Chapter 3.
Loco had called back about 45 minutes later. Address and a land line phone number. No cell number, yet. He would get back to him in a while when he had more.
Happy decided he needed something to eat, so he left Jacks, and headed to the diner down the road. Sitting in the booth, he did what he always did, he watched. The 3 teenage boys who were obviously high, and unable to stop laughing. The family 2 booths away, the dad getting more and more angry at the noise behind him. The waitress who might as well lay down on the table he was sitting at she was so blatant in her flirting.
Drinking the 2nd cup of coffee, he thought about Dani, there was a whole lot more to her, and she was working hard to not share it. He understood that, he did the same thing. But why was she so secretive? He was going to need to figure that out. For the good of the club, of course.
Happy looked at his phone, he figured he better check in with Quinn. He couldn't imagine there was anything that had come up in the 6 hours since the club had left him at the VFW, but better to check in.
Quinn picked up on the 3rd ring. "Yo. Hap. Where are you?" Quinn asked. It was loud wherever he was, and it sounded like a good time was being had.
"Still in Redding. Working on something." Happy replied.
"That cute little redhead?" Quinn asked as it got quieter. He must have stepped outside. "She was one fine piece of ass Hap. Way out of your league."
"Fuck off!" Happy said back. "but you are probably not wrong about that. Not sure what is up with that, yet. But though I better check in."
"Well, work on what you are working on. Things are good here. And if you don't tap that, I will personally beat your ass next time I see you." Quinn roared at the last comment.
"You are welcome to try. And Hey. I don't need anyone knowing…" Hap started.
"Don't worry. I ain't one of these gossiping SAMCRO fuckers. Your secret is safe with me. As long as you tell me how she sucks cock." Quinn was grinning, and Happy could practically hear the grin over the phone.
"I will let you know if she sucks as good as you Quinn. Later" and with that Happy hung up before Quinn could say anything back.
Mother Fucker, Happy mumbled under his breath, sipping the last of his coffee. He dropped a $20 on the table and got up, walking out without acknowledging the waitress. As he walked passed the teenage boys, he just gave them that deathly look, which shut them up, at least while he was leaving.
Happy headed east on 44, down that winding road that Dani liked so much. The sun had just set, and the curves provided a bit of a challenge in the dark. But he knew the road. Had ridden it probably 80 times. He went about 30 miles, and then turned back, heading into Redding. By the time he got back into town, it was right at 9:45.
Hap needed to make some decisions. Take a risk and swing by her place or get a room at the motel he always stayed at. He knew the neighborhood her address was in, it was very upper middle class. So….. dumpy motel bed, or take a risk on a super comfy bed for the night.
Happy headed into the neighborhood. When he got to her address he drove by slowly, there were no lights on. So he went down the block, and parked his bike between 2 cars parked on the street, in a place where he could see her house and her garage. He killed the bike and just sat and waited. Happy looked at his watch, 10:00. 'Give it 45 minutes, and then I am heading to the motel' he thought to himself.
About 10:30 an Acadia Denali pulled into her driveway, and the garage door opened. He watched the car pull in and he got off his bike walking over to her house. She was just getting out of her SUV when Happy cleared his throat to let her know she was there. Dani whipped around, and the gun was out of her purse in an instant, pointing at him.
"Hey Hey. Its just me." Happy says, holding up his hands.
"Jesus Happy, don't do that, unless you want to get shot." Dani said. Lowering the gun. Happy walked around the SUV and saw her outfit. He let out a low whistle as he walked closer to her.
"Sorry." He took her hand with the gun in his, looking at the gun. A Kimber .380 ultra light. And then his eyes move up and down her body. She was in a very classy little black dress with a low scooping back, her hair, pinned back on the sides, but falling in curls down her back, and sexy black high heels. Smiling he looked her right in the eye, licking his lips, and then saying, "Nice Gun".
"Thank you. You are lucky you are not dead." Dani said, looking at him. "Where is your bike?"
"Down the street. Didn't know if you were out alone, didn't want to impose myself on whatever you had going on." Happy said.
"Well, bring it up, park it next to mine." She said, smiling at him. "I am going to go change."
As Dani turned to walk in the house, she pushed the button to open the other garage door where her bike was parked. "Leave the heels on" Happy said flatly.
"In your dreams" she yelled over her shoulder as she entered the house from the garage.
Happy walked back to his bike, and thought, 'what the fuck am I doing?' And then he remembered what Quinn said, "if you don't tap that I will kick your ass." Happy resolved to not think about this too much, and just enjoy whatever happened.
He pulled into the garage, and then closed both garage doors before he entered the house. Entering the house he walked in to the kitchen, the dining room, a fairly formal room to the Right, and the Family room right by the kitchen. He took his boots off at the door. Something his mother taught him at a VERY early age.
Dani was no where to be seen, and he figured she went to change. Part of him thought about hunting her down like prey in her own house, and fucking her senseless, but that just seemed improper seeing how the day had gone so he walked around. Over the fireplace he saw a ton of pictures. One obviously was of her parents, and then there were several of her and various people, mostly with motorcycles, obviously Dani had ridden that bike all over the United States.
One photo caught his attention, it was Dani, in Uniform, and President Bush (43). He was giving her some kind of award. Just as he was setting it back on the mantle, he heard her coming down the stairs. He turned around and saw her, A Harley t-shirt, a pair of loose fitting leggings, and flip flops. But she was carrying the high heels and smiling at him.
Dani's POV
As she headed up the stairs to change her heart was just starting to slow. 'I about shot him' was her first thought, followed quickly by 'Dani, what are you doing. You have the Son's enforcer pulling his bike in your garage.'
She walked into her closet. It was mammoth, for anyone's standard, and she was standing in it acting like she didn't have a thing to wear. 'Sexy?' 'just fuck it and do naked?' and then she decided, 'He came to you. He gets your normal.' So Dani grabbed that well worn Chimney Rock NC Harley Shirt, and her leggings, exactly what she would have put on if she were home alone. Slipping on the flip flops, she tosses the dress and bra in the laundry. She picks up the shoes to put them away, but then smiled, taking them with her.
At the top of the stairs, she looks down, seeing Happy at the fireplace. 'Damm, going to probably have to explain that one' after a moment of watching him, she descended the stairs being sure to make enough noise he would hear her. She watch as he looked her over, and then saw the smile as he saw the heels.
Dani walked into the kitchen, setting the heels down, and getting a bottle of water. She offered one to Hap as he walked over to the big island, and he nodded taking it. "Sorry, no beer."
"Its ok. I didn't figure there was any." Happy responded.
Dani walked over to the couch and Happy followed her, and they sat down on the couch.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I have a guy" Happy said, he face stoic. Dani laughed.
"So, what were you doing tonight, because that dress was hot." Happy said.
"Work Christmas Party. Like I said biker chic was not the dress code." She said laughing.
"Can't believe you didn't get hit on in that thing. Had I been there." He said.
"Yeah Yeah, I know what you would have done. But I don't shit where I eat." She said flatly. "What did you do tonight?"
"Grabbed some dinner, went for a ride. Came to see you. And the night isn't over." Happy didn't say anything else, just smiled at her.
"Hoping to get lucky are you?" Dani said, looking at him square on.
"What I have isn't luck its skill." Dani laid down laughing at that comment,
"Oh good lord." She finally spit out.
"So, you have ridden a lot of places." He said, pointing at the mantle. "And you have some impressive friends." Pointing at the Presidential picture.
"I had some friends, we made a point to get out and ride for a few years there. We saw some great places." She said, smiling, remembering a bit. "But you must see a lot, being Nomad and all."
"Truth. There are a lot of times I have to remind myself to enjoy the scenery. I ride a lot, and often I am riding hard to get somewhere. I sometimes don't notice how beautiful it is." Happy said, looking at her.
"I understand that somewhat." Dani replied. "When I am being the Lead Road Captain, you spend so much of the ride making sure everyone is good, you don't get much of an opportunity to just enjoy the beauty of this country. Makes me every once in a while want to be a girl who just rides bitch."
Happy looked at her, wiggling his eyebrows. "Have you ever ridden bitch?" he asked.
"Of course, and I am betting if you were honest, you would admit you have too. Everyone has a problem with a bike every now and then, or in your case…" she trailed off.
"What about my case?" Happy asked darkly.
"Well in your case you were probably trying to make a quick getaway." She smiled, to cut the tension and let him know she was just teasing.
Happy laughed. He realized he liked that she was willing to poke fun at the club but did it in way that was a respectful manner. He also liked that she didn't ask him about the club. She obviously knew enough to know what to avoid, and what she could poke at.
"So." Happy started, "What is the deal with you and the President?"
Dani looked at the picture, contemplating what to say, "Oh, that. He was just giving me an award."
"What award?" Hap recognized the dodging maneuvers. He had seen them all afternoon.
"The silver star." Dani said flatly.
Happy sat and thought a moment. Finally he looked at her. "I thought you said you hadn't been overseas? Last I checked, we haven't had combat on our soil since the civil war." Happy waited for the answer.
"You are correct, on all that." Dani responded.
Happy could see her fidgeting with her finger nail. He reached over and took her chin, turning her head so she was looking right at him. "Then I think you need to explain girl."
"I was in the Pentagon on 9/11" Dani said. And she got up from the couch, walking to the French doors to the patio and then out the doors. He heard her lighter click as she lit a cigarette.
Happy sat there a moment, letting sink in what she had said, and then he got up, walking out onto the patio, lighting a cigarette and walking up right behind her as she stood there smoking. His chest to her back, and with his free hand he stroked her arm. "Want to tell me about it? I'll understand if you don't." Happy said softly
Dani stood there breathing slowly, smoking her cigarette. "I worked in the Air Force Chief of Staff office. We were trying to figure out what was happening across the country when the lights went out and the building shook, and there were explosions." She paused and leaned against him. "I just took charge, we had to get out, and our usual path was blocked. We had injured people and tons of debris, and it was pitch black. Well. We used my lighter till we found the emergency kits."
Happy leaned his chin on the top of her head, but didn't say anything, just waited. "I made 3 trips back to our office to get people out, when I finally came out onto the lawn I saw the horror, and that was when someone noticed I was bleeding. I eventually had surgery. I had a punctured lung from my broken ribs, but I hadn't noticed from the adrenalin."
"That is some serious hero shit girl." Happy commented. Dani stepped and turned facing him.
"The heroes were the ones who died that day. I just did what was expected." Happy saw the single tear slipping down her cheek. He wiped it with his thumb.
"Hey, I am not discounting them, but don't you ever discount what you did either. You saved people's lives." Happy said.
Wanting to change the subject, "Anyway, those people in the other pics, those are my friends from the Pentagon. After 9/11 we decided to not waste time, and went on all those rides we said 'some day' to."
He nodded remembering her comment about making a point to get out and ride. "So when did you head out here?" Happy could tell she was wanting a change of pace.
Well, I was ABD when I had gotten transferred to Washington, and my recovery gave me the time to finish my dissertation. So in 2005 I took inactive reserve status and found this job." She said looking at his face. He looked so serious, something she did not want. "Let's go inside, its getting chilly." He nodded and followed her inside.
As they got inside the door Happy grabbed her arm, turning her around and pulled her to him. He didn't ask and he didn't give her time to think or protest. He kissed her. Hard, and deep, and passionate. He heard her moan, and then he felt her lean into him, and her hands slip around his neck.
"Jesus Christ you are sexy," Happy growled as he broke the kiss and bent down, licking and biting her neck.
"Hap, oh god. We, we need to talk before…"
Happy raised his head and look at her. "What? Do not go all bitchy on me now girlie." He was looking at her like she was some type of prey.
Laughing, Dani shook her head. "No Hap just some logistics. Are you clean?"
Happy chuckled. "I wrap up no matter what. And I get tested regularly. I am good. You?" He figured is she was asking, he had the right to ask too.
"You have to have sex to catch something. Believe me, I am good.". Happy looked at her. This was the 2nd time she had made a reference to her lack of action.
"How long has it been?" he asked. "And I want the truth." Looking her dead in the eyes.
"More than 2 years." Dani said. She started to turn away, thinking that would turn him off. "If you want to go…"
Happy grabbed her and pulled her back. "I got no where I want to be more. Just wanted to know what kind of ride I am in for," he smirked at her, wiggling his eyebrows.
"only 2 other things." Dani said.
"Jesus," Happy sighed.
"Hey, its my house, so my rules." Dani quipped.
Happy pushed her up against the wall, his body pinning her there. "Ever wonder if all these rules and structure are the reason you haven't gotten fucked in 2 years?" He was nuzzling her ear as he talked to her.
"You are the first man to get in my door in over 2 years." Dani moaned.
"Well at least you know what's a good bet. Now what are the other 2 rules? Because I want you naked." Happy was grinding his knee into her pussy.
"No sneaking off in the middle of the night. You stay the night, and if you can't for some reason you wake me up before you leave." Dani was running her hands up and down his chest under his kutte.
"I can do that." Happy said quickly. "What's the last one?"
"No marks that show." Happy's eyes widened. He looked at her to make sure he heard that, and she nodded raising her eye brows.
Happy crashed his lips onto hers, kissing her hard and pinning her to the wall. Pulling away, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, smacking her ass hard as he headed up the stairs.
"Hap wait," She screamed as he got to the 2nd step.
"WHAT!" he screamed at her.
"Don't forget the heels" she teased at him, and he laughed. Retrieving the heels from the kitchen counter he bound up the stair with her over his shoulder. Happy had a pretty good idea what she meant by no marks that show, but he was going to find out, just how much of a good little girl she was.