My cheeks blazed red hot and I was sure they had turned pink.
“Yep, just like that.” Roark chuckled as he forced me to begin walking again.
However, I noticed where we were and I pulled against his hold.
“Roark…” I gasped and tugged harder as I tried to get out of his grip.
Unfortunately, the man was strong and he held me so close that I had no room or strength to escape. He was dragging me straight for my garage and I didn’t want to see it.
“Please,” I whimpered.
“It’s okay, Kendra. Remember, I promised not to let anything hurt you again?”
“But I don’t want to go there, Roark.” My body began to shake and Roark hugged me tighter.
“Just look… please, Kendra?” Roark rasped and I realized I’d squeezed my eyes closed.
When I opened them, what I saw shocked me. The familiar cement block walls had a fresh coat of paint. New windows and doors shined in the sunlight.
“What? I thought it really…” I turned my gaze on Roark and he grinned.
“We made sure everything is basically back to the way you had it. We even hired a guy to fix your customer’s car. They were extremely happy, by the way.” Roark watched me intently and waited.
“But… you couldn’t… it’s only been a few days,” I gasped.
“Where there is a will, there’s a way,” Roark replied.
“More like, when a stubborn president has an MC to boss around…” I heard someone mumble.
I turned and looked at the guys standing around me. I knew that they were here because of Roark, but still, they were protecting me and had helped repair what had been damaged. My heart swelled in my chest and my hand rose to my mouth as I struggled for words.
“All of you did this?” I finally asked.
“The entire club, sweetheart.” Roark grinned ear to ear and his giddy attitude was starting to catch ahold of me and my own smile widened.
“Ve vanted to make up for allowing it to happen.” The huge Russian, Boris, spoke softly.
“Allowing?” His statement confused me.
“Yes, babe,” Roark answered as he turned me in his arms. His hand came up to brush my hair back behind my ear. It seemed that he liked any reason to touch me. “If I had followed you back to the garage, none of it would have happened. If I had ordered my enforcers to watch your place, those men wouldn’t have gotten in or escaped.” A growl rolled from Roark’s lips at his last sentence.
“Oh, Roark.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “It wasn’t your fault. Shit happens. And, this shit all goes back to Billingsworth.”
“But you’re mine, Kendra. That makes it my responsibility to keep you safe.” Roark was tense under my hands as he looked into my face.
“Well…” I wanted to argue with him. Tell him that I was no one's responsibility and that I could take care of myself. But if the incident in my garage had taught me anything – even I needed help once in a while. And that truth really chaffed.
“Well, we should go check out the garage and make sure we did you up right.” Roark offered and I noticed the men around him all wearing hopeful looks.
“Alright.” I nodded and allowed him to lead me inside the garage.
Once we stepped inside, Banshee stepped from the backroom and handed me a set of new keys.
“Roark will go over the security codes.” Banshee squeezed my hand as she placed the keys into it and quickly headed out the front door.
When I followed her path, I noticed that none of the guys had followed us inside.
“The security keypad is beside your desk. If you don’t enter the pin within ten minutes, Haught is notified and I’ll be here within ten minutes with my guys to make sure you’re okay.” He headed over to the keypad and showed me how to enter the codes.
Roark went over them several times until I was able to do them on my own. There was even an emergency button, like a panic button, that I could push which would have him notified within seconds. It all seemed like overkill but I was so grateful for the security system and the fact that he’d be monitoring it that a grin curled up the sides of my mouth.
“We figured the ten minutes would allow you enough time in case someone is waiting on you at the door. We know that it will take a bit to get used to, so we’ll call before rushing in to save the day,” Roark explained after I sat in silence for several minutes.
“Yes, there are times that it could take a few minutes to get over to my desk,” I replied.
“Oh, I almost forgot…” Roark grinned. “Haught also installed cameras. We have them all around the perimeter so we will know who comes and goes. Plus there is one there” – he pointed up into the corner by the ceiling – “and a couple of more in the bay areas.”
“This is all… too much, Roark,” I finally said with a sigh. “I can’t afford it all.”
“Well, you see… as my ole’ lady, you don’t have to worry about money.” Embarrassment shone on Roark’s face. I rose and pushed myself into his body, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him tight.
“Who said I was going to be your old lady?” I demanded.
“Fate, sweetheart.” Roark’s words were sealed with a kiss that quickly heated and we were soon wrapped around each other and I felt Roark moving.
I broke the kiss and looked up to see where he was going. I gasped at what he had done in my backroom. A bed had been set up and piled with pillows. Candles surrounded the room and the light flickered in a warmly romantic way.
Roark settled me onto the mattress and came down over top of me. His hands slid beneath my shirt and traced up my ribs as he worked to remove my
