by Hazel Parker
“Touching is always better than looking,” he remarked. He looked up toward her slowly, suggestively, a line that snapped her back into the moment and out of his dazzlingly brown eyes and handsome, rough face. She slid off the bike with a knowing smile as if to tell him “I see what you’re trying to do, here,” and gathered up her bag of books once more.
“Thank you for this,” she said, gesturing to the bike, “and for earlier today. You really saved me.”
“Oh, that?” he asked as if he were surprised that she was even bringing it up. “Nah. That was nothing. Don’t mention it.”
“I didn’t,” she reassured, knowing what he was really getting at. “I just needed to say it to you.”
“Well, if you really wanted to thank me,” he started, looking as if he were going to say something cheeky and sexual, so she turned around good-naturedly and cut him off.
“Anyway, I should get going. It’s getting late.” Vance took the slight rejection in cocky, confident stride.
“I’ll keep handling security around here,” he said haughtily, and she laughed.
“I’ve got it covered, thanks.” She tossed her bag over her shoulder and began the short walk back to her home, knowing that he was still staring at her as she walked and feeling a little flattered about it.
“Goodnight, Nina,” he called after her as she retreated. She shouldn’t have gone to look at his bike at all, she scolded herself. Every instinct inside her had told her to stay away from him. Even if he didn’t strike her as any kind of violent criminal, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t dangerous, and she could see in just the way he carried himself, the way he’d scared away an armed robber, and the way that he spoke to her that he was going to be very dangerous, indeed. The smart thing to do would be to keep her distance. She should focus on her job and her other customers and her boyfriend.
Still… Adam didn’t have to know that she’d had that chat with him, or that she’d sat on his motorcycle. It would only upset him, after all, and she hated it when Adam was upset. As much as she hated keeping secrets from him, she hated talking about every little detail of her life even more. He was supportive enough on the big things: he’d moved all the way across the country for her to take charge of the motel and he’d never once asked her to sell it, even if she sometimes thought that might be what he really wanted. However, he was much more judgmental on the smaller, day to day things. He didn’t like how she brushed off being hit on without a fight, or when she sometimes settled for smaller amounts of money when someone needed a room but didn’t have enough to cover the whole fee, or the way that she walked around the town alone at night because she didn’t like to drive such a short distance down the road to get to work when she could just walk instead. There were things that she didn’t love about her boyfriend and things that he didn’t love about her, but that was what a relationship was, right? Being with someone despite their flaws. Nina was loyal if nothing else, and besides, they were so comfortable. She told herself that she didn’t want more than that even as she heard Vance’s bike engine beginning to rev and curiosity bubbled up inside her about where he might be going and what he’d be doing there.
Chapter 4: Vance
Vance had driven around to try to get the events of the day out of his head. Everything, from the kid from the Devil’s Disciples to the knowledge that tomorrow was his first day alone at the bar to how much he wanted to see Nina Sullivan naked, was buzzing around in his brain and making him feel too energized to sleep. This happened often, and the cure was always to get on the open road and just focus on the hum of the engine and the wind on his face. By the time he’d finished riding, he was exhausted enough to fall straight asleep as soon as he pulled back into the motel.
His first shift wasn’t going as badly as he’d thought it would. He’d expected to forget every drink he’d learned to make under the pressure of a rush of customers, but thus far, there hadn’t really been one. The bar was steadily busy but never all at once. It wasn’t like the clubs that he’d been to when he was younger or the trendy bars that he’d always avoided—this was a biker bar, and the people who came in here were looking more for something to do and someone to talk to than they were a fancy cocktail. He’d learned quickly that as long as he made them strong, it didn’t matter if he made them well, so he was pleasantly surprised by just how few complaints he’d gotten about his customer service. Sheila had shown him a lot and had told him he was a fast learner, even if he didn’t feel like he knew much of anything yet.
Vance was taking inventory of the liquors to see what he needed to order more of when the bell above the door jingled as it opened for a cop. He wasn’t nervous, not even a little—he hadn’t done anything illegal yet, after all, and there was no way that they’d connected him to the Rebel Kings this quickly, so it was probably pleasure rather than business that brought him into the bar.
“Hey, officer,” he greeted as the man sat down in a bar stool. “Can I get you to drink?”
Adam shook his head. “Call me Adam,” he corrected, “and I’m good. I’m on the clock; just on lunch break.”
“Well, then,” Vance said, pouring him a glass of ice water anyway and setting it on the table in front of him, “what brings you down here?”
Adam shrugged, taking a sip of the water. “Nina tells me that you’re the one who scared off that robber,” he began, and Vance didn’t let his surprise show on his face.
“Not heroically or anything,” he laughed slightly. “That’s your job. He spooked when he saw me.”
Apparently, that was the story that Nina had told him, too, because he didn’t object. “Still, I wanted to thank you. I worry about her, you know. She’s in that office all alone all day, and most of the people who come in here are rougher kinds of people. Bikers and shit—no offense,” he stopped himself. “I don’t mean you and your friend.”
“None taken,” Vance brushed him off. “You know what they say, 99% of us are good guys.”
“It’s just that last 1% that aren’t that ruin it for the rest.”
Vance turned back to his inventory without fully turning away from the conversation, letting Adam gather his thoughts. The faster he focused and said what he needed to say, the faster he’d get out of here.
“I really came down to say thank you,” he finally managed. “It’s nice to have someone looking out for her while I’m gone, even if it’s just temporary.” He paused. “How long did you say you were planning on staying again?”
Vance shrugged. “Until I find a place,” he said, “which might take a while. So far, I don’t even have a lead.”
“Yeah, the housing market here’s tight,” Adam sympathized. “It’s such a little town; the only apartment complex in the area is usually full, and I’m sure you’re not looking to buy a house on such short notice.” Vance couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeah, no,” he chuckled. “I’m not really the home owning type. I never stay any place too long.”
“If you wanted, I could talk to Nina and see if maybe she’d be willing to work something out where you could rent the motel room long-term.” Vance raised his eyebrows.
“Seriously?” he asked, and Adam shrugged.
“Why not? The Oasis is never full, and I know she likes you. It’s not the most comfortable place in the world, but it’s got a shower and a bed and a microwave. I’m sure you could talk her into bending the rules against electric cooktops, too.”
“I don’t do too much cooking, anyway,” Vance admitted. “That does sound like it might be better than finding an apartment, though. You wouldn’t mind?”
Adam shook his head, smiling openly. “Not at all,” he reassured. “I’ll ask her about it tonight after she’s finished with work. If she ever finishes, that is.” He was trying for playful, but Adam couldn’t keep the slight note of irritation out of his voice, and honestly, Vance couldn’t blame him. He could definitely see how Nina’s near-constant work might get a little frustrating. Every time he saw h
er, from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed, she was working. It was probably the only reason a little motel in the middle of a desert town like this could even stay afloat.
“Why don’t you bring her by the bar tonight?” Vance offered. “It’ll give her a break from work, at least. Drinks are on the house.” Adam smiled, standing as he looked at his watch.
“Sounds good, buddy,” he said. “Nina said your name was Vance, right?”
“Vance Murphy,” he confirmed, extending his hand for Adam to shake.
“Alright. I’ll see you later, probably.” As he exited the bar, Vance felt the natural unease of being near a cop fade and wondered if it was really a good idea to rent out Nina’s motel. Even just being there temporarily was a bit of a gamble, especially considering how often the police were patrolling now that the robbery had happened. However, what other choice did he have? If he wasn’t going to find an apartment here, then he would just end up staying in the motel every night, anyway, and allowing Adam to talk to Nina might open the door for a monthly rate that might be more affordable than paying her nightly rate every day, which was going to quickly become an unreasonable expense. The more that each person had to spend on things like food and housing, the less money the rest of the club had, so they all tried to keep their living expenses to a minimum. They weren’t in it for champagne at the Ritz, after all—theirs were lives on the road and that’s what he loved about it. No other lifestyle would allow him to be on the road as much as he wanted without eventually demanding that he settle down, mellow out, and conform to the same shitty American dream that everyone else subscribed to. That wasn’t for him, he knew. Vance wanted more than that.
He spotted Nina in the parking lot through the window before she saw him, and Vance couldn’t believe that he was happy enough to see her that he didn’t really care that Adam got out of the driver’s seat of the same car. Nina was dressed up in a green dress, her long hair pulled into a neat bun and wearing bright red lipstick. Though he’d seen her several times a day every day for the past week, Vance had never seen her dressed up, which led him to believe that it was a fairly rare occasion. She waved to Vance as they walked through the door and up to the bar.
“Vance,” she greeted, “nice to see you.” Vance smiled.
“You really clean up, Red,” he teased, hoping that Adam didn’t notice the flush that spread across her cheeks. He didn’t seem to, or if he did, he didn’t appear to care.
“It’s date night,” Adam explained, and Vance noticed for the first time that he was dressed just as nicely as she was. “We’re supposed to have one every week, but sometimes… well, life gets in the way.” It was a thinly-veiled attempt at avoiding saying that Nina was too busy to spend time with him. Vance didn’t want to press any further into that, especially since he can see in Nina’s face and posture that she was bracing herself for an argument.
“What can I get you to drink?” he asked instead.
“I’ll just have a beer,” Adam ordered. Vance looked at Nina, whose eyes seemed to be drawn to the harder liquors on the shelf.
“I’ll take a gin and tonic,” she ordered, “with a lime.” He poured her drink into the glass with a generous pour of alcohol and set a lime on the edge of it. She sipped it and pulled a face at the strength but didn’t comment.
“So, I told Nina what we talked about earlier,” Adam began.
“Oh, yeah? And?” He looked at Nina even though Adam was the one who’d brought it up. It was her decision, after all.
“You’re welcome to stay at the Oasis as long as you’d like,” Nina offered. “We can drop the rate so that you’re not paying $30 a day for a room that small, and you can buy appliances and stuff, if you need more than what’s already in there.” She gave him a stern look. “But, I’m your landlord, now, not a motel owner. I’m not cleaning your room or washing your sheets for free anymore. That’s on you.”
Vance chuckled and shook her hand. Those were reasonable terms, and it allowed him to come and go as he pleased without being tied down in year-long leases or having to purchase land.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” he agreed. “Thanks.”
Vance allowed the couple to have some time alone together as he tended to other customers, forcing himself to not be nosy and listen in on their conversation even when he could see Nina leaning further and further away from him throughout the conversation. He didn’t intrude even when he could see that both of them had finished their drinks, despite that Sheila would probably tell him that was a bad move. However, it was a fairly quiet night in the bar with relatively few customers, which meant that even though he wasn’t trying to overhear their conversation, he was catching bits and pieces as he moved around making drinks and cleaning up. Most of it was normal couple’s stuff—arguing about chores and work schedules and feelings. The general tone of the argument, from what Vance could tell, was one of exasperation, like they’d had this argument many times before and were tired of even going through the effort.
“You’re working all the time, Nina,” Adam accused. He wasn’t drunk, not off one beer, but the alcohol appeared to be giving him a little bit of dutch courage, as he seemed more aggressive than Vance normally saw him.
“Do you think I do it because I want to?” she asked. “I’m tired, Adam. I don’t love pouring every moment of my waking hours into the motel. I’d love to not have to do that, believe me.”
“Then why don’t you sell the place?”
At that, Nina froze, and Vance couldn’t help but go still to listen in more intently, hoping that they were engrossed enough in their own conversations to not notice.
“You know I can’t do that,” she replied in a low voice that Vance could barely make out. Her posture had changed, stiffened and squared off in anger, and her facial expression had darkened.
“‘Can’t’ or ‘won’t?’”
“Fine, I won’t do that,” she snapped. “It was my dad’s place and I grew up helping him run it. It means a lot to me and it’s shitty that you’d even ask me to give it up.” Way to go, Nina, Vance thought, sticking up for herself like that. She wasn’t as meek and timid as some might think.
“At some point, you’re going to need to choose some priorities—”
“You work all the time, too, Adam!” Nina bit down on her lower lip, embarrassed by her outburst. She lowered her volume. “You’re always at work, so don’t act like it’s just me.”
“I’m a police officer; my job saves lives.”
“So my job isn’t important?”
“I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that it’s different.” Adam sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Nina didn’t look at him Vance could see from discreetly watching the mirror behind the liquor shelf. At just the wrong moment, Adam’s phone began to ring and he pulled it out of his pocket with a frown.
“This is work,” he said as he stood, taking the call outside. Vance took the opportunity to turn back to Nina as if he didn’t know what had happened.
“Need a refill?” he asked. Her facial expression was somewhere between angry and holding back tears, so he took her silence as an affirmative and poured her another gin and tonic, just as strong as the first. Before he could ask her if she was okay, Adam was returning from his apparently very short phone call looking a little upset, but more irritated than anything.
“Daniels broke his ankle on the clock,” he explained, “so they need me to come fill in. I’ve got to go.” Nina frowned.
“Right now?” she asked. “This is the first date night we’ve had in forever. I was hoping we’d have a little more time.”
Adam ran a hand through his buzzed-short hair and shook his head remorselessly. “Yeah, well,” he said, “now you know how I feel.” That shifted Nina’s mood drastically and immediately.
“But if you’ve got to work, you’ve got to work,” she said. “Get going.”’ He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek and she didn’t make any move toward or a
way from him. “Be safe,” she called after him, seemingly unable to restrain herself from that, and he nodded.
“I will. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Without another word, Adam left the bar, starting up the car despite that he and Nina had driven together. Nina pounded back the rest of her drink, not bothering to sip this one gingerly, and extended her glass again. Vance wanted to laugh at her a little, to tease her, but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t take too kindly to that.
“Maybe we slow down on the drinks,” he suggested, earning himself a glare.
“I’ll pay,” she offered, “but I want another. A shot.” Vance raised an eyebrow in amusement.
“Oh, yeah?” he teased. “Of what?” Nina shrugged her shoulders.
“Tequila. Whatever you suggest.” Vance shrugged his shoulders—Nina was an adult, so if she wanted to get plastered tonight, she could make her own choices. He had a feeling that she’d be doing this one way or another, anyway, so at least if she stayed here, he could keep an eye on her. Plus, it’s not as if she were driving home.
“I’ll do one with you,” he said, pouring two shots of a top shelf tequila and handing her one. “Give me your hand.” Nina looked suspicious, but she offered her hand, which he took gently, dipping one of his fingers in alcohol and rubbing the side of her hand with it. He sprinkled a bit of rimming salt onto it so that it stuck to the liquid and handed her a slice of lime.
“Thanks,” she said as she watched him do the same to his own hand, then toasted his shot glass with her own before licking the salt from her hand and throwing back the shot, following it by sucking on the lime. She pulled a face of discontentment but didn’t complain, shaking off the taste with a little shudder.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“No,” Nina replied, letting her head rest on her folded arms. She looked up at him blearily, already apparently pretty drunk. “Am I a bad person?”