Ten

"Hey, doll."

Turning from the counter, even as she thanked the barista for the two steaming take-away coffees, Eden smiled when she came face-to-face with Lyla. "Hey," she returned the greeting warmly. "How are ya?"

"Good – busy," Lyla said. "Things are finally picking up at the garage again. I guess I shouldn't complain, but the guys are spread pretty thin these days. Thought I'd at least come out for a decent coffee, clear my head. You got time to sit for five, or …?"

"Uh … Yeah, sure. You haven't ordered yet? Here, take this one – I can grab Seth another before we leave."

"He keeping you busy too?" Lyla asked, as they found a vacant table just outside the coffee shop and sat down to enjoy the sun. "Thought we might have seen you around the clubhouse a bit more …"

Clocking the knowing little look on the blonde's face, Eden rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling, realising her new friend meant well. "Subtle, real subtle."

"Dunno what you mean," Lyla protested, but she ended up laughing. "Okay, hands up, I'm fishing. Strictly to satisfy my own curiosity though. Hey, cut me some slack, I've seen the sparks between you and Chibs – I can't help getting a little impatient waiting to see how that catches fire."

"Just don't go getting your hopes up," Eden warned, sipping on her coffee, but not missing the frown her words drew.

"Uh, what?" Lyla asked, clearly confused. "Listen, I don't want to pry – okay, I kinda do, but … I'm not imagining it – there's something there, right? Like more than just a hook-up?"

"I know you're connected, but I barely know the guy, Lyla," Eden sighed. "And what I do know … Well, it ain't exactly Tinder profile material, is it?"

Lyla almost choked on her coffee at that. "Shit, sorry. The thought of Chibs on Tinder, I can't even … I mean, I love the man, but he has a hard enough time with the office computer," she said, smothering a giggle before turning serious again. "Look, Eden, I'm definitely not the person to blindly give you the hard sell on club life. What I went through with Opie … I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Eden shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the flash of grief on the other woman's face. "I heard about what happened," she said softly. "I'm so sorry, I can't imagine how awful that must have been."

Lyla acknowledged that with a grateful little nod, blinking back tears that had quickly sprung up at the thought of her husband and their short-lived life together. "Things were far from perfect and the club was definitely a big part of complicating that," she admitted. "Sometimes I wonder how things might have been if … If we'd never … gotten together."

"You think it might have been … easier?" Eden prompted gently, as the former porn star lapsed into reflective silence, only for her to firmly set down her coffee and lean across the table in response.

"Easier," Lyle nodded, a fierce look in her blue eyes. "Sure. Easier to slid into oblivion. Easier to rely on a fix to get through the shit I had to do to pay my way, to pay for my kid. Easier to get hooked on harder and harder gear. I may have been a porn star, and I know what some people think of me for that, but without Op – I'd have ended up just another junkie hooker on the streets. He wasn't perfect, we weren't perfect, but who is?"

A little taken aback by the intensity of her stance, Eden could only listen and take it on board. She had no idea how to respond, but it seemed Lyla didn't expect her to.

"I'm not trying to force your hand," Lyla said, forcing a little smile back on her face. "We don't really know each other either, but I like you and it'd be nice to have a friend who isn't just a co-star, you know? I'm just passing on a little advice I had to learn the hard way. You can't separate the man from the club, so if that's a deal-breaker, then yeah, it ain't worth even trying because that's nothing but a sure-fire way to heartbreak. But I guess I'm just saying there's more to Chibs than the obvious. Don't rule out giving him a chance to show you that."

"You must really trust him," Eden said quietly. "Sticking around like you have, working at the garage, having the kids around the club?"

Lyla nodded. "I'm not stupid – I get that it's not without risks. Trust me on that, I've got the bullet scar to prove it. But, after Op, Jax was good to me. Chibs too. And this last year, even with everything he's had to take on, he's still looked out for me and the kids. Under all the outlaw shit, he's a good man, Eden. He deserves a little happiness for a change."

Eden may not have said anything to that, but with her mind full of the Scotsman's murmured words of caress, the warmth in his brown eyes when he looked at her, and the heat of his touch on her skin, she couldn't deny that she at least wanted the chance to be the one to provide that. She just didn't know if she could be.


"You not joining me?"

Handing over a takeaway coffee to her brother, Eden shook her head as she perched on the edge of his office table. "Ended up grabbing one with Lyla."

"The cute little blonde the Sons got running the garage?"

"That'd be the one," Eden said, toying distractedly with the leather strap of her watch.

Seth eyed her as he sipped his latte, seeming to debate whether or not to speak up. "You okay? You seem kinda … off."

"Just thinking."

"About?" he prompted, when nothing further was forthcoming - figuring that if she really didn't want to talk, she wouldn't have said anything. "Eden?"

"I'm thinking about going back to work," she said finally, meeting his surprised gaze with a little shrug. "About time, don't you think?"

"Long over-due, I'd say," Seth said, but he reached out to squeeze her hand gently. "I'm proud of you, kid. What changed your mind?"

"Just thought it was time I … moved on. Got my life back on track. I still want to be involved here at the gym, I like working here. But you were right. I've been using it as something to hide behind. I can't do that forever."

Her brother nodded slowly, pleased with the decision she'd come to, although still wondering exactly what had sparked such a change of heart. Maybe it was just time. Maybe it was something more. "And Shane?"

Eden's face hardened at that. "Nothing changes there. Too much water under that bridge."

"Can't say I'm sorry," Seth shrugged. "You know my feelings on that jumped-up prick."

"Yeah, you might have mentioned something," Eden said wryly, knowing that was a hell of an understatement. "Look, he's in the past. It's time I started focusing on the future."

Seth nodded again, taking a long drink of his coffee, his eyes never leaving her as he tried to get a read on what was going on behind her cool, collected front. He didn't disagree, but that didn't mean he didn't still have questions. Concerns. "Chibs Telford in that future?" he asked casually.

Eden rolled her eyes at that, once again uncomfortable at the memory of what he'd inadvertently witnessed. "I wondered when you'd get round to that," she mumbled. "He says you don't have a problem with it."

"That's a generous assessment," Seth scoffed. "Hey, I know it ain't my business, but you can't be surprised to know he's too much an outlaw for me to be thrilled about him hooking up with my little sister. Not to mention too old and too a dozen other things that are probably just for starters."

"Seth-"

"Nah, hear me out. I got my concerns, any brother would. But I still trust him a helluva lot more than that worthless bastard you're putting in the rear-view. So if a goddamn biker's what it takes to get you moving forward again … I'll deal."

Taken aback, but touched by his take on things – even if he wasn't exactly on the mark – Eden managed a little smile for him. "I'm not making life decisions around a guy I barely know," she said softly. "I just … I need to get out from under everything that's been hanging over my head. I want to get on with living my life. I dunno if there's more to me and Chibs than … Well, you know. But I want to find out."

"Like I said," Seth sighed. "I'll deal."


"I'm glad we finally got the chance to do this, darlin'."

"Me too," Eden smiled, raising her wine glass to clink it lightly against the biker president's across the intimate candlelit table.

He could tell she'd been surprised when he'd told her she could get dolled up without worrying about having to get on his bike and had since come to the conclusion her reaction was worth the effort of picking her up in Lyla's Escalade and taking her to the cosy, out-of-the-way Italian restaurant they were now sat in. He'd even forgone pulling on his cut over the soft material of one of his better gray shirts and the thin scarf looped around his neck in place of a tie. That was a decision he had pondered over though. Taking the physical reaper off his back made him no less a Son, so there was no point pretending otherwise. She would either accept that or she wouldn't, but he couldn't set out to deceive her on the point. He was who he was, take it or leave it.

Determined to just enjoy their evening though, Chibs pushed that out of his mind and let his gaze wander over her again, approving of the deep green dress that brought out the colour of her eyes, clinging to her breasts and flaring out from her nipped-in waist to swirl delicately around her knees.

"You look beautiful," he said warmly, his hand reaching for hers and toying with her slim fingers.

"You mentioned that already," she smiled, flushing just a little.

"What can I say? Bears repeating."

"You don't scrub up too bad yourself, Mr Telford," Eden replied, letting their fingers lace together. "Definite silver fox vibe."

"Yeah?" he grinned, half pleased, half sheepish. "An aul' man can but try."

"Was it hard getting a night off from … everything? The club?" she asked lightly.

"Always is, darlin'. But those boys are big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves for one night. Or I hope they are anyway."

"Must be a lot on your shoulders," Eden murmured, sympathy and understanding in her eyes and her fingers stroking his softly. "I don't expect you to tell me. I just … I can guess it must be tough. I'm glad you can get away from it, even just for a minute."

His gaze drifted from her eyes to her lips and he leaned across the small table to kiss her, before settling back in his seat. "It never leaves ya, pet. Price o' the patch – for me and anyone close. That a problem?"

Eden raised her shoulders helplessly and he realised he was asking for an answer she couldn't possibly have. Not yet anyway.

"Only one way to find out," she said.

He supposed that was true.