Respectable Riot

by Karen Renee

  “Explain,” he ordered tersely.

  I told him about the women and how Grind was holding that information over Trent’s head, as well as the bribery with the cannabis companies. When I was finished, I added, “And don’t talk to me about getting out of jail.”

  His lips pressed in a thin line. “Who mentioned that? Oh...Roman.”

  He was filling the small dining room with an enraged energy. No way was I going to make it worse. My entire body jolted when he stood so forcefully he knocked his chair down.

  “Christ! Christ!” he yelled.

  It was a bizarre feeling, I was scared but not. His anger was nearly suffocating, and he looked like he could get violent with it, but I knew he would not aim any violence at me.

  His fist slammed onto the wall above his head and he leaned his forehead onto the wall. “Jesus. Fuckin’ shithead.”

  He turned back to me and his eyes were narrowed. “Roman actually said somethin’ to you about ‘gettin’ out of jail’?”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. I started to speak again, but nothing coming to mind was going to make this better.

  “Talk. To. Me, Janie,” he demanded.

  I sighed. “Nothing I can say will make you any less angry.”

  He laughed, and even that sounded angry. “Yeah, but Clumsy, this anger ain’t directed at you. It’s all about fuckin’ Roman, the damn shithead.”

  I frowned. “He’s your brother, David.”

  A glint entered his eye. “Oh, we’re MC brothers all right. Means we got history, and that history is not rosy. Thank fuck I sent you on your way that night at the Monkey’s Uncle.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “He wouldn’t have gotten in there with me.” Thank God I was able to leave my statement at that. I nearly let it slip that was because I had it for Beast. God, I needed a dual V-8 head slap, one to the front and one to the back of my head. I couldn’t have it for Beast. I needed to get the hell out of my sham of a marriage and sort myself out. In no way did I need to complicate things with Beast.

  “What’d he say to you, babe?”

  “I don’t remember exactly,” I said and he growled at me, so I bulged my eyes at him to shut him up. “But it was something about being my rebound man.”

  His eyes closed, but he gave a solemn nod. That immediately brought Beard Science to mind, but this was no time for me to think about books.

  “What did you say to that?”

  I canted my head. “I told him no way I needed a rebound man.”

  I WOKE UP ALONE IN the bed. Having taken a nap in the bed yesterday afternoon, I knew the quilt was thick and warm so last night, I wore a camisole and some very short sleep shorts to bed. Sharing a bed with Beast was strange. Once he calmed down from his anger, he took a shower, and I took it upon myself to get ready for bed in the half-bath while he was occupied. When he came out of the bathroom, he hadn’t seen my sleepwear, and that was definitely for the best. I was curled into the fetal position, waiting for him to get settled, and he did, but he did it by turning on a small television in the room.

  To my surprise, the sound of basketball commentary and sneakers squeaking on hardwood lulled me into a deep sleep.

  I wasn’t sure what time it was, but if the brightness behind the curtains shielding the sliding glass door was any sign, it was pretty late in the morning. Since I wasn’t able to pack a robe for this trip, I switched out of my short-shorts for a pair of gym shorts that provided better coverage of my tush.

  My morning breath was extreme, so I shut myself in the bathroom to take care of business. When I came out, I caught a whiff of food cooking and could hear snippets of rhythmic music. I slid on my flip-flops and shuffled down the hall to the mouth of the kitchen. Beast had a mixing bowl on the counter, and a skillet on the stove. Fergie could be heard singing “London Bridge,” and it was loud enough in the kitchen he didn’t hear me approach. His thick shoulders jerked up and down with the chorus, only for his hips to thrust too. My heart rate increased and wet rushed to my core which was crazy because a man dancing and cooking should not be turning me on....but it was.

  The song wasn’t that long. Since I didn’t want him to spy me after it ended, I said, “I never would have pegged you for a ‘London Bridge’ kinda guy.”

  He gave me a long look. “I’m a guy who’s all about makin’ your ‘London Bridge’ go down. Besides, why you think I like callin’ you ‘Clumsy?’”

  “Fergie?”

  He shrugged one of his sculpted shoulders and turned back to the stove. That was when I fully took in his back. Jesus, his muscles were so defined the gym equipment meant to work back muscles should feature a picture of his back instead of the generic illustrations. He pulled down a plate, turned holding the skillet, and plated an omelet.

  He looked at me from the corner of his eye. “Damn. Shoulda known you were starin’ at my back. Surprised I didn’t feel it, as focused as you are on it.”

  My cheeks heated but more from anger than embarrassment. “Don’t be arrogant.”

  “Don’t start somethin’ you have no intention of finishing, let alone the ability.”

  His tone was harsh, possibly harsher than his words, and both angered me. He didn’t deserve to see how angry he made me. No way would he get that from me. Screw that. I was wearing my flip flops, and while I wasn’t wearing a bra, there wasn’t a damn soul there who would know me from Eve, so I went to the front door and stormed out.

  CHAPTER 15

  Janie

  THE COMMUNITY WAS MIXED residences. There was the building with the condo Beast and Liar owned, but there were some buildings featuring row homes on the other side of the retention pond, and on the other side of the road looping the properties were larger townhomes. Nobody was in the corridor outside Beast’s place, and I tromped out of the breezeway and through the lush grass down to the edge of the retention pond.

  Plopping down on my tush, I tucked my legs together and hugged my knees. He was so fucking out of line. Of course, so was I. Not because I was ogling his back, but because I was giving into my attraction to him when neither one of us could act on it. I rested my forehead on my knees and tried to get my tear drops to fall out of my eyes rather than stream down my face.

  Strong, warm arms wrapped around mine and I saw Beast’s legs resting on either side of mine. Heat from his torso seeped into me, and I didn’t enjoy it. No, I loved it. Dammit. This was not helping.

  He drew my hair away from the left side of my face, and then he rested his chin on my left shoulder. So not helping.

  “I’m sorry. I was a dick.” His voice was low, sincere, and it sent a thrill up my neck.

  I kept my head to my knees. “It’s okay. You were right.”

  “Look at me.”

  I lifted my head and turned.

  “Shit, honey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  Fresh tears filmed over my eyes, and I hated myself for being so damned sensitive. “It’s not your fault. Like I said, you were right.”

  “Bullshit. What are you upset about?”

  I shook my head. “It isn’t you. It’s all of the crap in my life. If you must know, my head hurts, my chest hurts, and even my heart hurts.”

  I expected the last part of my statement to scare him off, but to my utter dismay, his bulky warm body scooted closer to me.

  Once he was situated, he spoke. “Jesus, Clumsy. Give yourself a break.”

  I turned my face a little more to throw my words over my shoulder. “Breaks are for cars, bikes and Kit-Kats.”

  My body jostled as his frame shook with chuckles. “Much as I want to appreciate that, you’re wrong.”

  “Am not,” I muttered, turning forward.

  He sighed, and I felt my hair move from it. “Woman, you moved, started a new job, had a miscarriage and got divorced though not in that order. Any damn one of those is a grade-A hard life experience, but all four in the span of less than what, six months? That’s a
recipe for a nervous fuckin’ break down, so cut yourself some slack.”

  Now I sighed. “Fine. I’ll do that later this morning. Thank you for shifting my perspective, and thanks for holding my hand. You don’t have to hang around.”

  He squeezed me. “Not holding your hand, right now, Country Club.”

  I shook my head slightly. “You know what I mean.”

  He chuckled. “You oughta say what you mean. Believe me, I mean it when I say, the only time I held your hand, I held it to me.”

  His hips thrust behind me as if I needed the reminder of that hand-holding experience.

  “All right, all right,” I groaned. “Thank you for the perspective. You’re free to go now.”

  “Free to go now, what?”

  “Huh?”

  “Way you said that, it sounded like you wanted to add a name, but didn’t.”

  I wanted to scream at this guy, but I was afraid it would only exacerbate the waterworks already streaming from my eyes. It required too much effort to hide my frustration, so I didn’t bother. “Beast! Just go, already. Okay? I’m grateful, really I am, but you’re trying my last ounce–”

  Suddenly, I found myself on my feet and facing him. His hands cupped my cheeks, and he leaned down so his stormy blue eyes were all I could see. “Not a damn thing you need to be grateful to me for, Janie.”

  His reverting to my name made my breath hitch. I prayed he didn’t notice, but it was becoming clear he didn’t miss anything.

  “You wanted to say I’m trying your last ounce of patience, but that shit goes both ways. I wanted to fuck you so fuckin’ bad this morning, but no way am I gonna give that dumb fuck anything in the way of leverage against you. Especially since you’re not down with that.”

  He was so darn nice and so darn gorgeous. His words warmed my heart and it brought on a fresh wave of tears which was the last thing I wanted him to witness. I turned my head to the right, but his hands forced it back to face him.

  “No way. You’re not hiding from me. No. Way. I shouldn’t say this shit, but I’m gonna do it anyway. You’re gonna be mine. It won’t be any time soon because you’re dealing with a serious shitstorm, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  My eyebrow arched even as I felt tears sliding to my jawline.

  “It’s true, Clumsy. Haven’t so much as touched another woman in over a week.”

  I looked over his shoulder, and damn my expressive eyes, he saw the sarcastic look on my face for what it was.

  He snorted. “Not a lot of time to a woman like you, but believe me. For a biker, that’s saying some shit.”

  “We should go back,” I whispered.

  “Yeah, we should. I make a mean fuckin’ omelet and it’s gettin’ cold, but I’ll eat that one. Make you one fresh.”

  “Beast. I mean, go back to–”

  “Knew that was what you meant, but nope. Not happenin’. We’re eating. You’re doin’ your bathroom gig or whatever you need to do to be presentable to the world. Definitely puttin’ on a bra,” he ordered while looking down at my breasts. “Then we’re hittin’ a phone store.”

  “What? Why–”

  “You might’ve disabled the GPS, but I don’t trust that fucker. Gonna nip that shit in the bud. Besides, you’re in a rental because of his name bein’ on the registration, title and shit. My guess, his name’s on that phone plan too, right?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered, feeling all the more like a fool for not thinking about that.

  His right hand traced my jawline. “Wipe that look off your face. You can’t think of everything all the time. So, we’re dealin’ with that first, then we’re puttin your toes in some sand, woman.”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Fine, but toes in the sand aren’t gonna magically solve my problems.”

  He grinned. “No, but it’s a fuckin’ start in the right direction. Now let’s go.”

  STARING AT THE SLOW-moving low-cresting waves of the Gulf of Mexico, I wiggled my toes in the sand with a smirk. The smirk was because Beast was right, but hell if I was going to tell him as much. Putting my toes in the sand was definitely helping. Though whether it was getting my ‘head right’ was still in question. Beast had sauntered off well ahead of me down the shoreline, though I didn’t know why. It was okay by me, because he filled out a pair of board shorts almost as well as his jeans.

  Breathing deep, I let the salty-sweet air of the Gulf fill my lungs, and I was amazed at how effectively it relaxed me. I gripped the straps of my flip-flops tighter and walked a few paces toward the shore.

  As luck would have it, the southern portion of the state was warming up quicker than the northern part, so I was wearing a pair of old gym shorts and an UnderArmor tank-top. I could’ve opted for matching gym leggings, but I knew we were headed here and I wanted to be able to sit on the beach sand without worrying about my clothes. Beast had told me it was up to me if I wanted to ride on the bike with my flip-flops or boots. Since he rode in his board shorts and a pair of flip-flops, I decided to follow his lead.

  Turning my head to the right, I saw a young mother with her toddler son, who was on the verge of dumping a bucket of watery sand over his head. I grinned, but gasped when the wind was knocked out of me by someone plowing into my belly.

  The next thing I knew my butt was in the air, my eyes were aimed at the ground where I dropped my flip-flops, and Beast’s muscular body was running toward the water with me over his shoulder.

  “Oh, my God! Put me down, David Huntley! Right freaking now!”

  He didn’t put me down.

  In fact, he picked up his pace and I could see the water rising up his calves past his knees. With no other choice, I wrapped my arms around his lower torso and held on tight. He kept moving into the water, but before I could yell or shout anything further, his arms forced me forward. I thought that would be the end of it, but that was what I got for thinking. His body lunged in a forward motion and we both went under the gentle waves.

  Between the chilly water and the current, I was able to get away from Beast. As my face emerged from the water, I violently wiggled it so my hair wouldn’t be plastered to my eyes and mouth. Narrowing my eyes at a fresh-from-the-water Beast, I shouted at him.

  “What in the hell, David? This water is nearly freezing. What’s the point of this?”

  Even through the water, he stalked to me and slung an arm around my lower waist. He pulled me flush with his body. “The point is gettin’ you to take the edge off.”

  “Newsflash! This didn’t take the edge off, it put the freakin’ edge on!”

  My body shook because his body was nearly convulsing with laughter. “Good. Seein’ you with wet hair and,” his eyes dipped to my torso, “that shirt plastered to your hot-as-fuck body, I’m glad to know it was worth it. You need to know what’s worth fightin’ about and what the hell isn’t.”

  He leaned down, and I thought for certain he would kiss me, but he kissed my nose and let me go. I stood with a lip curled in disgust while I sunk into the soft, watery sand watching him trudge out of the water he had forced me into. This was all sorts of wrong.

  Seeing as my shorts and underwear were soaked through and my shirt and bra were right behind them, I dove under the water and swam further out. I wasn’t much for exercise unless there was a soundtrack such that choreography was a given, but swimming was one of the few other ways in which I could effectively workout my body. Surging nearly ten feet in the water, I surfaced so I could take in a huge breath and then I kept pushing out toward the deeper water.

  When I had swam nearly twenty feet from where Beast left me, I stopped and treaded water. I was farther from shore than I realized. I saw a spot on the shore, and thought it might be Beast, but there was no way to be certain. As I kicked my legs in a beater-like fashion I saw someone running into the water. Taking in the other people along the shore, I could see this person was larger than the rest, and I was certain it probably was Beast. After an expansive inhale, I dove under th
e water and swam forward to the shore.

  I surfaced over ten feet from where I began, and my legs were able to hit land. Shoving my hair out of my face, and blowing water out of my nose, I was stunned to find Beast rising out of the water in front of me.

  “Christ, Janie! Don’t you ever! Ever. Pull a stunt like that on me again!”

  His hair was back and it was wet, which made it appear nearly brown because it was darker with moisture. Had the day been sunnier, his eyes would have matched the blue of the water, but the day was practically murky, so the color in his irises popped against the Gulf water. No way was I going to let his looks distract me from his scolding.

  “What stunt? I didn’t pull anything on you, mister!” I yelled, but the sound was muffled by the sounds of the water moving around us.

  While the water appeared to be calm and serene from the shore, it was anything but out that far. The churning of the waves mirrored the torment of emotions inside me.

  His hands settled on my hips. “You cannot make me believe you were swept away with the current, woman! That shit is not on. Fuck this. Let’s go. We’re gettin’ the hell outta this water.”

  His grip on me had tightened, but thanks to the water, it wasn’t firm and I was able to slip away. “I do not think so, mister! I’m not getting out of the water just yet. Hell, as I recall, it was your idea that I put my toes in the sand in order to...how was it you put it, ‘get my head right?’ So I damn well intend to do that.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Janie

  AFTER WE EACH SHOWERED, Beast insisted on taking me to dinner. I put on a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and a tie-neck, sleeveless, shimmery lace top in a shade of metallic pewter that made the color of my hair seem brighter. It was going to be a short trip, and Beast told me I could skip the helmet so I did. The cloudy skies had cleared, and as we rode south on US 41, I loved the feeling of my hair flying behind me. I had no idea where we were going except that Beast promised the restaurant had one of the best burgers in Venice.