by Jamie Begley
Arin didn’t think Viper expected an answer, but Hennessy gave him one anyway.
“Maybe you should give better directions rather than short and simple.” Becoming bolder as Viper moved to the other end of the room, he then said, “What I want to know is: Who in the fuck came up with this dumb game?”
Arin held her breath when Viper turned back toward Hennessy. She could practically see the chill coming off the president.
“I did. I came up with the game. Tomorrow, Lily and Winter will be putting a Christmas tree up in the front room, and I didn’t trust the kids that came here to eat some meals getting away from their parents to snoop through the Christmas presents that some of the members put under the tree for them. They know they’re not allowed in the front room, but they’re kids, and we don’t want to take the chance. This way, none of the parents have to worry that little eyes will be seeing someone fucking on the couch, which is banned to the upstairs once the tree goes up.”
“I just asked,” he mumbled.
“Jewell, make a stocking for Hennessy and put a lump of coal in it for me.”
“What the fuck? Why?” Hennessy protested.
“Put two in there.”
Hennessy snapped his mouth shut.
“Finally, something that shuts you the fuck up.” Viper closed the bag. “Merry fucking Christmas to me.”
Chapter 9
“You want me to find who has your name?”
“No.” Hennessy took the cigarette and lighter that Core handed him. “If Arin has my name, she’ll switch with one of those bitches who has it out for me.”
Lighting the cigarette, he took a long drag on the filter.
“What the fuck happened to us going to Florida?”
“We have a few days to spare before the job; what’s the rush?”
His enforcer gave him a look that shouted you have lost your mind. “They’re putting up a Christmas tree in their clubhouse, and the best part of staying here isn’t going to happen until you find out which woman drew your name.”
“You could have played.”
“No, thanks. I don’t play games when I want a woman in my bed.”
“I don’t either.”
“Got news for you: you are.”
“Does it count as a game if I change the rules?”
“What’s the plan?”
“To find out whose name Arin picked and make sure he doesn’t guess it’s her before I win the bet.”
“She can’t stand you; doesn’t matter if you keep her from hooking up with the brother she picked.”
“I’ll work my charm on her.”
“Then you’re fucked. You don’t have any.”
“I can when it involves that curvy cutie.”
“Please don’t call her that in front of her. It’s embarrassing when she shoots you down.”
“She’s playing hard to get.”
“She isn’t playing hard to get with Moon and Nickel.”
“It’s just a smokescreen.”
“And why is that?”
“She wants me to work for it.”
“She isn’t making Moon and Nickel do any work,” Core countered. “She’s ready to give it to them for free.”
“She’s just pretending to make me jealous and make me—”
“Work for it,” Core finished for him.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, brother, have I told you I have a sweet, little property in Louisiana that I want to sell? It’s right in the middle of lost-your-fucking-mind and you-fucking-wish. I’ll sell it to you for five thousand.”
Hennessy clenched his jaw. “You making fun of me?”
“Brother, the only thing you’re going to get out of this game, other than me riding your ass for playing, is a stocking filled with coal.”
“The penalties have set me back,” Hennessy agreed with his enforcer. “But, if they have penalties, there have to be rewards.”
“I would ask someone else other than Viper,” Core suggested. “Or Moon,” he added.
“I’ll ask Rider when I see him. He’s the sneakiest bastard in The Last Riders. Sasha has Zip, and Jewell has Nickel. I saw them switching when I was going to the bathroom.”
Damn, they wouldn’t even get a penalty point because they had switched before texting Viper their names. He had to find a way to get one of his coals removed from his stocking, or he would only have one guess.
“Who was the brother that most of the women wanted?”
“The new one, Jack.”
“I need to find out who has his name.” Hennessy gave Core a calculating smile. “Knowledge is power. I might not know a lot about women, but what I do know is that they want bragging rights.”
Core just shook his head at him. “What you know about women can be written on a postage stamp.”
“I must have done something right. Arin was on me like melted honey.”
“That doesn’t count. That was before you opened your mouth. You lose your appeal to women when that happens.”
“What’s wrong with the way I talk? DJ used to talk that way to women, and it always worked for him.”
“You’re using a dead brother as a guide on how to talk to women?” Exasperated, Core ran his hand over the back of his neck.
“Yes.”
“There’s a whole dictionary of words between baby girl and cute. I get laid plenty; you need to take notes from me.”
“Revenge sex doesn’t count.”
“Counts for me. The women get back at their exes, and I get a warm pussy. It’s a win-win situation, which is more than you can fucking say.”
“Sooner or later, one of those exes are going to shoot you dead.”
“Maybe so, but I’ll have a smile on my face when you bury me.”
“I’ll be lucky to have a body to bury with some of the bitches you’ve been fucking.”
Putting his greatest fear for his friend out there between them, Hennessy put out the cigarette then stepped into the kitchen with Core following behind.
The female members had taken over the kitchen. Jewell was placing cookies on the counter, while Arin and Joy were cooking something on the stove. Ember, Stori, and Sasha were pulling mugs out of a cabinet.
“Hennessy, Core, would you like a cup of cocoa?” Sasha asked when she saw them enter.
Hennessy didn’t spare Sasha a glance. “I’d love a cup of anything if my curvy cutie makes it for me,” he said, walking over to stand beside Arin at the stove.
The luscious woman ignored him, continuing to stir the milk in the pot.
Clearing his throat, he flipped the bird at Core as he left the kitchen, eyeballing him at how pathetic he sounded.
Reaching for the bag of marshmallows that were sitting on the counter, he popped a couple into his mouth as he studied Arin. Everything about her attracted him to her. The top of her head came to his chin, her breasts and hips were his favorite part about her, and while she wore more clothes than the other women in the room, she was sexier. Her hair came to her shoulders in a long bob that framed her delicate features. What had first drawn his attention to her was the button nose set over full lips that he wanted to taste.
“Save some of the marshmallows for us.”
Hennessy jerked his hand back from the bag, unaware he had been eating them as he had watched her. “Sugarplum, if you need more marshmallows, I can go out and get you some more.”
“Sweet Jesus, just call me by my name. Better yet, don’t talk to me at all.”
Hennessy held on to his temper. “I’m just trying to be friendly.” Every time he tried to talk to her, she cut him with the edge of her mouth.
Arin coldly gave him her shoulder, stating without words that she wasn’t interested.
Starting to reach for more marshmallows, he stopped himself. The only thing keeping him there was his man pride. As soon as his cup was filled, he would leave the kitchen.
He would explain to Viper that Core and he would be leaving at first light. T
he woman was just as cold as the temperature outside, while Florida had dozens of women who wouldn’t freeze his balls off …
Hennessy’s thoughts trailed off as he looked at Arin again, seeing what he had missed before. While her haircut was simple, it was a sophisticated style. Her clothes, while they looked comfortable enough to wear around the club, the material seemed expensive.
He wanted to smack his own forehead at his stupidity.
Arin didn’t belong to the club. She was a friend of Jewell’s, but that didn’t make her like Jewell. He had seriously fucked up by coming on so strong. She had tried to tell him, but he had plowed ahead, stupidly too caught up being blindsided by his attraction to her. He could kick his own ass for being so drunk and tired last night when he could have had her in the palm of his hand before she had formed an opinion of him, which he had to admit he deserved.
The life he led was as unstable as you could get. First, Jackal, DJ, and he had ditched the foster system as soon as they could run away. Then they’d been drawn into the Predators where he’d had his first sexual experience, to then having his own club where sex was just something to experience when he felt the need.
Women like Arin never gave him a second glance. Women like Arin wanted to be the one and only, not one of a crowd.
Too late, he realized that Arin was far from the easy woman who had gotten on her knees for him. She was smart, refined, and had a shell around her that only someone just as smart would be able to crack open to enjoy what Arin was holding back.
He had fucked up so badly with the way he had treated her last night, and then agreeing to the bet. Now he didn’t know if Arin would even give him a chance to repair the damaged opinion she had of him.
Deciding to take a hit to his male pride, he walked around the counter to leave, wanting to find Core and take yet another hit by asking for the advice he should have asked for outside.
“Here’s your cocoa.”
Surprised, he reached over the counter for the cup. Then he stared down to see at least a dozen mini-marshmallows swimming at the top. Maybe she wasn’t a lost cause, as he had thought.
Giving her an appreciative smile, he took it and hurried from the room, making sure to keep his mouth shut until he could talk to Core.
See? Look at that. He was going to use one lesson that Viper had given him—keep his mouth fucking shut and enjoy the first cup of cocoa anyone had ever made for him.
Chapter 10
Rinsing out her cup, she looked up to see Hennessy coming back into the kitchen.
“Thank you for the cocoa. It was good.”
Opening the dishwasher to put the cup inside, she heard him rinse his own cup out before he put his inside next to hers.
“How are you liking Treepoint?”
She didn’t trust his friendly attitude any farther than she could throw him, knowing the amount of money that he had bet with Winter. He needed her to win the bet, and she had her own bet on the line. She wanted Jewell in her business more than she wanted a few hours in bed with Hennessy. Then again, it wasn’t in her to be rude unless it was deserved.
“I like it so far. I’ve only been out once to go to town.” She watched as he went to the fridge to get a drink.
“You’ll have to get Jewell to drive you through the mountains. They’re beautiful.”
“I’ll mention it to her.”
“Do that. Just make sure she borrows a vehicle that has four-wheel drive. Some of the roads can be pretty steep. I’d hate for you to get stuck when I was the one that suggested going.”
“I will.”
Opening a soda, he leaned back against the counter as she started the dishwasher.
“It’s pretty cold here. I’m going out to pick up some thicker shirts since I’ll be staying until after Christmas. Can I get you anything besides marshmallows?”
“No, I’m good.”
“If you change your mind, let me know. I’ll be leaving in ten minutes. Unless you would like to get out of the club for a while, then you could go with me.”
“No, thanks. I better stay here.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why would it be better? Is there any reason you can’t go?”
Taken aback, Arin tried to retract her words. “I meant that I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to be alone together.”
At the seductive expression that came over him, she tensed, wishing she hadn’t given him that ammunition to use against her.
“Are you afraid to be alone with me?”
She pulled her shoulders up to her full height. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“Not of me, then of yourself.”
Just like that, she crumpled, humiliated that she had made the first move on him last night, that he hadn’t wanted her, and that he only wanted her now because of a bet.
Mortified, she started around the corner, just to be brought up short by a hard arm wrapping around her waist.
“Whoa … slow down. Whatever the fuck you thought I meant, I didn’t.”
Turning her around to face him, he smoothed her hair away from her face. “I’ve been trying very hard to apologize all day for the way I talked to you last night. I could make a bunch of excuses, but truthfully, I’ve never been much of ladies’ man. Most of the company I keep are bikers, and most of them can’t stand me either.”
“I’m not a bet to win.” Avoiding his gaze, she turned her face away.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with that.” Hennessy raised his hand to turn her face back toward him. “It’s a bet worth winning, and you’re a hell of a prize. You’re everything.”
She almost believed the glimmer of truth that she could see in his eyes.
Shaking her head, she pulled herself away from his touch. “You’re good. I almost believed you.”
“You think I’m lying?”
“I know you are.”
“Last night, you told me I was beautiful. Was that a lie?”
“No.”
“I don’t lie either. You have a zero opinion of me, which I deserve, and which I’m not even going to talk my way out of.”
“You’re not?” Skeptical, Arin had expected him to do just that.
“No.” Taking his soda, he walked to the kitchen door.
Arin still didn’t believe it until he actually left her alone in the kitchen.
She went into the living room, seeing that Hennessy was playing a game of pool with Nickel.
Going upstairs, she went to Jewell’s room, finding it empty. Hearing the shower from the room next door, she knew that was where Jewell must have been.
Biting her lip, she dragged herself toward the closet to grab her jacket. The weather was supposed to be terrible over the next few days. If she was going to do the Naughty Santa game, she was going to need a few things, she told herself … And she did need more marshmallows. Hennessy wasn’t the only one who liked them.
She argued back and forth with herself as she put her boots and coat on. It was only when she heard the shower turn off did she hurry out of the room to make her way back downstairs.
Hennessy was putting his jacket on when he saw her.
“You change your mind?”
“Yes.”
Hennessy ginned, opening the door. “Ladies first.”
Arin rolled her eyes at him. She preferred him being an ass.
The man who was watching the door moved aside as they walked onto the porch.
“The roads are getting slick. Are you planning on going to town?”
“Yes, we’re going to the Super Store.”
The man reached into his jacket and gave Hennessy a set of keys. “Take the black SUV. It should get you there and back.”
Arin flashed him a casual smile. “Thank you, Jack. Is that hot cocoa helping to keep you warm?”
“Sure is. Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
Hennessy held her arm as they went down the steps.
Shivering, she was grateful when the f
irst thing he did once they were inside the SUV was to turn the heat on and point the vents toward her.
“How many marshmallows did you give him?”
“Huh?”
“How many marshmallows did you put in the cocoa you made for him?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t count them.”
Why does it matter how many I gave Jack?
“I like a lot in mine.”
“Okay, I’ll buy an extra bag.”
As he drove, Arin could sense something was bothering him. In the dark vehicle, she debated the wisdom of leaving the safety of the club with a man whom she truly did not know that well. She hadn’t even told Jewell she was going. However, she consoled herself with the fact that Jack had seen her leave with Hennessy.
Trying to put her fears to rest, she just asked what was bothering her. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Does it involve marshmallows?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged. “I’ve never had anyone make cocoa just for me unless I bought it. When I grew up in a foster home, there were three other foster kids. Our foster mom would always put marshmallows in her own children’s cups but never in ours.”
Arin turned to look at him, seeing the proud man sitting behind the wheel. Something told her that he had never shared that childhood story with anyone else. That he did had to be for a simple reason. He was jealous.
She had felt that emotion for too many years with Marcus not to recognize it with Hennessy. The badass biker that he portrayed to the rest of the club hid a façade of a young boy who had once been badly hurt by an adult who had taken care of him. You didn’t grow up to be so sensitive over something as simple as marshmallows if it hadn’t been more than once and over more important things that had hurt just as badly.
Having grown up in a warm and loving home, it had only taken Marcus two weeks to shred her confidence. If it wasn’t for her family and Jewell, she didn’t know if she would have been able to be brave enough to leave him. Arin wondered if Hennessy ever had anyone in his corner when things had gotten bad for him.
Keeping her eyes forward, she focused on the road and not on the man behind the wheel. When she returned to the clubhouse, she was going to stay as far away from him as she could get. She was already wavering in her ability to withstand Hennessy and win the bet that she had made with Jewell.
