by Jess Bryant
Being the baby of the family, she expected her older brothers to be there for her when she needed them and the truth was, in the past they had been. Only with Hunter married now and Vaughn all but engaged to his work, that only left Tyler and he was not the kind of man anyone ever counted on.
He didn’t like letting Tatum down but a glance across the road at the ramshackle bar reminded him that he had his own problems to deal with. He grabbed the key to the hotel room and walked out, locking it behind him before trudging across the street. He had to deal with Ashtyn right now and since Hunter was out of the country and Vaughn was working, he could only think of one other person that might be able to help Tatum with whatever it was she needed.
“I’m out of town right now, but call Isaac. He’ll help you out, no problem.”
“Isaac is out of town too.” Tatum whined. “He’s with that poor bastard that got left at the altar. Vaughn sent him as protection detail for the guy when he decided to skip town and go on his honeymoon alone.”
“Seriously?” He was the one that sounded exasperated now but he shook off the feeling. “Okay. Well, call Blake then.”
“Are you really just going to run down the list of All Saints Security employees until you find someone willing to deal with me?” Tatum’s voice was smaller now, disappointment coloring her words and he cringed at the tone.
“I’m sorry. I…”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”
“Tate.” he sighed but his sister was clearly done with this conversation.
“I’ll leave you to whatever it is that’s so important. I’ll figure out my own shit for once. Isn’t that what Vaughn’s always saying I need to do anyway?”
“Tatum…” He tried again.
“See you whenever you’re back in town. Bye, Ty.”
“Bye.” He managed but the click of the line going dead told him his sister hadn’t waited to hear his response.
Tyler stopped walking once he reached the road and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply and then blew out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He hadn’t even asked Tatum what it was that she needed help with, he realized. He really was a shitty big brother. He glanced both ways and then crossed the street to find and retrieve his current job, scowling as he passed through the cloud of smoke from the guys lingering outside. He was shit at his job too but he wasn’t going to lose Ashtyn.
He quickly punched a text message into his phone. If Tatum was going to be a brat about it, he’d get in touch with Blake himself. He wrote out a quick message asking Blake to call and check on Tatum and then slipped the phone into his back pocket. He glanced up just as the door of the old bar came into view and he pushed through it knowing that at least one of the women in his life would be taken care of for tonight.
The other one…
Tyler came to an abrupt stop just inside the door of the bar. He blinked, praying this was just a bad dream and he would wake up back in that shitty motel and find Ashtyn was still in the shower. He would much prefer that reality to the one where the pretty little Senator’s daughter was standing on top of a bar, wiggling her hips suggestively as a group of rowdy men cat-called and she poured liquor directly into their eagerly awaiting mouths.
There was no fucking way this was real.
Tyler gaped as he watched her tip her head back and pour the amber liquid in the bottle into her own mouth, some of it missing completely and sliding down her chin and throat before disappearing beneath the low-cut black tank-top she was wearing. His mouth went dry at the sight and his cock took note of every single curve as she swayed and shimmied to the ear-splitting music. Her tank top was loose and flowy falling off one arm to reveal the lacy black strap of her bra and a hint of curve at the top of her breasts. The black pants she wore clung to her bottom like a second skin and he had an unwelcome and unbidden flashback to her straddling his motorcycle and talking about orgasms earlier in the day. He had to physically shake his head to bring himself back to the present.
No. He was not going to allow himself to drool all over the girl just because she was gorgeous and had moves made from sin. His dick was going hard just from watching her, which was a problem, but the bigger issue was that if he was having that reaction to her and he knew who she was, then he knew the dozens of men praying at her feet were undoubtedly hard and horny and wrongly thinking her little show meant they had a chance.
They didn’t.
He would make sure of that.
He’d promised to take care of the girl and that included saving her from herself.
He had no idea how long she’d been at the bar. He didn’t know how much she’d had to drink. He didn’t know if the men had been buying or if she’d run up a tab that he would have to cover and none of that mattered. In that moment, the only thing that did was getting Ashtyn out of the bar and safely back in their motel room without ending up in a fight that would get the police called.
Ashtyn Echols showing up on social media drunk and dancing on a bar would be bad enough, but a police report would not only end her road-trip but likely his career and maybe even his life if Vaughn got his hands on him.
“Excuse me. Excuse me. Hey, excuse me.” Tyler began pushing his way through the crowd, shrugging off the glares of the other patrons as he slipped ahead of them in the sausage fest surrounding the bar. When he was finally at the front of the line, he raised his voice and yelled, “Time to go, princess.”
Ashtyn’s eyes went wide, like a deer caught in headlights, and her head jerked around, searching for him in the crowd. He expected her to scowl at him and tell him to go away or leave her alone when she finally caught sight of him. He’d gone out with Tatum enough times to know that was her usual MO when he tried to interfere with her good time. But instead, Ashtyn’s blue eyes landed on him and a huge grin split her pretty face in half, a red flush coloring her cheeks that was somehow adorable and sexy as hell all at the same time.
“Tyler!” she squealed with delight, sliding down the bar until she was directly in front of him. “You’re here!”
Her joy at seeing him would have been enough to convince him she was drunk even if he couldn’t see the glassy-eyed stare behind her eyes. Her grin was goofy and her body was loose. She wasn’t just tipsy either, she was full-on wasted from the looks of it.
All of the horrible things that could happen to a girl like her in a place like this blasted through his head at the realization and his voice was rough when he spoke again.
“Yeah, I’m here to pick you up. Let’s go.”
Her brows furrowed slightly, some of her smile slipping away as she shook her head, “I can’t go. Who will pour these nice men their drinks?”
“Yeah buddy. Who’s gonna pour us our drinks?” A stocky guy with a mustache and a bandana growled from next to him.
Tyler turned his attention to the man and glared at him in his best imitation of take no shit Vaughn, “The bartender. That’s his job.”
Ashtyn pouted her lips out when he looked back at her, “We have to leave?”
“We do.”
She blew a whisp of blonde hair off her face and shrugged, “Okay, fiiiiine.”
Tyler breathed a sigh of relief that she was going to come with him willingly. He watched as she turned to the man behind the bar. He was an older man with long silver-white hair and a beard that would have made the duck guys jealous. He had a Bad Santa vibe going but he shot Tyler a quick nod of his chin and Tyler nodded in return. Ashtyn might be drunk and dancing on the bar but that acknowledgement was enough to reassure him this guy hadn’t let her do anything else she might regret. The older man took the bottle from her and told her it had been a pleasure meeting her before she leaned over and attempted to hug him.
Her boots slipped in the spilled liquids that covered the surface of the bar and Tyler grabbed for her before she fell. She squealed as he hefted her over his shoulder. The bartender laughed and waved goodbye to them. The crowd of patrons that had been enjoying
her performance grumbled but ultimately moved out of the way and Tyler breathed a sigh of relief when he pushed back out into the cool night.
“Oh my God! Tyler!” She was giggling as she squirmed against his shoulder, “Put me down. I can walk.”
He didn’t answer and he made no move to put her down as he carried her in a fireman’s hold across the street and back to the motel. She laughed again and smacked his ass. He grumbled and she only laughed harder. She squeezed his ass, cupping him with both of her hands and he hissed.
“Stop that.”
“You have a really nice ass. You’d think I’d have noticed that riding behind you all day but this view is fantastic.” She rambled lazily as he paused to unlock their room and then kicked inside. “You’re sexy. Like, total bad boy biker guy sexy.”
“Glad you think so. Now, stop groping me.”
“Pshh.” She made a rude noise, “Make me.”
Tyler unceremoniously flipped her off his shoulder and onto the bed. She bounced, a gasp escaping her as she hit the hard mattress. She only laughed again and grinned up at him as if she was having the best night of her life.
She looked beautiful, even drunk, maybe especially drunk. All of the walls she kept up around herself were down now. She wasn’t tense or overthinking. She wasn’t pretending to be somebody that she wasn’t. She was just a beautiful girl with luscious blonde locks that haloed her head and big, blue eyes that looked up at him with mischief and slick pink lips that were far more alluring than he’d ever noticed before.
Tyler’s cock gave a twitch of approval and he purposefully stepped back from the bed. No. No she was not just a drunk girl. She was the Senator’s daughter. She was his job. He couldn’t forget that, not even for a second.
“What the hell were you thinking?” He demanded, latching on to his anger to keep his desire at bay.
“It was on my bucket list.” she slurred, still smiling.
“Jesus.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, “That goddamn bucket list thing again? Really?”
“It’s a good list.” She pushed her bottom lip out into a pout.
“Oh yeah? What part of tonight was on it?”
“All of it.” She pushed up onto her elbows and he forced himself not to look away from her face, not to glance down and see how the new position pushed her breasts out.
“All of it?”
“Yep.” she chirped happily, sliding around the bed until her feet were pulled up and she could jerk at her boots. As she tried to pry them off her feet she continued, “I went to a bar by myself. Check. I got drunk for the first time ever. Check. Check. I danced on a bar. Check. Check. Check.”
Tyler raised a brow, “You’ve never been drunk before?”
“Nope.” She finally dropped her boot to the floor with a loud thunk.
“Never?”
“Never-ever.” she confirmed, her attention on her other boot as she struggled with the shoestrings.
“You’re what… twenty-two?”
“Twenty-three.” she corrected, holding a finger up to further emphasize her point.
“So you’re twenty-three,” he amended and tried not to laugh when she nodded proudly as if that was some sort of accomplishment. “And you’ve never been drunk? How is that possible?”
“Ummmmm, Senator’s daughter here.” She raised her hand above her head and used her finger to point down at herself this time.
“So you were wildly unpopular and never invited to any parties in high school or college.” he teased just to see if she would react and she didn’t disappoint.
“Hey!” She threw her second boot at him as she finally succeeded in peeling it off. “Don’t be rude! I’ll have you know I was very popular.”
“Sounds like it.” He bit his cheek to hide the smile that wanted to form.
In the bar, he’d thought that grin of hers was adorable and sexy. Now it was just adorable. Drunk women, in his experience, were always either adorable or intolerable. He was happy to note that Ashtyn was the first. Sweet, funny, naïve and adorable, he really wasn’t as surprised to find out she’d never been drunk before as he should have been.
“Senator’s daughters are scriltinzed… scrult… scrutilized… scrutinized… more than people think.” she harrumphed, glaring at him when she finally found the word she wanted. “I had to always put my best foot forward. No drunk party pics on social media. No hooking up or any of the other fun stuff on my bucket list. Nope. Nope. Nope. Not for me.”
Tyler frowned, “Hooking up is on your bucket list?”
“Duh.” She looked at him as if he was stupid. “Everyone deserves a one-night stand. Even Senator’s daughters.”
He shook his head as her words sank in, “This little road trip we’re on, that was part of your bucket list too. You think you’re going to knock all the items off your list along the way, don’t you?”
Her grin was big, wide and mischievous again and she clapped, “Ding. Ding. Ding. Give the man a cookie.”
Tyler pushed up from the wall he’d leaned again, “Well, I hate to break it to you, princess, but that’s one item you’re not crossing off your list. No one-night stands. Not on my watch.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to look serious, but the grin wouldn’t give her any credibility, “That’s fine.”
“Oh yeah?” He tilted his head, curious to know what she was thinking.
“Yeah… totally. I won’t have a one-night stand on your watch.” She shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder, “I’ll just wait until you go to sleep again.”
He growled audibly and she cracked up laughing again.
“You should see your face right now.”
“You should see yours.” he shot back.
She stuck her tongue out at him. Like a child. But he supposed his comeback had been childish in the first place.
He forced himself to focus. She was drunk. Talking to her might be entertaining but it wasn’t going to get them anywhere. It was late and they had a long day tomorrow. He actually smiled a little as he thought of what was to come.
“You’re going to be hungover tomorrow.”
She shrugged and he was the one to laugh this time.
“Bet that wasn’t on your bucket list but it’s as good a lesson as any. Actions have consequences, princess.”
She rolled her eyes and his grin widened.
“I’ll get you some water and Advil.” He went into the small motel bathroom, as much to get away from her for a few seconds as to grab the items he’d offered. If he was an asshole, he wouldn’t have offered her either and would have taken pleasure in seeing her pain in the morning, hoping it made her rethink this entire journey and decide to go home. But he’d had his share of hangovers and riding on a bike all day with someone who was likely to throw up after every turn wasn’t his idea of a good time, or even good torture.
He filled one of the small paper cups with water from the faucet and downed the cool liquid before putting it under the tap and refilling it. He returned to the room and opened his mouth to tell her the Advil was in his pack, which was still on the motorcycle but he stopped in his tracks again. He stared at the figure lying on the bed but she didn’t move and he slowly sighed with exasperation.
She was asleep already. Passed out was probably a better term for it. And she’d gone to sleep without drinking any of the water or taking anything for the headache that would loom large tomorrow. He contemplated waking her up to give her the medicine but instead he just put the water on the bedside table next to her and then quietly went out to his bike to retrieve his stuff.
She was snoring slightly when he let himself back in. He put the Advil on the table next to the water, hoping she’d wake up at some point in the middle of the night and think to take it. Then he went to take a shower, wash the long day off and try to mentally prepare himself for day two of dealing with the mess of a woman that confounded him at every turn.
Had he honestly been thinking earlier that it wasn
’t fair he was getting paid to take her on this trip? He snorted. He should ask for more money. He could call it reimbursement for the strain on his mental health. He glanced down at the thick erection that tented his boxers and scowled. He turned the water to cold before he climbed inside.
Scratch that, his mental and physical health were on the line where this girl was concerned.
9
Somewhere, in the back of Ashtyn’s aching head, she saw the irony of her current situation. At least she thought it was irony. Really, that Alanis song had screwed up the definition so badly it was hard to tell anymore but whatever it meant, this had to be a giant cosmic joke.
Last night, when they’d arrived at the motel, she’d been scared to touch anything for fear of contracting some strange disease. She hadn’t walked barefoot over the carpet or gotten into the shower until she’d let the hot water disinfect as much of the grimy old tub as she could.
Yet in the harsh light of morning here she sat, on the dingy, dirty bathroom floor, hugging the toilet as if it was an old friend. She’d made its acquaintance sometime around seven am when the light spilling through the cheap curtains had woken her from her drunken dreams. Within seconds, her stomach had revolted against the poisons she’d ingested the night before and she’d flung herself off the bed and towards the bathroom as fast as she could so that she didn’t throw up in front of Tyler.
In between her bouts of retching and gagging, she’d heard his laughter from the other room and simultaneously wanted to die and commit murder at the same time.
Never in her life could she remember ever being this sick. That one time in college when she’d had the flu and couldn’t get out of bed for days had been bad, but this was far worse than that. At least with the flu she hadn’t been hurling her guts up on the floor of a cheap motel room while one of the most handsome men she’d ever met listened and laughed from the other side of the door.
