by Nicole James
I study her face as she leans close to me, concentrating on her task. Those blue eyes reveal nothing, but I sense there’s a lot going on behind the mask she shows me. The touch of her hand is gentle, and I find something steadying in having her here, tending to me. With all that’s transpired between us, it’s reassuring. Maybe there’s still hope for us.
“What are you thinking, Lola?” I want to know, my eyes narrowing with curiosity. “I never can tell what’s going on inside your head.”
Her eyes flash to mine for a brief second before returning her attention to the cut on my cheek.
“I’m thinking that I should have stayed home tonight.”
The apologies I haven’t made yet, bubble up. “Lola, I was planning to call you—”
She cuts me off mid-sentence, finishing her task and turning quickly to the desk. “You don’t have to tell me anything, Memphis. No apologies. Nothing.”
I catch her hand, and tug her around to face me, reading the look in those blue eyes that never fail to suck me in.
“I’ll be coming back this way again. That’s a promise.”
Her smile trembles, and her fingers tighten around mine for a moment.
The door opens. I look impatiently at the intruder. Rock stares back at me, his features sharpening. Lola snatches her hand from mine, and I feel oddly guilty.
She collects the supplies, and snaps the kit closed. “He’s all yours.”
Both of us watch her go.
Rock moves to sit a hip on the edge of the desk, staring hard at me. The corners of his mouth are pulled into grim lines. “She takes a lot on herself.”
I lean forward to rest my elbows on my knees and lace my fingers loosely together in front of me, bowing my head to study them. “I know.”
“More than she should.”
I nod.
“Lola’s been doing that since she lost her mother.”
I sit mutely, not sure how to tread those treacherous waters. Rock cuts the silence for me.
“Don’t take advantage of her.”
I straighten and look him in the eye. “Yes, sir.”
“You hurt her, I’ll kill you myself, and it won’t be pretty.”
With that, I push unsteadily to my feet. “I should get back on the road.”
“Don’t be an ass. You’re in no condition to go anywhere tonight. Sleep it off. You’re bike will be waiting for you out front in the morning.”
That’s his subtle way of telling me he wants me gone, but the morning will be soon enough. I’m lucky he’s not taking a swing at me, himself, and again I wonder how much he knows or suspects. I move to the door, pausing to glance back. “Thanks.”
He says nothing, just gives a lift of his chin.
I exit the office and trudge down the hall toward the room I’d used last time I was here. It’s empty and I pull off my clothes and slip under the covers, letting blessed sleep suck me under.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Memphis—
My bruised ribs won’t let me sleep for long, and I scoot against the headboard and light a smoke.
My thoughts drift to the events of earlier and I probe the bandage-covered area above my eye. I contemplate yanking it off, but Lola went to the trouble of treating me, and I know she’ll be pissed if she sees I’ve pulled it off.
The clubhouse is quiet, unusually so, perhaps the trouble at Rita’s put a damper on things. I suppose I’m to blame for that, too. I’m going to be persona non grata around here tomorrow.
I hear quiet footsteps coming down the hall and wonder who’s still up and around. The knob clicks and my door pushes silently open. The shape of a woman is outlined in the rectangular patch of light from the hallway. I come to full alertness as she glides into the room. Is this some club sweet-butt come to slip uninvited into my bed?
I crush the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray as I sit bolt upright. The covers fall to my hips, revealing my bare chest as I recognize her.
“Lola, what the hell are you doing here?”
She drifts toward the bed. “You couldn’t sleep either, could you?”
“Suppose Rock or one of boys heard you come in here.”
“I was very quiet. Nobody heard me.” Her hands go to the knot under her breasts, untying it, and letting her blouse drop to the floor. And just like that, her glorious breasts are revealed to me. The look on her face is filled with need. The graceful sensuality of her body and the gripping beauty of her face are like drink to me, stirring up memories of previous nights we’ve shared, and hot desire courses through me.
She wiggles out of the rest of her clothing until she’s naked, standing there waiting for me to take what she’s offering.
I’m no idiot, so I flip the covers back and she climbs in. I roll us until I’m on top. Her arms loop around my neck, pulling my head to hers, but I resist for the moment. The feel of her body beneath me, her hot skin against mine has me hard and ready, but I need clarity first. My body arches above hers, and I still, searching her face, pooled in the blue-gray moonlight, trying to fathom her meaning without reading into it something that isn’t there.
“Tell me what this is, Lola. What are we doing, here?”
“No promises. Just now. Just this. I want you, however I can have you. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, I know that, and I don’t want to waste what time we have.”
Hot desire pounds through my veins. For one sane moment, I try to consider the consequences of this moment, but Lola clamps her legs around me, and I’m lost.
I sink into her, and sweet heat surrounds me. I begin to move, driving slowly at first, then ramping up. After that, its instinct that drives me, forging chains I know won’t be so easy to break.
We fuck hard, already starting to know what each other needs and wants, we both quickly climb to orgasm. When it happens, I’m staring intently into her eyes as we go over almost simultaneously. We coast down to earth together; our eyes locked the entire time, and finally collapse in a sweaty heap. After the fight earlier this evening, once is all I’ve got in me, and I think she knows it.
Her breathing settles as she lays half over me, her slim body feeling heavy.
“Are you sorry I came?” Her soft voice sounds vulnerable.
“Hell no.” I kiss the crown of her head.
“It was good, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. More than good.” My hand absently rubs her rounded ass cheek while I stare at the pattern of shadows on the ceiling, worrying about Rock and hurting her.
Her fingers run over a cord in my neck. “You aren’t tense anymore,” she observes. “We’ve both been doing too much thinking, lately, complication something that’s very simple. We want each other, for however long this lasts. Now that edginess and tension are all gone. And it was so easy, too.”
I know her body has taken it from me and given contentment, and its good to hear I’ve done the same for her.
I’m relaxed by all outwards appearances, but inside my head, my mind won’t rest. I know this is going to be difficult to navigate without damaging the fragile trust we’ve built and without destroying hearts.
She says she’s good with this, with no strings, but I know that can’t be entirely true.
And what about me? I pause to consider how this could work between us.
In the long periods of times I might not see her, I know I could find a willing woman to take the edge off my hunger. But sex can’t satisfy everything. And I know none of those other women I might find would ever satisfy me the way Lola does. I’m just not sure I’m ready to face what that really means, and how this all spins out. For a man that likes his freedom, and likes the road, I’m also a man of habits, one that doesn’t like change or anything that upsets the patterns I’ve arranged. I’ve had way too much of that in my youth.
Maybe I’m overthinking everything, making assumptions and seeing problems that haven’t arisen yet. Lola hasn’t asked for anything more than this night. It’s what she said.
Darko’s wo
rds spin through my head on a loop. What a woman says and what she thinks are two different things.
And that’s what keeps me staring at the ceiling long after I feel Lola’s body relax into slumber.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Memphis—
Sunrise beams between the pines as I squat by my bike, my knees cracking. I’m buckling my saddlebag shut when the screen door creaks open. I glance up, thinking maybe Lola woke up when she felt the empty bed next to her. But it’s Utah of all people.
Jesus Christ, don’t these guys ever sleep. It’s like they’re tag-teaming me. I can’t wait to hear what this one’s got to say. The way I’m feeling right now, I’d like to take his head off. We may end up in a fistfight out here in front of the clubhouse, rolling around in the gravel, trying to choke each other out. Won’t Rock love that?
“You leavin’?” he asks from the porch, dipping his head to light a cigarette. “
“Yup.”
He puffs out a stream of smoke, clinking his silver lighter shut. “You’re making a big fucking mistake.”
That has me straightening because they’re the last words I expect out of his mouth. “That so? Well, I’ve made those before.”
“If you knew what’s best, you’d stay.”
I cock my head to the side, frowning at his odd words. “We are talkin’ about Lola, right?”
“Who else would we be talking about?”
“I thought you were interested in her. Why the hell would you haul your ass out here at the crack of dawn to try to talk me into stayin’?”
“Because you’re the one she wants. The girl deserves some happiness with everything she’s been through.”
“I figured you would have warned her off me by now.” I step to my handlebars and grab my dangling helmet.
“I did,” he says around the cigarette in his mouth.
I buckle the strap under my chin. “So then what gives?”
“Just want what’s best for her.”
My brows lift. “Yeah? And you figure that’s me?”
“Maybe, if you stuck around and put down roots.” He shrugs. “Who knows? All I’m sayin’ is, if you care about her, you know the girl’s worth takin’ that shot.”
I swing my leg over the bike, and lift it off its stand. “Only one problem with that plan, Utah.”
“What’s that, Memphis?” His lip curls with his tone.
“Rock wants me gone.” I fire up the bike.
He flips his cigarette into the dirt. “Rock wants his daughter happy. What he doesn’t want is you breakin’ her heart.”
“You sure about that? Maybe he doesn’t want her hookin’ up with any Royal Bastards. My guess is not one of us is good enough for her in his book, including you.” I can’t help twisting that knife. “Besides, after last night, I’m on his shit list.”
“Well, when you grow a pair, brother, she’ll be here waiting. I suggest until you realize she’s worth the fight, you stay the fuck away from here.”
“Or what?”
“Or you and me are gonna have a problem.”
I grin. “See ya ‘round, Utah.” With that I pull away, rolling across the gravel and up on the blacktop highway where I gun the throttle and roar over the rise, the clubhouse disappearing from sight in my side mirror.
I strengthen my resolve not to think of what I’m leaving behind. If I do, I’ll turn the bike around, and I know that’s not a possibility.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Lola—
I sit cross-legged on my bed, tapping on the keyboard of my laptop.
It’s been two days since Memphis left, and I try hard to not let the hurt show. I laugh, and cut up with the guys when I’m around the clubhouse. Mostly I try to stay away, and keep myself occupied so I don’t give in to the loneliness I feel.
In the dark of night, it’s different. In my room, in my bed, I give in to the self-pity and heartbreak, crying silently into my pillow.
But during the light of day, I swear I’ll never let anyone see that I’ve let someone get close enough to hurt me again. I wonder if I’m fooling anyone other than myself.
I sit cross-legged on my bed, my laptop open, working up some new graphics, or at least trying to concentrate on them. Beside me on the bed, my phone goes off, and I glance at the screen.
Trez.
I grab it up and don’t even let him get in a hello before I start in on him. “Oh, my God. Why haven’t you taken my calls, you moron?”
“Lola.”
In just that one word, I get a foreboding that something’s wrong. “What is it?”
“I’m calling to warn you. You need to be very careful where you go. In fact it’d be better off if you start bunking at the clubhouse and don’t leave it for a while.”
“Bunk at the clubhouse? Why?”
“Lockwood.”
“But I thought you paid him back the money.”
“I did, but he wants more.
“More?”
“Interest, he said, for the trouble.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope, ten grand worth, and I don’t have it.”
“Ten grand? Oh, my God, Trez.”
“He and his goons tracked me to Biloxi a couple days ago. The deadline he gave me is approaching, and if I don’t have the money by tonight…”
He trails off and my hand tightens on my phone. “If you don’t have the money by tonight what happens, Trez?”
“He threatened you, Lola. Said he knows where you live. You need to lay low. Just in case what I have planned doesn’t work.”
“What do you have planned? Dear God, not another bank robbery, I hope.”
“It’ll work. I found a small-town branch. I cased the place yesterday. I’ll hit it at this afternoon just before they close. That’s when the local police do their shift change. It should be easy.”
“Trez, are you still in Biloxi?”
“Hell, no. I’ve been driving home. I made it as far as Albuquerque, but they tracked me. I think they put some kind of device on my truck. They caught up with me last night. Said I had twenty-four hours to get the money, so I found this bank.”
“Trez, listen to me. Don’t do it. Let me come get you. The club will figure this all out. I can tell Dad—”
“No. You can’t tell the club. This is my problem. I’ll figure it out.”
“But now it’s my problem, too, isn’t it?”
“I’m so sorry, Lola. I never meant for you to get involved. I never meant for any of this to lead back to you.”
“Trez, tell me where you are.”
“It’ll all work out.”
“What’s the name of the bank?”
“Just a place in a little town called Cedar Crest.”
“Where’s that?”
“East of Albuquerque.”
That means he isn’t too far. I can make that drive in three or four hours. “Where are you staying?”
“The Starlight Inn. Just another dump, but they take cash.”
“What room?”
“One-seventeen. Why?”
“Please don’t do anything until I get there.”
“Lockwood’s a bad dude and now he knows about you. I’ve got to do this, don’t you see. He wants his money by 5pm.”
“Please, Trez.”
“Just stay at the clubhouse, Lola. Promise me. Everything will be fine. I just have to get him the ten grand. I’ll call you later.”
Before I can respond, he hangs up.
I stare at the bedspread and bite my lip, thinking. I can’t let Trez do what he’s got planned. I’ve got the money he gave me back. I can give it to him to give to Lockwood. It’s a lot of money to lose, but I don’t want my brother to end up shot by the police in a bungled robbery or doing years in prison. He got away with the first one, but twice? My brother’s luck isn’t that good.
I glance at the time on my phone. It’s 10am. I’ve got just enough time to get to the bank, and withdraw the money,
then drive to Cedar Creek. I pull it up on my map app. Three hours and forty-three minutes away.
I scramble off the bed, grab my purse and keys, and dash through the house.
***
Four hours later, I pull up at the Starlight Inn, and shift my beater car into park next to Trez’s pickup. I climb out, hitching my purse on my shoulder. It’s heavy with all the money inside. I had to jump through hoops to get that much cash at the bank. They looked at me like I was about to make a drug deal or something.
I glance around, looking for any sign of Lockwood or his goons, but don’t see anything suspicious. I stare up at the two-story motel. Room 117 is on the far end, near a breezeway containing an old ice machine.
I glance around again, panicked that someone may snatch my purse, and all the money.
To play it safe, I pop the trunk, and toss my bag inside, keeping only my phone and keys. I just want to make sure I find Trez before I walk around with that much cash. It’s everything I have.
I tap on the door, and lean closer to hiss, “Trez, it’s me.”
The door opens, and before I know what’s happening, I’m grabbed and hauled inside by one of the big goons, his hand clamps over my mouth.
Trez is tied to a chair.
In short work, duct tape is wrapped around my mouth, and I’m cuffed, hands behind my back, and tossed on the bed.
“Don’t hurt her,” Trez says. “I’ll get the money.”
I moan behind the tape, frantic to try to tell them I’ve got the money in the car, but they pay me no mind.
Lockwood is not in the room, but one of the goons is on the phone with someone, probably him. The other moves to Trez and grabs him by the shirt, lifting him from the chair as far up as his binds will allow.
“Now we know you’re gonna get us that money. If you don’t, we’ve got your sister.”
“I’ll get the money. I swear,” Trez says.
I thrash and moan until the one on the phone jerks his head to a briefcase sitting on the dresser. The second man moves to it, pops it open, and digs around in it. I can’t see what he’s doing, until he turns and comes at me with a hypodermic needle.
