ level when it came to the two of them. How in the world would he think they could ever go out on a real date? It just wasn’t a possibility in her book. Jim scared her. He was the type of man she stayed away from because he could make her tell him all of her secrets.

  “We aren’t two people who would ever hook up with each other. You have this hint of wildness in your personality that I usually avoid in guys. I try to get involved with men who are more like me.”

  “I think you are a very self-assured woman, so you are bound to clash with any man who isn’t as set in their ways as you are.”

  “I’m not set in my ways,” Keira snapped insulted that Jim could read her so well. “I know how to do stuff in the heat of the moment.”

  “Sometimes I hop on my bike and go for a ride at two o’clock in the morning. I don’t see you doing anything like that at all. I think you need to stop being so controlled. Learn to let go a little more.”

  “I told you that I’m not…”

  “Jim, what are you doing insulting such a beautiful woman? I’ve never known you to do something like that before.”

  Keira stopped talking as a deep rich male voice broke into her conversation with Jim just before a platter of hot wings, two glasses and a pitcher of beer was placed on the table between them. Her stomach started growling at the delicious smell of the hot and greasy food that she almost missed the handsome man standing next to her.

  Eyes that were a startling gray-green were fixed on her, long black hair rested on wide shoulders and a slight smile pulled at the corner of full, firm lips. If Jim didn’t already have her interest captivated this hunk wouldn’t have had a problem pulling her into him. He was totally the kind of man women would stop in their tracks to look at.

  “I see why Bambi didn’t want to bring your food back out to you. Your date is beautiful.” He winked at Keira.

  “Dante, can you stop flirting long enough to at least acknowledge me?” Jim laughed looking at his friend Dante then back at her.

  “I never miss the opportunity to know a pretty woman,” Dante said still looking at her instead of Jim. “Hello, I’m Dante Braden. Can I get your name?”

  Keira would usually blow someone like Dante off because he was too cocky, but tonight she was enjoying the attention. “Hi, I’m Keira Winters. Nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you too. How did you meet my old friend here?” Dante asked finally glancing away from her over at Jim.

  She noticed how the smile slipped from Jim’s face at Dante’s term of ‘old friend.’

  “Do I have to remind you that you’re older than me by two years? I think Keira would rather date me being forty-one instead of a forty-three year old. Now, why don’t you leave her alone? I brought her here to have a little fun, not to get hit on by you.”

  Keira observed how Jim’s personality changed the second Dante came to the table. There was a hint of tension in the room. She was surprised that he was taking what Dante said to her so seriously. It was just a lot of harmless fun. Did Jim not just tell her less than five minutes ago that she needed to open up more?

  “Hey, sorry I didn’t know there was something going on between the two of you. I wasn’t trying to get involved with your woman. Please enjoy your meal and it’s on the house.” Dante winked at her before walking away.

  “I wouldn’t take Dante’s flirting too seriously. He’s more of a bachelor than I am,” Jim told her as he poured beer into their glasses and then grabbed a hot wing off the platter.

  She wasn’t positive, but Jim was coming across like he was jealous of the attention Dante had given to her. “Thanks for the warning, but I think Dante is very attractive. I was quite flattered by his compliments.”

  Jim finished off his hot wing and tossed the bone back on the plate. “Would you feel the same way if I gave you the same compliments?”

  “I would have a hard time believing you because of ev
erything that has already happened between us.” Keira picked up a wing and took a bite out of it.

  The spicy tanginess from the hot sauce filled her mouth making her remember how much she loved eating hot wings. They had to be hands down her favorite appetizer in the entire world.

  “Keira, you have to know you’re super hot. I didn’t think I would have to state the obvious to you.” Jim grabbed another wing and took a bite out of it.

  Keira’s heart sped up at the off-handed compliment that Jim gave to her. She couldn’t let herself become attracted to Jim because she had too much going on in her life right now. Too many personal issues had to be dealt with first before she even thought about being in a relationship with anyone.

  “How about we stop talking about me and get onto a new topic?” she suggested.

  “Like what?” Jim asked before taking a sip of his beer.

  “I was wondering why you got a divorce.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jim slowly placed his glass back on the table. He was surprised that Keira didn’t ask a softer question. Most people didn’t ask him out right about his divorce. Even Dave had waited for a while before asking what the final straw had been that sent him running to the divorce attorney.

  “I thought someone else would have already told you the reason for my divorce.”

  “I’ve heard different reasons, but I want to hear it from you. Isn’t the best way to get the truth to get it from the source?” Keira asked.

  He had to admit Keira did have a point, but he wasn’t ready to tell the entire story of his horrendous marriage to Kathy. If Trevor hadn’t come out of it, he would think that he wasted almost six years of his life.

  “I’d rather not get into my messy divorce tonight. I brought you here to Dante’s as a thank you dinner for feeding me the other night. How about we just leave the conversation off the heavy stuff and enjoy the rest of our night?”

  “I think I like the way your mind works,” Keira said then picked up another mouth-watering hot wing off the plate.