by Nicole James
“Jess—”
Her hand came up, palm up. “Don’t. Just don’t, okay? I don’t need your damn excuses, or your—”
Oh, like hell! Fuck this shit. He grabbed her hand, jerking her closer. “Just fucking listen to me a minute, will you?”
That shut her up.
“You said you’d be okay with this. You said you could handle this.”
She tried to pull her hand free, but he held tight. She glared up at him as she ground out her answer. “That’s because I didn’t think you’d be regretting having sex with me before the sheets were even cold!”
He let her go then, staring down at her, stunned. “I don’t regret the sex, Jess. Christ, is that what you think?”
“What the hell am I suppose to think?” she bit out.
He pointed a finger at the bed, his motion jerking with anger. “That was the best fuck of my life, sweetheart. Off the charts amazing.”
She slumped back, confused again. But still fucking pissed, by the look on her face. “The best?”
“Yes, Jess. The best. By a long shot. That what you wanted to hear?”
“But, how—” He watched a frown form on her pretty face.
“How could it be the best? Easy. Sex is a whole different ballgame when it’s with someone you care about.”
Why did she look shocked? She had to know he cared about her.
“Then I don’t see why we can’t—”
He cut her off. “Don’t, Jess. Okay? I thought I could do this. But I can’t. Not with you.”
“Ghost, please don’t be like this.”
He grabbed a clean shirt from his pack and moved to the bathroom, slamming the door. Leaning on the sink, he stared in the mirror.
Shit. He’d fucked up.
She was going to be much more difficult to let go than he’d ever imagined. He knew there’d always been something between them, something smoldering just below the surface. But now? Now that he’d had a taste of just how fucking good it could be between them? How in the hell was he going to let her go when this was all over? And how in the hell was he going to handle the look on her face when she found out his club was going to use her to make a deal?
Christ, he was fucked.
***
Jessie stared at the closed door.
What just happened? Everything had been so perfect last night. She’d always suspected Ghost would be good in bed. But the reality was so much better than she could have ever imagined. They had something together. Chemistry. Magnetism. Whatever it was called, it was there, burning hot between them. One look. One touch. Hell, he just had to walk into a room and she felt it, felt him, felt his presence, undeniable and strong. Like he was the magnetic pole that drew her like a compass.
She knew he felt it, too. So why was he fighting it?
Goddamn but he could be stubborn. She remembered that about him. But newsflash, big boy, she could be just as stubborn.
And she wasn’t going to let this go.
Jessie wasn’t normally one to throw herself at someone or to court rejection. But with Ghost, she’d found something, something she’d never found with anyone else, before or since. And she was damned if she was going to watch it all slip away. And she sure as hell wasn’t about to let him throw it away or make that decision for the both of them.
It was worth fighting for. This was worth fighting for. She knew it. Down to her soul. And before she was through, he’d know it, too.
She smiled at the closed door.
Challenge accepted, big boy.
After they’d both showered, they once again met up with some of Ghost’s brothers for breakfast. The tiny diner they pulled up to was not as cool as the one they’d eaten in the previous morning, but the aromas that assaulted them as they walked in promised the food was good.
Jessie followed behind Ghost’s broad shoulders as he made his way toward several booths along the front windows where his brothers were sitting. They squeezed in with Shades and Hammer, Ghost nodding for her to sit next to Hammer, while he sat next to Shades.
Her eyes skated over Hammer’s big tattoo covered biceps as she scooted in, and a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. This could work perfectly into her plan to get Ghost to realize the error of his decision to keep things platonic between them. Well, Mr. I-can’t-go-there, let’s see how you like this action.
“My, my, you’re a big one. You must lift weights,” she purred as she gently ran a finger over Hammer’s bicep. He sat with his forearms on the table, a fork in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. Turning his head, his eyes fell to where she touched him. Then he lifted his eyes to hers, and he grinned.
“Mornin’, Sunshine.”
“Good morning,” she murmured back with a smile. Her eyes dropped to his plate. “How’s the food?”
“Food’s great. Want a bite?” he offered, holding his fork out to her.
“Sure,” she purred.
He put the fork to her mouth, and she opened, taking the bite of the omelet he offered.
“Mmm,” she groaned around the mouthful, and his grin got bigger as he winked at her.
“Okay, enough flirting, Hammer,” Ghost growled as he reached across Shades for two of the plastic menus jammed behind the napkin dispenser. He passed one to Jessie with a look that told her to behave.
She smiled, still chewing. Seems her plan was working already. Behave? Not on your life, lover-boy. “So, Hammer, is it? How did you get that name?” She smiled up at him, shamelessly flirting as she scooted closer.
Shades answered for him. “We call him Hammer because he nails anything with tits.”
Ghost glared over at Shades, who replied, “What? She asked.”
Ignoring them both, she turned her attention back to Hammer, running her hand up his bicep again. “Is that really how you got your name?”
Hammer’s eyes moved from her to connect with Ghost’s as if he was on to her plan. Instead of answering her question, he asked Ghost, “She’s your stepsister, right? You’re not claimin’ her?”
“She’s off limits, Hammer.”
Hammer’s brows rose. “You’re shittin’ me.”
“Ain’t shittin’ you, bro. Leave her be.”
What the hell?
“What do you mean I’m off limits?” Jessie snapped at Ghost.
She didn’t get an answer because the waitress appeared at the booth. She held a thermal carafe of coffee and two clunky white mugs, which she plopped down in front of them and began filling without even asking if they wanted coffee.
“What’ll you have?” she asked Ghost, barely giving Jessie a glance.
He grabbed the menu out of Jessie’s hand and shoved them both back behind the napkin dispenser, saying, “We’ll both have the special.”
She nodded and walked away.
Jessie glared at him as she reached for her coffee. What was with him and ordering for her all the time? “Would you stop doing that?”
Ghost reached for his coffee. “Nope.”
***
After they ate, Ghost studied Jessie, who’d barely spoken to him throughout the meal, instead lavishing all her attention on Hammer, who enjoyed it way too much for Ghost’s liking. Nodding toward the back hall, he snapped, “You need to use the restroom, better hit it now, Jess.”
He watched her get up and head to the back, his head turning to watch her ass as she walked away. When he turned back, both Shades and Hammer had their heads twisted to watch her ass, too.
They both grinned when he caught them and glared.
“What? That’s a damn fine ass, my man. Be a crime not to look,” Hammer answered with a tormenting grin.
“Just shut the fuck up, and keep your eyes on your own paper.”
Shades chuckled, downing the dregs of his coffee. “You’re a bit cranky this morning. Something happen?”
Ghost cut his eyes to him. “Not your business.”
“Somebody needs to get laid,” Shades teased.
Hamme
r eyed Ghost, running a hand slowly over his beard, his white teeth flashing. “I’m thinking somebody did. And it didn’t go too well.”
Shades almost choked on his coffee, his wide eyes flashing to Ghost. “That true, bro? You hit that?”
Ghost glared at them both, but finally came clean, nodding once.
“Fucking-A, man,” Hammer said with a grin before he turned and shouted across to another table. “You owe me ten bucks, Griz!”
Griz glanced over, pulling a red plastic stir-stick from his mouth that he’d been chewing on. “No way! Are you shittin’ me?”
Hammer grinned at Shades as he raised his hand. “High-five, bro.”
Ghost stared in stunned disbelief as they slapped palms, then he glared at Shades. “You both bet on this shit? Hammer, I’m not surprised. But, you?”
Shades just grinned. “Easiest ten bucks I ever made.”
Griz ambled over to their booth and leaned his palms on the table, his eyes on Ghost. “Dude,” he shook his head. “You let me down, man.”
Shades lifted his hand palm up, two fingers waggling. “Pay up, Griz.”
Griz straightened, pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and glared at Ghost as he pulled two tens out and slapped them on the table. “Shoulda known Romeo, here, couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
Just then Jessie walked up, and Ghost straightened in his seat, running his hand over his mouth. Fucking hell.
Griz glared at her. “You just cost me twenty bucks, sweet cheeks.” And then he strolled back to his table.
“What was that about?” she asked, eyeing the money.
“Nothing,” Ghost snapped rising from his seat and grabbing her by the upper arm to turn her toward the door. “Let’s go.”
“Hey, your bill,” Hammer said.
Ghost turned his head, not stopping. “You can pick up this one, Mr. Moneybags.”
“Fucking hell.”
Once they were back at the Saint Louis clubhouse, the different chapters took a few moments to say goodbye to each other. At each stop along the way the line of bikes got shorter as the various chapters broke off. And now some were splitting off toward Memphis, some toward Louisiana.
They posed to take a photo. A bunch of leather clad men with beards and dark shades all grinning at the camera. And Jessie noticed they all held their arms crossed over their chests, five fingers extended on one hand and four on the other. She frowned, wondering what that meant. She’d seen the number fifty-four up on the wall here and also at the clubhouse in Omaha, now that she thought about it. What was up with that?
After they were finished and said their goodbyes, pounding each other’s backs the way men do, Jessie asked Ghost about it.
“Why did everyone hold up nine fingers like that?”
Ghost grinned. “Not nine. Five and four.”
She shook her head. “Okay, so five and four then, what does that mean?”
“It means Evil Dead…E is the fifth letter in the alphabet and D is the fourth. So, five, four or fifty-four.”
“Oh, I see.”
“You ready, pretty girl?”
She grinned at his endearment. Apparently his earlier surly mood had shifted back to his usual happy self. “I’m ready. Am I on the back of your bike today?”
His eyes searched hers, his smile fading and his face turning serious. “That where you want to be?”
She nodded, mesmerized by the way he looked at her, like there wasn’t anyone else around. “Yes.”
“Because you want on the back of my bike or because you just want out of that van?”
She bit her lip, trying not to grin. “Maybe a little of both.”
The corner of his mouth pulled up. “Least you’re honest. Okay, brat, let’s rock and roll.”
She rolled her eyes at the nickname, but couldn’t help the smile that lit up her face. Yes! She was going to get to ride today!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The line of bikes roared southbound on I-65; eventually rolling down through Nashville, and then crossing the Alabama border an hour after that. They continued on past Huntsville and ultimately hit the exit, rolling through Birmingham toward the clubhouse.
Jessie took in the sights of the hometown she’d left years ago when she’d run away at the age of seventeen. Something’s had changed, but the feeling was the same. This was home. Always had been. Always would be.
Her arms tightened around Ghost, and she felt his hand drop to her forearm, giving it a pat and a squeeze. He knew. He understood what she was feeling. Somehow he always knew what she was feeling, had always been able to tap into her moods. Sometimes that was a good thing. Other times, not so much. She’d never been able to bullshit him.
And that worried her. Because that was exactly what she was doing now. Not all of it, not even most of it. But she hadn’t been completely honest with him, and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep up the lies for long before he saw right through them.
And she couldn’t help but worry about what would happen when he learned the truth.
Twenty minutes later, they rolled up to the clubhouse of the Birmingham Chapter of the Evil Dead MC. It was buried back in the poor neighborhoods that bordered the old U.S. Steel plant. They rolled up several side streets coming to a huge old two-story clapboard house that sat, looming large, on a big corner lot. Next to it was an empty lot with overgrown grass. The two properties consumed the entire short block that ran between two side streets. The back of the clubhouse was surrounded by a six-foot privacy fence and backed up to an alley that faced a junkyard on the other side. Across the street was a burned out house, next to that an abandoned house. Obviously, the neighborhood was not primo real estate, and Jessie imagined they liked it that way. The fewer people and neighbors to fuck with them, the better.
The front yard was overgrown, the sides overrun with tall bamboo and kudzu vines. There was a waist-high chain link fence around the front yard and a rusty gate no one ever used. The metal mailbox out on the street was painted black with Evil Dead MC in white stencil across it. Up on the front porch in a chair by the door sat a skeleton holding a scythe like some leftover Halloween decoration, except for the Evil Dead support tee shirt it wore.
The bikes turned the corner and circled around back to the alley, which led to the only entrance members used. There was a double wooden gate with the club name, Evil Dead painted, top-rocker style across it. One word on each portion of the swinging gate that when closed formed the name. Up on the backside of the house was painted a winged skeleton holding a scythe, looking down at the back of the property as if guarding it.
They rolled through the back gate and into a large gravel lot that took up over an acre.
As they climbed off the bike, Jessie glanced around the yard at all the women waiting to greet the men. Even though Ghost had assured her there was no ol’ lady waiting for him, she couldn’t help it when her gaze moved over each and every woman there.
Shades had pulled in next to them, and he hadn’t gotten two steps from his bike before a gorgeous girl with long dark hair ran to him and jumped in his arms. He laughed, catching her up in his arms, her ass in his hands, as her legs wrapped around his waist and they kissed passionately like newlyweds.
“Are they married?” she whispered to Ghost.
“Naw, not yet. But she’s wearin’ his ring. Don’t think they’ve set a date yet.”
When they finally broke apart, Jessie saw the love in Shades’ eyes as he looked at his woman. He set her down reluctantly, and she turned her eyes on Ghost and Jessie.
“Who’s your friend, Ghost?” she asked.
“Don’t I get a hug?” Ghost asked her, ignoring her question.
She went into his arms, and he briefly lifted her feet off the ground before setting her back down.
“How you doin’, Hotrod?”
She grinned up at him before shaking her head. “Uh-uh, no avoiding the question. Introduce us.”
Ghost grabbed Jessie by the hand
and pulled her forward. “Skylar, this is Jessie. Jessie, this is Skylar, Shades’ ol’ lady.”
The pretty woman extended her hand, and Jessie took it, shaking it warmly. “Hi, nice to meet you.” Jessie couldn’t help but notice Skylar’s eyes. They were the most beautiful blue she’d ever seen, a light crystal blue that stood out starkly against her dark hair.
She turned her electric gaze to Ghost, her brows raised. “And you two know each other how?”
“He picked up a souvenir in Sturgis.” Shades filled his woman in with a teasing smile and a wink at Jessie.
Skylar’s brows shot up, and she giggled. “Is that so?”
Ghost let out a slight chuckle. “Something like that, yeah.”
“Interesting.” She eyed Jessie up and down, and then her eyes swung to Ghost in a considering, analyzing way.
As if Ghost could read her mind, he replied, “Don’t even go there, Sky.”
Her eyes got big, but her knowing grin stayed. “What? I didn’t say a word.”
Shades pulled her away, remarking, “I’ll fill you in later.”
“Oh, yes you most definitely will.”
Jessie watched them walk off, and then she turned on Ghost. “What was that about?”
He shook his head about to answer when another girl walked up, plastering herself against him and purring like a kitten. “I missed you, baby.”
Jessie’s eyes swept over her. She was a stacked blonde with a catty look on her face, her hands sliding up and down Ghost’s cut like she owned him. It had Jessie’s spine straightening as jealousy flared to life inside her.
Ghost took her by the upper arms and set her away. “Quit, Ash.”
“Who’s this?” she asked, her eyes on Jessie and venom in her voice.
“Not your concern,” Ghost snapped, clamping his hand firmly around Jessie’s. Then before she could do much more than turn to watch the girl over her shoulder, Ghost was dragging her off through the crowd.
“Who was she?” she asked him quietly, her eyes still on the girl.
“That’s Ashley. Nobody for you to worry about.”
