by LeAnn Ashers
“Well at least you're safe,” my dad says when he finally composes himself. “I’m still going to kick your ass for taking my girl. Watch yourself, Jackson.” My dad hangs up, leaving me and Jack alone.
“I was actually at the police station to see your dad. There’s been a trafficking issue in the area and we noticed that some girls have gone missing from your town. Our president sent me to talk to your dad to get his info.”
Oh wow, I didn’t expect that whatsoever. If this is fate or some shit, then I don’t know what is. He just happened to come back from seeing my dad, watched me beat up someone with a dildo and then I hopped on the back of his bike.
Weird, but I’ll take it.
“Small world.”
Jackson smiles sweetly. “Definitely, sweetheart.”
I’m kind of on my toes around him because I don’t know him, but my dad trusting him is huge, so that makes me feel better.
“Sorry about my dad wanting to beat your ass.”
He scoots over until he’s right next to me, sliding the pizza and drinks along with him on the coffee table.
“I would be disappointed if he didn’t. Then that would mean I’d have to kick his ass for not caring.”
What’s up with these men being violent? “Did anyone ever tell you that there are easier ways to settle things than being violent?” I tease.
He rolls his eyes so hard I’m surprised that they don’t get stuck in his skull. “Says the girl who chose a fucking big-ass dildo to beat up her ex.”
Okay, maybe I was being a bit dramatic there.
“Touché, baby cakes.”
“Here’s some pizza.” He hands me a piece and drink. I bet he’s trying to stop me from talking, but I’ll let it slide since he’s feeding me.
“Since you plan on impregnating me and making me wifey, we have to have nicknames for each other,” I tease, and he doesn’t say a word. His eyes are fixed on the TV, ignoring me.
Well huh.
I can’t help but admire him once again. He truly is beautiful, the way the tattoos look against his tan skin, his beautiful green eyes and his dark brown hair that’s messed up from riding the bike. Him being a biker just takes the cake as far as I’m concerned.
I notice that he has put in a scary movie. I’m a huge wimp when it comes to those kinds of movies.
Is it weird that I’m deathly afraid of being possessed? I’ve had nightmares of that and being pulled down the hallway into the pits of hell.
I hurry and eat my pizza before it gets to the really scary part. “What movie is this?” I try to ask calmly.
“The Conjuring.”
Yeah, I am so done for.
I wipe my hands on the napkin and scoot farther up on the couch in case something tries to crawl out from under the couch and snatch me.
I bite my thumbnail, scooting a little closer to Jackson as the mother goes into the basement and the light isn’t on.
She lights a match and then hands shoot out of the dark, clapping, making the match go out.
I scream like a banshee, clinging to Jackson like I’m dying. “Oh god, my heart,” I moan and rest my head on his shoulder blade. He looks shocked.
“Shit, I didn’t know that would scare you so bad,” he says in a gentle voice. He turns off the TV and I try to breathe again.
Call me a pussy, I don’t care. I can’t handle those kinds of movies. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks softly, pushing my hair out of my face so he can see me.
“I don’t know,” I mumble. My guard is totally down.
He gathers me up in his arms and onto his lap. I rest my head in the crook of his neck and just allow him to hold me.
No one has ever just held me because I felt scared. I rest my hand on his warm chest. “Thank you for caring,” I whisper.
“Fuck, I don’t want you scared ever. I don’t give a fuck if it’s a movie or not.”
There goes my heart right out of the window. I don’t respond but I just cuddle deeper into his chest, loving this very moment. God, he smells so nice.
It’s around ten o’clock at night at this point. He moves a bit, then a blanket comes into view as he covers me up like I’m a baby.
“Are you swaddling me?” I joke and wrap my arm around his neck, feeling his pulse with my fingers.
“Yes,” he chuckles and rests his head on top of mine.
Music slowly drifts around the room. I close my eyes, enjoying the moment fully. “I guess I’m kind of glad that I hopped on the back of your bike, Jacky-poo.”
“Oh god, I guess I’m happy I picked your ass up too,” he laughs, his body vibrating under mine.
“I knew you liked me,” I sigh, my body getting heavy as I fight sleep.
He smooths my hair back, running his fingers along the strands. “I do, baby.” My heart swells at his sweet words.
His fingers work magic, lulling me to sleep.
Jean
The light streaming through the room wakes me up. It takes me a second to understand where I am.
Jackson is still asleep right next to me. Both of us slept on the couch all night long. I look at the clock on the wall and it reads six a.m. Hell no, I am not getting up this hour.
“You want to lay down upstairs?” Jackson says suddenly, scaring the piss out of me.
“Yeah, if you want.” I sit up and climb off the couch, the cold air hitting me and causing goosebumps to break out across my skin.
He notices and wraps the blankets around my shoulders before taking my hand. “Come on.” His voice is deeper than usual with sleep. That rasp is so sexy.
The upstairs is just as beautiful as the downstairs. He leads me to the back of the house to a huge master bedroom. He pulls back the blankets on the bed and I let the throw blanket hit the floor and crawl in.
He slides in behind me and wraps his arm around my middle, pulling me all the way against his front.
“You’re a way good cuddler.” I close my eyes, getting warmer by the second. His hand comes up and intertwines our fingers. I smile, loving the sight of our hands together.
“That’s not the only thing I’m good at.” I can feel his mouth moving up into a grin where it’s resting against my shoulder.
I shake my head slightly, close my eyes, and go to sleep.
Chapter Four
Jean
After Jackson and I finish breakfast, he says, “Come on, let’s go get you some clothes and shit” and grabs his keys off the counter.
I honestly didn’t even think about clothes before this. “We can just drive back and get mine?” I offer, since I really don’t want to pay for a lot of new stuff as I’m pretty much jobless now.
“We can, but we have a barbecue to go to tonight at the club. I’m paying for it all, so enjoy it, baby doll.” He winks and waits at the door for me.
“You don’t have to do that.” I get off of the couch. “I don’t want you to spend all of that money on me,” I confess, feeling guilty.
He grips my chin softly. “Hey, none of that sad shit. You’re too beautiful to be frowning.” Butterflies swarm my belly at him being so sweet to me. I can’t resist the urge to wrap my arms around his middle, hugging him.
He hugs me back, his lips kissing me softly on top of my head. Why do I feel so at ease with him? It’s like I’ve always known him in a weird way.
It’s not about him buying me clothes. It’s him being thoughtful enough to even think of me and my needs, to be sweet to me without even trying to jump into my pants, which is honestly what I thought was going to happen the second I got here.
It wasn’t like anything I expected. None of this has been.
I reluctantly let him go but he doesn’t let me go far, taking my hand and leading me to the side of the house, where the garage is located.
I hear a vehicle outside of the gate and I look over just as a car whizzes by. “Am I crazy or was that my ex-boyfriend driving past?” I laugh nervously. That car had the same bumper sticker on it that Gary’s
car has.
“What the fuck?” Jackson cusses and puts me in the truck before he walks down the drive to make sure he’s gone.
That’s really weird.
Jackson stands there for another minute before he gets in the truck and takes out his phone. “Techy, check my gate camera for the last half an hour and send it to me.”
I rub my legs, trying to calm my nerves. I’m not afraid of Gary, that’s for sure, but I am kind of creeped out that it could have been him.
He would have had to follow us from three hours away. I can see why he would be mad since I kind of humiliated him, but he humiliated me too, so in my eyes it was fair.
So I do what every girl does when she needs something. I call my dad and put my phone on speaker for the both of us to hear.
“Hey, baby girl,” he answers, and I grin. My dad has always been my best friend.
“Can you do me a favor? Can you check to see if Gary is still in town because I’m pretty sure I saw him right by Jackson’s house,” I tell him, and Jackson grips the stirring wheel hard, his jaw set.
“What the fuck? I forgot that guy even existed. When did you even break up with him?” Jackson looks over at me, his face red, trying not to laugh. How do I explain that to my dad?
“Well, I caught him cheating yesterday. I beat him up with a three-foot dildo and hopped on the back of Jackson’s bike. That pretty much sums it up.”
Jackson thumps his head against the window at my blunt honesty. “What the fuck, Jeanette?” My dad trails off before sighing. “I’ll go check.” He hangs up the phone.
I laugh to myself because I can just picture my dad rubbing his face in annoyance. It can’t be helped. Me, Mom and my sister are almost exactly the same—no hiding how we are.
“Do you have any siblings?” I ask Jackson once he pulls into town, I love that he lives right outside of town but you wouldn’t know it. It’s in a beautiful gated community but the houses are spread out far enough you wouldn’t even notice.
I can’t help but admire him, the way his arms flex as he turns the wheel, how relaxed he is in the seat, the way his thick thighs are straining against his jeans.
I just know under that shirt he’s wearing he has abs that are made for licking and kissing.
“I don’t. My mom and dad had me late in life. They passed away a few years ago.” I can see the sadness on his face thinking about them.
My heart hurts. I reach over and take ahold of his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss. I will share my parents with you, but I’ve got to admit, my mother is an exact clone of me.”
He laughs, his eyes lightening. “Two of you. However could I survive?” he teases.
“Actually three of me; my sister is included in that.” I giggle at his horrified expression.
“Your poor dad,” he whispers, and I reach over, smacking him slightly on the shoulder. “My dad is perfectly happy with his life, thank you very much.”
Jack’s face turns serious. “I have no doubt about that, baby doll.”
Well, there goes my poor battered heart out of the window once again. How does he always know the correct things to say?
Jack
I don’t like the fact that she thinks she saw her ex, and I have a gut feeling that it was him. If he followed her here, then he’s not up to anything fucking good.
I keep a close eye on her as she shops. Like I could keep my fucking eyes off of her in the first place.
She is so effortlessly beautiful, the way she talks, the way she moves from rack to rack of clothes is mesmerizing in itself.
“Can I help you?” one of the workers in the shop asks.
“Just waiting on her.” I nod my head in the direction of Jean, who is holding up a pair of jeans.
“Her?” she says snottily.
I glare at her. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I snap. I don’t like that disrespectful shit and especially in my face. Woman or not, I will put you in your place, hands down.
She backs away, her face paling by the second before she runs off to the front of the building.
I turn around, coming face to face with Jean, who is grinning like the fucking Grinch. “What’s the goofy-ass grin on your face?”
“You stood up for me. If you’re trying to get in my pants, then it’s totally working.” She licks her lips, looking me up and down, causing my dick to harden under her gaze almost instantly.
It was fucking hard to sleep next to her all night long and not taste her pussy. I am aching for it.
She leaves me wanting, going back to her shopping. I’ll buy her whatever the fuck she wants as long as I get to have her, all of her.
“Sir.” I turn my head and come face to face with a mall cop. “One of the ladies here in the shop told me you harassed her. I am going to have to escort you from the building.”
What do I do?
I laugh in his fucking face. “You need to tell that bitch that lying will get her ass in trouble.” I look directly as her huddling behind the counter. “She wasn’t afraid a second ago when she was trying to hit on me.”
“Ohhhhh, she was what?” I hear Jean say dramatically. I grin because I just heard the voice I heard just yesterday when her fucking ex was getting his shit handed to him.
She dashes right past me, throwing me her clothes in the process. I catch them and sit back to watch the show.
“Listen here, you little prissy, bitchy, tattletale, hippo-looking ass! What gives you the right to start trouble because someone wasn’t falling for your nastiness?” She shakes her head all around, waving her hand dramatically.
I try not to laugh because her choice of words is killing me. “Now you need to tell this mall cop person that you lied, ’kay? Or I will stick this high heel point straight up your nostril and into your brain!” She waves the shoes towards her face.
I cover my mouth and everyone else is looking shocked that this is happening, I know without a doubt that she will follow through with her threat.
“Ma’am, you need to leave.” The mall cop starts to reach for her arm.
“Touch her and die.” I glare at him, stepping up between them. “I dare you,” I growl, and he takes a step back. “Come on, doll, let’s go to another shop.”
Jean eyes the girl and then the mall cop. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today. You don’t want to see the bad side of me.” She finally smiles and tosses the shoe towards the sales lady, then takes my hand.
“I’m kind of hungry. Shall we get food?” she says cheerfully like none of this happened.
“Yeah, let’s go feed you, honey.” I rub her hand and she pushes her hair over her shoulder, everything totally forgotten.
Chapter Five
Jean
We shopped until we dropped, but right now I’m getting ready with my new things since we’re going to his club tonight for a party.
It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t nervous to meet his people. I know that his brothers in the MC mean a lot to him because he talks about them all of the time…well, since I met him yesterday.
I’ve been texting my family on and off all day long, my sister and mother both grilling me about Jackson.
My dad calls me. “Hey, baby girl, Gary is nowhere to be seen and his neighbors haven’t seen him since yesterday when he came out carrying a bag and left.”
Oh no, I probably did see him then
“Okay, thanks, Dad,” I mumble, thinking of what he could be up to. I didn’t date him long, maybe like a month? I’m not even sure. I think I just didn’t want to be alone so I settled and that’s something I should have never done.
“Bring the phone to Jackson, okay? I need to speak to him about the case.”
“Okay, love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, baby.”
I stick my head out of the doorway and yell, “Jackson, Dad is on the phone wanting to speak to you!” He comes and takes the phone from me and I go back to my makeup.
Jackson
“Yeah?” I
say into the phone.
“The fucker dipped out of town. I think he followed Jeanette. I looked up his record. The fucker has a bunch of restraining orders against him from five different women, and two of them are missing. Connect the dots. He is dangerous.”
I knew I had a bad feeling about this. The second she said she saw his car I knew it was him. “Fuck,” I grind out between my teeth. The thought of this fucker wanting to harm her drives me ballistic.
“Do you want me to come get her?” her dad offers.
“Fuck no, I will protect her. You know I will.” My voice leaves no arguments. I won’t allow him to take her, because I will protect what’s mine. There’s no doubt about that.
“Shit, protect my baby. If I didn’t think that was true, I would have already been there.” he huffs and hangs up the phone before I can respond.
I look in the bathroom at Jean straightening her hair in front of the mirror. I insisted on buying straighteners for her. I don’t plan on sending her ass back home, ever.
I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her—that would be their worst nightmare.
A deadly mistake.
Jean
I feel like Jack knows more than me about what is going on with my ex, but I will be naïve and blissfully dumb because I don’t want to worry about it.
I step out of the bathroom dressed in my tight black skinny jeans, with rips in random places and cuffed ends, and booties. My tight olive-green shirt is tucked in, showing off my curves.
Jackson slowly turns to look at me, his eyes heated as he scans me up and down. I love that look on him and knowing that I put it there.
I can’t resist the urge to spin in a circle so he’ll get the full effect.
“You like what you see, darlin’?” I tease, cocking my hip to the side.
He licks his lips seductively. “Love what I fucking see.”