by Marla Monroe
Worry, excitement, and fear all converged to turn her stomach over. What were they doing here? Surely they hadn’t come looking for her, and how could they have found her anyway? No one could know where she was. Could they?
“Looks like you’ve got another table to work,” Kelly said as she walked up.
“Um, yeah. Thanks.” Jessie wasn’t sure what to do. She needed this job, but she didn’t want them to know she was there.
Finally, resigned to having to face them, Jessie walked over to their table and pasted a smile on her face. They didn’t look up at first, but when she cleared her throat, they glanced up and then stared as if seeing a ghost.
“Hey, guys. What are you doing in Arkansas?”
Vernon stood up and started to grab her, but she stepped back. She didn’t need them to cause a scene. She couldn’t afford to get fired on her first day. Vernon seemed to realize where they were and slowly sat back down. His expression changed from excitement to closed off as he did.
“We’ve been looking for you, Jessie. Why did you run?” Rhodes seemed to be watching her face as he spoke.
“I couldn’t go back to Reo with Ray and Tussler. I knew they would come after me eventually.”
“You could have waited on us. You knew we would come for you.” Vernon’s voice seemed almost angry.
“What are you talking about? Why would you come for me?”
“Jessie, of course we were coming for you. Why would you think we wouldn’t?” Rhodes asked.
Jessie could tell they were serious. Had she misjudged them? Why would they come all this way looking for her if they weren’t? Her hands began to tremble.
“Um, I need to get busy. Did you want something to drink?”
Rhodes seemed to calm down first. He nodded and ordered a beer. Vernon nodded that he would take the same. She almost ran to the bar to get their beer. What was she going to do? They were actually right there in the restaurant. When they hadn’t been around it had been easy to say she didn’t want that kind of life anymore, but with them there waiting on her, Jessie didn’t know what to think.
She carried their drinks back to them and stood poised to take their orders as if she didn’t know them. Obviously Vernon wasn’t having any of that. He stood up and took her chin in his hand.
“Jessie, look at us. What’s going on? Why would you think we wouldn’t come after you?”
“Vernon, sit down. People are looking, and I don’t want to get fired.” She took a step back as he dropped his hand and returned to his chair. “What can I get you to eat?”
“We’re talking about this once you get off work, babe.” Rhodes didn’t blink as he stared at her.
Jessie nodded and resigned herself to having a conversation with them. They ordered steak and potatoes and she turned in their order before going back to her other customers. She could feel their eyes on her the entire time they were there. What had made them come all the way to Arkansas looking for her? How had they even found her when Hue hadn’t, at least not yet?
When they had finished their desserts, Rhodes paid the bill, leaving a generous tip with a note that they would be waiting for her when she got off work. How she finished out her shift, Jessie wasn’t sure. When she got ready to leave, the manager handed her a schedule for the rest of the week and congratulated her on doing a good job.
With a couple of T-shirts bearing the restaurant’s logo on them and her schedule, Jessie walked out the back door and started to walk toward Ginger’s house since there was no sign of the guys anywhere around. Then the sound of motorcycles filled the alley, and Rhodes and Vernon rode up. Neither man turned off their bike. Rhodes held out a helmet and waited on her to climb on.
Jessie walked over and took the helmet, fastening it in place and folded her schedule to slip in her back pocket. The T-shirts would have to go between them. With her holding on to Rhodes, they would be secure while they rode. She wondered where they were going after they took off without asking her where she was staying. Maybe they already knew.
Several minutes later they pulled up at a convenience store and shut off the bikes. Jessie climbed off and grabbed the T-shirts before they fell. Then she took off the helmet and set it on the back of the bike.
“What are we doing here?” she asked.
“Got to thank someone for their help. Then we’re going to your friend Ginger’s house. We’ve got some talking to do.” Rhodes pushed the door to the store open and waited for her to walk inside.
“Looks like you guys found her without my help.” The clerk behind the counter grinned at them.
“Yeah, sort of ran into her by accident. We just wanted to tell you thank you for your help. We’re headed over to your friend’s house to talk.”
“Well, don’t be a stranger. Hope to see you before you head back out.”
Rhodes and Vernon herded Jessie back through the door and onto the back of Rhodes’s bike.
“Okay, give us directions to your friend’s house.” Rhodes’s voice reached her over the mic in her helmet.
She talked them through the road changes and frequent turns until they pulled up in front of an apartment complex that had seen better days. Jessie climbed off the bike and took off the helmet. Both Rhodes and Vernon watched her as she turned and walked toward the closest building. When they got to the stairs, Rhodes pushed in front of her to go first, and Vernon held her back until Rhodes had made it up the stairs and nodded down at them.
“It’s safe here. I know it doesn’t look like much, but everyone here is good friends with Ginger.” Jessie felt like she had to defend her friend’s home.
“We don’t know the place, babe. No way we’re letting you go first. Just hang with it.” Vernon’s gruff voice rolled over her spine, sending shivers down her arms.
When they got to Ginger’s door, instead of using the key her friend had given her, Jessie knocked. Vernon and Rhodes were strangers to Ginger. She had been gone a year by the time they had shown up.
Ginger opened the door with the chain on and peeked out. Her eyes widened when they took in the men with her.
“Jessie? Are you okay?”
“Ginger, these are friends of mine, real friends of mine. Can we come in?”
“Um, sure.” She closed the door and removed the chain before opening the door again.
Jessie led the way inside the small apartment. There wasn’t much room for the four of them in the living area. Ginger backed up against the island that separated the living area from the tiny kitchen.
“Have a seat. Can I get you anything? Beer? Coffee?”
“No thanks, Ginger. We appreciate the offer. And we thank you for taking Jessie in when she needed a place to stay.”
“She’s my friend. We go way back.” Ginger lifted her chin slightly.
Jessie couldn’t help but grin. Ginger had always been one to stand up for herself and others. She’d been the one to keep Tussler from abusing her when she was a kid. Even after all of these years, her friend was still standing up for her.
“Jessie, why don’t you grab your things and we’ll be on our way.” Vernon hadn’t taken a seat. He was obviously ready to leave.
“I’m not going anywhere, Vernon. I have a job here.”
“You can quit. We’re taking you home with us.” He wasn’t taking her seriously.
“Vernon, I’m staying here. I don’t want to live like that anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Rhodes asked.
Jessie could tell that they really didn’t understand. She looked over at Ginger with a silent plea. Her friend seemed to understand that she needed some privacy.
“I’m going to run to the store and grab something for dinner tonight. I’ll be back in an hour.” Ginger grabbed her purse off the bar and after giving Jessie one more look to be sure she was comfortable with them, walked out the door.
Jessie ran a hand through her hair and sat on the arm of the little couch. How was she going to get it through their heads that she didn’t w
ant to be a biker bitch? She wanted to be loved and cared for. She wasn’t looking to spend the rest of her life being shifted from one guy to the next, fetching beer and warming their bed.
“Look. I appreciate that you came to see about me, but I’m fine. I’m where I want to be.”
Vernon stalked toward her on silent feet despite his massive size. “You don’t belong here. You belong with us back in Reo. You don’t have to worry about your asshole brother or that bastard, Ray, anymore. You’re staying with us.”
Jessie stood up and didn’t flinch when he stopped less than a foot in front of her. He towered over her, but Jessie knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He was always in control of himself.
“For how long, Vernon? What happens to me when you grow tired of me and want a change? I’m not one of your women that you can trade off like a bike or a gun. I’m a human being, and I want a real life with real friends who don’t turn on you when they think you’re looking at their man.”
Both men stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. Typical. They didn’t see anything wrong with what she was fighting so hard to get away from. To them it was a way of life. They didn’t know any different.
“Jessie, you belong with us. We’d never trade you off like that. We aren’t going to get tired of you anytime soon.” Rhodes just shook his head as if he didn’t understand.
“I want a home, Rhodes, not a room in a clubhouse. I want to be able to walk through town with my head up and not sneak around while everyone talks about me like I’m a whore.” Jessie couldn’t help the tears building in her eyes.
Rhodes and Vernon had always treated her with respect. They’d been good to her and hadn’t tried to coerce her into having sex with them. After they had given her so much pleasure that night, Jessie hadn’t been able to help falling for them, but what did that mean for her? It would never last, and she didn’t even try to pretend that they felt anything for her outside of lust.
She cared for them more than she could even contemplate, but she didn’t want to compromise her goals in life. She had promised herself that she would be a better person than her brother and make a difference in the world, even if it was only as a waitress.
Rhodes looked over at Vernon with a strange expression before staring back at her. What were they thinking? She crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground.
“Jessie, where did you get the idea that we thought so little of you? Didn’t we show you that we respected you better than that?” Rhodes’s face conveyed sadness and maybe a little bit of hurt.
“You’ve always treated me well. I don’t mean that you haven’t, but you’re bikers. I’ve grown up in a gang. I know how they work. I don’t want that kind of life, Rhodes. Can’t you understand that?” Jessie’s heart was splitting in two.
Vernon walked over to her, backing her across the room until her back hit the island. She knew a moment of trepidation before the heat in his eyes softened her body. That was all it ever took with them—one look.
Chapter Five
Vernon caged her in against the counter. Her body relaxed into his, and her eyes widened when they jumped up to meet his. He felt Rhodes moving closer to them. No doubt his friend wanted to be sure he didn’t scare her to death.
“Y–you’ve always treated me fine.” Her voice wavered when she spoke.
“Then what are you talking about, babe?” Rhodes stepped up next to Vernon.
Vernon watched Jessie’s face as she struggled with what she wanted to say. Why was it so hard for her to talk to them? Were they that scary? Maybe it was just him. He took a step back and dropped his hands.
“I want to be a normal woman. I want to work and have a family and a home. I don’t want to live in a clubhouse with a lot of other people. I don’t want to be like my brother.”
Vernon felt as if she’d jerked his heart right out of his chest. She didn’t feel the same way about them that they felt about her. He started to turn away and leave, but Rhodes’s next words stopped him.
“You can have that with us, Jessie. You mean everything to us. Can’t you see that?”
“How?”
Vernon looked at her face as the whispered words came out. Longing darkened her eyes as she looked up at them. He wanted to touch her, wanted to hold her close and whisper that they would give her anything she wanted. Instead he stood still like an idiot as Rhodes pulled her into his arms to do what he’d thought about.
“You can do anything you want, baby. We’ll always support you. Come home with us.”
He drew in a deep breath and watched as Jessie pulled back from Rhodes. She had tears in her eyes. Tears were never a good sign with women. He braced for whatever she was going to say.
“I want to stay here and work and find a place of my own. I care about you—both of you, but I need this, Rhodes. Can you understand that? I’ve never been allowed to live on my own.” Her teary eyes seemed to beg them to understand.
“Let’s talk about this later. Your friend will be back soon. When do you go to work again?” Rhodes seemed to be backing off as well.
Vernon walked over to the window and looked out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He still didn’t like the place. It wasn’t a safe place for a woman by herself. Maybe they could find a better place for her and her friend to live. She needed a cell phone, too, one that they could use to keep up with her and she could use to call for help if she needed it. Already he was putting distance between them. He had to in order to keep from howling at the top of his lungs.
“I’m supposed to work tomorrow night from four ’til close.” She had a sparkle in her eyes when she said it.
Yep, Jessie was excited about living and working there. The truth hurt. She meant so much to him and Rhodes. He didn’t know how they were going to be able to turn around and leave without her.
A noise outside the door drew him back to the window. A quick peek out relaxed him. It was her friend. He opened the door and helped her with the bag she was carrying.
“I hope you like Italian. I’m making lasagna. I haven’t had it in a long time. There wasn’t much need with just me to eat it. I guess I could have frozen half of it for later, but I really prefer it fresh out of the oven.” Ginger hurried around the kitchen pulling out dishes and measuring cups.
“I’ll help. You guys can watch TV or something.” Jessie hurried into the tiny kitchen to help her friend.
Vernon looked over at Rhodes. His partner nodded his head toward the door. He obviously wanted to talk. Well, there really wasn’t anything to talk about. Jessie wanted to live here instead of going back with them. They weren’t going to take her against her will.
“We’re going outside to check on the bikes. We’ll be back inside in a few minutes. Lock the door behind us,” Rhodes said.
Vernon followed him out the door. They waited for one of the women to lock the door then headed over to where their bikes were parked. Rhodes looked out over the road behind the parking lot. When he faced Vernon again, he looked haggard. Lines bunched between his brows.
“She doesn’t love us yet, Vernon.”
“I know.” It was all he could say.
“She’s the one. I know it like I know my own name. I’m not giving up on her.”
Vernon sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Rhodes wouldn’t give up. His friend had fallen hard for Jessie the first time they’d seen her. He, on the other hand, figured she was out of his reach from the beginning. He’d let his best friend talk him into going after her anyway. As much as he wanted her as their woman, he hadn’t expected it to happen like Rhodes had.
“Don’t look at me like that, man. She belongs with us. It just might take longer than I want it to. I’m not giving up on her.”
“What are you proposing?”
“We hang around for a while and woo her.”
Vernon couldn’t help the snort that left him. Woo her? Rhodes had to be fucking kidding. They were bikers and didn’t know the first thing about wooing a woman. Wh
ere in the hell had he come up with that one?
“She wants to be treated like normal women, Vernon. She wants to go out on dates and go shopping with her best friend. We’ll give that to her.” Rhodes ran a hand through his hair.
“What have you been doing when I’m not around, reading Cosmopolitan and getting in touch with your freaking feminine side or something?” Vernon shook his head and stared at his best friend.
“Fuck you, Vernon. I’m going to go tell them that we’re going to find a hotel for the night. Just stay here until I get back.” Rhodes cursed as he walked off.
Vernon pulled his hands out of his pockets and climbed on his bike. After snapping his helmet in place, he watched Rhodes walk back toward the bikes. Without a word, the other man got on his bike and grabbed his helmet.
“Let’s go. I want to find somewhere close to them. There’s no guarantee that her uncle and his friends won’t find her, too,” Rhodes said.
They rode around for ten minutes before they found a motel within a few blocks of the apartment complex. It wasn’t a total dump, but it wasn’t The Ritz either. They checked in and looked over the room before riding back to the women. No matter how much he tried to distance himself from wanting Jessie, the feelings wouldn’t go away.
Hell. He was in for a world of hurt over her. Unlike Rhodes, Vernon had no illusions that she’d change her mind about returning with them. As they locked down their bikes in front of the apartments, Vernon felt the first twist of his heart as the pain set in.
* * * *
Jessie had struggled to resist Vernon and Rhodes over the last few days. They hadn’t pushed her to go home with them anymore, but they didn’t leave either. Instead, they watched over her. It was the only thing she could think to call it. They took her to and from work and spent time with her whenever she was off work. They gave her room to spend time with Ginger without her having to ask.
When she had gotten off work one night, they had ridden her back to Ginger’s apartment then ran a bubble bath for her before locking up behind themselves and leaving her to soak and relax. She knew what they were doing. They were trying to court her. The thing was, it was working to some extent. The feelings she’d had for them were deepening to the point that she was having trouble keeping her hands to herself. She wanted them, wanted them intimately. She wanted to feel their hands on her and their bodies surrounding her.
