Loving The Biker (MC Biker Romance) (12 page)

Twenty-two

Cole

As she walked away, I vowed that one way or another, I was going to have her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be anytime soon.

Terin answered the phone and a puzzled look spread across her face. “Who is this?” she asked, frowning.

The caller said something else and hung up.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said, putting her phone away. 

From the expression on her face, I could tell that she’d been rattled by the caller though. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Who was it that called you?”

“Some crank caller.”

“Oh. Okay.” I glanced at the clock and noticed how late it was. “Shit. I’ve gotta go.”

Relief spread across her face. “Running late for work?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“Griffin’s,” I said.

“Have fun,” she said a little curtly.

“Hold on a second,” I said, moving toward her.

She stopped and turned around. “What?”

I grinned. “Do you want to get together later?”

Terin snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. Of course not.”

She sighed. “Look, I admit, I’m attracted to you but other than that, we have nothing in common.”

“We both like to work out,” I offered.

“I never said that I liked to. I have to.”

“Then let me show you a workout you’d enjoy,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.

“Give it up, Johnson. It’s not going to happen,” she answered, trying not to smile.

“You keep telling yourself that.”

Shaking her head, she left the room.

Twenty-three

Terin

Luckily, I found an available treadmill. As I began jogging, I saw Cole leave the weight room and head toward the men’s locker area. Some of the other women in the gym watched him leave as well. There was no denying that Cole was one fine specimen of a man. But, he was also dangerous in so many ways. One night with him could potentially get me fired and I wasn’t about to take any chances.

My phone began to vibrate again. Sighing, I slowed down and noticed that the person who’d called me earlier, someone who’d obviously had the wrong number, had just sent me a photo. I stopped the treadmill and opened up the message.

What the hell?

It was a picture of me and Cole, in the weight room. Both of us were staring into each other’s eyes and it looked much too intimate for comfort.

The phone buzzed again and there was a message from the same number.

Fraternizing with the enemy?

It was the same words the caller had said to me when I’d answered earlier.

Angry, I called the number but nobody answered. I listened to the voicemail.

“You’ve reached Cole Johnson. Sorry that I can’t take your call right now. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

Cole’s phone?

Stunned, I left him a message. “Uh… hi. It’s Terin. Could you give me a call as soon as you get this? Thanks.”

Still confused, I hung up and went back into the weight room. The other man who’d been working his legs earlier was still inside, doing butterflies. Convinced that he’d somehow gotten Cole’s phone and was messing with me, I decided to talk to the asshole.

“Excuse me,” I said, walking over to him.

He continued working out. “Yeah?”

“I need to ask you something.”

The guy, who I noticed had very light blue eyes and almost a baby face, sighed and stopped doing his reps. “What can I do for you?”

I frowned. His voice sounded very different from the caller’s. My gut told me he wasn’t the same guy. “Did you happen to find a phone in here?”

“No. Why?”

“My friend that was in here is missing his. Did you happen to see anyone else in here within the last fifteen minutes?”

“No. Just you and your friend.” He smiled. “Cole.”

“So, you know him?” I asked, curious.

He nodded. “I’ve done some of his ink and once in a while, we spot for each other at the gym here.”

“Really? He didn’t mention that,” I replied, wondering if this guy really did have Cole’s phone and was messing with me.

“I think he had his mind on other things,” replied the guy with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Are you sure that nobody else stopped in here?” I asked ignoring his comment.

He thought back and then his eyes lit up. “Actually, now that I think about it, some older dude stuck his head in. It was just for a second.”

My eyes widened. “Did he say anything to you?”

“No. He was busy checking his phone.”

“Checking his phone… Could he have been taking a picture?”

The stranger shrugged. “Yeah. I guess he could have been doing that. Why?”

“Just curious. What did the guy look like?”

“I didn’t pay him much attention. The only thing I really noticed was that he was older.”

“How old?”

“Fifties. Maybe even sixties.”

“Did he have glasses? A beard? Or anything else that you can think of?”

“His face was pock-marked and tan. He had a lot of gray in his hair.”

“Heavy set?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, he just stuck his head inside the doorway. Why? What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Thank you for the information,” I said, sighing. I left the room and went out to the parking lot, hoping that I hadn’t missed Cole. When I noticed that his motorcycle was still in the parking lot, I walked back into the building and waited for him outside of the locker room. Ten minutes later, he strolled out, frowning. When he noticed me, his face brightened.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked, stopping next to me.

“Are you missing your cell phone?” I replied, noticing that he’d taken a shower and was now wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt that said “Griffin’s”

He looked surprised. “Yeah. How did you know? Did you find it?”

“No, but the person who apparently has it sent me this,” I said, and then showed him the picture.

His face twisted into an angry scowl. “What the fuck?”

“Yeah, I know. Real cute. When was the last time you saw your phone?”

“I’m certain I had it when I arrived. I usually store it in my locker when I’m working out. I noticed that it wasn’t there when I went back in to take a shower. I searched the locker room and went back to the gym, but didn’t see it.”

“Do you use a lock?”

“Yes,” he answered. “And it was still locked when I went back there after my workout.”

“The person who sent me this photo, using your phone, was the same one who called me when we were in the gym. I spoke to the guy who was in there with us and he mentioned that someone poked their head in and could have taken the picture.”

“Quinn? Did he know the guy who took the picture?” asked Cole.

“Doesn’t sound like it.” I gave him Quinn’s description of the man.

“Could have been anyone,” said Cole, running a hand quickly through his damp hair.

“Not anyone. Someone who knows us both and is trying to piss me off.”

He sighed. “Do you have any idea of who it could be?”

Bronson’s face popped into my head. He was in his thirties though and didn’t fit the description. “No. I guess I don’t.”

Cole swore. “I need my damn phone back. If I get my hands on this guy, he’s in deep shit.”

“You should call your phone carrier and see if they can track it down,” I said.

He nodded. “Good idea. I’ll have to do that,” he replied and then looked toward the front desk. “I should probably check the Lost and Found, too.”

“I guess it can’t hurt.”

“Cole!”

We both turned around and saw Quinn heading toward us. He was holding up a cell phone.

Cole’s face lit up. “Sweet. My phone. Where did you find it?” 

“It was sitting in the locker room,” he replied. “On the bathroom sink.”

“How did you know it was his?” I asked, still not too sure about Quinn.

“Easy.” He looked at Cole. “I went in and looked at a couple of the texts and pictures. One of them was of your most recent tattoo. Obviously, I recognized it.”

“Nothing else like it, brother,” said Cole, raising his shirt.

“You did that?” I asked, staring in appreciation at the dragon on Cole’s abs.

Quinn nodded.

“Wow. Great work.”

“Thank you,” he replied. “It took quite a few hours. Ask Cole about it. He cried like a baby.”

“Fuck you,” said Cole, smiling.

“Okay, he
whined
like a baby,” said Quinn.

“I was hangry,” said Cole, dropping his shirt. “I should have eaten something before showing up that day. Anyway, Quinn does excellent work. He’s my new go-to man.”

“Thanks,” said Quinn. “You have any ink?”

I shook my head.

“If you ever decide to get one, stop in at Ink Me. I’ll do your first one for free.”

My eyes widened. “Free?”

“Once you get your first one, it’s like an addiction. He knows you’ll be back,” said Cole, looking through his phone.

“I saw the picture with you two. That’s kind of weird, huh?” said Quinn. “It’s almost like someone is stalking one of you.”

“No shit,” said Cole.

“Could it be Patty?” asked Quinn.

“I don’t think so,” said Cole. “At least I hope not.”

“Then it probably was that old man I noticed in the gym. Did you tell Cole about him?” asked Quinn.

“Yes,” I replied.

“You ever see him here before?” asked Cole.

“No, but then I don’t pay too much attention to other guys,” said Quinn. “When I’m here, I’m pretty focused on my workout. Or chicks.”

“I hear you,” said Cole.

“I have to get going. Good luck with the stalker. If I see him around, I’ll let you know,” said Quinn.

“Thanks, man,” said Cole.

Quinn looked at me. “Nice meeting you…?”

“Terin,” I said. “Nice meeting you too, Quinn.”

“Don’t forget… Ink Me. We just opened up in downtown Jensen. Tell your friends and neighbors.”

“I won’t forget,” I said, amused.

“And… if you want your cherry popped,” he said, winking. “I’m your man.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Come again?”

Cole laughed.

“You have virgin skin,” explained Quinn, smiling.

“Ah. So have you popped a lot of cherries?” I asked, thinking that he probably had a lot of young women standing in line to be tattooed.

“I’ve had my share. Don’t worry, I’m very gentle. At least when I can be,” he added.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied.

“Good luck catching the creepy old geezer,” said Quinn. “And I’ll see you around Cole.”

“Definitely.”

“So, did the asshole do anything to your phone?” I asked Cole, after Quinn left us.

“Doesn’t appear like it,” he said, scowling.

I nodded toward his phone. “You have anything in there that could get you into trouble?”

“Besides the picture of you and me?” he said, smiling. “No.”

“Could you please erase it?”

“Why?” he asked, pulling the photo up. “It’s a good picture.”

I had to agree but that wasn’t the point. “Some creepoid took it.”

Cole’s smile faded. “True.” He put his finger on the ‘Delete’ button. “If I erase it, will you let me take another one of you?” 

I tilted my head. “Why do you need a picture of me?” I asked dryly.

“So I can assign it as your Contact picture,” he said innocently. “I wouldn’t want to forget what you looked like.”

I snorted.

“I’m serious. If you want me to delete it, then I need another.”

“Fine,” I huffed.

Smiling, he held his phone up. “Smile.”

I did.

“Beautiful. What would make it even better is if you,” Cole gave me a wicked smile, “raised your shirt.”

I raised my middle finger instead.

He laughed and took the picture.  

Twenty-four

Cole

After walking out of the gym, I called Tank from the parking lot and told him about the incident.

“That’s fucked up. Someone is messing with the both of you.”

“Apparently.”

“It has to be someone from the Devil’s Rangers,” he added. “Could even be the same person who called in the ‘anonymous’ tip.”

“I was thinking that myself.”

“You on your way to Griffin’s?”

“Yes. Obviously, I’m going to be a few minutes late.”

“That’s fine. Have a good night.”

“You’re not going to be there?”

“No. Raina has to work late and I’m watching Billy. We just got done bringing her dinner.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Great. He’s such a good kid. Frannie just adores him. So do I.”

“He’s easy to love,” I answered.

“He sure is. Oh, I have to go. He needs help brushing his teeth before hitting the hay.”

“Tell him I love him, will you?”

“I will.”

After hanging up with Tank, I jumped on my bike and headed to work, still wondering who the fuck had taken my phone. And even stranger, why did they bother to return it?