She sat up in bed after a few minutes and looked out of the window. She was away from home for the first time, away from Sarah and away from her family. She hadn’t expected to but she missed her annoying sister as well. She had put up a few photos of all of them on the wall next to the bed, but she didn’t have any photographs of Shaun.
She stopped herself from opening up her laptop and stalking him on his social media page for the hundredth time. What was the point? Before she could get out of bed her new roommate burst through the door.
“Hey Heather, there’s a massively gorgeous guy waiting for you in the hall” Robin said, Heather could see the surprise and delight in her eyes. “Who is he?”
Heather smiled widely as she stepped out of her bed and into her sneakers. “That’s my boyfriend” she said with a winning grin as she hurried past her.
Shaun was leaning against the wall next to the door of her room. She ran into his arms and buried her face in his shoulders.
“I didn’t expect you to be here so soon” she whispered into his ears as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I couldn’t wait” he replied, laughing as she pulled away from him to stare into his eyes.
“How was the drive?” she asked him after they had kissed. Her roommate Robin was sticking her head out of the door, she clearly hadn’t believed Heather when she said Shaun was her boyfriend.
“Long. But so worth it” he said as they held hands and started walking towards the stairs.
“I’m sorry. I wish you weren’t that far away” Heather pouted and Shaun brushed her lips with his thumb.
“It’s worth it Heather. Stop apologizing”
“No it’s just that I wish you were here with me” she said and looked away from him. She couldn’t help but hide her loneliness.
“I know. I will be, soon. Only a few years of soldiering through and then we have the rest of our lives to be with each other in peace” he said and pulled her closer to him.
“Besides, I have a surprise for you” he said as they climbed down the stairs of her dorm together.
“You know I hate surprises” she said with a grimace.
“Yes. You don’t need to remind me of our first kiss” he said with a laugh as they walked through the front door of the building.
Sarah and Jack were leaning against Shaun’s car which was parked in front of the building. Heather squealed, in unison with Sarah and they ran towards each other. They hadn’t seen each other in a month and neither of them could control their excitement.
“How on Earth did this happen?” Heather asked, the excitement in her voice still hadn’t died down.
“I picked them up on my way here. We had a fun eight hour road trip!” Shaun explained as he stood next to Jack. Heather looked around, the happiness made her heart swell. They were all smiling, everyone was happy.
“I’m so glad you guys came. This is the best surprise ever. Second only to Shaun kissing me” she said and winked at the man of her dreams. Shaun blew her a kiss, and as ever, it made her blush.
“Will you lovebirds stop blowing each other kisses and decide on a place we can get some pizza?” Sarah shook her head, her arms were still wrapped tightly around her best friend. Heather laughed and shot out a few names of places around the campus that they could go to.
“So now that your fairytale romance has come true. And we facilitated it. You think you could set us up too?” Jack asked as they all got into Shaun’s car. Heather and Shaun were still smiling at each other.
“Maybe. Do you need help with a project Jack? Because I have a smashingly lovely roommate” Heather said and looked up to see Robin peeking out of the room window.
Taken by the Bad Boy Biker
The air in the room was too less for Rebecca to breathe. The fake smiles and forced laughs were making her want to run far away from this party. The party that was thrown to congratulate her father, Samuel Potter for getting nominated in Gubernatorial Election for the Governor of California. She was here to stand beside him with a smile plastered on her face and entertain the guests around, advocating how great of a father Samuel was. Lies! Everything was a lie. Her appearance was a lie. Her confident smile was a lie. Words she spoke were a lie.
“Here you are, Beck. I was looking around for you, darling.” Travis Hamilton slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards his side as if he possessed her. He was her father’s lawyer and an imposed date of the evening for her. She tried to step out of his grip but he only tightened his hold. “We have to put on a show, darling. People need to see that their soon-to-be Governor’s family is well-bonded and full of love.” He flashed a smile at her. “I’m not your darling. Let me go.” She glared but Travis didn’t budge an inch. “Don’t look at me like you are ready to snip my neck off. Everyone’s looking. Don’t give them a reason to think that there is something going on between you and me other than undying love. Samuel needs a clear record for this,” he said in a low voice and then looked around.
Clear record? Yeah, right. Her father Samuel Potter was just the man who you’d go for instructions when it came to clearing the records. He had professed the art of it. Just like he did in her case years back. He had covered her tracks with such finesse that sometimes she wondered herself if what happened in past actually did or was it just a horrifying nightmare.
Samuel had prepared for this day since years and he had made sure that when time would come, he didn’t have to worry over the dirt from past. He had wanted a dent free record and for that he had sabotaged his only daughter’s life. And here she was, standing next to the very prim, proper and clear as glass, Travis Hamilton, the acclaimed lawyer and her expected future husband. Her life’s decisions were made for her without asking for her consent.
Rebecca wanted to puke. This was absurd and she couldn’t stand him and this pretense a minute more. Travis was talking to someone she recognized as one of the business associate who was funding Samuel’s campaign. She uncurled Travis’s arm and stepped away from him. “Darling, what’s the matter?” he asked. His voice was soft but his eyes were shooting warnings in her direction. Damned if she was getting intimidated by them. She gave a small nod to the other man and turned away to leave the polished craziness behind.
Since Travis had picked her up, she had no transport of her own and she didn’t want to wait around for a cab. She knew a search party would be out for her in no time. She shrugged into her jacket and started walking briskly on the road that would take her far away from the manipulating people she was surrounded by.
Rebecca was deep in her thoughts when a movement behind caught her attention and she turned back a little to look. There was no one. A shiver raced up her spine and she increased her pace. The phone in her clutch started to ring and the ringtone told her it was her mother. She ignored it and crossed the road to change the route. Now she was cursing her stupidity for leaving at hotel this late and all alone. A can crashed against the wall and she heard footsteps behind her. Without stopping she glanced back and every hair on her neck stood up in sheer terror. A man was following her. The darkness made it impossible for her make out his features she could feel his eyes on her. Lord! She fastened her speed but there wasn’t much choice for her in four inches heel and a fitted cocktail dress.
She turned the first corner she located and then another. The sound died behind her but she dared not to breathe too loudly. He could be anyone. Stop being a paranoid. Her inner voice admonished but her heart had a beat of its own, and it worked nothing to calm her down. She kept her speed and all too soon the footsteps were back. That guy was right behind her again. This time when she looked, she caught his dark inked neck and a shiny piercing on his unshaven chin. She dared not to look any further. Her eyes fell on a club’s board and she ran right into it. Being around public was safer than on streets and alone.
The air was filled with loud music and male chattering. She glanced back at the door and saw her follower entering. “Crap!” she muttered and
made way in between the heavy bodies that reeked of cigarettes and alcohol. She was almost at the rear end of the club and was planning to escape through the back door when she ran into a hard wall of muscles. Her heels provided no aid in balancing her body and she had to grab the shoulders in sight to keep herself from falling down and breaking her neck. She gave a small yelp as she swayed a bit and then a strong arm gripped her from waist to keep her from upright.
“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was walking,” she said tilting her head back to see if that tattooed guy was still following her. She couldn’t spot him and that gave her a slight relief. She turned back to thank her savior. “Thank …” her vocals ceased to function and throat dried as she looked up at her savior’s face.
Brian Rockford was staring down at her.
*****
Rebecca Potter was in his arms. He wanted to snort. What funny games his life was playing? After two years when he finally was able to slip her away from his mind, there she was back again with the same brilliant blue eyes that haunted him at nights and distracted in daytime. She was just the same. Those eyes were still radiating fire, that face was still just as flawless as it was glued in his memory, her curves still held same softness and same desire. Her hair however was long now.
He felt her hands on his chest and then she shoved him away as the fire in her eyes got replaced by a different emotion – fear. “Brian … oh my God,” words slipped her lips as a whisper and he could still hear them despite the loud music. How he had replayed her calling his name again and again in these past twenty six months. Though those calls were more of pleasure, but this sound more like … disgust? His frown deepened as he gauged her reaction. And then she began to retreat. She was running away from him. Again. He’d be damned if he let her slip through his fingers without a confrontation. Some answers were long due.
Brian caught Rebecca by elbow before she could increase the distance between them and dragged her towards the back door, near the stairwell. It was relatively quiet there. “Let me go, Brian.” She tried to free her arm from his hold. “Ah, she remembers my name,” his voice was full of taunt. He let her go and stood in front of her to block the means of escape. There was no running away this time. At least until he had a few explanations.
“What are you doing? Step out of my way.” She tried to walk past him but he stepped forward to stop her. “Is this how you greet your friends, Rebecca? I remember you doing a better job two years back.” He emphasized on friends. She looked up at him just for a fraction of second and then tore her gaze away. Avoiding looking in eyes meant secrets. He wanted to know what secret Rebecca Potter was hiding from him.
“Past remains in past. I don’t wish to discuss it with you or anyone, Brian,” she said in a voice that he could barely hear. “But I wish to discuss it, Rebecca! I want to know why the hell on earth did my girlfriend ran away from me, leaving just a damn note behind telling me that she was done with me and doesn’t wishes to get contacted? I want to know why it didn’t feel important to you to say the words on my face and not end it like a coward.” The anger, the emotions that he had locked down somewhere inside him, erupted out like a volcano and he couldn’t stop himself from venting out on her.
When he had met her back in Chicago, he knew she was out of his league but they had hit off like a flame ready to put the world on fire. For the first time in twenty-nine years he had felt that someone was embodied just for him. She got incorporated into him seamlessly that he began to feel like there was no one for him other than her. And then one morning she was gone, leaving no trace of her behind. What she had left for him was a bloody impersonal note.
Rebecca cringed back from his outburst and looked up at him. Her eyes were sad and there was, dare he hoped, regret in her eyes. He took deep breaths and tried to contain his temper. “I should leave.” She muttered and walked past him. He cursed under his breath and followed her. “Rebecca, stop.” There was no way he was letting her go unless she gave him the reasons he wanted.
She reached out to open the back door and he let her. They both needed air. “What do you want, Brian? Can’t you just get over it and leave me alone? It’s been two years.” She waved her hands in frustration. He took a step closer to her, she didn’t back away which he took as a positive sign.
“Not until you tell me why you left me all of sudden and never once looked back. I want to know why.” He held her gaze so he could see when she was lying. “I said everything in the note I left for you,” she said and looked away. Lie. He pulled out his wallet and fished out a worn out piece of paper. “This shit you left for me? Is this what you call justification?” He reached for her hand and thrust the paper in her palm. That paper had been a sour reminder of the best days he had in his life.
“Was it so easy for you to walk out on me? Did everything mean so little to you that you didn’t even bother to try talking it out with me?” He hated that he sounded so desperate and hurt. But this woman was the only one who had crossed all barriers and touched his heart.
Rebecca opened her mouth to say something but then stopped and her eyes went past his shoulder and the color vanished from her face. Her eyes widened and fear overtook them. It didn’t take him more than a second to shift into protective mode. He turned around and saw a medium built man who had his skin inked and hell lot of piercings on his face. He looked like one of the thugs and was eyeing Rebecca.
Brian pushed Rebecca behind his body to cover her and then looked straight into tattooed man’s eyes. “You want something, man?” His voice was hard as steel and glare sharp as razor. The other man looked to and fro between him and Rebecca and then smirked and went back in. What the hell was that? He turned back to her and she was shivering. Before he knew, he had her pulled to his chest and rested his chin over her head.
“It’s alright, love. I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Her body pressed against his, damn that felt perfect. He had missed this so much. He didn’t realize how much until now that she was here back into his arms. And then he felt wetness on his chest through the thin cotton of his shirt. She was crying? “Rebecca, it is okay, love. No one’s going to hurt you.” He rubbed his hand on her arms to calm her down. All his complains and years of anger was long gone for the moment. All he had was the fierce need to protect her from every fear she had.
“I need to go home. Can you please call me a cab?” she pulled out of his embrace, sniffed and asked him. He wanted to refuse. He wanted to tell her that he didn’t want her to leave him. Not again. “I’ll take you.” He didn’t wait for her to turn him down and took her hand and lead her to where he had parked his Ducati Diavel.
Her phone started to ring but she made no attempt to pick it up. When it didn’t stop, she put it on silent. Brian looked at her dress. As sexy as she looked in that peach colored dress, it would be uncomfortable for her to sit behind him. He handed her a spare helmet and kicked started his bike. Rebecca slid behind him and placed her hands on his shoulder. A grin appeared on his face and he raced the bike across the road, making her grip him from waist tightly.
She gave him the directions and all too soon he had stopped outside her house. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair were a mess. She looked utterly sexy. Brian stepped down from the bike as well. He had no intention of letting her go before he was sure that he’d be seeing her again. His questions were still unanswered.
“I want to see you again, Rebecca.” “Brian … I can’t. Please don’t push.” Her eyes begged him. “Are you married? Engaged?” He looked down at her bare fingers. “I don’t see why you are doing this. Because it was never over for me. If you are not going to give me a good reason for why you ran away, I’ll keep coming after you, Rebecca. It was stupid of me to let you go back then. But I don’t repeat my mistakes. Ever.”
This time when she saw him, her eyes were glassy again. “What you don’t know is good for you, Brian. It’s good for both of us. Just think that we never met today. Thank you for the
ride.” She walked away without looking at him.
*****
Why, why he had to come back? Why she had to feel so damn attracted to him, all over again? And why did it hurt so much? Tears were ready to spill again but she fought hard to keep them at bay and kept walking away from that one man she had ever loved. That one man whose child she had carried for almost eight months. That one man whose only memento, their unborn child,she had lost before it had a chance to breathe in this world. That one man whose heart she had broken and all she had inbox for him now was more hurt and more betrayal.
He had no idea that she was pregnant with his child let alone knew anything about the still-birth. Back then, she had every intention to go back to him at the first chance she would get but when she had lost their child, she had no reason.
The only person to blame was her beloved father, Samuel. She had gone to Chicago and had fallen in love with Brian Rockford, the owner of a well-off biker club. He was everything she was told to stay away from. He didn’t dress in Armani suits and smoked cigars or drank expensive wines. He wore leather, drove heavy bikes, drank beer and most of all, he was outside what he was from inside. There was nothing fake about him. It had taken her a very short time in his company and she was willing to give up everything for him. His tough looks, hard built, tattooed skin and intense presence had caught her in his magic. But of course, Samuel couldn’t have his daughter dating a bike-club owner. He had asked her come back home. Courageous that she was at that time, she had refused to leave Brian.
Samuel Potter used a different tactic and that was the threat card. He threatened her to harm Brian and sabotage his whole life if she didn’t do as he said. He sent over his men to escort her back and made sure that there was no way Brian could come after her. But when she found out that she was carrying his child, she had thought that Samuel would no longer keep her from Brian and send her back. Instead, he had gone wild, demanding her to abort the pregnancy. She had refused to do so.
Sucker for the Boss Page 24
