When I'm With You (Little Hollow #2)

by Danielle Dickson

  Table of Contents

  When I'm With You Ebook

  Copyright

  Biker Index

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  About The Author

  Connect With Danielle

  Acknowledgements

  When I’m With You

  Copyright © 2017 Danielle Dickson

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual event and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be a property of their respective owners, and are only used for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Cover art by Marisa Shor of Cover Me Darling

  www.covermedarling.com

  Formatting by Abigail Davies

  MC: Motorcycle Club. An organized club of dedicated motorcyclists that join together for camaraderie, strength of numbers, socialization and rider training.

  Crows Rebels: The MC club in this book.

  One Percenter: One percent of MC’s are ‘outlaw’ clubs. Known for partying and being wild. The other ninety-nine percent are law abiding citizens.

  Office: Committee of an MC made up of the Pres, VP, treasurer, secretary, SAA and Road Captain.

  Pres: President of the MC.

  VP: Vice President of the MC. Is the president’s right hand man.

  SAA: Sergeant-at-arms. They’re responsible for ensuring the rules of the club are not violated, keeping order at events and the overall safety of the club.

  Road Captain: Responsible for researching, planning and organizing all club runs/rides.

  Treasurer: Keeps all funds of the club chapter in order.

  Secretary: Responsible for making and keeping all club chapter records.

  Prospect: Someone who wants to be a member of the club. They’re at the bottom of the food chain and have to do everything they’re instructed to do.

  Clubhouse: MC headquarters.

  Chapter: Localized single group of an MC.

  Mother Chapter: The first chapter that established the MC. (In this case it’s Denlo)

  Church: Club meeting.

  Voted In: When club members vote for someone to be one of the six members of office.

  Road Name: Given MC name, normally has a story behind it.

  Flying Low: Speeding on their bikes.

  Broads: A woman who has decided she wants to be a part of the club by ‘servicing’ the members. Also known as a club whore.

  Eighty-sixed: To completely disassociate yourself or someone else from a person club. Slang for getting rid of something.

  Brothers: Members of the MC.

  Stage Five Clinger: Someone who is obsessively attached to someone else.

  King’s Disciples: Rival club of the Crows Rebels.

  Cage: Van/Truck (Anything that isn’t a motorcycle)

  Cut: Leather vest with club patches and colors on.

  Old Lady: Gf or wife of a club member.

  Nomad: Someone who isn’t part of a chapter but is still part of a club.

  Wrench: Mechanic

  Ridin’ Bitch: Riding as a passenger.

  Impeachment/Contesting: A writ of impeachment is a written statement of charges against a member of office to contest their position.

  I stare at the profanity strewn all over the walls in what looks like hair color, I don’t understand. This isn’t random, this is a hate crime. The crunch of glass echoes through the room; it’s all I can hear as I take one more shaky step toward my apartment stairs. The smell of bleach and whatever else the culprit poured over everything before taking off assaulting my senses. It’s still a strong smell even though the windows have been smashed.

  The place is a mess.

  There’s holes in the walls where the mirrors have been ripped from it, the countertops are half hanging off and the chairs are battered from being thrown all over.

  “Sam, you can’t be in here just yet, not until we’ve searched this whole place from top to bottom.”

  I turn toward the officer standing a few feet away. “The hell I can’t! This is my place.”

  I stare him down but he doesn’t budge.

  “Well I’m sorry. We can’t be too careful, we told you this down at the station,” he sighs. “Come on, Sam. I’m just trying to do my job here.”

  I huff, I know he’s just doing his job, but I need to be here. I take one last look around and follow him out of the salon, manoeuvring over all of the debris on our way out.

  Connor is stood outside with Lewis and his face softens as I walk over to him. “How bad is it?”

  “It’s worse than what I thought, I’m really worried about Keeley,” I breath out.

  He pulls me into his arms and I ball the back of his t-shirt in my hands. This is the first time I’ve seen the inside of the salon since arriving back in Little Hollow.

  When we first got here, there was already police tape surrounding it, and no one would let us in due to the ongoing investigation. I was taken straight to the police station and had to answer a billion questions; they clearly thought this was an insurance scam by Keeley, and they weren’t taking her disappearance seriously enough for my liking.

  Connor rubs gentle circles into the bottom of my back. “I’m here, sweetheart. They’ll find her, they just need to finish dusting for fingerprints and questioning the neighbors to gather some evidence first.”

  I nod and look over at Lewis who is starting to look uncomfortable, balancing his weight from one foot to the other.

  “Lewis? You can go home now. I’ll call you if anything else comes up,” I say. He looks at me with an unsure look on his face and I continue, “Honestly, as much as I want to kick up a fuss, there’s nothing more that can be done tonight. I guess we just have to wait it out.”

  For now.

  He nods his head resolutely and we say our goodbyes. Luckily, I always keep a spare key for Miss Debbie’s apartment on my keychain. She’s away traveling and has been for the last couple of months. Sixty-five years old and she’s living a more exciting life than I am.

  “Come on then, let’s get you back to the apartment,” Connor says.

  I take one last look at the shambles that is now my salon, and my heart seizes. Not only is it my work... it’s my home too. A lone tear rolls down my cheek and Connor catches it with his thumb. “We’ll work this out, I think you’re forgetting your boyfriend owns a construction company.” I freeze at his words and he realizes what
he’s said. “Err, that is… erm. Is that okay to call myself that?”

  I look up into his waiting eyes. “You’re the only constant in all of this mess right now, of course it’s okay.”

  He’s made me smile, and for that, I’m grateful. But then it drops. The police mentioned that until Keeley is proven innocent, the insurance company won’t pay out a cent. I can’t expect him to work for free, I mean, I have some savings, but it won’t be enough to fix all of this. And it isn’t just about fixing the place up. I shiver, the whole idea of working in there makes me cringe, it feels like someone has violated a private part of my life, and I don’t know whether that happy contented feeling I get from working in there daily will ever come back.

  Getting into the rental car and driving to Miss Debbie’s takes all of five minutes. I’ve sent her an email to tell her what’s happened, telling her I’ll take good care of her place. I don’t know when she’ll get it because she’s in India at the moment, but I know she won’t mind us being here.

  After everything, I just want a normal boring life but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon. I miss Keeley and it makes me anxious that she could be out there somewhere, possibly hurt.

  I want to believe more than anything that she didn’t do this, but the evidence isn’t looking good in the cop’s eyes. But it really doesn’t add up for me, I know her, why would she write that all over the walls? They said it’s to take the suspicion off of her, but I’m still not buying it. My friend is missing… and I’m going to find her.

  I really need to try and calm down, I’m just so sick of being judged all the time and I’m still annoyed that Sam talked me into going to dinner with Lewis. Okay, so she didn’t exactly force me, but she knew I wouldn’t say no to her. I’m so embarrassed that he ditched me like that, why I care I don’t know, but I do. So... me and Sam need to talk.

  My stomach twists at the thought of confronting Sam. We’ve never fought or really disagreed before, so this will be a first. Deep down I know I’m being childish, it isn’t her fault that Lewis brushed me to the side, but I’m pissed and I need someone to blame.

  I storm up the apartment stairs and open the door to her upbeat face. “Hey, stranger, where’ve you been?”

  Sam owes me for this. Big time.

  I’m sat in a booth waiting on Lewis to finish up talking to his friend. This is the last place I want to be, but I can never say no to Sam. I just had the most awkward introduction with said friend, and now I sit here wishing I was anywhere but.

  “Can I get you a drink?” The waitress asks, popping her gum at me.

  I cringe. It’s a habit that grinds on me. “Just a water, thanks.”

  She nods at me and walks off, leaving me to sit on my own. I watch as Lewis straightens up and by the look on his friends face, they’re having a tense conversation, but it’s over before I know it and now he’s heading this way.

  Here we go.

  “Hey, Keeley. Sorry about that, I was just catching up with an old friend.”

  He sits down opposite me and forces a cheesy grin out, which just makes him look constipated. This is gonna be a loooong meal.

  “That’s alright, I love sitting on my own,” I quip, giving him a sarcastic smile back. His megawatt one drops from his face at my comment. “You can go eat with your friend if you want, you don’t have to sit with me.”

  He studies me for a minute, then smiles. “No, I think I’ll stay here.”

  “Subject us both to a night of awkwardness, okay then,” I shrug and mumble to myself, but I know he’s heard me.

  He doesn’t say anything, just clears his throat.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to have yet?” He asks, perusing the menu in front of him like it’s the most fascinating thing on the planet.

  I pick up my menu and point to the first thing I see so we don’t have to draw this out any longer than necessary. “Yeah.”

  I don’t expand on my answer and he worries his bottom lip, drawing my attention to them. His full lips have me thinking all sorts of dirty things, it catches me off guard which in turn makes me blush. He’s handsome, not my regular type, but I can’t say he’s not nice to look at.

  “Hey, guys. How are you this evening?” The waitress asks, putting my water down in front of me.

  She smiles at Lewis and then looks back at me, lifting an eyebrow with a smirk. Yeah I know we look like the most unlikely couple going, but is it really that hard to believe he’d go out with someone like me?

  “Great thanks, we’re ready to order now. Keeley, you go first,” Lewis says.

  He’s oblivious to the waitresses blatant come hither eyes and just looks at me, waiting for me to order.

  I shake my head. “Sure, I’ll have the half rack of St Louis Ribs with ‘slaw and fries. Oh and a beer too,” I add as I look at my water.

  She writes down my order then turns to Lewis. “And for you?” Her smile is sickening and I bite back a laugh that desperately wants to escape .

  He’s still oblivious to what’s going on. “I’ll have the piggyback burger with sweet potato fries and ‘slaw.”

  “Sure, I’ll put that in for you. Can I get you another beer?”

  He shakes his head. “No thanks, an iced tea would be nice though.”

  She nods at him and saunters off, throwing a wink over her shoulder.

  The laugh finally slips free at her blatant flirting. “Well she’s subtle.”

  I take a sip of water and look up at Lewis who’s watching me intently. “Huh?”

  I play with the straw in my glass. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy not react to come fuck me eyes before.”

  He nearly spits out his beer. “What? She was not.”

  “You’re clearly blind,” I retort.

  He laughs and sits back against the booth in a relaxed position. “What’s your story, Keeley?”

  I straighten up and stare him down. “I don’t have a story, what you see is what you get.”

  I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly while feeling anything but.

  He leans forward, putting one of his elbows on the table between us. “Everyone has a story.”

  “I don’t,” I say with finality.

  He searches my face, for what I don’t know, then nods. “Okay, no story... What’s your middle name?”

  He’s caught me off guard and I cough to cover the chuckle that escapes. “What? Why would you want to know that?”

  It’s possibly one of the most random questions he could’ve asked.

  “Well it’s customary to get to know the person you’re having a meal with,” he says, gulping down the last of his beer.

  Well I can’t argue against his logic, but I’m not sure whether I want to get to know him. He seems nice enough, but maybe a little too nice?

  Deciding it’d be easier to just go along with it, I lean forward on my elbows. “It’s Rae. Yours?”

  He leans forward more, mimicking me. “I don’t have one.”

  Is he turning what I said back on me? “Everyone has a middle name,” I counter.

  He smirks. “Not me. My mom thought it’d be easier for me to have less names to learn to spell through school.”

  I laugh a genuine laugh. “I guess you weren’t the brightest spark then.”

  I say it as more of a statement but he answers anyway. “I’ll let you off for saying that because I was actually pretty smart. Passed Kindergarten with flying colors.”

  He puffs out his chest with fake pride which pulls another laugh out of me. He’s broken the ice.... kinda.

  It turns silent and I look around the room feeling the awkwardness creeping back into the atmosphere. I don’t know what to talk about, definitely not my past and I don’t know anything about him to ask him general everyday things.

  He clears his throat. “So… how do you like working with Sam?”

  Is he really going to talk about Sam while he’s having dinner with me? I answer him anyway. “Sam’s grea
t and I love hairdressing, I’ve done it all my adult life so… yeah, it’s awesome.”

  Saved by the bell, the waitress brings over our food and we don’t have to talk for the next ten minutes, apart from the customary asking each other how the others food is.

  “Erm… You have a little something.” He points to the corner of his mouth and I grab my napkin to wipe it off.

  How embarrassing, but better than he not tell me and I sit here with sauce all over my face, why I chose the ribs I don’t know. Rookie move, Kee. Rookie move.

  “Thanks,” I mumble with embarrassment.

  He gives me a straight smile. “I didn’t say thank you. You know, for filling in for Sam. You didn’t have to.”

  Filling in for Sam? I roll my eyes at his choice of words. “Jeez, thanks.”

  “No, not filling in… I… I meant... thank you for keeping me company tonight,” he stutters, and gives me an awkward smile.

  “Well I didn’t really have a choice.” He actually looks a little hurt at that so I add, “But it hasn’t been all that bad.”

  I give him a small smile and he relaxes.

  “How was that for you guys? Dessert?” I take the menu the waitress offers to me and she takes our plates. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  We both choose what we want and she’s back to take our orders soon enough. When she leaves, silence descends over the table again. I really need to interact with people more, I’ve lost the function to keep a simple conversation going and Lewis looks just as uncomfortable.

  Our desserts don’t take long to come but halfway through finishing them, his phone rings.

  He points to it and says, “Do you mind if I take this?”

  I wrinkle my nose, well isn’t that just fucking rude. He doesn’t wait for an answer as he shuffles out the booth and heads in the direction of the bathrooms.

  I put my spoon down and watch him walk back over to me with worry etched on his face. “I’m really sorry, Keeley. I’d love to stay and finish up but I’ve gotta go, my mom needs me.”

  I narrow my eyes and try to stay calm. “You could’ve just finished your dessert and called it a night. You didn’t have to make up a shitty excuse to leave. I get it.”

  I pull some money out my purse and throw it down on the table.