COME WHEN CALLED (Billionaire & Biker Menage Romance) Page 16

  “What do you think?” she asked, twirling for them. Charley whistled long and low.

  The stain on his shirt forgotten, Ford stood frozen, a smile curving slowly around the corners of his mouth. “I knew you’d look like that in that dress.” He shook his head as if she’d done something naughty.

  She beamed, though she realized he hadn’t actually complimented her. It seemed like a compliment, though, from the smoldering look in his eyes. He came over to hand her a drink. Cupping his hand on her hip, he squeezed his fingers into her flesh and kissed her lightly on the cheek. The mixture of hard and soft, loving and rough, sent a thrill straight to her clit and she wished badly that they were alone. She wanted him instantly and was ready for it with just one, masterful touch.

  “Thank you for wearing what I picked for you,” he said softly, next to her cheek.

  “Thank you for picking it for me,” she responded, her voice barely above a whisper.

  He stepped back to look at Charley. “Shall we?” Taking Evie’s elbow, Ford gestured toward the dining room.

  Ford and Charley sat on one side of the large, polished-wood table and Evie sat across from them. They ate the most succulent prime rib Evie had ever tasted while Charley recounted their day. She was grateful he left out the part about John. He’d told her she had to tell Ford after dinner and that seemed to remain the plan.

  Evie loved watching Ford and Charley interact. She’d never seen Ford so happy. Charley made him laugh over and over. Ford seemed younger around Charley, more alive. And Charley looked at Ford in a way that almost made Evie jealous. She didn’t think she’d ever had anyone look at her with that kind of love.

  “How’d you two meet? You’re so different—how did you become friends?” She’d wondered this from the moment rough-and-ready Charley had busted into her room.

  Ford and Charley smiled at each other, the common memory obviously a good one for both of them.

  “You tell it, Charley.” Ford gestured toward him with his wine glass.

  Charley grinned. “I was working for one of Ford’s companies as a delivery driver.”

  “Are you kidding?” Evie practically squealed. Ford nodded, his fingers tented now in front of his mouth, but she could see the smile behind them.

  “Crazy right? I’d just finished my shift and was heading home when I drove by Ford’s fancy sports car in a ditch and him standing next to it in the rain looking like a half-drowned billionaire.” He paused to wink at Ford. “‘Cause that’s exactly what you were.”

  Ford laughed, shaking his head and looking as if he was eternally weary of trying to make Charley behave.

  “Our Ford here,” Charley reached over and rubbed Ford’s shoulder, lingering, “likes to drive his cars way too fast, and on that day, ended up in a ditch, thankfully uninjured.”

  Our Ford.

  Ford shrugged. “I can afford speeding tickets and I like to find out what the things I own are capable of.” He looked at Evie and his emerald eyes seemed to see right into her. You are mine. I’m going to find out everything you’re capable of.

  She squirmed in her seat, anxiety and excitement sparking through her like a transformer explosion.

  “So I pulled over in my old pickup truck and asked him if he needed a ride. Ford takes one long look over my clunker and says no, he’ll just wait for his driver.”

  “And he laughed at me,” Ford interjected, glancing at Charley with affection. “I could see he was wearing the uniform from my company. I’m the goddamned CEO and he’s laughing at me!”

  “Oh my god!” Evie was laughing, feeling giddy from the wine. She waved her hand in the air. “Go on! Go on!”

  “I was shocked. Livid.” Ford looked at Charley, his gaze intense as he spoke of the memory.

  Charley took over the story without missing a beat. “I told him, ‘I thought everyone was exaggerating, but you really are a pretentious fucking control-freak. You’d rather stand there in the rain than sit your rich, tight ass on the ripped upholstery of my piece-a-shit truck.”

  Evie gasped. “You didn’t!”

  “He did.” Ford sprawled back on his chair, his wine glass in one hand, his body oriented toward Charley.

  “What did you do?” She directed the question to Ford but Charley answered.

  “I’ll never forget the look on his face. In all the time I’ve known him I’ve never seen it since.”

  “He was that mad?” Evie had leaned forward, her forearms on the table, her wine ignored.

  Charley looked thoughtful. “Yes, he was mad, but he was probably more flabbergasted. Flummoxed, even.” Charley grinned, looking proud of the word he’d come up with.

  Ford shook his head again. “The language of a sailor, the vocabulary of a poet.” Charley beamed at him.

  “I’ve never seen him flabbergasted or anything like it.” Evie tried to imagine it, and couldn’t come up with the image.

  “I never have either! Just that one time.” Charley threw a long glance at Ford. “I’ve thought about that day a lot—why he got in my truck.” The look on Charley’s face was that of a lover. Ford met his gaze with the same intensity. Both of the men remained silent long enough for Evie to shift in her chair. Ford was confusing enough on his own, but the dynamic between he and Charley was absolutely indecipherable.

  “I think he felt challenged.” Charley’s voice was soft and Evie got the distinct impression he and Ford had never discussed this before. “I think maybe he had the impression I didn’t think he was man enough to get in my truck.”

  Ford just smiled and took a sip of his wine, admitting nothing, adding no clarity to Charley’s musings. They were quiet for another moment and Evie looked back and forth between them. She could almost see the wheels turning in both their heads. The thoughts. Remembering that day.

  “So?” She broke the silence. “What happened?”

  At the same time Ford said, “I got in the truck,” Charley said, “He got in the truck.”

  All three of them laughed, but exasperated, Evie pushed on, “And what happened?”

  Ford picked up on the tale. “I got in, told him I would accept his ride and I appreciated his stopping to see if I needed help, but after he dropped me off the first thing I was going to do was fire him.”

  Evie gasped, horrified. “You did not!”

  “He did,” Charley said.

  “Were you upset?”

  “Hell no.” Charley waved his hand. “I was a delivery driver. It’s not like I had some mega-career at stake. And the job market was great back then. I’d just drive for someone else.”

  “It wouldn’t matter the circumstances. Charley doesn’t get upset.” There was unmistakable fondness in Ford’s voice.

  But Evie had seen him upset and so had Ford. She wondered how Ford felt about the earlier scene in her room, knowing he was the cause of Charley’s distress, bringing her in the way Ford had.

  “And besides,” Charley added with a sexy curl of his lips, “what was there to be upset about? I had the all-powerful, deadly handsome, enigmatic Ford Hawthorne riding shotgun in my truck cab.” Charley looked immensely proud of himself.

  “Poet.” Ford muttered, pouring Charley more wine.

  “Hey, just ‘cause I don’t run three companies doesn’t mean I can’t string together a damn good sentence now and then,” Charley teased.

  “Charley,” Ford admonished, frowning, “other than that first moment when I didn’t want to get into your death-trap of a vehicle, I hope I’ve never made you feel anything less than equal to me.”

  “You never have.” Charley’s tone was grateful, affectionate. Something seemed to pass between them.

  “You two are killing me! What happened next?” Evie slapped the table, making her silverware jump with a metallic clatter.

  Charley laughed. “Patience, woman! Well I figured I was already fired so I told him I had to make a quick stop, and I took him to a grungy biker bar. One of the places I like to hang out.”

&nb
sp; Evie squealed, clapping her hands to her mouth. “Oh my god!” She spoke from under her fingers. “What I wouldn’t give to have seen that!”

  “Ford demanded to know what I was doing. So I told him I’d just gotten fired and that it was customary to drown your sorrows in drink at a time like that and far be it for me to break from tradition.” Charley and Ford both grinned at the memory, both clearly enjoying reliving the moment.

  “And then he was really pissed. He whipped out his cell phone and I knew I had about two seconds to convince him to stay. So I told him I was sorry I’d sprung it on him, but that he might actually enjoy himself if he’d come in and have just one drink with me. He didn’t answer right away, but I could tell he was surprised at my invitation. He had this look on his face…”

  Charley looked at Ford and in a moment Evie was restless again, feeling like she was interrupting something intimate between the two men.

  “Ford looked at the building and back at me with a look on his face I’ll never forget.”

  “Horror?” Evie guessed. “Terror? Disgust?”

  Charley shook his head. “Heaven. Like that dive bar was the State Fair and he was a five year old cotton-candy junkie.”

  Evie sucked in her breath. “Really?”

  Ford concentrated his gaze on Evie. “I’d never in my life been anywhere so seedy.”

  Charley’s laughter boomed off the tall walls of the room. “You’re welcome.” He peeked sideways at Ford as he spoke, and his voice softened. “I realized then he really wanted to go in, but he was intimidated. I saw it plain as day on his face. And I’d never seen anything but confidence, charm and sexy on the face of that man. From a distance, of course.”

  Ford shifted, tenting his fingers back in front of his lips. “Oh please, Charley, don’t spare the details,” Ford said, his voice dry.

  Charley put his arm on the back of Ford’s chair, tilting his head to catch the other man’s eyes. “It was endearing. I think it was the first time I really saw you—I mean past the you everyone else sees anyway. I liked it.”

  Evie knew what Charley was thinking—could see it in his eyes. It was the first moment I fell a little bit in love with you. She had her own tales like that about Ford.

  “So I told him not to worry about a thing, that he was with me and I’d make sure he was comfortable the whole time. I promised him. And he got out of the truck. Four hours and ten shots later we stumbled back to the truck, called his driver to come get our drunk asses, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.”

  “So I take it you didn’t fire him?” Evie asked.

  “No. Not that day.”

  “You fired Charley?” Evie didn’t think the story could get any better.

  “I’d never had a friend like Charley,” Ford said quietly. “And I was so busy with my businesses that I couldn’t spend as much time with him as I wanted to, so I went in one day and fired him and then offered him a job as my driver and bodyguard so he could go everywhere with me.”

  Charley shook his head. “Always have to control everything. I would have taken the job. I was thrilled to take the job. You didn’t need to fire me.”

  “But I ensured the outcome, didn’t I? I like to be sure.” Ford pursed his lips, his eyes lighting with the memory.

  Charley stared at him. “You get excited just at the memory of manipulating me to your satisfaction. What is it with you and control?”

  “It makes me tick,” Ford said, his voice low, hitting the K hard and somehow making the word sound dirty. His eyes seemed to darken.

  Evie watched the chemistry between the two men sizzle in the air. Ford’s posture was casual, proprietary. Charley had leaned forward, his elbows on the table, eyes pinned to Ford. She remembered her promise to Charley to help bridge the gap, and after spending more time with the two of them, Evie was convinced that gap wasn’t nearly as big as Charley thought it was.

  She smiled slyly across the table at the two men. “Wow, you two have a real bromance going on.”

  “I’d take a bullet for him,” Charley said, no hint of hesitation in his voice.

  “Thank god I’ll never have to see that,” Ford said. “Driving me is not dangerous. It mainly involves a lot of waiting around and entertaining me in traffic. Something Charley’s great at.”

  Charley looked at Evie and had a silent mental exchange with her.

  He thinks he’s safe. We know he’s not. You tell him or I will.

  Evie nodded and dropped her head, resigned. But before she could form a word Ford sat forward, excited.

  “I have a surprise for you, Evie. You’re going to have a lot of work to do tomorrow, sorting through all of your things from your apartment that are now littering a bay of my garage.”

  Evie jerked her head up. “My stuff? How do you have my stuff?”

  “I sent some guys and one of my trucks over first thing this morning to collect your belongings. I didn’t think it was right for you not to have them. If you don’t want them, I understand, but I wanted you to have the option to decide at your leisure. I feared my rush to have you move in contributed to your decision to leave them, and if it did, I wanted to remedy that situation for you.”

  “One of your trucks?” Evie croaked.

  Ford frowned, nodding.

  “With your company’s name on it?”

  “Yes, Hawthorne Enterprises. Why?”

  Charley and Evie locked eyes. Now she knew. “He was having the apartment watched. That’s why I left the stuff in the first place.”

  Charley nodded, pulling a corner of his mouth back in a sneer.

  Ford cleared his throat. “Would either of you care to explain what the hell you’re talking about?”

  Evie sighed. “Ford, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  Evie relayed the entire story, with Charley jumping in to add details here and there while Ford listened, his face becoming more and more ashen. Evie’s stomach sank and her words grew slower as she flicked her eyes to Charley. Was he seeing this reaction?

  She could see he was. Charley was studying Ford’s face, his brows drawn together. Finally when Evie got to the part of the story where John had threatened her with his former violent client, Ford jumped to his feet, the heavy dining room chair screeching along the floor.

  “You can’t be here anymore,” he barked to Evie, his face hard as stone. “You have to leave immediately.”

  Evie’s mouth dropped open, the worst-case scenario unfolding right in front of her. Cold fear crept through her. She looked from Ford to Charley, begging Charley with her eyes to do something.

  But Charley was fixated on Ford, a mixture of outrage and confusion on his face. “Ford! You can’t mean that! She’s not safe out there!” He swept a muscular arm in Evie’s direction. “We’ve got to protect her.”

  For a heartbeat Evie’s world tilted. We’ve got to protect her. The concept was unfamiliar yet powerful. Would someone do that for her? Hope sparked a small flame in her chest.

  “No.” Ford’s answer was emphatic. “Charley, she can’t be here under these circumstances! Do you understand?” He turned to Evie, his face a mask of horror. “Why you’re here… What I’ve asked you to do…!” He made an anguished noise, running both hands through his hair and turning to the window.

  “Ford,” Charley said gently, reaching a hand out to him, but Ford whirled toward Evie again.

  “Evie, what you’ve agreed to do while you’re here! It’s not right! Not under this kind of duress. It has to be completely your free choice.”

  Oh. She understood. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

  “Of course that’s what I’m worried about!” His brow creased and he shoved his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders. “Goddamnit, Evie! I don’t have to explain to you why this is wrong.”

  Evie couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. “You love manipulating situations to get what you want! Why would this bother you?”

  “Having a fair challenge a
nd winning, that’s fun. Having you agree to give me oral sex because you are afraid for your life is something completely different!”

  Evie gasped and swiveled her eyes to Charley, who shrugged, but Ford waved his hand dismissively. “I told Charley all about it while you were changing for dinner.

  “You what?” Evie felt her face blanch. “I don’t want anyone to know that!”

  “No.” Ford barked, jabbing a finger at her. “That’s shame. None of that in this house. It’s insulting to my desires and I don’t want you to have ugly feelings when you choose to give me what I want.” He looked back and forth between them. “I decided when I chose to ask Evie here that in my own home none of us are going to feel ashamed or judged over the things we choose to do. I forbid it.”

  Evie shrank back, his reasoning muting her momentarily. “I just— Who else are you planning to tell?”

  “No one. I was being honest when I told you I’d protect your privacy and mine, but I tell Charley everything. You’ll have to accept that.”

  Charley had caught on to Ford’s concern. “Ford, even if you think she’s here because she feels trapped, you can’t just kick her out.”

  “Now wait a minute!” Evie protested. “Everyone just hang on.” She splayed her hands in front of her, patting the air. “Calm down, both of you. I want to make something clear. I didn’t take this job or—” she held her finger up at Ford and forced the words out of her mouth, “—agree to give you blowjobs because I had no other choice. I most certainly had choices.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “I could have gone to the police and faced the consequences. I could have skipped the state and figured out some solution that didn’t involve you. I could have just taken the job and not agreed to the oral sex. Right?”

  Ford crossed his arms, looking furious. “I don’t like it. I don’t want to feel like you’re doing it because you had no other choice. It’s creepy, and quite frankly, takes all the fun out of it for me. I need you to exercise complete free will and still want to do every sordid thing I ask of you, just to please me. That’s what excites me. I don’t want this.” He waved his hands in the air in a gesture of dismissal. “Charley’s right, Evie. You can’t leave when you’re in danger. I wouldn’t want that. You can stay and do the job, but it’s strictly business between us from now on. Traditional business,” he clarified.