“I guess you still don’t remember much from last night?”
I went to shake my head and thought better of it. “Not really.”
“You have to be monitored for the next twenty-four hours.” She looked over at the clock on the stove. “Well I guess fifteen hours. Until later tonight you aren’t going anywhere without me.”
This woman was going to make me crazy. “I’ll be fine on my own. This isn’t my first time with a concussion.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “All the more reason you need someone to watch you and make sure there are no lasting symptoms.”
“Why do you care anyway?” I groaned.
She looked down and watched as she swirled her coffee around in her cup. “It’s my fault you got hurt in the first place.”
“Not exactly, it’s mine for getting involved. What did they want anyway? I know you said they use to own the place, but if they sold it, then it doesn’t make any sense that they’d be bothering you.”
She sighed. “The bar the sold me was a bankrupt piece of shit. They had no choice to sell it ‘cause they didn’t have the money to run it anymore.”
“Okay. Well of course you would sell something you couldn’t afford.”
”Yeah, but it doesn’t end there. I bought the bar five years ago and worked my ass off to ditch stigma the place had from them. Their food was inedible, the service was sucky and the drinks were expensive. So no one bother with it. Took me a good two years to get people to start coming back into the place on a regular basis.”
“That still doesn’t explain what they wanted.”
“The bar is successful now and they think I owe them more money. In their warp, twisted little minds, since I got a deal on the place because of the condition it was in that I should pay them more now that I’m making more money.”
“That’s really fucking stupid.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Why haven’t called the cops.”
“I have and they both have restraining orders on them. Not like that helps. Usually Jimmy call Kaden when they show up and they throw them out.”
This time, I guess it was my turn. I should have just let her handle it. In the end it would have been better for me. At that point, it didn’t matter, what was done was done.
“Ryder?” she called a little louder.
I looked up. “Yeah, sorry. I got lost in my thoughts.”
“You mentioned that you shouldn’t have gotten involved.,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Getting up, she grabbed her cup and walked over to place it in the sink. A few moments passed before she turned around again, eyes blazing. “So why did you help then?”
I answered the question honestly. “I don’t know, I just felt like I should.” Watching her argue with those assholes didn’t feel right. There was no denying she was beautiful, but from the moment I first talked to her, I enjoyed her spark. That “fun, I’m not taking no shit attitude” and to watch two obvious morons try to bring her down, set me on edge.
“You just felt like you should. Ryder, you’re a very hard man to understand.”
It wasn’t that hard. I just chose to not let anyone in. People couldn’t be trusted. They always screwed you in the end anyway. And the main reason I tried not to get involved. The closer you got to people the more it sucked when they fucked you over. When I didn’t respond, she shook her head.
“Look, I’m going to get a shower. There’s another bathroom upstairs and Kaden already grabbed your things from the motel. It’s all in the bathroom.”
My head snapped up. Bad idea. “He did what?”
“Your key was in your wallet. You tried to help me last night and got hurt because of it. I can’t let you pay for a motel room. You can stay here until your bike is done if you want.”
“What makes you think I’m not a crazy serial killer?”
“Because crazy serial killers don’t help damsels in distress, and they certainly don’t have nightmares that they wake up from with tears in their eyes.”
My mouth dropped open. I didn’t know the dream was that bad. When my father held me against the wall, I remember crying, but I hadn’t let a tear drop over him since that moment. I got myself to focus and found her on the stairs. She was about halfway up when she turned.
“Oh and there’s aspirin in the medicine cabinet too.”
With that she turned and left me alone. It was weird, already she’d seen more of me than anyone else had in a long time. And the strangest part was, I didn’t have the desire to run yet. I wasn’t sure staying here until my bike was done was a good idea, although I knew there was no way she was letting me out of her sight for any length of time, at least until tonight. Resigned to that fact, I let the promised warmth of a shower call my name. I got up slowly not wanting make the dizziness worse. Once I had my balance, I tackled the stairs, holding my side to try and dull the pain in my ribs.True to her word, right at the top was a bathroom with my saddle-bag already inside.
The shower and aspirin were exactly, what I needed. However, getting dressed was not an easy task. Not that I was going to let Ryann know, or she’d try to keep me here until everything healed. It took me longer than normal, even pulling my shirt over my head was excruciating. When I finished dressing, I slowly made my way back down the stairs, where I found Ryann sitting on the couch. Damn. I stopped dead in my tracks. If the shirt from last night was low cut, there were no words for the pink halter top she was wearing. Even with the rest of my protesting body, I could feel my cock starting to harden. That was the last thing I needed. Giving myself a mental shake, I walked over to where she was sitting.
“Okay I’m showered and dressed, now what am I supposed to do with my day?”
“Well I thought we could go get breakfast. After dealing with the bar every night I’m not usually in the mood to cook during the day.”
“Alright. What do you normally do for breakfast then?”
“Well that depends on what time I get up. Sometimes breakfast turns into lunch. But since I went to bed pretty early for me and got up early, there’s a great diner on the other side of town.”
Now that the pain in my ribs and head was down to a dull ache instead of a throbbing, stabbing feeling, I was starting to get hungry. “Sure.”
“Let me just grab my keys and we’ll go.”
We walked out to the garage. Watching the door lift, I wasn’t surprised by the car sitting inside. It was a 1967 Shelby GT Mustang that fit her personality perfectly.
“Nice car,” I said, walking inside the garage and running my hands along the perfect paint job.
“Thanks. My dad helped me fix it up.”
“What about the truck?”
“I drive it to the bar and around town for errands, but whenever I can I take this baby out for a spin,” she said patting the roof.
“I can’t say I blame you. Does your dad live in the area?”
“No. He’s still back on the east coast. Delaware to be exact.” She unlocked the doors so that we could climb in. When we were both seated in the car she turned to look at me. “Where are you from?”
“A little bit of everywhere,” I answered vaguely.
She pulled out of the garage and onto the road. “Were you parents in the military?”
“Not exactly.”
“Do you wanna be more specific?”
“No not really.” There wasn’t much to tell. Where I was born wasn’t my home anymore. For me, home was wherever I slept.
“Okay then.” Reaching over she flipped on the radio. The rest of the drive to the diner was made in complete silence. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, just strange. Although, I could tell she was pissed with my lack of sharing.
The diner was farther than I expected, but if the smells from the outside were any indication, it would be worth the drive. My stomach growled. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. We were seated almost immediately in a booth in the back corner of the place. Since we’d gotten in the diner, I’d only gotten h
ungrier. At least the menu looked good. After a few minutes of trying to decide, I closed the menu and placed it on the table. Once the waitress came over to take finished taking our orders, I noticed that Ryann was staring at me.
“I don’t think you’re as bad boy as you pretend to be.”
“And what makes you think that.”
“I don’t know there’s just something about you. Something that tells me you hide behind the bad boy image, but deep down that’s not who you really are?”
She was so spot on that I had to play it off. “What are we on one of those talk shows where I tell you all of my feelings?”
“See? That’s you covering up. Trying to pretend you’re the big bad biker.” Her hand reached over to cover mine, her eyes catching and holding mine. “I know that’s not who you really are. You don’t need to pretend with me. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
Watching the way she looked at me, made me feel more at ease than I had in a long time. For some reason I wanted to open up to her, not everything, because some things were just too dark, but some of the things about me. I flipped my hand over in hers and began to caress the top of her hand with my thumb. It felt so natural to do.
Without taking my eyes from her, I started to give her pieces of my story. “I grew up in Connecticut. My family owns a pretty big business there, but I haven’t talked to them in long time. Since I left, I move around from place to place, not wanting to stay to long and letting people get to know me. I don’t trust people and its why I normally don’t get involved in other people’s problems.”
“Yet here you are helping me and telling me about your life. Why?”
“I have no idea. I’ve asked myself the same question. While I usually don’t trust people, there is something about you that I do.”
She smiled, a beautiful smile that shocked every part of me. It brought out things in me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. But I was going to do my best to avoid exactly what my dick wanted to do. A good, quick fuck was one thing when it was with a nameless someone you didn’t give two shits about. When it was someone you saw differently, a person who you could tell would mean more to you it was a whole different thing entirely. Especially when you couldn’t explain why you felt more comfortable around a person you had known less than a day, then with people you had known for years or even months. That was it, I had to stay away from her. She deserved better than to be screwed over by a guy like me.
Throughout breakfast she asked me more questions about myself. Nothing as personal as earlier. Things like what kind of work I did and why I picked my bike.
“So tell me how old are you?” she asked putting the fork to her lips.
I was having a hard time concentrating as slide the fork out of her mouth. Forcing myself to focus, I answered her question.
“I’m twenty-six. What about you?”
“I’ll be twenty-five in a month.”
“How did you meet Kaden?” It was a question, I’d been dying to ask since my brain started to function again. Here I was secretly lusting over a woman, that could have a boyfriend that helped me twice already. Wouldn’t that suck.
“Kaden’s my older brother.”
“Brother?”
“Yeah, he beats me by little over a year, but he likes to pretend he’s still in charge of me. Especially since Dad lives thousands of miles away.”
“You said Dad. Where is your mom?”
Her eyes stared off into the distance. “My mom died of cancer when I was seven.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head and smiled. It was overly bright and not remotely real. Just like I hid my scars, so did she. She wanted me to think that everything was okay, but I could tell that there was that seven year old girl, somewhere inside her, who missed her mother more than she was willing to admit.
After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up again.
“Where were you headed when your bike broke down.”
“I was heading onto Edgewood. Hoping to find a decent job there.”
“Oh, the city. Not a fan of small towns.”
“No not really.”
“Fair enough. What are you going to do when you get there?”
“I’m a tattoo artist. As soon as I find a job, the owner of the last shop is going to ship my guns and supplies to me.”
Her eye traveled down my arms, the same time her tongue snaked out wetting her bottom lip.
“Why am I not surprised?”
That one action alone had my cock straining against the zipper of my jeans. God did I want to touch her.
Overall it was the best meal I’d had with company in a long time. The problem was that the concussion was making me tired again, but I still having a hard time getting my dick under control. We paid the bill, I refused to let her pay my half. When she tried to argue that it was her idea to go out and eat, I had to remind her that I would have eaten out anyway since I was staying in the motel. That soothed her a bit and she agreed to us both paying half.
When we got out to the parking lot and she stopped to unlock my door, the view of that tight ass in front of me was more than I could handle. When she stood straight again, I spun her around and captured her lips with mine. There was a moment’s resistance on her part, then she let go and let her lips slide against mine. Her taste alone could drive a man crazy. A heady combination of mint and vanilla. It was intoxicating. The moment her tongue slid out to touch my lips I groaned. Ignoring the pain in my side, I pushed her back into the car and continued to devour her.
The feel of her hands as they slipped up my, around my next, and into my hair had me pressing myself closer to her body, letting her feel the how much my body wanted her. Craved her. She was passion, fire, and sweet wrapped into an irresitable package and I wanted more. My hands were braced on the car, pinning her between it and me, when someone cleared their throat behind me and giggled. It was like a bucket of ice water was dumped on us. She turned away at the same time I took a step back. We were both watching each other, panting for our next breath, which did not feel good in the least. But the memories of her warm lips went a long way to banish the pain. That didn’t mean that I didn’t feel bad for seducing her in the parking lot.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
Her breathing was still labored. “No that’s okay. I’m worried about your ribs.” Her voice was huskier than before. Without another world she stepped around me and got into the car. Without the adrenaline of the kiss, the exhaustion crept in.
She drove us back to her house and forced me to go upstairs and lay down. If I hadn’t been so tired I may not have listened. Then again I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with Kaden either. She threatened to call and have him come over and escort me to bed if I didn’t listen to her. Apparently their relationship was a normal sibling relationship should be. It explained a lot about why he was willing to step into the fight when no one else would and knowing that he would do anything for his sister, I didn’t want her dragging him over here to put me to bed. I needed to deal with what happened in the parking lot, but I was way too tired to try and think. Upstairs I went and just as quickly as I closed my eyes, I was sound asleep.
Chapter 5
My eyelids drifted open to see that it was getting dark out. Even though it was fall, it was still pretty warm outside. I went down stairs in search of Ryann. When I couldn’t find her I looked at the clock on the stove. It was after five. Ryann had gone back to the bar for the night. When I turned, I noticed the note sitting on the table for me.
Ryder,
Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you, but I had to head over to the bar and get everything up and running for the night. I’ll bring you something for dinner later. Relax, watch TV, make yourself at home. There’s snacks in the drawer and stuff to drink in the fridge. Cups are in the cabinet to the left.
Ryann
Was she running from the kiss earlier? Was that why she left me the note? Nah, she didn’t seem like
the type to run from her fears. With the way she demanded I stay and rest, it seemed pretty reasonable that she would have wanted me to sleep as much as possible. Yet, she left me here alone, after telling me that she was watching me for the next twenty-four hours. That’s when I heard the key in the door and Kaden came striding into the living room.
“Hey man,” he said cheerfully, a slight laugh to his voice. “I’m here to be your babysitter until Ryann gets back.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Hasn’t she figured out yet that I’m gonna be fine?”
“Nope and I’m not telling her that. If you haven’t noticed my sister’s temper gets out of control when she’s mad.”
Well that was true. “Fine, whatever. I was about to grab a drink and then watch some TV until she gets back and releases me from her charge.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon, so you might want to get used to being here until your bike’s done.” He laughed, the smug bastard actually laughed.
Although I didn’t want to say it out loud, I completely agreed with his assessment of the situation. Plus, since I had my tongue down his sisters throat only a few hours earlier, I didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of Kaden if and when he found out. Luckily my errant cock was under control. I could only imagine how Kaden would react if he noticed the hard on I had for his sister. Grabbing two bottles of water out of the fridge, I handed one to Kaden and we sat down in the living room. There wasn’t a lot on the TV, but I had so many things on my mind that it was hard to concentrate on much.
Since the pain in my head was better, I let Kaden choose the show and let my mind wander to earlier in the day. I still couldn’t believe how much I told her, or how comfortable I felt with her. Or that I fucking kissed her after I decided to keep my hands to myself. That didn’t mean everything wasn’t weird. Here I was, this stranger who she now had staying in her house, all because I didn’t want some fuckers to yell at her. There was nothing about this that made sense. And then I had to go and put my hands on her. It was like an addiction, one taste and I wanted so much more. At least an hour passed as we watched TV in silence, me still confused about everything. I wanted answers and maybe from Kaden I could get some more insight into his sister
Bad Boys of Romance - A Biker Anthology Page 27
