Beauty and the Biker

by Riley, Alexa

  “Enough. I'm out of here" I guess my plans for a big romantic gesture are out the window. I’m going to get my woman tonight.

  “Where we going?”

  Me and Cas have always had each other’s backs, and I know it’s because she saw what Julie meant to me. I don’t push her away because I know it won’t do any good. When I hit the opening of the cave and go to my bike, she hops on hers, and I look over to see her check her weapons.

  “Leather and Lace.”

  She gives me a wicked smile. “Fuck yeah, I could use some titties in my face right about now.”

  Chapter Twenty

  JULIE

  “Four dollars,” I yell out over the beating music, dropping the beer down in front of the newest guy who has taken up residence in one of my bar stools.

  “How about twenty and you show me your tits?” he shouts back, flashing me his crooked chipped smile, thinking he’s being clever.

  It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes, but what can I expect? I’m working at a strip club. I might just be working the bar, but I know what kind of environment I’ve put myself into, but it still gets old, and I’ve only been here a month.

  Not responding, I make change for the twenty, putting the four into the register and dropping the rest into the tip jar, and go back to stocking the beers.

  “Hey, whore! I'm pretty sure you forgot the tits I just paid for.”

  “Nope, I just charged you for getting on my nerves,” I say, not even bothering to look up at him.

  “You fucking cunt,” he slurs, making a grab for me over the bar. Before I can call out for the bouncer, Burnout has him by the neck. The man instantly shrinks into himself, apologizing profusely because Burnout scares the shit out of everyone, even me.

  “You’re messing with something that belongs to me,” Burnout says to the man, making my heartbeat pick up a bit. Burnout has been a regular for the past two weeks, ever since he came here with a bunch of other guys, all wearing leather jackets with ‘Five Aces’ etched across the back. They look like the one I saw Lucias wear the couple of times I tried to see Abe. I know for a fact that Lucias’s father used to have his own motorcycle club, which I’ve heard Lucias now runs.

  “Sorry, Burnout. I didn’t know she was property, man. I swear.”

  Burnout lets the man go, just as the club's bouncer finally makes his way over to us.

  “Julie?” he asks, wanting me to clear up what just happened so he knows who needs to be thrown out. I would like to say “both” because I don’t like Burnout’s eyes on me all the time, but if the club threw people out for checking us out, then there wouldn’t be anyone in the place.

  “Just the drunk.” I nod my head at the man Burnout still has by the collar. Besides, if I did ask for Burnout to be thrown out, I’m not sure what the fall out would be. I can tell he has some kind of pull around here, and I sure don’t want to find out either. I just want to keep my head down and make my tips.

  Burnout gives the man one more hard look before leaning in and whispering something in the guy’s ear, but I can’t hear what he says over the music. Afterwards he pushes him towards Jimmy, the club's bouncer, and he is taken away.

  “Thanks, Burnout. Can I get you anything special or just your regular?”

  Taking the seat vacated by the other man, he just ignores my question, asking one of his own. “If you were mine, you wouldn’t be working in a place like this.”

  “It seems to me you just told someone I was…property,” I throw back at him. Burnout has never crossed a line with me before. He’s nice compared to a lot of the men who come in here, but something is off with him. Something that makes my heart pick up a beat. It’s a feeling I don’t like—like I’m prey and he’s a predator. My father always told me to trust my gut, and Burnout makes my gut clench.

  “You could be.” He smirks like he's offering me the world or some shit. No, I don't fall for handsome smiles anymore. And Burnout is handsome in a rough, pretty boy kind of way, with his dirty-brown floppy hair, and blue eyes. I usually think blue eyes look pretty, but Burnout’s don’t. His seem cold.

  “Sorry, Burnout, but I don’t belong to anyone, and I’m not looking to change that.” I want him to fully understand that, so I make direct eye contact with him. I don’t have time or need for a man in my life, even less so when I can tell he’d bring nothing but trouble with him. I’d been dropping hints for the past two weeks that I wasn’t interested, but it's clear at this point I need to be more direct in my approach. Now that he's telling people I belong to him, I need to make it crystal for this guy.

  He stares at me for a beat, my eyes locked on his, the smirk dropping from his lips, the real him showing through. I’m guessing he doesn't like being told “no”. Most men don’t, but they usually move on.

  "You're new around here, so I've been going easy on you. But while you're working here, you're free pussy for the Five Aces. I've called dibs, and it's about time you paid up with that sweet cunt of yours."

  My finger tightens around the bottle in my hand. What the fuck does that mean?

  “Burnout…I…” I struggle to find words. My options seem limited because I’m not sure who would stand behind me, or how much pull Burnout has in here.

  His eyes travel down my tight t-shirt—that one that has ‘Leather and Lace’ emblazoned across the chest—to my cut-off jean skirt, down to my cowboy boots. I’m dressed modestly compared to everyone else here. We bartenders just have to dress cute. We have to wear the bar shirt so people know we aren’t up for grabs, but most of the girls cut it up to show off as much skin as possible. Though I’m mostly covered, Burnout’s eyes make me feel naked.

  “You put your hands on her, and you’ll be the one with a cunt.” Abe’s gruff voices fills my ears, and I drop the beer bottle from my hand, and it shatters when it hits the floor. I stand, stunned, just staring at him, and then embarrassment hits me. I start to feel ashamed, but then I remember why I’m working in a strip club on Saturday nights, trying to make ends meet.

  “Could you imagine him with a cunt? He’d never get off because he wouldn't know what to do with it.” Mac’s joke pulls my eyes to her. She looks exactly the same, her dark hair pulled into a ponytail, a pair of tight jeans, and a body-hugging tee. I can’t help but smile at her, even though I seem to be standing in the middle of a storm. I didn't know she was here in Missouri, and it’s good to see her. Not that I thought she’d have reached out to me if I knew she was here—she was Abe’s friend, after all—but it stings a little after how close we got.

  “You pieces of shit can't touch me in my own territory.” Burnout is smug in his statement, which makes me think he knows something I don’t. Looking at the size of Abe, I don’t think anyone would disagree with him if they didn’t think they were at least a little bit right.

  Abe’s big meaty hand comes down on his shoulder, squeezing hard. “Looks like I’m touching you.”

  “These Five Aces are dumber than a bag of dog shit. I swear, I always make sure I’ve got ten feet of clearance before I go poking Savage, and I’m packing heat.”

  Taking a step back I hear the glass from the bottle I dropped crack under my boots.

  “Don’t move,” Abe snaps at me, like he’s annoyed. I halt my movements, my eyes darting between the three of them. Abe does look savage, just like Mac said. The scars on half of his face are pulled tighter with his anger, but he still looks like the same Abraham I met all those years ago.

  Mac just looks amused at the whole situation, like she’s having the time of her life.

  “You have no right to be in our territory.” Burnout’s voice comes out a little shakier now that Abe has a hand on him. He must be rethinking his position, but I know for a fact there are other Five Aces close by in this club.

  Suddenly, Mac gets angry at his words, her eyes snapping to him. “You didn't seem to have a fucking problem coming in our territory and blowing a goddamn hole in my range.” She looks like she’s going to
lunge for him, the anger bleeding from her. Instead she takes a breath and about three steps back, controlling herself.

  “Easy, Casper,” Abe says. “Not here.”

  Burnout looks between Abe and Mac, fear in his eyes. “You need to keep that bitch under control.”

  “I just kept her from shooting your ass.” Abe leans in real close to him, and I barely make out what he whispers. “Don't you think she’s put enough holes in your brothers already?”

  Burnout goes to swing, but Abe still has his hand pressing hard into his shoulder. The angle is awkward and it makes Burnout slip. Abe catches him by the back of the head and slams it into the bar, letting him go as he slides to the floor. It’s quick and nearly silent, and I’m frozen in place as I watch it happen.

  “We’ve gotta ride. Grab her,” Mac says, nodding at me. Grab me? Yeah, that’s not happening.

  Abe reaches his hand out over the bar, indicating I should go with him. But I just back away further, the glass crunching under my boots.

  “Julie.”

  I shake my head. I won’t go with him. I can’t do it.

  “Shortcake.”

  My heart squeezes at the name, nearly breaking in two. No. I’ve been burned twice by him, and it won't be happening a third time, no matter how bad I want to know why he’s here. But maybe I should tell him; who knows if I’ll ever see him again.

  “Savage, come on, man. No fucking around. We’ve got about thirty seconds and we’ve got to go.”

  When Abe continues to just stare at me, his hand outstretched, Mac tries again. “It’s just us here.”

  Abe looks at Mac and then nods his head, coming to a decision. Suddenly, he jumps over the bar like it’s nothing more than a step, and throws me over his shoulder before I can react. I’m upside down and out from behind the bar before I can make the first protest, stunned at what he’s just done.

  “What the fuck are you doing in a place like that?” he grunts, carrying me out of the bar.

  “That’s none of your fucking business, Abe. I stopped being your business the night you left me in Vegas.”

  I feel him stop, and then he places me on the ground. I’m pissed off that he’s done this, and I turn to walk away from him. I hear his boots following behind me, and I see his motorcycle parked next to my car. I work at this stupid strip club to make extra money, money I don’t want to ask my mom and dad for. The past few years have been rough on them, and without enough rain to feed the land, it’s made things tight. Working here on a Saturday is an extra three hundred dollars a week. It’s easy money, and I’d be crazy to turn it down. I don’t have time for his bullshit.

  “I’m your husband, so that makes it my fucking business. Or did you forget you still belong to me?”

  His words hit me, and I spin back around as he grabs me by the arm. He looks livid, but I don’t care. The pain he left in my heart is bigger than his attitude.

  “Husband?” I hear the disbelief in Mac’s voice, but I don’t have time to explain shit to her.

  “Oh I didn’t forget, Abe.” Pushing at his chest, I try to get him to take a step back, but he doesn't budge. I push harder, and this time he actually lets me go. Marching to the passenger side of my car, I pull open the door and dig through the glove box. I can feel him standing me behind me, so when I locate the yellow envelope, I turn around and shove it into his chest. “Sign on the dotted line and I’m no longer your problem.”

  He looks stunned, but opens the envelope, pulling the papers out, his dog tags sliding into his hand. I see the pain flash across his face, and I want nothing more than to take it back. I know he’s been through so much, and I don’t want to be a part of his pain, but I need to stop my own. I want him to be happy, but he doesn't seem to want to be, and I can’t let him drag me down with him. I’ve got more than just myself to think about now, and I can’t have this holding me back anymore.

  “We do not have time for this, guys. Y’all can have your…” Mac pauses for a second as she searches for the right phrase, “…marital fall out back at the club.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you guys.” I stand firm next to my car. I’m not getting mixed up in whatever shitstorm they just caused. I need to get back inside and finish my shift.

  “Yes, you are,” they both say in unison.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “I’ll take you kicking and screaming, Julie. I’m not fucking around about this.”

  Mac lets out a frustrated breath. “Quit the shit both of you.” She turns to me and gives me a stern look. “I’m going to be straight with you, Julie. That Burnout dipshit in there has a hard-on for you, and it just got a whole lot harder when he found out that you mean something to one of us.”

  “Us?”

  “Yeah, the Ghost Riders, we’re kind of at war with them. We just went there and stirred up some shit, so until we get this shit unstirred, your ass needs to be at our clubhouse so you’re safe. They might come for you out of revenge because they’ll do anything to try to hurt Savage. That’s what Burnout’s going to want to do after what just happened in there. Those fuckers got egos like you wouldn't believe.”

  I pause for a second, trying to figure out what to do. I look at Abe and search his eyes. “Is that true?”

  “Yeah, shortcake. I need to make sure you're safe.”

  I want to roll my eyes at him. Now he cares what happens to me? This isn’t just about me anymore, and if I’m in danger, that means…

  “Oh God! I have to get my baby! If I don’t show up in the morning to pick him up, my mom will call the cops looking for me.”

  “You have a baby?” Abe’s voice is softer than I’ve heard it in a long time. His eyes are suddenly filled with concern, and that small kindness makes me feel somewhat better. It’s been years since I saw that look of compassion.

  “Yeah, a boy.” Who looks just like you. But I don’t say that last part out loud.

  “Is his father in his life?” I see a sliver of hope in his eyes.

  “No. Seems I can’t keep a man.” I let the bitterness roll off my words, and I don’t care that it’s directed at Abe. He may be hurting, but I’ve hurt twice as much as he has.

  “Julie, you’ve always had me, and I was a fool to let you go. I’ve barely survived leaving you, and I can’t do it again. Please, just come with me, and I’ll make things right,” he pleads with me as he rips up the divorce papers in his hands, and puts the tags in his pocket.

  Suddenly, dropping down to his knees in front of me, his big hands engulf my hips as he leans his forehead against my belly. “Please, shortcake, we’ll go get your baby in the morning, and we can all be together. I don't care that he’s not mine, he’s yours and that’s all that matters. I’ve been so fucking stupid. Please, please don’t leave me.”

  I look over at Mac, and she just stares at us, but I can see in her eyes the pain she feels for him. It’s the same pain that’s pulling at me. He’s a broken man who has sabotaged his own happiness, and we both see it. God, I love Abe. I never stopped loving him, but the hurt is just too much.

  “He’s yours,” I say simply. Maybe calling him a baby was a stretch, but I always call him my baby even though he’s two now. He’ll always be my baby. “I didn’t want to keep him from you, Abe, and I wasn’t trying to hide him, but I’ve been protecting him from you doing to him what you did to me. He doesn’t deserve empty promises, to be left one day because you decide it’s too much. Besides, I tried to tell you about him, but you…”

  My words trail off because I don’t want to say them. To remember all the times I showed up and was made to leave like I was nobody is too painful. Now isn’t the time to go into this, and I’ve got to think about my priorities. “Right this second, all I’m worried about is protecting him from this mess you’ve just made.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  SAVAGE

  I think if a truck came by and ran over me, I’d be less shocked than I am right now. It would probably hurt a fuck ton less to
o.

  “Is he at your parents’ house right now?”

  Hearing Vincent’s voice has us all turning in shock.

  “You just had to follow me, didn’t you, Shield?” Casper looks just as surprised as the rest of us that her FBI agent boyfriend is here.

  “Any good agent would have followed you. But a concerned old man would have tracked you, waited just inside the strip club to see if there was trouble, overheard everything you said, and then shown up to save the day.”

  “Jesus, Shield. I’m putting a bell on your neck.” Casper goes over and rubs her hands on his body. “If this is supposed to turn me on, it’s working.”

  “Yeah, he’s with my parents. I need to get there as fast as I can,” Julie says, interrupting them.

  Hearing Julie’s pleas, I let go of her waist and stand up. I still don’t know what to say. She had our baby and didn’t tell me. Two years. Fuck, I’ve missed everything.

  “The best thing you can do right now is go to the Ghost Riders clubhouse and wait until tomorrow. If Mac’s right, they’ll seek out revenge on you and Savage tonight. I’ll send a couple of squad cars out to your parents’ place just in case, but they’ll be looking for a fight with you guys first. My suggestion is to get your asses out of this lot and get to the club. It’s just for tonight, and it’s the safest option for you and your son.”

  I look to Julie, and she nods her agreement, solemnly giving in and doing what’s safest for everyone. As she tries to get into her car, I take her hand and pull her with me to my bike.

  “Abe, what are you doing?” She tries to pull away from me, but we don’t have time to waste.

  “You’re leaving your car here. It’s faster on my bike.” Before she can protest, I grab her up and put her on the back, then get on and start it up. At first, she grips the side of the bike, but as I back out, her arms go around me. Feeling her on the back of my bike and having her hands around my waist, it’s in that moment I feel it again. It’s been years since I felt it, since the last time I touched her, but the click is there, and I’m back in place. My puzzle piece has fit right once again, and I know now what that feeling was all along. Julie is and always has been my soulmate. I know how much I fucked up and what I did to her. I’m trying to process that we have a child together, but there’s time for talk later. Right now, we need to get out of here.