Up until this point, he’d always thought wandering was his path, but being back here again, knowing the people in his life had become so settled and established, made him feel like maybe he’d only been fooling himself. What was it he kept searching for? He didn’t even know.
Being back here made him feel itchy, like he was uncomfortable in his own skin and needed to get away, back out on the open road, back to freedom. He’d never wanted the life his brother had chosen. He’d never wanted the house and the fence and the dog and kids. So, then, why did being here make him feel like he was somehow missing out on something? It was confusing at best.
With a sigh, he set his stuff down in Jack’s spare bedroom and tried to banish his weird, reflective thoughts. He was here to see his brother and ride around town with a bunch of other bikers. He could give himself therapy later.
* * * *
“So, this is what you do all day, huh?” Hayden teased, running his hand along the dash of Jack’s squad car. “Drive around and, what, look for criminals or something?” He tossed him a playful grin.
Jackson rolled his eyes and gave him a bland expression. “No, I don’t only do patrols. And I’m only doing this right now to fill in for Billy. I took the days off that you were going to be here. I shouldn’t have to be working at all.”
Hayden smiled to himself, feeling warm knowing that his brother had gone to the trouble to get work off just because he was coming into town. “Okay, fine, so what do you do, usually?”
Jackson sighed. “Right now I mostly do traffic stuff, unfortunately. Have to work your way up and all.” He shot him a glance. “But that doesn’t make me any less of a cop.”
Hayden smirked and reached over to slug his brother in the shoulder.
Jack let out a pitiful-sounding moan and his arm drooped while he steered his car with the other hand. “Dude, Hayden, you gave me a friggin’ dead arm. That’s my gun arm too. Nice.”
Hayden laughed. “Just wanted to see how well they trained you in self-defense at the Academy.”
He snorted. “Well, they taught me how to disarm someone and incapacitate someone. Taught me how to shoot someone in the head, but I must have missed the day they taught how to fend off obnoxious older brothers.” He balanced the wheel on his knees and reached over to rub his shoulder.
“Oh yeah, that’s real safe,” Hayden grumbled.
Jackson glowered at him while his radio started to make some incoherent noise. He put his hands back on the wheel and grabbed the receiver end. He rattled off some police jargon, then glanced over at Hayden. “Hey, hold tight for a bit. There’s a couple officers requesting backup and I’m the closest so I’m gonna respond.”
Hayden frowned. “Aren’t they gonna get pissed that I’m in the car?”
Jackson shrugged. “You’re fine. Don’t worry about it.” He flashed him a devious grin. “Now, check this out. This is why I wanted the job.” He turned his lights and siren on and parted traffic like Moses at the Red Sea.
Hayden chuckled and sat back in his seat to enjoy the ride.
* * * *
“No, it’s actually not my transmission,” Gina said to her mom on the phone while she putzed around in the bathroom, tidying up and what-not. “I dunno. Some sensor thing. I don’t care. I’m just happy it isn’t going to cost me a couple grand… Yeah, her brakes are fine. Her roommate ended up getting them fixed, so as far as right now is concerned, vacation is still a go… She’s at work, Mom. She’ll call you when she gets off. You know she will. She always does.”
Gina frowned when she suddenly heard loud pounding on the door of the apartment next to her. “Geez,” she muttered into the phone, “there is still action going on next door. Do you know that earlier today I saw three degenerates skulking around here? Probably looking for their stash. I don’t know what happened, but they suddenly took off like their lives depended on it.”
“Police! Open the door! We have a search warrant!”
Gina’s eyes bulged. “Oh my gosh!” she breathed. She instinctively dropped down to a crouch. “The cops are raiding the apartment next door!” She crawled over and shut off her bathroom light. She had no idea why. It was easier to spy in the dark. Slowly, she duck-waddled back over to the window to try and hear what was going on.
Her mother was asking questions. “Shh!” she demanded in a whisper. “I can’t hear. Hold on a second!” She heard muttered voices outside and saw the beam of a flashlight reflecting in the darkness of the alley behind where she lived. “I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t tell… Look, lemme call you back.” She barely gave her mom a chance to answer before she ended the call and continued to strain her ears in an attempt to hear what was taking place.
She heard at least three different voices, and then it sounded as if two of them came up closer to her window.
“What’s the layout in there?
“I don’t know. I heard voices, though. And the light went off.”
Gina winced. Crap. Bad move. Now they thought she was hiding a fugitive or something.
“No, I can’t see anything… Dude, do me a favor and go see if anyone lives on the other side.”
“Jack, what the—”
“Can you just do it, please?”
Gina all but commando crawled out of the bathroom, pulled herself back into a standing position, headed through her bedroom and out toward the living room. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was pretty sure hanging out in the bathroom and eavesdropping wasn’t going to be beneficial.
As she rounded the corner into her living room and kitchen, her gaze traveled to the screen door, which was open due to the unseasonably sweltering temperature of the day. As if by magic, a man manifested from the darkness and came up onto her porch.
Gina screamed, her heart leaping into her throat, and she grabbed the closest thing she could use as a weapon, which happened to be an authentic medieval spear propped up in her hallway.
The stranger instantly held his hands out in front of him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“You scared the crap out of me!” she spat, still clutching the spear in one hand as she ventured closer to the door.
“I apologize. Really. The―” He pointed vaguely toward the alley. “The police, they…” He drew in a deep breath and seemed to collect himself. “I need to check out the layout of your apartment, ma’am.”
She arched an eyebrow and stood straight, resting the spear point-up on the ground and leaning her weight against it. She could see enough of him through the screen door to suddenly wish she was wearing just about anything but her faded, beat-up, too-short, monkey boxers.
He was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt and had dark blonde, rebelliously wavy hair that fell to his broad shoulders. His jaw was square and sporting about two days worth of bad-boy stubble. “You’re a cop?” she asked in disbelief.
“I’m not, no. I’m just…” He scratched at the back of his head. “Helping.” He gave a feeble shrug. “Can I please come in? I’m sorry I frightened you.”
She eyeballed him for a few seconds and stepped closer to the door. “Lemme see your badge.”
“I told you, I’m not a cop. The dudes behind you are. I’m pretty sure I’m not even supposed to be here. I feel like I’m with those cops from Superbad. I’m on friggin’ vacation!”
She laughed in spite of herself at his frustration. She gave him another once-over before she tentatively unlocked her screen, but she leveled her spear at him. She didn’t have any creepy vibes, but one could never be too careful. “What were you doing sneaking up here underneath my search light anyway? It was like you materialized out of nowhere.” She stepped back to a safe distance as he entered.
“Again, I apologize.” He stopped for a second and stared at her weapon. “Are you really going stab me with a…spear?”
Now that he was inside and in the light, she could see that his eyes were mouth-wateringly blue, and his hair glinted golden in places like it had been sun-kissed.
And he had a tattoo peeking out from underneath his shirtsleeve. He was absolutely delicious in the most reckless way. She shrugged. “A girl has to protect herself somehow.”
He glanced at her spear again, gave her a strange expression, and then started out of the room. He stopped short when he saw her wall full of swords, daggers, and other ancient weaponry. “Well, geez, I guess you had your pick.”
She smirked. “I collect medieval weapons.”
He threw her a disarming smile over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner and she stifled a groan. She ran her fingers through her hair several times, knowing it was useless. She hadn’t bothered to do anything with it after she’d gotten out of the shower. It was probably lying on top of her head like a dark brown, dead animal. And she was on her third glass of wine. She probably smelled like an alcoholic, and her lips and teeth were probably tinged with purple. This was a nightmare.
He came back into the room suddenly and smiled again. His teeth were gorgeous, and he had just enough of a dimple in his left cheek to make her want to drool. “Thanks. Sorry about all of that.” He passed by her and pointed at her weapon. “You can put that away now.”
She blinked in surprise. Up until now, she had forgotten she still held it. What was she doing, standing in her kitchen propped on a spear like an aborigine on walkabout? Yeah, she just kept racking up the points. She felt heat rush into her cheeks and she gave him a meager smile, but kept holding onto it like a lifeline. She shrugged. “How do I know you’re safe? You’re not a cop and you just wandered on into my house. The spear stays.”
Faint surprise registered on his features, but it was chased away by a small smile. As he turned to go, his gaze rested for a moment on the shelf full of dragon and fairy statues and art, which were located right next to an oil painting of Tuscany and a shelf of pictures of everywhere she had ever traveled. For some reason, this brought a grin to his lips that lit up the entire room. “You’re kind of all across the board, aren’t you?” He glanced back at her with the most roguish twinkle in his eyes.
She shrugged as she felt her face burn hotter. “I like to travel. I like history… I really just like to experience as much as I can out of life.”
At her words, the roguish twinkle turned into something more smoldering. He didn’t say anything, but he stared at her long enough to make her exceedingly uncomfortable. When she glanced away, he flashed a smile and gave a short nod. “All right, have a good night, miss. Sorry again about all the fuss.”
He let himself out the door and Gina stood there for a moment, feeling ridiculous. She heaved a sigh and then glanced down at her chest. Oh great. Yeah, she’d totally spaced the fact that she’d been wearing a white tank top…with no bra. And, of course, her nipples were totally pointing to the way out. What―the―hell? She whimpered. This day just kept getting better and better.
She snatched her phone off the arm of the sofa and stabbed her mother’s number in. “Oh my gosh!” she all but shouted when her mom picked up. “The hottest guy just came to my door and I’m braless with no makeup on whatsoever. My hair is a disaster, my lips are probably purple, and I’m in my monkey shorts! My monkey shorts, Mom!” Her mother’s laughter did not help matters. “Oh yeah, and I almost speared him like a shish kabob!”
She put her spear down and headed back toward her bathroom, wanting to look in the mirror, knowing she was going to be horrified. She flung the door open only to find a flashlight beam directed straight through her bathroom window. She screamed again. “Are you for real?” she screeched.
“What? What is it?” her mom queried.
Gina heaved a sigh. “Mom, I’ll call you back.” She hung up on her poor, confused mother…again.
“Hey, I just heard something,” one of the male voices said from outside her window.
Yeah, it was me, you idiot! She wished she could actually say that. This was getting ridiculous.
“Do you think someone is in there?”
“Yeah, someone is in there. It’s that poor woman I just scared the daylights out of.”
“No, I think this is the other apartment.”
“I found firearms inside,” came the third voice. “How do you get to that room?”
“It’s the other apartment!”
“Go check again.”
“What? Jack, go yourself! This is your job!”
Gina couldn’t figure out who was who, but she wanted to hide in her shower at the thought of that gorgeous man coming back into her apartment. Maybe she should put a bra on. Or pull her hair up into a ponytail. Or brush her teeth… She sighed. It was no use. There was no time, and how obvious would that be anyway? He’d already seen her looking horrid. No sense in trying to hide it now.
Escaping from her bathroom again, and starting to feel like she was part of some three-ring circus, she entered her kitchen right as Mr. Hottie McHottie and another dude stepped back up onto her porch.
“Hi,” Mr. McHottie said as he peered through her screen door. “Um…I’m really sorry, but we need to take one more look, all right? It’s cool. He is a cop. Has a badge and everything. Please don’t throw an axe at us or something.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Do you know the man who lives next door, ma’am?” the other guy asked as they entered. He was, most definitely, a cop—blue uniform, gun belt, the whole nine yards.
Gina shook her head. “I just know he caused a lot of problems.”
“And your bathroom is right next to…”
“Their bathroom. We share a wall. You keep shining your light into my bathroom.”
He frowned and muttered something under his breath. “Mind if I take a look?”
“Be my guest,” she grumbled. What did he expect to find in there? Refugees? Border jumpers? A meth lab? Good lord…
He started down the narrow hallway and had to turn sideways to avoid knocking all of her weapons off the wall. Gina stifled a giggle, and when she turned back around, her heart tripped over itself to see that Mr. McHottie’s lovely baby blues were regarding her warmly. She chewed on her lip, feeling awkward, and the air around them seemed to thicken with tension.
Say something, Gina! she shouted at herself. Don’t stand here like an idiot! Open your mouth and say something witty! When she looked down, all she could see were the monkeys on her shorts, staring up at her with enormous eyes, making faces, sticking their tongues out, mocking her…
She forced herself to meet his gaze again, and when she did, he grinned. “I’m Hayden, by the way,” he stated. “And, uh, Barney Fife over there is my brother Jackson.” He indicated the cop in her bathroom.
Some of the awkwardness dissipated, and she smiled. “I’m Gina.” Congratulations, stupid, you do have a voice.
In the distance, the rumble of motorcycle engines could be heard. She lived close to two main streets and the freeway. She’d be hearing that kind of thunder for the entire weekend.
He seemed to pick up on what she was listening to and his grin widened to the point that his dimple showed. “Do you like motorcycles at all?”
She tucked a few errant strands of hair behind her ears and nodded, then folded her arms self-consciously across her chest. “Yeah, my dad and sister are really into them. I rode once with my dad, but he didn’t tell me to wear long pants, or not to get off on the muffler side.”
Hayden sucked in his breath and winced, obviously knowing where the story was headed.
“Yeah. Burned the crap out of my leg. It got all infected too. Was all gnarly and smelly and gangrenous.” She stopped and averted her eyes. Yeah, that was sexy. Such a turn on, talking about necrotic flesh. Couldn’t she just go to bed? Like, now? She cleared her throat and stole a glance back up at him again.
He was smirking. He stuffed his hands in his back pockets and rocked lightly on the balls of his feet. “Well, at least they didn’t have to amputate.”
She giggled. “Yeah, I didn’t even go to a doctor. It’s amazing what peroxide will do.” She shrug
ged one shoulder in the most ridiculous, teenage-girl gesture she had done since she’d actually been a teenager. “Didn’t really even leave much of a scar.” Was this really the conversation they were having? The hottest man she’d basically ever seen was chilling out in her living room and she was talking about festering burns?
“Well, uh…” He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck and looked down in the masculine version of teenager posturing. “I ride. A motorcycle.” He cleared his throat in the same nervous way she had done, and she smiled as some of her unease slipped away. “That’s actually why I’m here. I’m up for Street Vibrations. Tomorrow, me, a friend of mine, our Harleys, and Jack and his crotch-rocket―”
Gina burst out laughing at the slang term for a sports bike, having heard Shelby use it before. Her laughter caused Hayden to smile and heave a sigh that almost sounded like relief.
“We’re riding up to Virginia City tomorrow for a bit. Are you planning on doing anything for Street Vibes?”
Gina snorted. “Are you kidding me? I don’t have a choice. My sister Shelby considers it a national holiday.”
He chuckled and adopted a much more relaxed stance, sidling just a little bit closer to her. Close enough that she got a whiff of his cologne. She didn’t know what it was aside from wonderful. It was earthy and musky, masculine while still smelling divine. Whoever had created it was a genius, and she wished she could thank that person personally.
“Would you…maybe…be interested in riding up with us? You and your sister?”
Gina arched an eyebrow playfully. “Are you really asking me out right now? After you raided my house, scared me to death, and I almost speared you?”
“Maybe,” he said with an irresistible, boyish smile.
Gina’s heart tumbled over itself a couple times and she bit her bottom lip shyly. This was officially the weirdest way she had ever been asked out. But like she was gonna say no. He was gorgeous. “Yeah, okay.”
Ride a Rebel Wind Page 2
