Greatest MC Romance Box Set

by Blair Grey

  “No one in your family sought help for you?”

  “No. I told my mother what my father had done to me. She took my younger sisters and me and left. We never saw our father again. But Mom never spoke to me about what had happened. And my middle sister killed herself.” He had to pause for a moment, and I stroked his back as he took his time. “She never told anyone that I know of if our father had touched her or not. But I didn’t know of any other reason she would do a thing like that.”

  “Wow.” I had no words as I ran my arms around his neck and hugged him. “That’s a lot to have gone through.”

  “Sometimes it feels heavier than it does at other times.”

  Pulling back, I found that interesting. “I feel like I’ve got a weight on me as well. Weird, how that works, isn’t it?”

  “It is.” Running his hand over his face, he shook his head. “Okay. So, you and I have something in common. And we’re both still hurting over those things. Now, let’s find some good things we have common. Obviously, we both love eating vegetables.”

  “I like to swim,” I offered to help lighten the mood.

  “I like to hang out in the water while drinking beer and not moving a whole hell of a lot while doing that.” He put his forehead against mine. “I like spending time with you.”

  “I like that too.” Closing my eyes, I fell into the moment with him. “I haven’t hung out with anyone this much in a very long time. I’ve been a loner for many years now.”

  Pulling his head back, he ran his hand down one arm until he got to my fingertips, then pressed them against mine. “You had your reasons. Just try not to shut me out, will ya?”

  “We’ve just met. You might end up getting on my nerves,” I joked.

  “Or I might not.” Snaking his fingers around mine, he pulled up our clasped hands and kissed mine.

  Jolts of heat rushed through my body, all connecting at my core. My panties became damp and my heart pounded. “Yeah, you’re right. You might not get on my nerves at all.”

  His other hand moved around to cup the nape of my neck, urging my face forward. “Couples in love kiss, Nicki.”

  “Yeah.” My lips trembled with anticipation. “Is this all just an act? I really need to know that before your lips touch mine.”

  “I’m not acting.” He inhaled deeply. “I hope you’re not either.”

  Taking our clasped hands, I held them against my chest. “Does that feel like I’m acting?” My heart pounded inside my chest.

  He adjusted me on his lap, and I felt a lump against my ass. “That’s not a tree stump. There are some things people can’t fake and attraction is one of them.”

  I certainly couldn’t fake that. But I didn’t know this man from Adam. And what was really crazy is that I didn’t care at all. “I haven’t been with a man in the last three years.”

  “No kissing huh?” he assumed. “Are you ready to try it and see how it goes?” His eyes searched mine. “All it takes is one word and I’ll stop. Or even a sign that you’re not into it and I’ll quit right away. I’m a man who you can trust implicitly. I’ve been there. I know that sometimes the words won’t come. But I can read your body language better than most people can. I will never force a thing. And we can go as slowly as you want to.”

  I trusted him. I trusted him more than I’d ever trusted anyone. “Kiss me, Garrett.”

  His lips barely touched mine, warm breath flowed over my lips as I breathed him in. One flick of his tongue combined our mouths and I gave in to my attraction.

  My fingers curled as he held one hand and the fingers on my other hand curled into his shoulder. I hung onto him, trying not to find the fear that had filled the last kiss I’d had.

  A rigidness within my body began to slowly dissipate as his kiss took me deeper and deeper into the abyss of pleasure. The pulse of his erection under my ass didn’t frighten me at all. It served to make my pussy pulse with desire for him.

  I hadn’t even masturbated since the rape. The fact that I’d had an orgasm while Dean attacked me had made me angry with my body. For years I’d denied it any sexual attention at all.

  I had no idea how but knowing that Garrett had a similar experience made me feel like letting my body feel pleasure again was okay. I didn’t need to punish it or myself any longer.

  It was time to let all that begin to fade away and start a new chapter in my life. One with romance, trust, and sex. Lots and lots of sex.

  Easing the kiss, he pressed his forehead to mine. “That was intense.”

  “Yes, it was.” I could barely breathe. “You’re a very good kisser.”

  “You too.” His hand squeezed mine. “Bet you’re good at lots of stuff.”

  “Bet you are too.” I smiled as I hadn’t felt this light in what seemed like forever. I had things to do if I was going to become sexually active again. “This is going to take some time, you know.”

  “Even if you get sent back to Arlington, that’s only an hour or so away. I don’t want to stop seeing you, Nicki.” His lips brushed mine, sending little sparks through me. “Would you welcome my visits?”

  I had so much to do. My place in Arlington was nearly bare. It hardly looked like anyone lived there at all. I didn’t even have a bed as I slept on the sofa - the one stick of furniture in my apartment.

  The efficiency the agency had rented me in Baltimore was homier than my real home. If Garrett and I were to start seeing each other, then I had lots to do. Shopping, seeing a doctor about my sexual health and getting on birth control.

  “Would you give me a month to get ready for one?” I laughed, but I meant it. “I haven’t had company.” Like, I had never invited anyone to my place since I’d gotten it.

  “So.” His expression was priceless. “I’m not some picky man, Nicki. You should know that about me. I like simple things. You don’t have to impress me at all.”

  Yeah, but I need to have more than one cup and plate and bath towel before you come over.

  “Maybe you should let me come over to see your place. I can bring the lasagna, salad, breadsticks, and red wine. Or do you prefer beer?”

  “Beer. I’ll drink wine, but I prefer beer. I’m a simple man - like I said. And I would love it if you came over to my place. Give me your cell and I’ll put my number in.”

  Even as I pulled my phone out of my pocket, I felt this was too much too soon. “Hang on. What if we’re rushing this?”

  “I don’t want you to feel rushed. But you should know that people exchange phone numbers all the time. If you don’t want to talk to me anymore, then you can block my calls.” He held out his hand, wiggling his long, thick fingers. “And I’ll do the same to you if you start getting on my nerves.” A laugh let me know he was kidding.

  Handing him my phone, I knew I was being stupid. “I like the idea that I’ll be coming to your place. That means I can leave whenever I want and not have to try politely to get you to leave if I get tired of you.”

  “You won’t get tired of me.” He put in his number then called himself from my phone and put his name in my contacts before handing it back to me.

  I had to laugh at the name he’d put for himself. “Really?”

  He answered the call he’d made to himself from my phone and added me to his contact list. “Yes, really.” He showed me what he’d put for my name. “I am hero and you are heroine. I think it matches us perfectly. Somehow, we’ve found each other in this great big world and now we can save each other from all the pain we’ve had in our lives.”

  As I put my phone back into my pocket, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “I suppose it’s better than what I’ve been thinking of you as.”

  Putting his phone away, he wrapped his arms around me, rocking slowly with me on his lap. “And what’s that?”

  “I’ve been calling you my angel – in my mind, of course.” Normally, I wouldn’t have ever admitted that to anyone. But since he was admitting to me that I was his heroine, I felt he should know. “Since I
found out some man had whipped Dean Strong’s ass, I’ve been fairly certain that God has finally sent an angel to watch over me and make things right in my life again.”

  “Well, thank God I’ve fixed that for you.” Leaning in, he took my earlobe between his teeth as he growled, “But I am no angel. Not even a little one. But I will be your hero, baby. And you will be my heroine.”

  Laughing with him, I felt alive and hopeful. I hadn’t felt that way in ten years. A solid decade had passed with me feeling lost and alone. But that might soon be behind me.

  “Let me up. I want to go shop for our dinner. I noticed that you put your address with your contact information. So, what time should I be over?”

  Taking me by the waist, he lifted me up to stand in front of him, then I gave him my hand to help him up. Once again, he kissed my lips, this time a mere peck. “Seven? No. I can’t wait that long. Six? Yes, six. Dress comfy. We’ll eat, then watch Netflix and chill for the rest of the night. Hell, bring your toothbrush and stay all night if you’d like. No strings. I mean that, Nicki. No rushing this.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Laughing again as he ran his arms around my waist, then pulled me flush to his side, I had never laughed so much in my life.

  He started walking me toward my car as he nuzzled my neck. “You do that. If you don’t bring your toothbrush, I’ve got an extra one I bought last week and haven’t opened yet. I can be accommodating when I want to be.”

  Stopping at my car, he pressed my back to the driver’s door as he held me tight. I ran my hands through his hair, loving the way the sun glistened off the blonde strands. “I’ve never dated a man who has the same features as I do.”

  “We’d make some gorgeous babies.” He kissed me before I could say a thing. When our lips parted, he whispered, “Just for your case and what we were supposed to be doing here, there is absolutely no one affiliated with any MC, small or otherwise, in this park. You got bad intel on this one, baby.”

  “Figures.” I didn’t really care anyway. “I’m not going to rush this case. There’s this hot guy here in Baltimore who I’d like to stick around to get to know anyway.”

  “I bet he’d like that.” One more kiss then he let me go and walked away. “See you at six.”

  “Yeah. Oh, what kind of beer do you drink?” I didn’t want to bring something he’d hate.

  “Surprise me, baby. I’ll like whatever you give me.” He turned and winked at me. “Anything at all.”

  Swooning as I sat in the car, I held the steering wheel with both hands so I wouldn’t float away. “God, he’s so adorable.”

  Checking the time, I saw it was nearly half-past three. I wanted to get to my place, shower, get changed, then go grab our dinner.

  Hurrying, as there were only a couple of hours for me to do all I needed to, I parked my car then got out and hurried to get inside the building the apartment was in.

  Opening the door to my place, I heard a familiar voice come from behind me. “Hey.”

  Chills ran down my spine as I spun around. Dean moved in quickly, then shut the door as he managed to maneuver me away from it. “Why are you here?”

  “I saw you.” He locked the door then turned back to face me. “With some guy. Kissing him.” He stepped toward me and I took a step back. “Hugging.” Another step and I retreated. “Laughing.”

  I wasn’t going to let him scare me. I had a gun at my back for God’s sake. Holding out my hand, I stopped taking steps back. “That isn’t any of your business.”

  “The hell it’s not.” He turned away from me. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I was sent here to evaluate your work, Johansson. The whole vacation story was a lie to throw you off. The agency sent me out here because they aren’t sure you’ve got it in you to work this case – even though it’s barely a case at all. And they’re right. It seems that the first guy who approached you got what he was after.”

  Was Garrett sent to seduce me?

  Chapter Eleven

  Garrett

  I didn’t want to be that guy. The guy who called the minute after someone was supposed to show up. But it wasn’t one minute that Nicki was late by, it was fifteen of them.

  Sipping on a beer, I flipped through the channels as I tried to find something to watch on television that would take my mind off of her tardiness.

  Most people at least shot a text to someone who was expecting them if they knew they were running late. But she’d said she was a loner and loners don’t usually have people waiting for them to show up.

  So, that had to be it. Nicki just didn’t know how to do normal things like sending texts to men who were anxiously awaiting her arrival. That meant I needed to initiate the contact.

  -Hey, slowpoke. Missing you already. I know you’re only fifteen minutes late – yes, I am counting the minutes until I have you in my arms again. Corny. I know. Anyway, just checking to see if you’re on the way. It’s common for those who receive texts to send something back within a reasonable amount of time – just saying. So, text me back. K? –

  Going back to channel surfing, I tried to ignore the fact that my phone was not dinging away with a text from her. I drank my beer, changed channels, drank another beer, did some more channel surfing and then I finally picked up my phone.

  “Seven?” Nicki was now an hour late and what was even worse was that she hadn’t even read the text I’d sent to her. “Okay. Calm down. There’s got to be a reason for this.”

  The woman was an agent for the motherfucking DEA, so many things could’ve happened to her that it defied my imagination. And all of my ideas were terrible.

  Then the idea that Dean Strong had done something to her filled my body with white-hot rage. “That son-of-a-bitch better not have laid a hand on her. I will rip him limb from limb. I swear that to God!”

  And then I realized I was crunching my phone in my fist and stopped doing that.

  Try calling her, you dufus.

  I hadn’t even thought about the fact that someone who’s a loner probably hadn’t gotten a hell of a lot of texts and might not even have their phone set to alert them when any came in.

  But a phone call would surely have some sort of sound attached to it. Surely, she’s got that much going on.

  Swiping the screen, I made the call and tried to take slow breaths, so I didn’t sound like a frantic looney when she answered the call.

  “The person you are calling is not receiving calls from this number,” came an irritating voice.

  I stared at the device in my hand as I had to have entered her number wrong. But I knew that I hadn’t as I’d called my phone from her phone to get her number. And life wasn’t making any sense right now.

  Taking a seat on the couch, I tried to think clearly. But the facts were staring me in the face.

  She’s blocked my fucking number is what she’s done.

  After all I’d told her – bearing my tortured soul to her – she had blocked my number.

  What a bitch!

  She had her own bad past. Why couldn’t she accept me for mine?

  What made my dark time any worse than hers?

  I was a kid. I didn’t have a choice but to experience what I had. She’d been an adult when bad things had happened to her. Well, not the whole parents being killed thing. That was when she was a teen, but still!

  She had my address, but I hadn’t gotten hers. I did know that she must be staying near me. We had both been at the same convenience store the night before. And we’d both been at the same bakery that morning.

  Grabbing the keys to my bike, I walked to the door, grabbed the handle, then stopped. “What if she comes over and I’m gone?”

  What if she hadn’t meant to block my number and had just been checking out the feature I’d told her about and accidentally blocked my number? What if she wasn’t even aware that she’d done that?

  Yeah, that has to be what’s happened.

  As I went to put my keys back on the bar, I stopped. “But she�
�s an hour late and she’s in town on a case and there is also her rapist who is here too, and he’s been bothering her.”

  I couldn’t sit still and wait another hour. Turning on my heel, I walked out of my apartment and across the hall, knocking on the door.

  It took a minute before the girl who lived there opened her door, wearing only a pink bra and panty set that matched perfectly. The minute it took her to get to the door was spent either taking off the clothes she’d had over her underwear or putting the underwear on as she’d been hanging out naked. “Oh, hi Garrett. What’s up?”

  Gesturing to her near-nudity, I asked, “Got a robe, Blanch?”

  “Yeah.” She didn’t move an inch. “You want to come inside? I’ve got pizza rolls in the microwave.”

  As much fun as eating pizza rolls straight out of the microwave with a girl wearing next to nothing sounded, I had more important things to do. “I need you to do me a favor. And it would be awesome if you’d put something on to cover your little bra and panty set.”

  Running one hand over her boob, she said with a moan to her voice, “You noticed this, did you? I’ve had this set for a while. I was just waiting for the right occasion to wear it.”

  “And munching out on some shitty pizza rolls alone is it, huh?” Man, did I feel sorry for her. “Anyway. I need to leave my place unlocked just in case a woman I have a date with comes while I’m out looking for her.”

  “You have to go look for this woman you think you have a date with?” Pity filled her face. “Come on in, honey. You’ve been stood up.”

  Seeing pity on Blanche’s face did things to my stomach that nothing else ever had. It actually rolled in on itself and I nearly puked it out. “Anyway. If you see a pretty blonde woman at my door, please tell her to go inside and I’ll be back shortly.” I thought better of it as I wasn’t going to run back and forth between searching for Nicki and coming back to see if she’d made it to my place. “Tell her to call me when she gets here. Tell her that she might’ve accidentally blocked my number, so she’ll need to fix that first, then she needs to call me, and I’ll come right home.”