“Haven’t spoken with her in weeks. I’m hoping that run of good luck continues.”
Her eyes met mine and she froze for a moment. My night was made when she blinked and kept going without acknowledging me or heading my way. And when she latched onto another club member and he pulled her close for a kiss, as if they were together, I breathed a sigh of relief. Kelly had always had a thing for bikers and it looked like she’d finally found another one.
“Lady luck’s playing nice tonight,” J said with a slap on my back. “I’m gonna go find my woman. Catch you later, man.”
He met Carla as he walked away and after they exchanged some words he kept going and she came to me. Snagging her around the waist, I pulled her close and laid a kiss on her lips. “This dress is causing me some pain, angel,” I murmured into her ear.
She placed her hand on my chest. “The night is only young, romeo. I suggest you pop a painkiller and man up because you’ve got hours ahead of you before you’re gonna get any relief.”
The way Carla used her words turned me on more than any dress she would ever wear. “You keep talking like that and I’ll make damn sure I get some relief a lot fuckin’ sooner,” I rasped in her ear.
Her breathing picked up and heat flared in her eyes. Scanning the room, she asked, “How soon do you think we could get out of here?”
“I’d say less than a minute.”
She frowned. “Don’t you want to stay for a bit and hang out with everyone?”
I grabbed her hand. “Fuck no. The only thing I want to do right now is get inside you. It’s been too long and I’m hard as hell.”
“It’s only been about nine hours,” she said as I led her out of the room.
“That’s nine hours too long, darlin’.”
I fucking loved that she was counting the hours in between having me.
As I led her out to my bike, I recalled my conversation with J and realised a long distance relationship would blow. I wasn’t sure I could do it.
31
Carla
I laid out my new designs on the kitchen table and smiled as I assessed them. Jack, my boss, had seen some of them but I had five new ones for him and was working on a sixth. There had only been two he wasn’t fussed on and I had reworked them. I was confident he would love the changes. Our working relationship was easy so far and I hoped that would continue. I had never felt so happy in my work. To be able to spend my days doing the one job I’d always dreamed of had to be the best thing in the world. The high it gave me cancelled out the stress I felt over not completing my course. Havoc might have been on to something when he suggested I fly by the seat of my pants for a while. I’d been doing that for weeks and had never felt more at peace.
My phone rang and I grinned when I saw it was Jack.
“Hey, Jack, I was just going to call you.”
“What’s doing?” His casual attitude made me love working with him even more. It made work fun, which in turn inspired a rush of ideas.
“I’m just going over the new designs and can’t wait to show them to you.”
“Can we meet tomorrow? I’ve got some other things I want to go over with you as well.”
“Tomorrow would be perfect.”
“Your place?”
“Sounds good. Have you got a minute now to talk about something I want to run by you?”
A knock on the front door interrupted my thoughts and I traipsed down the hall to answer it.
“Sure. Shoot,” Jack said as I opened the door to Velvet.
I ushered her into the kitchen and mouthed, “I won’t be a minute.”
She nodded and took a seat at the table, eyeing my designs.
“I wanted to discuss my working arrangements. As in, where I work. Would you be okay if I didn’t always work from home in Brisbane?” I bit my lip waiting for his response, hoping he would give me the go-ahead to work from wherever I chose.
He was silent for a moment and I held my breath.
Please say yes.
“Are you thinking of travelling?” he asked.
“Maybe, but only if you are okay with it. Work is my number one priority, always, so I don’t want you to think it isn’t.”
“I don’t see why you can’t work from wherever you go. I’d need to see you every now and then, so as long as you make yourself available when that is, everything should be good.”
“Awesome. I’ll keep you updated with my plans. I don’t have anything organised yet because I wanted to run it by you first.”
“Carla, I just want to create a business that people love to work with so if you’re happy, I’m happy. And if you keep creating designs like the ones you have been, I’m bloody ecstatic.”
I wasn’t used to praise like his when it came to work. Waitressing had always been a hard slog and I’d often completed eight-hour shifts feeling exhausted and unappreciated. Working with Jack was a whole new experience.
“Thank you, Jack, that means a lot.” If he could see the grin on my face, he would have understood just how much.
“Okay, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you early tomorrow, say nine?”