Angela drove her gunmetal gray Mazda 3 hatchback into Teller-Morrow Automotive feeling a nervous knot in the pit her stomach. It'd been a few days since she'd last heard from Juice, so she'd been surprised when he called to ask her to come over to Teller Morrow so they could hang out. The invitation was his way of giving her a peek into his world just as she had given him a look into her when she let him sit in on an embalming. She had to admit, she was a little excited to get to know more about the mohawked biker. 

She pulled into the parking lot, parking in the first available spot and stepping out. Her eyes lingered briefly on the clubhouse across the lot before she turned to look at the garage portion of the compound. Clearly, Juice had been on the lookout for her because he was already on his way towards her. "Hey you," she greeted, pushing her mirrored aviators up into her hair.

Juice gave her a dazzling the smile that almost knocked her off her feet. "Hey Angel," he replied, his light brown eyes raking over her appreciatively. She felt a little self conscious under his gaze, wishing she'd thought to wear something a little cute than jeans and a simple tank top. She fiddled with one of her rings nervously, drawing his eyes to her hands. "Nice bling," he commented, nodding towards the ring.

She glanced down at her hand, smiling at the silver skull with wings design. "Thanks," she replied, letting out a nervous breath. "What's up? Why did you call me over here?"

He shrugged a shoulder as they headed towards the garage together. "Thought you'd want to hang. It's been awhile."

She nodded in agreement, watching as he lifted the hood of the car he was working on and dug in. "How was your trip?"

"Not too exciting," he said, grunting as he tightened a bolt. "Other than the whole dog thing."

Angela couldn't help but grin remembering the phone call she'd gotten from him that night. "I'll have you know that your call totally messed me up for the rest of the day. I drank like six cups of coffee just so I wouldn't fall asleep during work."

Juice chuckled, rolling his eyes. "As opposed to your usual four cups?"

"Two cups extra is a lot," she defended on a scowl. She couldn't help but feel a little flattered he knew exactly how many cups of coffee she usually drank in a day. "I was bouncin' off the walls."

"Oh hey Undertaker," Tig greeted as he strode by. "How's it goin'?"

Angela noticed the limp in his walk and smirked. "Good. How are you?"

Tig looked between them for a moment before scowling. He pointed a finger in Juice's direction. "You idiot," he said, shaking his head at him. "You told her about the dog, didn't you?"

"You fell asleep on me in the car!" Juice exclaimed in defense. "I called her! It was somethin' to talk about."

"You got the oven goin', Undertaker? I may have another job for you in a few minutes," Tig said, glaring at Juice.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I can call Skeet and have him start it up."

"Thatta a girl. I knew I liked ya," he said, setting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. "You, I'm not done with," he said to Juice. "But Clay needs your help with somethin' inside."

"Guess that's my cue to go," Angela said, pulling her keys out of her pocket. There was no way she was going to hang around and wait for him to be done with whatever it was he was doing. Tig seemed like an interesting guy, but she had better things to do than make awkward conversation with him. "I'll see you later, Juice."

Juice watched her go, grateful she didn't go to kiss his cheek or hug him; that kind of affection could be taken the wrong way by his brothers. They'd all jump to conclusions and give him about trying to make the undertaker his Old Lady. That wasn't the case at all. She was a cool girl, but he wasn't thinking long term. They were just having some fun. 

His eyes followed her car as she pulled out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell, her small car going much too fast for the quiet residential street. He shook his head at her. Crazy lady.

Hitching up his pants, he walked into the clubhouse to see what Clay wanted, not at all surprised to find all he wanted was for him to run a background check. It didn't take long, and once he had the information, he decided to do some research of his own on the undertaker who'd invaded his thoughts. He figured Angela couldn't be into too much shit; she didn't have that look about her. 

For the most part, he was right. She had a criminal record, sure,  but it was just filled with a few unpaid speeding tickets, two minor in possession charges, and driving with a suspended license. After seeing the way she peeled out of the garage, he wasn't at all surprised by any of it.

Using the information on her driver's licence, he was able to find her birth certificate. Angela Inez Ruiz was born in Oakland to  Graciela and Victor Ruiz. Her mom lived over in Bakersfield and her father was deceased. He found her mortician's license, her high school grades, her college grades, college diploma with 'mortuary science' listed as her degree, everything. Though her high school absence record was incredibly high, so was her GPA and her college transcripts showed she'd graduated cum laude. Girl was smart as hell. 

Curious, he decided to push further into the MIP charges on her record. Apparently, it was a big party in Oakland and she wasn't the only one charged. He scrolled through the list of names until one in particular caught his eye. Esai Alvarez. "Huh," Juice murmured to himself. Just because they were both at the same party, didn't mean they knew each other. He checked up on the second charge, seeing if there were more names in common. This one was plain and simple. Only four people were caught: Angela, Esai, and two other Hispanic sounding names. "Shit," he muttered under his breath; this girl was involved with the Mayans.

He pulled up her phone records, scanning them for private numbers with Oakland area codes that would be from Esai or to him. None appeared. The most recent one was from several years before and had only lasted a couple of seconds. Most of the phone numbers were from the San Joaquin area with a few calls from Tacoma. The full number changed, but the area code stayed the same on that one. The Tacoma area code showed up once every week with the call lasting anywhere from five to as long as thirty minutes. He wondered if it was the same person using a different cell phone each time and what that could mean.

"Whatcha lookin' at Juicy-boy?" Chibs asked, clapping him on the bag and scaring the shit out of him.

"Nothin'." Juice quickly shut down the window. If Angela was in with Esai and the Mayans, he wasn't about to tell the rest of the MC. He figured Angela didn't know enough about the Sons to be a real threat and as long as he kept it that way, they should be good. It wasn't like he was planning on keeping her around long enough for her to be a threat anyway. Mentioning it to Chibs would be a bad idea, it'd start uneasiness about Angela that he didn't need. He'd ask her himself and see where it led.

"You checkin' up on that sweet lil' undertaker?"

"Yeah. Can never be too safe, you know?" he said on a shrug.

Chibs nodded. "Aye. And?"

"She's got a bit of a lead foot, but other than that, nothing too illegal."

"Likes to go fast, ay?" Chibs commented with a chuckle. "Sounds like she's right up your alley."

--------------------------

Juice walked up the steps to the outside entrance of Angela's apartment. He didn't bother knocking, knowing she had a habit of leaving the door unlocked. Trying the doorknob, he smirked as he stepped inside. The smell of pizza filled his nose and his stomach grumbled. "Hey you!" her voice shouted from the small kitchen.

He made his way over to her just as she was pulling a pepperoni pizza out of the oven. He had to admit he loved the sight of her in her simple hang out clothes; a pair of simple jean shorts and and Oakland Raider tank top.  "Homemade?" he asked, nodding to the pizza she was cutting into sloppy triangles. The urge to take the pizza cutter from her and cut them in more uniform slices was strong, but he held back; he didn't want to freak her out with his OCD tendencies. 

"Do I look like Betty Crocker to you?" she shot back at him, nodding her head to the frozen pizza box on the counter. 

He shook his head, grabbing a piece of pizza and taking a bite. He immediately spit it out. "Shit its hot!"

Angela laughed at him, shaking her head as she went to hand him a napkin. "You saw me pull it out of the oven, goof! What were you expecting?"

"I dunno," he answered honestly, putting his piece down and leaning against the counter. He watched her as she pulled out two plates and two beers, popping off the tops and handing him one. "Thanks."

She nodded, putting two pieces on her plate and grabbing her beer before heading over to the couch. He followed her lead, sitting down on the plush leather couch and kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. She folded her long legs underneath her, balancing her plate on her knees. "I'm glad you weren't brought by in a body bag," she started with a smirk.

Juice took a swig of his beer as he smiled. "He was thinkin' about it," he joked. "What would you have done?"

She laughed, shaking her head at him. "Freaked out. I've never had to...prepare someone I know before."

"You'd probably take extra long to massage me, huh? Get all those nasty thoughts outta your head," he teased around a mouthful of pizza.

"Oh yeah, you know me, I'm a total necrophiliac."

He snorted, shaking his head at her. "How would that even work?"

"It wouldn't," she answered quickly. "Not for girls anyway. We need the blood pumpin' to...you know," she lifted a finger in the air, "get it up..."

Juice's grin grew bigger. He loved how she could talk about shit like that without getting grossed out or offended. It made talking with her easier since he didn't have to think about censoring himself. He chuckled as he watched her take a quick sip of beer. "I did your background check, by the way."

"Oh yeah?" Angela replied, one eyebrow raised. "Find anything interesting?"

"Two MIPs. Both with Esai Alvarez," he stated, studying her face to see how she'd react. To his surprise, she didn't look shocked or even worried by his discovery. She didn't seem to care about it at all which meant she either didn't know about the rivalry between the two MCs, which was unlikely if she and Esai were friends, or she wasn't involved enough to care that he'd found out. "You involved with the Mayans?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "Nah. Esai and I dated back in high school. When he got into the club, and I started to slip into that life, my cousin butted in and took me to Tacoma."

"Smart guy."

"Sure," she answered, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "He knew the kinds of shit the Mayans were involved with. Didn't want me anywhere near them. To be honest, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. When E finally got that top rocker, he got this big ole head and was a complete douche bag. Took my cousin's stubborn ass for me to see I was better than that."

"So you left on bad terms with Alvarez?" he questioned, wondering if she was in danger of receiving some kind of retaliation for leaving him with such abruptness.

Angela shook her head. "Nope," she answered honestly. "We've known each other too long for that. Esai's not a bad guy. Stupid, but not bad. He found out he'd gotten another girl pregnant the same night I left, so he couldn't really be too upset. We left as friends."

Juice furrowed his brows together, trying to figure her out. No wonder she hadn't batted an eye when he'd come in with his brothers that first day. Most people would be scared of them, but she hadn't said a thing except to complain about Half Sack ruining her hard work. Guys in cuts were nothing new to her. "Do you still talk?"

"Nope, never. Last time I heard from him was on my twenty-first birthday. He called to tease me about the MIPs," she said with a smirk. "Asshole."

That was the call he'd seen on her cell phone records. It still didn't explain the other calls. "Your cousin from Tacoma?"

"Yeah, he lives there at the moment," she replied on a nod. "He travels around a lot though."

"Sounds like an interesting guy."

She smirked, a secret hiding behind her dark eyes. "You have no idea," she commented. "So what else did you find out about me?"

"You have a fuckin' lead foot," he answered on a chuckle, relieved that they were done talking about the Mayans and that she'd passed every test he'd thrown her way. "You got caught going 90 in a 65...three times."

"Half the time, I don't notice how fast I'm going 'til I see those freakin' blue and red lights behind me," Angela explained, a naughty smirk turning up the corners of her lips. She finished off her pizza and stood up. "Speaking of fast, want to see something cool?"

Dozens of dirty thoughts infiltrated Juice's head, but he bit his tongue as he nodded. His eyes followed her as she walked around the table and disappeared down the hall. Two seconds later, she came sliding towards him, a bright smile on her face. "I thought the floors looked shinier," he said, watching as she slid closer to the couch.

"Skeeter just had them waxed!" she exclaimed, walking around the couch. "Bet I can beat you in a race."

"Only if you cheat," he said, grunting as he bent over to untie his boots. He placed them neatly next to each other before standing up and hitching up his pants. "Ready?"

Her dark eyes looked down at his black socks, a smirk on her lips as she noticed the holes in them. "You're not going to get very far with holes in your socks."

"You willing to bet on that?"

"No, I'm just sayin'."

"Do you wanna race or not?" he asked, getting in a good starting position. At her nod, he took a deep breath. "Ready? One, two, three!"

They both slid down the hall, Angela just barely managed to get in front of him when he caught up, grabbing her around the torso with one arm. She squealed as he carefully pushed her behind him. "Juice!" she shouted, reaching out to grab the bottom hem of his cut.

He spun around, sliding into the wall at the end of the hall. His back hit the wall the same time she hit his chest, grabbing at the front of his cut to keep from falling flat on her face. She looked up at him, eyes wide. Instinctively, he moved an arm around her waist, holding her in to his chest. 

He used his other hand to brush a stray hair behind her ear, loving the silky feel of her skin beneath his fingers. Settling his hand on the back of her neck, he dipped his head to press his lips to hers in a soft kiss. The feel of her mouth on his was electric; he'd never felt anything quite like it before. He could feel her smile into the kiss and knew she felt it too.

He took the fact that she was returning his kiss as a good sign and slid his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. She tasted like coffee and beer, and man, was she a good kisser. Flipping them around, he pressed her against the wall and slipped his hands underneath her top. He started with settling them on the skin of her hips, testing, seeing if she'd push him away. When she didn't, he slid one up towards her bra.

Angela laughed as his lips left hers and trailed down her neck, nipping and sucking as they headed towards her cleavage. "You've had your eye on those for awhile now," she teased, gasping when he cupped a hand over one breast and squeezed.

"Oh yeah," he breathed, one hand snaking behind her back to undo her bra. He'd almost gotten it when his phone rang loudly.

Juice stopped what he was doing and groaned, settling his hands on the wall on either side of her head as he looked down at her. Her eyes were dark with lust, a frustrated frown on her face as she tried to catch her breath. "I hate that phone," she said, her hands slipping under his shirt and settling on his abs, her touch driving him crazy.

"You and me both, baby," he said his voice husky as his eyes stared down at her.

"Are you gonna get it?" she asked, her tongue darting out over her lips, distracting him from the ringing phone. 

He didn't want to. He wanted to kiss her until she couldn't breathe anymore, touch every inch of her skin, have his way with her right in that hallway. But he couldn't. When the club called, he had to answer. Nodding, he reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out the ringing phone. "Hello?" he asked, making sure she stayed within the circle of his arms. If the call wasn't urgent, he wanted to go right back to where they'd left off. He answered the questions mechanically, hating Chibs for reminding him he had church in a few minutes. "Be there in ten," he muttered before hanging up the phone.

Angela frowned as he pulled away, hanging his head down in defeat. "You have to go?"

"Yeah," he said on a nod. He grabbed her chin with a ringed hand and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. "To be continued?"

"I sure as hell hope so," she said on a breath. "Tomorrow?"

He kissed her again, addicted to the way she tasted. "See you tomorrow, Angel," he said, giving her his megawatt grin before he slipped on his boots and headed to the door. He was halfway down the stairs when she called his name. He turned to look up at her. "What?"

"This Esai thing...it's not a deal breaker, is it?"

Juice shrugged a shoulder. It should've been. He should be severing all ties with her just in case, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it. There was something about this girl that had him hooked. He figured as long as he kept her in the dark about club business, he should be fine. "Nah. We're good, Angel."

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~Love Ink