Page 53 of Knight With Benefits

“I can cover the cost—”

“No need. I’ll give Leigh your info and have her contact you to set up a meeting. If she can’t handle it herself, she’ll know someone who can. She’s got it out for the Purists as much as we do.”

A weight lifted from my shoulders, and I thanked Danger before hanging up with him. I didn’t want to keep him longer than necessary since I knew he had his own omega to worry about.

The reminder that I hadn’t seen Gwyn in a few hours had my bear pacing within me, my skin crawling with the need to reassure myself that all was well. Anxiety had been a familiar partner for years, but the feelings I had for Gwyn were making it more frequent. No matter how much I reminded myself it was unlikely anything had gone wrong in a single morning, my mind would start listing all the things thatcouldhappen, no matter how far-fetched they were.

I found myself behind the wheel of the truck before I even realized I was moving, the rumble of the engine almost as loud as the noises my bear was making inside me. Even during the worst of my anxiety he’d usually remained passive, it was one of the things that helped me keep a grip on my panic, but when it came to the curvy omega, he might have been worse than my human half.

It was a fight to force myself out of the truck to check that I’d locked up and there were no nails or anything left where someone could get hurt, and only telling my bear how devastated we’d be if Gwyn was crippled due to our negligence kept him from rushing me back into the vehicle to go to her.

Even though the café was right around the corner, the drive still lasted far longer than my patience. I couldn’t bring myself to toss the garbage into the dumpster first, throwing the truck into park right outside the side door and giving a brief knock before testing the handle.

Relief washed through me to find it locked, although my mind immediately started telling me all the ways that could be bad, too. It broke my heart that Gwyn felt like she had to constantly lock herself in even though it took some of the worry over her safety away. Especially after what she’d revealed less than twenty-four hours ago.

The lock thudded and then chocolate eyes blinked up at me, the smile she offered loosening the bands around my chest.

“I, uh, finished the roof. Just have to toss the garbage and then I can get going on the new wall.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, resisting the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her. She had labeled us friends-with-benefits, so I had to take my time feeling out what I was allowed to do.

Could I kiss her whenever I wanted, or was I supposed to play it cool? My instincts didn’t want to pretend like we were casual.

“Thanks again for taking care of that. Do you want to grab lunch first and then start fresh after I’ve fed you?”

All kinds of ways to misinterpret her meaning flashed through my head, and I knew her mind went the same direction since her cheeks flushed and she dropped her gaze from mine. I could have teased her if I could have gotten more than a tenth of my brain to focus on something other than taking her in, but the moment passed, and I decided to let it go.

“Sounds good. Can you give me fifteen minutes?”

I wasn’t going to lose any more time with her, so I needed to call one of the guys to come take David’s truck and get it taken care of for me so I could return it to him before he started work for the night. If he had to bum another ride from someone he might not forgive me as easily.

“Sure. I’ll clean up my mess real fast, but we have to be back before two.”

I glanced at the watch on my wrist, raising a brow since it wasn’t quite noon yet. There should have been plenty of time to go back to her place and eat and be at the café before noon, but perhaps she was worried we’d do what we’d done the day before.

A grin split my face as I nodded, her flush spreading down her neck as I caught a breath of fresh slick in the air before she disappeared into the building. My cock twitched, on-board with the direction of my thoughts, but less than two hours certainly wouldn’t be enough time for anything more than a fast release. Plus, I had a feeling she would claim it was too soon for more, using responsibilities as an excuse, so I couldn’t push unless I was ready to be rejected. No matter what the reason, I didn’t think my bear would take that well.

Knox was the closest one to me who wasn’t busy when I called as I was tossing old shingles into the dumpster, so I told him to come get David’s truck and take it to Sebastian’s shop for an oil change and detailing. Usually something like that would take a couple hours, even with an appointment, but I knew the guys would get it taken care of as quickly as possible for me. If I ended up running late for some reason, I could always make him take it to David’s place, but I wanted to do it myself so I could apologize for keeping it so long. David may not ride with the Knights, but he was still considered one of us.

Knox’s bike was parked out of sight behind The Hangout and he was pulling off in the truck when Gwyn came out to join me, looking around and raising an eyebrow in question.

“One of the benefits of having favors due to you,” was all I said as I gave her a wink.

She took on a thoughtful expression, but after a moment a crease formed between her brows.

“Am I allowed to ask questions about your club?”

I was tempted to tease her, but her scent was bitter with anxiety, and I wanted her to feel safe with me, no matter what it was about.

“Of course. What do you want to know?”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as we started to walk across the lot towards the street that led to her place. She chewed on it for a moment before straightening her shoulders.

“Are you like the one I’ve seen in movies that are involved in illegal activities?”

I didn’t want to brush her question off, but I wasn’t sure how much to reveal to her either. We did our best to protect our own, which meant sometimes we did things that could get us in trouble.

“We don’t run guns or drugs, if that’s what you mean. We got our name because we do our best to protect the people of Hell and keep it a safe place for everyone, which means sometimes we’re not all the way on the right side of the law.”

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