Piper’s Promise [The Ghost Riders 6] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Read online

  “I can do it.”

  Yeah, she had balls when she wasn’t in their presence. They’d drop right off her body and roll out the door the first time they looked at her with those beautifully teasing eyes.

  To her surprise, Jessie and Ginger greeted her when she walked through the door that morning. They were up and looking surprisingly rested.

  “Hey! Wasn’t yesterday a blast?” Jessie asked.

  “Yeah. I’m still recovering. Remind me to wear jogging shoes next time I go anywhere with you ladies. I’m still beat.”

  Ginger giggled. “You’ll get used to it the more you hang around us. We love to be pampered and go shopping. You’ll see.”

  “I may need to beg off the next time. I’ll probably still be recovering.” Piper laughed.

  “Nah, you’ll be ready. Irish and Turk are already in the office. Go on back. If they get too engrossed and won’t let you up for air, we’ll come grab you for a break later.” Jessie hugged her.

  “Thanks.” Piper walked down the hall toward the guys’ office.

  No amount of mental preparation could help her when she walked in to find two asses bent over Irish’s desk peering at photos. They were lush and tight and everything she loved about a man. She wanted to take a bite out of them or, at the very least, grope them, but Piper did neither. Instead she cleared her throat.

  “Am I too early?”

  Both men stood up and turned around. The smiles on their faces seemed a little off to her, but then everything about them was over the top. Why would they be smiling that broadly? She took a quick look at the pictures believing they’d be of naked women for their web page, but instead, they turned out to be pictures of motorcycles in various stages of being built.

  “Hey, Piper. Thanks for coming. Did you have a good time with the ladies yesterday?” Turk reached out and took her hand, drawing her in between him and Irish.

  “Hey, babe.” Irish squeezed her shoulder.

  “You were right. I should have worn sneakers instead of the sandals I foolishly thought would be comfortable enough. You could have told me they were power shoppers.”

  Irish chuckled a low, very masculine sound. “We told you to wear comfortable shoes. I would have thought that would clue you in.”

  “Come on. Let’s get started. We were just looking over the photos to decide how they should be placed on the pages.” Turk pulled her over to the desk where they had them all laid out in sequential order. “These don’t have primer or paint on yet but show the various styles we build.”

  Irish pointed at the first column. “These show the basic bike styles they have to pick first. After that, the upgrades with specifications then the final outside body types. Once they’ve done all of that, they’d move to colors and custom finishes. Got it?”

  “Yeah. It’s like building one of those bears kids can make online where they choose gender, size, and clothing for their bear. It’s going to be amazing once it’s up and running. It will take some major programming for it to work seamlessly.”

  “Can you do it?” Turk asked her.

  “Of course. I’m just saying it will take some time. I need all the pics in a file in the order you want them on the pages and descriptions as to what they represent.”

  “Already done,” Turk said, a smile curling over his lips.

  “Okay then. Show me where you want them to start and I’ll get started.”

  “How long do you think it will take?” Irish asked.

  “Several days of programming to get everything up and running. I can work on it during the day until around four, and then I need to go home to work on my other projects. I still have obligations for those.”

  “We understand.” Turk nodded.

  The two men exchanged puzzling looks, but Piper just ignored them. She was eager to start working on one of the most challenging projects she’d ever programmed before. It would be super exciting as well as time-consuming. She wished she could do it from home since working around the two men played hell with her libido. She wanted them with every cell in her being but knew better than to dream of their hands roving over her naked body.

  They were off-limits. They were not only technically her bosses, but they were bikers and had treated her oddly the last time she’d been there. Maybe it had been something related to business that had caused them to go cold, and she just hadn’t noticed, but either way, they were too much for someone like her.

  “What do you need before we leave you to it?” Turk asked her.

  “I don’t suppose you have anything nonalcoholic other than water, do you?” She asked.

  “Yeah. The ladies like sodas. What would you like?” Irish asked.

  “Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi if you have it.”

  “One DC coming right up.” Irish left her alone with Turk, whose broad smile curled her toes.

  “If you pull this off, babe, there will be a huge bonus in it for you. It will put our bikes out there for a lot more buyers.” Turk squeezed her shoulder then let his hand slide down her arm to catch her wrist. He pulled her over to his desk. “Let me show you where I put the folder with all the pictures.”

  She and Turk were so engrossed with the files they were going over that she missed when Irish returned and set the opened can of Diet Coke on the desk next to her.

  “Okay. I think you have everything you need. We’ve got a meeting and will be tied up for a little while. If you need anything, Gus will be outside in the main room and will get you whatever it is.”

  “Thanks. I’ve got it. I’ll have a lot of basic programming to do before I even get to loading pictures. Go on.” Piper smiled up at Turk without thinking about it.

  What did surprise her was when Irish reached over and squeezed her shoulder before both men walked out of the office. She stewed over that for a few minutes then got back to the programming she needed to do. Thoughts of the two men swirled around in her subconscious while she worked with code. Programming was amazing, and building one code by code satisfied a part of her that needed and craved order in her life. She’d always preferred routine and for things to go as expected. Piper didn’t like surprises.

  She’d just finished draining her Diet Coke when the guys returned with hamburgers and fries. Her mouth watered at the smell.

  “Brought you lunch. Figured you forget the time. Turk does when he’s busy on that thing. It kind of sucks you into a different dimension when you’re on it.” Irish set the plate in front of her after shoving aside some of her scratch paper.

  Turk set another DC in front of her, as well. “How’s it coming?”

  “Good. Slow but good. Instead of grabbing lines of code from other sites that I’ve used, I’m building it completely from scratch, so maybe no one will be able to hack it and screw with the code.” She popped a fry into her mouth. “Aren’t you guys eating?”

  “Already have. We looked in on you before we did, but you were so deep into whatever you were doing that you didn’t even notice. Figured we’d put yours on after we finished eating. Dig in.” Irish rolled his chair over closer to the desk. Turk pulled a straight-back chair over, as well.

  “Are you going to watch me eat? Really?” She stopped from taking a bite out of her burger.

  “Yep.” Turk grinned and handed her a napkin.

  “So, what other projects are you working on?” Irish asked.

  “A couple of websites for authors. Those are pretty straightforward and easy. They want me to keep them updated with their information and any new books they’ve got coming out. I hooked their blog to them and put buy buttons for all the major sells on the pages so their readers have a choice about where to get the books.”

  “Sounds interesting. Do you ever read any of their books?” Turk asked.

  “Usually at least one of them to get a feel for their writing style so I can tailor the page to reflect that style.”

  “What kind of authors are they? I wonder if the girls read anything they write. They’re stuck on those er
otic romance books.” Turk shook his head. “The guys don’t mind since it puts them in the mood at the oddest times.”

  Irish and Turk chuckled. They shook their heads.

  “I remember that time we were all working out in the back cutting grass and generally cleaning the place up for a party when River came out and blatantly told Reese and Dom that she was horny and needed some alone time with them. Talk about surprised. We’ve all teased the guys about that.” Irish snagged one of her fries and chomped it. “What kind of books do you like to read, Piper?”

  She drew in a quick breath. “I think I should plead the fifth on that one.”

  Both men laughed.

  “That says it all. You should talk to River, Raven, Jessie, Ginger, and Delta. I bet they’ve read some of the same ones you have.” Turk’s wide grin lit up his hazel eyes until more of the green seemed to bleed through.

  “Maybe I will. I bet I can suggest a few new authors to them, as well. Most of the authors I work for write that sort of romance.” She smiled before taking another rather large bite out of the delicious burger.

  “Where are you in the process of putting up the pages?” Turk asked.

  “Still in the basic programming. I’m writing it in Word, and then I’ll transfer and upload it into the system and piece it all together. I think you need a few more color options. The ones you have are good, but you really want to give them enough of a choice that they feel like they can create something unique. It will help make them think they will have something no one else has.”

  “That makes sense. I’ll get the guys to queue up some more color options. They can paint it any color someone wants it, along with whatever specialized designs they might want.” Turk made a note on a piece of paper that he stuck in his pocket.

  “Do you need to get up and walk around some? You’ve been sitting there for nearly four hours now.” Irish grabbed her empty plate.

  “Yeah. I probably better, or I’ll get leg cramps,” she said.

  “Let’s go out to look at the bikes that they’re working on. It might help you if you see them in the various stages,” Turk suggested.

  “I’d like that.” She stood up and stretched before following the men back into the main part of the building then outside.

  They walked around to the garage area, and Turk showed her the bikes that were in the process of being built from the ground up. She couldn’t help but be impressed at how clean the place was, much less the masterpieces they were building. One of the bikes looked like a chopper with a skull holding the headlight and what looked like a spine that would hold the seat. Another of the bikes was in the process of being detailed with flames down the sides.

  “Wow. This is amazing. How many bikes do you make a year?” she asked.

  “Between eight and ten a year, but we want to increase that. We’ve got more mechanics who can work on them now and will be moving the regular garage next year over to the one we’re building next door. That will give us more room for the bikes and a small showroom,” Cassius told her.

  “Who does the design work?” she asked.

  “Merrick and I do most of it. We’ve got degrees in engineering. The guys put what we create into the bikes they build. We just oversee it for the most part.”

  “Don’t let him fool you,” Irish told her. “They work on them just as hard as the others do.”

  “I hope I can put together a page that will really showcase this. Don’t forget to get more color choices and some more designs they can choose from. I need to get back to work.” Piper turned and walked out of the shop area.

  Just as she reached for the door leading back into the clubhouse, Irish stopped her. “Walk around with us for a few more minutes. You need the fresh air.”

  Why she agreed, Piper didn’t know, but she let them lead her around the back to the picnic tables where they sat across from her.

  “You really enjoy what you do, don’t you?” Turk said.

  “Yeah. I love putting code together and making pages that draw in a person. Something that will have them stop and look when there are millions of other pages to look at out there,” she admitted.

  “Yeah. That’s kind of how I am about hacking.” Turk’s smirk gave him a boyish look that she hadn’t seen before. Almost playful.

  “Hacking is against the law you know.”

  “Yep, but I only do it for good.”

  “Somehow, I don’t believe that,” she admonished. “I bet most of the time it’s just to prove you can.”

  Irish laughed. “She’s got you there.”

  “We’d like to take you out to eat, Piper. Will you let us?” Turk asked.

  “What? Tonight?” she asked.

  “Tonight, or any other night you have open.” Irish smiled at her from across the table.

  “Why?”

  “Because we like you. We want to get to know you outside of work.” Turk reached over and caught her hand in his.

  Piper felt odd. She liked them and was completely attracted to them to the point of wanting to jump their bones, but she had so much going on in her life right then. Between the creepster and her job as a phone sex operator, along with trying to get a business up and going, where did she have time for a relationship of any type? She didn’t.

  “I—I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now. I’m working for you guys and…”

  “Just think about it then. We really want to spend time with you outside of this.” Irish started to reach for her other hand when her phone rang.

  Piper pulled it out of her pocket and frowned at the unknown number before answering.

  “Hello?”

  “I’m coming for you, Piper. You can’t hide from me now.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Piper? What is it?” Turk asked.

  Whoever was on the other end of the phone had scared her by the white line that had appeared around her mouth and the way her eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates. He snatched the phone from her hand and listened, but all he heard was silence.

  “Answer me, Piper. What is it?” he demanded.

  Irish grabbed both her hands in his as Turk checked the phone for the number, only to see that it was an unknown blocked number. Something was terribly wrong.

  “Babe. Talk to us. Who was that, and what did they want? You’re scaring us.” Irish’s voice wasn’t nearly as gruff as Turk’s had been. He hoped his cousin could get through to her.

  “I—I don’t know. He calls me all the time and threatens me, but that’s the first time he’s called on my private cell number. Usually it’s my work number.” Piper’s hands pulled from Irish’s grasp as they shook while she covered her face. “Oh, God. He’s found me.”

  “Easy, Piper. We aren’t going to let anything happen to you. Who’s found you, and what is all of this about?” Turk ran a hand over her hair then climbed over the table to sit next to her.

  “I don’t know where to start. I need to think. I’ll have to move again. Oh God. I just got settled. I never thought he’d find me here.” Piper started to get up, but Irish had walked around the table to pull her into his arms to stop her.

  “You’re not going anywhere until you tell us what is going on. Who’s after you and why?” Irish ran a hand up and down her back as Turk continued to stroke her hair.

  Turk could tell by the way she hesitated that she didn’t want to tell them. Something more was going on than the phone call. She seemed almost ashamed as she looked everywhere but in their eyes.

  “You can tell us anything, Piper. We won’t think less of you. What is going on?” Turk asked, using one finger to hold her chin up so that she could look him in the eyes.

  “It’s a long story. I don’t want to get you guys involved. I don’t know what he’s capable of. He could hurt one of you or go after the others. I just don’t know. I don’t even know why he’s bothering me.” Tears stung her voice even as her eyes brimmed with them.

  Turk hated seeing the look of defeat and fear
burning in her eyes with the unshed tears. He’d kill the bastard just for the way she looked in that moment.

  “Come on. Let’s go inside and talk, Piper. You need to tell us the entire story. We’ll help you.” Irish stood up and pulled her into his arms before letting her go and leading her to the back door of the clubhouse.

  They bypassed the main room and slipped past the kitchen to Irish’s room. There they settled her on Irish’s bed and sat on either side of her, each holding a hand in theirs. Her tears finally slipped down her face, breaking Turk’s heart.

  “Talk to us, babe. What is going on?” Turk asked.

  “After I moved to Dallas to go to school, I couldn’t afford the dorm so I rented a little apartment and worked as much as I could and still take classes. I worked every shit job I could find, but it wasn’t enough to pay for living expenses and tuition at the same time. One of my classmates told me about a job that I could do from home at night or early in the morning around classes that would pay more the more I worked. I was desperate and needed the money fast, or I was going to get thrown out of my apartment. She helped me set it up, and she was right. It more than paid for my tuition and living expenses.

  “What kind of job was it, Piper?” Turk asked.

  He exchanged a glance with Irish. He was pretty sure he knew now what she’d been doing, and it hadn’t been maintaining the site’s pages.

  “I—I did phone sex. I’m a phone sex operator. I still do it to help pay my bills until I can get more work with my web design business.” She looked down at her hands as she rubbed them together.

  “There’s nothing wrong with what that, Piper. It’s not illegal, and it helped you get your degree.” Turk chuckled. “It’s even sort of sexy. I can sure attest to how sexy your voice is.”