by CC Monroe
“Ignore him. Brooding and all-alpha. That’s my big man.”
I do what Harmony says and make work of unpacking. Within two hours, everything is in the house and some of the boxes are open.
“Thank you, guys. You made this go by way faster,” I tell Harmony and Harlen.
“Oh, no problem. Welcome to town.” She eyes me over, Kate and Sadie lost in the mix of boxes down the hall in my room. “Hey, how about y’all come out with us tonight? We’re getting together at the local joint with some friends.”
“Really? I mean, you don’t have to invite me. I don’t want to impose.”
“You sure say that a lot. Listen, I like you. You’re quiet, and I wouldn’t invite you if I didn’t dig your vibe, lady.”
I smile shyly, tucking my hair awkwardly, because I’m not used to this much social interaction. I’ve kept so much to myself for the past two and half years that I’ve lost my natural flare for socializing.
“I like you too, both of you. Except, you kind of scare me.” Before I can stop it, those words fly out of my mouth, and I cover it as my eyes go to the man I was speaking about, Harlen. Everyone goes silent, and I’m sure my invite is about to be retracted.
When Harmony finally snorts, trying to hold in her laughter, Harlen cracks a crooked grin, and my shoulders relax a little.
“I’ll take it. It’s the beard and the muscles. Makes most people scared. Except this one. It turns her on. Can’t keep her off me.” His hand on her hip turns her into him, and he gives her butt a full-on squeeze, setting off those tiny shivers in my belly again. Wow. He uses his free hand as she starts to protest his comment, when he grips her jaw and slams his mouth to hers. I watch her sag in his arms and become putty in his hands.
“Ah, that effect. Ben still gets me like that too,” Sadie says, as she and Kate reenter the room. I look to her and shake my head with wide eyes.
“You are very lucky then. That isn’t something you see in men these days,” Kate tells her, while Sadie and I keep our eyes on the show.
Finally, Harmony breaks up their PG-13/borderline R-rated make-out scene. “So sorry. He’s a caveman.”
He wipes his lip with his thumb and smacks her on the ass, turning to step outside. Grumbling over his shoulder something along the lines of her loving it.
“Are all his friends like that?” I tease, but her body perks up, her eyes going wild with an idea. I gulp, because I feel like something crazy is about to happen, a twist in my gut telling me a hand of fate is about to knock me square on my ass.
“Yeah, they are. In fact, Jase, Harlen’s good friend since childhood, is gonna be there tonight. I think you two would hit it off!” She jumps on the balls of her feet and bites her bottom lip.
“Baby, don’t you go meddling again.” Harlen steps into the house with a box we must have missed.
“Hush, I’m not meddling. I’m simply directing traffic.”
My brows pull in, and I watch their exchange, still trying to figure out what is happening. Jase? Meddling? We would hit it off? Why is my stomach a mess of anxious butterflies, but my mind is screaming to run and hide and fake the flu to get out of tonight?
“He’s gonna be pissed, and then I’m gonna have to kick his ass if he gets snippy with you. You’re playing with fire, baby.”
“This sounds promising,” I mumble.
“We will be there!” Kate interjects, making the decision, and there is no way she will let me out of this now. Kate and Harmony could be soul sisters.
I grow more and more anxious. I haven’t been with a guy, not since my short high school fling with Joey. It was nothing, just two awkward teens making out in the back seat of a car. Hands always to ourselves. How would I even act or talk to a man if he’s anything like Harmony’s alpha giant?
“Perfect, what’s your number?” She pulls out her phone, and I rattle off my number nervously. Seconds later, I have a text with the place and time. “There. I’m so excited! Let’s head home, Harlen. I have to shower and get ready. We will see you ladies tonight!” Harmony comes in for a hug and I return it, still a mess over everything that’s transpired. Who am I right now? How did I not even argue with all of them? It’s like the universe is pulling and clawing at me to follow Harmony in the direction she’s pointing me.
“Yeah, we will see you there,” I say timidly, letting the war rage on in my mind.
Calm down, Kayla. It’s just a group activity, not your damn wedding day. I shake it off and finish with goodbyes. Now, to find the box where I packed my decent clothing. Can’t go in ripped sweat pants and my dad’s tee.
Mama and Papa. I remember them then, and I remember why I came here. New beginnings. New things. Tonight will be the start.
Chapter Four
Jase
“Hold on a second. Harmony.” I drag out her name and glare at her sweet, smirking face in the rearview mirror of my truck.
“What?” she responds innocently, as if she didn’t just throw this surprise date on me while we’re on our way.
“Easy, Riding. I’ve been kicking ass since we were young. Don’t come at my lady.”
I give Harlen a sideways incredulous look.
Harmony tries to warm the sudden chill in the air. “Listen, it’s not a date. I just invited her along.”
I’m not letting her off the hook that easy. I know her better then she thinks I do. I haven’t found one woman to light a spark in my chest—or as Harmony puts it, I haven’t found my “boom”—and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. It’s not that I’m opposed to finding love. I just can’t seem to connect inside with anyone in the way I need it. I’m a father, I’m a business man, I’m a grown adult, and I no longer chase pussy. My soul is fucking looking for his match, and he can’t find her. Now, who knows who this stranger is Harmony met today? She may be an emotional nightmare who gets attached, and when I’m not interested, she might snap.
“You think you’re sly?” I ask.
She leans forward, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and getting as close to my ear as she can from her seat belt’s restriction. “Just trust me, big guy. She’s sweet, and who knows? Maybe it’s a chance to simply make another friend.” I smile and shake my head, taking this chance. She pokes my dimple. “There’s that handsome smile.”
“All right, baby. You’re cut off,” Harlen growls, his possessive side rearing its head, and I watch them. He grabs her hand away from me and brings it to his lips for a bite. She squeals, and they get lost in their cheesy love bubble.
I had love with Lainey, but never anything like that. We had affection and sex, but not possession and passion. She was my high school sweetheart, and I loved her with everything in me. I would be happily married still, but that kind of connection, that palpable I-would-die-for-you kind of love, we didn’t reach that. I most likely never will, because I believe Harlen is just a head case. I mean, I can just breathe in Harmony’s direction, and he’s ready to maul me. Don’t even get me started on how he reacts to anyone who isn’t in his close circle. A biker who packs is not a man you want to fuck with, especially if it involves his lady.
“I already told her not to meddle, man. Can’t stop this one when she is up to something,” Harlen says nonchalantly.
I give a grunt and pull up to the bar. It’s a local joint, and tonight it’s not as busy as it usually is for a Friday night. I park and get out, already ready to call it a night. I’m not ready to see any one, especially a woman I don’t know who is in God knows what mental state. Shit.
“This way.” Harmony heads toward the back, leading us as I follow behind Harlen and her.
“Ladies! Hey!” she greets the group of women, and all I can see from my place behind Harlen is two beautiful blondes.
“Girls, you have already met Harlen. This fella here is Jase, Harlen’s friend.” I smile at them, and the one with freckles on her nose goes wide-eyed, as the other with a simple gold cross around her neck smiles. They both look up to something. “Thi
s is Sadie and Kate. Oh, and Harlen, step aside so Jase can meet Kayla.”
With that, she moves, and I swear to fuck, my heart stammers in my chest, nearly stopping at the sight in front of me. “Fuck.”
“Wow,” she says at the same time.
Kayla is breathtaking. Long brown hair with blonde tips. Green eyes that look like a gypsy’s, surrounded by dark lashes. Her body calls to me like a siren. Curvy, toned, and tight, sculpted by gods from what I see. I’m stuck in place, my muscles tense and accumulating heat. And I know our meeting hit her too, because the music around us has drowned out and we are locked in an intense stare-off that neither of us can break.
“I’m—wow, this is embarrassing. I’m Kayla,” she speaks first, and I cough. Clearing the frog in my fucking throat. I look like a complete moron.
“Kayla, I’m Jase. It’s nice to meet you.” I touch her hand, and once again, something sparks. I swear she shocks me with her presence.
“Wow, the last time I saw a man look at a woman like that is the day Ben Cooper spotted you from the stage, Sadie Jay,” the blonde named Kate says.
“Yeah. Her reaction is about the same as mine,” Sadie whispers back.
“Man.” Harlen pats my back with a heavy hand, and I do my best to get my shit together. But little does everyone else in this damn room know that I just fell face-first into this beautiful woman’s depths, and I don’t know what the fuck is happening. I have never reacted to a woman this way before. Not even Lainey.
“Let’s take a seat and order us some drinks,” Harmony chimes in, and Kayla finally breaks eye contact, tucking her curled hair behind those small, dainty ears I would give anything to bite and growl into while she rides me.
Shit. There it is. I don’t even know this woman, and I’m already picturing myself inside her. Owning her. Possessing her. Claiming her fucking soul.
We sit, and without planning to, I end up next to her, her body melting into mine. She doesn’t look like the type to just give it up or do this very often, and neither am I, but there is a pull there, and we both can’t resist it. Crazy part is, we haven’t even said more than a sentence or two to each another.
We order drinks. I get myself a Bud Light, and she orders herself a Coke. Once the waitress takes off to collect our drinks and the next bar patron starts singing karaoke on stage, everyone at our table stays focused on the drunk idiot making a fool of himself. But Kayla’s eyes keep meeting mine, and I put my arm around her, resting my hand against the plush pleather of the booth behind her.
Leaning in, I bring my lips to her exposed ear. “Who are you.” It’s more of a proclamation than a question, because she has done something to me. Hypnotized me with her gypsy eyes. And I need to know how to break the fucking trance.
I can’t stop my other hand as it travels across my lap and onto her smooth, exposed arm. The little black simple dress is showing off her body in the best way possible, and my hands ache to touch her. I rub the back of my fingers up her arm, and she leans in to whisper back.
“Same to you. I’m not this kind of girl.” Kayla’s response doesn’t shock me. I know she’s never been touched by a man in the way she is dying for me to touch her. I can feel it, smell it, fucking taste it in the air.
“You feel it. Don’t you?” I question, bringing my lips to the underside of her ear and leaving an open-mouthed kiss. What in the actual fuck am I doing? I have never desired a woman like this, especially without even knowing anything about her. I’ve never felt so familiar with a total stranger.
“I shouldn’t. I don’t know if you are a serial killer or just an average Joe.” She shivers as my tongue touches her skin. I get a taste of her cherry-scented skin and I growl.
Laughing in my chest at her comment, I remark, “Baby, I’m neither.” I’m not an average Joe, especially in her presence. Instead, I’m a man unhinged and wildly untamable. Kayla is awakening something in me, and that scares the shit out of us both. And she doesn’t even know it yet.
“If you are neither, then what are you?” She peers up through those thick lashes.
I respond instantly, “Why don’t you let me show you? Let’s get out of here.” I watch the uncertainty flash in her eyes as she wavers on what to do. At least one of us is thinking logically, because all I care about is getting her under me and sliding inside her. Inside her body, inside her mind, and inside wherever the hell she will let me. Because I need answers. So many fucking answers.
Chapter Five
Kayla
I don’t know what’s come over me, but I’m sucked into some kind of trance, and Jase is the hypnotist. He’s handsome, breathtaking, the knock-you-on-your-butt, almost surreal type of handsome. And I know he is drawn to me just the same by the way he can’t stop looking at me like I’m the center of the room. His rough, calloused hand glides up and down my arm, and his husky, deep voice turns to gravel in my ear as he whispers for us to leave. And though my mouth opens to say no, my heart has other plans.
“Yes.” A three-letter word with the promise of unknown seconds, minutes, or hours ahead of me. I don’t know Jase. We haven’t even established a baseline for conversation. Yet here I am, ready to speak no words and only do whatever he leads me to do.
I’ve never had a one-night stand, but I’m sure this isn’t how they usually go. There isn’t just lust behind our glazed eyes. There is a deep urgency to connect, to talk, to chase this feeling until we catch it tightly in our shaking hands.
“Kate, Sadie, um...I’m gonna take off with Jase. Harmony, Harlen, thanks for inviting me.” I’m red in the face, flushed over the fact that everyone at this table is giving us a knowing glance.
“Boom,” Harmony mouths to me before my eyes drift to Kate and Sadie’s, who nod encouragingly.
“Oh no, Sadie Jay, she may be the next you. That Ben Cooper effect is real,” Kate says, referring to Sadie and her husband, the rock star she married in less than a month of knowing him. I don’t think this will be more than a one-night fling, where I will then spend the next few decades comparing every man to the one who got away.
Jase. He is that man. The one you never see coming and never—ever—want to forget.
I don’t know what is going to happen the second we step out the bar door, but I can only hope it will be that something I was looking for to make me forget the pain of the past two years. I pray it’s going to be the start of a new life, one where I will live each day in the light and not the shadows of my past.
“Where do you live?” He finally speaks when he starts up his truck. The question isn’t the first one I expected him to ask. Is he used to this? Am I this kind of girl? One who sleeps with a total stranger who only knows my address before he gets inside me?
“I...I live up Parks Road, just two blocks f-from the university,” I stammer out, trepidation obvious in each word.
He says something then that almost frightens me more than the idea of finally punching my V-card. “Don’t be nervous, Kayla. I only want to get to know you.”
My eyes find his, sparking as he gets on the main road. It’s brief, because he has to focus on driving, but I can’t believe he just said that.
“So we aren’t going to...you know...have sex?” I about slap my open palm to my forehead, not believing I actually said that out loud.
“No, I don’t just fuck women I want to respect, but don’t worry.” He pauses, reaching over to put his hand on my knee, and instantly, I feel a spark that nearly singes my spine in two. He looks at me with a penetrating gaze, and it’s as if I can feel him inside me already. I almost crumble under that intense look. “When I get to know you, you and I won’t be able to keep our fucking hands off each other.”
I gulp, so loud I’m sure he hears it. “Wow.”
“Yeah, it’s a first for me too, baby,” he says knowingly.
I know he and I are feeling that pull, but I guess we both can’t believe just how strong that tug is. We fall silent, and I grow more nervous by the second, lost and
unsure what to say.
“So, Harmony told me you moved here from Portland.” He speaks first, and the question is easy enough. I can do this.
“Yes, my mom went to college here. I did it to be closer to her.” I look down and feel that pang in my chest. Do not cry. My fingernails dig into my palms, and I look at the promise ring my mother gave me as a talisman, centering me.
“That’s a far way from home. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just stay physically close?”
I close my eyes, knowing this is going to be awkward. “Uh, no. You see, m-my parents passed away two years ago.” The slice of regret smells bitter in his truck.
He drops his head and shakes it, letting out a deep breath. “Wow. I’m an idiot. Sorry, baby.” He calls me baby as if he’s been doing it for years, and in that instant, it feels like he has.
“Do not say sorry. It’s not something I announce off the bat, and how would you know?” I reach over and squeeze his hand, comforting him while my heart whirls in pain. I cannot and will not break in front of him. I mean, this is already an unlikely scenario, and I don’t want to add me breaking down to the mix. That would be a story for my kids one day.
“What are you going to school for?” Jase asks after we turn off the highway and head toward my place.
“Elementary education, even though I’m sure I will suck at it. I love children, but I don’t think they like me. I swear I repel most kids. For instance: Sadie’s. She’s got a sweet little daughter, and whenever I hold her, she wiggles until she’s free. I’m starting to think I have a weird face or maybe I just smell funny.” I instantly blush as he laughs deep from his belly, his hand tightening on my thigh.
Nice, Kayla. Talk about having body odor. That will get his rocket shooting.
“I doubt it. Depends on her age. My daughter went through a stage last year where she didn’t want anyone to hug her, pick her up, or slow her down. She had to be going all the time.”
