by Sky Winters
“Promise you won’t go see Taft without me?”
Melanie smiled at her son. “I promise.”
She kissed his head and unzipped one of her bags, pulling out her black laptop. Before she ventured forth to see what jobs she could go apply for, she needed to do some research.
When Casey came home, Melanie felt as ready as she would ever be. “Do you mind watching Stevie while I go apply for a few of these things?” she asked her friend. It was getting into the evening now, so many of the jobs that she found would have to be applied for online, but she had found some restaurants and retail positions that she could still go check out in person.
“Sure,” Casey said, smiling. “Here, you can borrow my Metro card.”
Melanie took the offered card and carefully placed it into her purse. “He’s really into grilled cheese and chicken nuggets right now,” she told her. “His bedtime is nine o’clock. I’ll hopefully be back by then.”
With that, she drove to the nearest Metro station and parked in the lot. She added money to the card and headed into DC. She’d visited the city once, on an elementary school field trip, but that had been when she was about eight, so she didn’t remember that much of it. It looked pretty as the evening slowly descended on it, however. She appreciated a city that was pretty at night. Growing up in Ohio, she was mostly used to seeing corn and farmland. She was ready for something different.
It turned out that the places she had written down as potential new jobs were all either not looking for someone new or not looking for someone like her. She ended up being told by one of them to try applying on their website, but that was the best news she received.
Feeling disappointed with herself, she decided to pop into one of the bars she saw and see if maybe they needed any help. The place was lively even though it was a weeknight. Melanie admired the space and the people who were hanging out there. Most of the people seemed to be partying with their friends after work. They appeared to be around her age, which gave her hope. Maybe this would be a good place to network…
She sat down at the bar, not intending to drink but hoping to get someone’s attention. She had her son to get home to, after all, so she wasn’t planning to be there too long. The bartender came over to her. “What’ll you have?” he asked her.
Looking up at him, Melanie’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. He was tall and the perfect amount of muscular, with short, jet black hair and piercing green eyes. He also had several tattoos on his arms and chest, including a large one of a tiger on his upper bicep. Melanie smirked a little to herself. She hadn’t ever been interested in men with tattoos, but this one intrigued her for some reason. He was wearing a white tank top and slightly holey jeans. He also wore dog tags, which dangled from his neck as he looked down at her.
She suddenly realized that a long time had passed and she’d merely stared at him rather than answering his question. “Uh… Diet Coke, please?” she asked, instantly feeling lame. This bartender looked like the sort of person who expected everyone to drink hard liquor. And she could not blame him. Bartenders made their money from people buying the heavy stuff, not fountain drinks.
Instead of snarling at her like the villain in a Popeye cartoon, he smiled. “Sure thing,” he said. Skillfully grabbing a glass from the counter and flipping it in his hand so the right end was up, he poured ice and soda into it and handed it over.
“Thank you,” Melanie said politely. She had not expected him to have such a cute smile. He even had a big dimple in his left cheek.
“No problem,” he replied. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
It was her turn to smile. “How could you tell? Do I look that lost?”
He leaned against the bar, chuckling. “I didn’t say that. I just noticed your accent, and noticed that you were looking around like you’d never been here before. This isn’t exactly a tourist spot.”
Melanie blushed. She didn’t realize that she had a noticeable accent. Maybe she was just used to it. Casey had one, too, though it was somewhat fainter since she had lived in the DC area for several years now. “I just moved here from Ohio,” she explained. “I was hoping to find a job, but so far… Well, I’m here.” She held up her Diet Coke as if she was making a toast and then took a long sip.
The man’s eyes lit up when she mentioned needing a job. “I don’t know what’s cuter, your accent or how you blush when your accent is pointed out.”
Her blush intensified and she rolled her eyes a little bit, smiling shyly. This guy was charming. With his tattoos and the faint scars on his forehead that she just now noticed, he resembled the stereotype of an ex-con, but he was charming. She was enjoying this conversation instead of wanting to head for the hills. After everything that had happened with her husband – her ex-husband now, she supposed – it surprised Melanie that she wanted to chat with this handsome stranger.
“My name is Doug Albright. I may have some connections in town that could help you find a job.” He grabbed her glass and refilled it without her even needing to ask. She felt like she was suddenly the only other person in the bar.
Feeling like being playful, she raised an eyebrow and smirked at Doug. “What kind of connections?” she asked. “Like Mafia connections?”
He threw his head back and laughed. He came around the bar and sat beside her on a stool, holding a glass of something that looked like water but definitely did not smell like it. “Ohio, you are fun. I’m not in the Mafia. I’m the vice president of a motorcycle club called Stars and Stripes. And it just so happens that some of the other guys work in places around here. If you think you have what it takes, I’ll pass along the word that you’re looking to be hired.”
Now that he was closer, she could see that the tiger on his arm was pouncing out of an American flag. Stars and Stripes. Clever. But did she really want to get mixed up with a biker guy? Were they really just a club, or were they more like a gang?
“What’s your name?” he asked her.
She took another sip of her soda. What the hell. “Melanie Carr.”
Doug grinned at her. “You’re about to be a Carr riding a bike.”
CHAPTER TWO
Stars and Stripes
Melanie shifted a bit uneasily on her stool. This Doug guy was cute and charming, but he was also a stranger and she didn’t feel right just riding off with him on a motorcycle. She had little Stevie to think about. She had divorce papers to file before she even wanted to consider dating anyone else. She hoped that he would understand.
“It’s getting late,” she said, sounding somewhat deflated. “I should probably head back.”
Doug frowned slightly. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Hey, if you want I could give you a lift.”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I took the Metro and my car is at the station.”
He slowly smiled at her, showing off that adorable dimple of his again. How was it that a guy with such a baby face was the leader of a motorcycle gang? “I could give you a ride to the station,” he pointed out.
That she couldn’t argue with. The Metro would be a long ride back and she wondered how late it even ran. She looked at her watch. Crap. Is it already eight? Finally, feeling more resigned than excited, Melanie looked back up and straight into the eyes of Doug, who was awaiting her answer.
“Do you have an extra helmet?”
He grinned at her. “We can borrow one.”
Going back around the counter, he called to his coworkers. “I’m going on break, cover me! Hey, Lars, can I borrow your helmet?”
“Why? You got a hot—” The man who must have been Lars poked his head out of the back room. “—date?” He whistled when he saw Melanie, which made her blush and laugh. Meanwhile, Doug shushed him.
“Helmet?” he asked.
Lars tossed him a bright yellow helmet.
“Gracias.” Doug carried the helmet over and set it down on the bar in front of Melanie. He threw a black leather jacket on and let the way out back to where his
waiting Harley motorcycle stood.
It was a black behemoth, with orange tiger stripes painted onto the hood of its front wheel. She could tell one thing for sure: he liked tigers.
“Where do you live?” he asked, putting on his shiny black helmet and watching as Melanie put hers on. He helped her onto the bike, allowing her to get on it herself for the most part, but there to lend his hand so she didn’t topple off or hurt herself in another way. She clearly had never been on a motorcycle before. She wondered if that would be a turn off for him, but when she saw his face, he was smiling and seemed completely enamored of her.
“Maryland,” she answered, “so I hope this bike has a lot of juice in it.” She smirked at him and he smirked right back at her. She had heard something like that in a movie once. She gave him the address of Casey’s house and Doug hopped onboard his motorcycle.
When it started up, her heart leapt a little. It felt so strange and not a small amount of intimidating, but she was also… thrilled?
“I know we just met,” he yelled over the engine. “But you’re gonna want to hold onto me. It’s dangerous to ride without anything holding you on.”
Melanie gulped but it was drowned out by the revving motor, which she was glad of. She knew that he could tell she was scared, but she didn’t want him to know that she was actually really, really scared. It was too late to turn back now!
She wrapped her arms around Doug’s middle and held on tight as he kicked off and they rode the Harley away from the bar.
“If you’re nervous, sometimes it helps to yell,” he told her, yelling just so she could hear him.
“What??” she yelled back.
He repeated himself, louder this time. She felt embarrassed for her first yell on a motorcycle being ‘what’ like some inattentive idiot. “WEEEEEEOOOOO!!” he suddenly shouted. He looked back at her, grinning, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“WooooooAHH!” she yelled, laughing at her attempt.
Doug rode through the streets of DC as though this was what he did every night. Knowing what he did in his free time, he probably did do this every night. Melanie was grappling with whether she found that sexy or not.
When they finally stopped at the Metro station, behind her car, he helped her off of the bike and she looked up at him. She took off her helmet and shook out her hair.
“So, what do you think?” he asked. She couldn’t recall what he looked like when he wasn’t smiling. It did something to his appearance and made her almost forget about his tattoos and his scars… She suddenly worried about those scars.
“I’m glad you wear a helmet,” she said.
He laughed. “I meant about the bike. Did you have fun?”
Melanie smiled. “Oh,” she replied. “Yeah, it was okay.”
That made him laugh even more. He obviously got a kick out of her, and she was intrigued by him… But she couldn’t honestly say for sure if she saw anything coming from this. It had been nice of him to offer to help her find a job, but he clearly wasn’t just out to help her as a friend. Not the way he looked at her.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders a little. “It’s a free country.”
“Where’d you get the shiner?”
Her eyes widened. Reaching up, she gingerly touched the bruise under her left eye. It still hurt. She had forgotten about it, till he mentioned it. It was like a bubble had burst inside her or something. She didn’t feel comfortable being around him anymore.
“Well, thanks for the lift,” she said, breaking the awkward silence that had formed. She handed the borrowed helmet back to him and moved to get into her SUV.
“Wait,” he said. He reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a piece of receipt paper. “Do you have a pen? I want to give you my phone number, in case I can help you again sometime.”
She laughed softly. No one needed to write phone numbers down anymore, unless they were Melanie’s mother’s age. “I can just put it directly into my phone.” She brought her phone out of her purse. “What is it?”
“555-860-SSMC.”
Melanie put it into her phone and then looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. “This is your motorcycle club’s number, isn’t it?”
Doug let out another laugh. “I’m not the VP for no reason, Ohio.”
She pressed a button. “I sent you a text so you’ll have my number.” She got into her car but kept the door open for a second. “Be careful out there, okay?” Closing the door, she started her car and drove away.
It was nice of him to drive her all the way from DC to Maryland on his Harley. She hoped that he would make it back okay. She also hoped that he would not put too much stock in seeing her again. She had a two-year-old and a friend that she was eventually going to need to pay back. Melanie would not be able to live with herself if she let another man interfere with her life.
When she arrived back at Casey’s house, most of the lights were off. Melanie went inside and her friend looked up from a book, looking surprised. “There you are,” Casey said. She didn’t say it with any annoyance or exasperation, just as if she had been wondering where Melanie had gone for such a long time. “Did you have any success?”
Melanie chuckled, mostly to herself, and hung up her purse in the hall closet. She brought out her cell phone and was glad to see that there weren’t any texts from Doug. Most importantly because she didn’t want him texting and riding his bike at the same time. That was the mother in her. She also didn’t want to be bombarded with texts from him. Her head was still spinning, trying to figure things out.
“I had some slight success,” she answered. “I met a guy.”
Casey closed her book and opened her mouth wide. “You did? What happened?” She patted the couch next to her.
Melanie looked around. “Where’s Stevie?”
“I put him to bed right at nine, like you told me. He is such a good kid. We played board games all evening.” Casey smiled, proud of herself for being a capable babysitter and also proud of Melanie for having such a sweet, smart little boy.
Collapsing on the couch beside her friend, Melanie let out a pleased sigh. “Oh, thank god. I was trying to get back here quicker, but…”
Casey shook her head. “It’s okay. I didn’t mind. You needed a break anyway. Now tell me more about this mystery man you met.”
Melanie blushed. “It wasn’t really a big deal. I went to a bar after being turned away by everyone in town, and the bartender turned out to be friendly. He was covered in tattoos, as you can probably imagine, and he’s apparently a leader of this motorcycle gang.”
Casey’s eyes widened a little. “But he was nice?”
Melanie nodded. “Yeah. We chatted for a while, and then he gave me a ride on his motorcycle. He took me all the way back to the station where I’d left my car.”
“Wow,” Casey said, impressed. “He doesn’t sound so bad for a gang member.”
Melanie snorted. “I may be exaggerating a touch. He’s the vice president of a motorcycle club. It’s got a name with tigers in it or something. Anyway. He is very cute, very handsome, and I had a good time but I don’t think anything is going to come of it. I mean, after all, I just got here. I need a job. I need to find a good daycare for Stevie. I need to find structure for my life again, you know? And this guy… He’s not the sort of guy who can provide structure for us.”
Casey got up and poured them each a mimosa. She sat back down and handed Melanie a glass, clinking glasses with her. “What makes you think that he’s not someone who can help you? He obviously helped you tonight, even if it was just a little gesture versus something you needed.”
“It’s embarrassing to admit but... You should see his tattoos, Case. And his scars. He’s got scars on his forehead that make me wonder what sort of fights he’s been into. He has the look of an ex-criminal, even if he is reformed or whatever.”
“Maybe they’re just scars from falling off his motorcycle,” Casey
suggested. “You should ask him about it instead of assuming.”
Melanie bit her lip. “You’re right. I just don’t know if I’m ready to have someone else in my life. Especially not someone who could end up being just as violent as Jake.”
Casey looked down, empathizing with her friend. She’d only ever had bad luck with dating and was so heartbroken when Melanie confessed to her that Jake hit her on a frequent basis, depending on how much he drank.
“I should go to bed,” Melanie said, setting her empty glass on the table. “Thanks for the mimosa and the chat. I promise to be more upbeat tomorrow.”
“I’m not expecting you to be upbeat, Mel,” Casey said. “I’m here for you always.”
CHAPTER THREE
All American Tiger
First things first, Melanie decided the next morning, she would take Stevie to one of the nearest daycare centers to see if it was a good fit for him. It was equipped with playhouses and all sorts of fun toys and things to climb on, so Melanie was satisfied. He looked around in awe at everything. “He’s very smart for his age,” she told the admissions assistant at the center. “He’s already starting to read simple picture books and he loves history.”
The lady beamed at him. She was most likely paid to praise each child, but Melanie couldn’t help feeling as though she really did have a special one that was worth describing so highly.
“I think he will do very well here,” she said.
Melanie wondered how often this woman said that in a day. She wondered if she could work in a daycare center. One kid was probably enough for her.
“Great. Well, is it okay if he stays here for a few hours today?” Melanie asked. “It could be a sort of trial run and, if it goes well, he’ll start coming here every weekday?”
She was relieved when the lady smiled and agreed to it. This would help her go apply for some of the other places that she couldn’t apply for in the evening. She didn’t want to always depend on Casey to babysit Stevie while she job hunted.
