by Lane Hart
“Sure thing,” I agree. “Could you ask Lance to wait for me?”
“Lance is long gone,” Felicity replies. “Don’t worry. We’re taking all the money with us, and a robber would need a ladder to try and rape you.”
I grit my teeth at her crude remark as the group heads out the door. Even Dana is leaving since her side of the club is all cleaned up.
Half an hour later, and I’m finally turning off all the lights. I crack open the back door and peek out before locking up to make sure there’s no one lurking. Nope, just my sad, little, red car, sitting alone at the back of the empty parking lot. At least I parked near the streetlights lining the sidewalk.
“You shouldn’t be alone out here,” a masculine voice says from the darkness, making my feet freeze as I search out the source.
“Who’s there?” I call out, then wince at how stupid I sound, thinking a robber would answer me.
A figure steps around the bumper of my car, and I recognize him before he says, “It’s Nolan.”
“Oh. Just you,” I say as I let go of the breath I was holding. I don’t think the biker would hurt me, but he is here waiting for me, knowing I’m alone… “Why aren’t you with your friends and the two dancers?”
“Because I wanted to make sure you got to your car safely,” he says, leaning his hip against the bumper, his hands casually in his pockets. “I can’t believe they all left you here alone.”
“Yeah, well, I can,” I respond. “There’s no ladder around for a bad guy to climb up to…never mind. You can leave now.”
“I will,” Nolan says. “After you go.” His boots shuffle on the loose pebbles of the parking lot, drawing my attention to the dark shapes behind my car.
“Is that…” I rush over to see for myself. “Oh my God! Who are they?” I ask, recognizing the shape of two men sprawled out on the pavement.
“Not sure,” the biker answer. “But based on the guns and ski masks, I’m guessing they were going to try and rob the place before you left.”
“You’re joking, right?” I say, looking from the cool, calm man to the unmoving ones.
“Good thing I stayed after my boys left, isn’t it?”
“Are they alive?” I ask in concern for the robbers. Yes, it’s ridiculous, but I have a sixteen-year-old brother I’m trying to raise. I know for a fact that young and stupid sometimes leads to bad decisions.
Nolan’s booted toe rams into one of the shapes, eliciting a soft moan. “Yeah, they’re still alive. I took their gun, so they’re harmless now.”
“I can’t believe this! We should call someone. The police! We should call the police!” I tell him.
“Nah. They didn’t do anything. It’s not illegal to cover your face and carry a gun around in your hand.”
“It’s not?”
“Not really.”
I stare down at the two men thinking about what could have happened if Nolan hadn’t been here. None of the other employees or even the manager care enough about me to wait, but this stranger did.
“Thank you,” I finally tell him. All my life I’ve been tall and…sturdy, as my grandmother liked to call it. My brother and I are both built like linebackers, with my shoulders only a little narrower than his. No one has ever worried about my safety. I can take care of myself. But it is sort of nice to have a protector for once.
Nolan is taller than I expected, standing a few inches more than my six-foot frame. And with his broad chest and thick biceps, he somehow makes me feel feminine.
“You’re welcome,” he says as he takes a few steps backward to where I now can see his bike is parked behind my car.
“Nolan, wait,” I call out. I follow him, stepping over one of the downed men who are, in fact, wearing masks over their faces. “My name is Rita.”
“Rita?” he repeats with a flash of his straight teeth in the darkness.
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll finally give you that dance when you get back in a week.”
“What if I don’t want to wait a week?” he asks.
“What if I don’t want a one-night stand?” I counter with my brow raised.
Taking a step closer to me, he practically growls, “If you think one time with you would be enough for me, then you haven’t been paying attention, Cherry Pie.”
“Yeah?” I ask, suddenly breathless with him crowding me.
“Want me to prove that once won’t be enough for you either?” he asks, and I nod without hesitation. I’m not sure what I’m agreeing to. All I know is that I like how this man makes me feel. Beautiful.
Grasping either side of my face, his lips drop down on mine, hard and demanding.
It’s the most passionate kiss of my life, full of promise, not just the sensual kind but offering me the possibility of so much…more.
Chapter Two
Nolan
It took five days, not seven, to help the Savage Kings in Virginia raid all of the ports looking for their stolen firearms and then make the men responsible pay.
Which means that me, Hugo and Abel are heading back down south, making an extended pit stop in Cape Cartwright. The guys gave me shit for coming back, but also admitted they wouldn’t mind seeing Felicity again. Since it’s Thursday and those girls don’t dance again until tomorrow night, I’m on my own, waiting outside the club.
Rita is the last one to leave yet again. Me and her manager are going to have a little talk about that, too. There’s no reason one of the fat boy bouncers can’t stay until everyone leaves. The cheap bastards running the place are probably just too stingy to pay them to wait the extra hours for cleanup.
At least there aren’t any masked gunmen lurking in the back parking lot tonight. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any yesterday or won’t be any tomorrow.
For as long as I’m in town, I’ll be here waiting for Rita to get off work, making sure she’s safe but also hoping to convince her to go out with me.
I already know that getting her into my bed is going to take some work. But I’m willing to wait and earn it. After how hot just kissing her last week was, I know it’ll be worth it.
Tonight, when she comes out the back door looking worn down, I’m leaning against the side of her car closest to the door so she can see me and I won’t scare her.
“Hey,” she says as she approaches.
“Hey,” I reply.
“You’re back early,” she remarks as she comes closer. There’s only one lamppost back here, but it puts off enough light that I can tell she’s wearing the usual, likely required, black dress that ends right above her knees, this one sleeveless with a V neck that reveals all that tempting cleavage from her ample chest.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Rita starts. “Even if I wasn’t dog tired, I wouldn’t invite you home with me.”
“Why not?” I can’t help but ask, even if I already figured as much.
“I live with my little brother.”
“Yeah? How old?”
“Sixteen.”
“Then he’s old enough to know what happens when a man and a woman share a bed together,” I joke with her.
“I’m sure he does,” she says with a smile lifting the corners of her luscious lips. “But I’m trying to be a good role model, which means I’m not going to bring home a different man every night.”
I’m happy to know she doesn’t sleep around. It makes the challenge to convince her to be with me even more exciting.
“What about the same man every night?” I ask.
She laughs softly, then says, “Why are you wasting your time on me? There are plenty of prettier, smaller women around who would sleep with you, ones who don’t work sixteen hours a day and have no time for flings or anything else, for that matter.”
“Sixteen hours?” I repeat in disbelief. “You work sixteen hours a day?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Five days a week. On the weekends, I get a break and only work about nine hours.”
“Jesus, woman! Are
you trying to kill yourself?”
“I’m trying to support myself and my brother,” she replies sharply. “Teenagers aren’t cheap. They need a car, and insurance is outrageous. Then there’s the cool clothes, phones, and video games.”
I hold up a palm to stop her. “Let me get this straight, you work sixteen-hour days so your brother can have cool shit?”
“Well, that’s just a small part of it. There’s also rent, utilities, my own car payment and insurance. You know, the normal cost of being an adult?”
“Why are you raising your brother? Where are your parents?” I can’t help but ask, thinking they must be serious deadbeats to put this responsibility on her.
“They’re dead.” Her voice is hard, making me realize I pressed too far. “And now that you know more than you should about my life and I know nothing about you, I’m going home and going to bed.”
“Wait,” I say, stepping forward when she starts to walk around her car to get to the driver’s side. “Let me take you to get something to eat.”
She lets out a puff of laughter. “In case you haven’t noticed, eating more food is the last thing I need.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Never mind…” She starts toward the car door again, but I grab her elbow to stop her. “Come have a hot breakfast with me. Eggs. Bacon. Stacks of pancakes dripping with syrup. You need to fuel up before your next insane sixteen hours of work.”
“Fine,” she huffs. “But you’re paying, and I’m not putting out for breakfast.”
“Of course I’m paying! What kind of man do you take me for? And I figure it’ll take at least a few breakfasts, lunches, and dinners before I convince you to put out.”
“Could be a lot of wasted meals and time if you’re wrong,” Rita remarks.
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. Come on. What do you have to lose?”
“An hour of sleep,” she promptly replies, and I drop her arm.
“That is an unfortunate sacrifice. What if I bring you lots of coffee tomorrow? Tell me where you work and I’m there.”
“Jesus, you’re persistent,” she huffs. “And I’m too tired to stand here and argue.”
“Good. Then I’ll follow you to the all-night diner.”
“Okay. I shouldn’t, but…okay,” she says as she opens her car door and slips inside.
Chapter Three
Rita
Nolan saves us a little time by asking for my order and giving it to the waitress as soon as we sit down in the mostly empty diner. Not many other people are out and about at nearly three in the morning on a way too early Friday morning.
“So, what’s your second job, Cherry Pie?” Nolan asks while we wait for our food. “What do you do when you’re not tempting all of mankind, bringing them beers in that sexy, little, black dress?”
I smile at his comment despite myself. “I’m an office assistant for an accountant. The first half of the year is our busiest, but we also handle payroll and all for small businesses, so they keep me on thirty-nine hours a week year-round.”
“An hour short of having to give you benefits. How decent of them,” Nolan mutters, making me smile at his indignation on my behalf.
“Yes, it sucks, but the pay is decent. Then I make more in tips at the strip club than I would there, obviously.”
“Obviously,” the biker agrees as his eyes lower to my cleavage. “Still, working every night is a lot.”
“It is, but I like to stay busy. I get about five hours or so of sleep a night, then have a quick nap sometimes on my lunch hour or the two-hour dinner break before I go to the club.”
“And how long do you plan to maintain these insane hours?” Nolan asks.
“Until Cory finishes college.”
“Cory is your brother?”
“Yes.” When he keeps staring at me, waiting for me to say more, I tell him, “Our parents died six years ago in a house fire. I was nineteen, and Cory was only ten. Neither of us were home the night it happened, which was either lucky for us or unfortunate for our mom and dad, since one of us may have been able to wake them up. Anyway, there wasn’t any insurance money, so that left us to fend for ourselves. We suddenly had no place to live after a grace period in a hotel paid for by the Red Cross. I had a part-time job at a retail store that I begged the manager to make full time. It wasn’t much, but it helped us afford to get an apartment and gave me some time to find better jobs. Since Cory was still a kid, the whole burden fell on me.”
“You didn’t have any other family or friends who could help?”
“Have you seen this town in the daylight? Most of the people who live here aren’t doing much better than I am. It’s a tourist town, which means falls and winters are hard. Everyone pretty much scrapes to get by. My mom had two brothers — one was a long-distance trucker who was never home, and the other was creepy, so that crossed them both off the list. My grandparents were all old and in nursing homes or already in the grave. Now they all are. So, it’s just me and Cory.”
“He’s sixteen now?”
“Yes.”
“Old enough to get a job and help out.”
I shake my head. “No. He needs to focus on his grades, keeping his head above water so he can go to college, something I never could do.”
“Why should he get an easy life and you a hard one?” Nolan asks.
“Because he’s a kid! He didn’t ask to become an orphan at ten years old. Losing our parents was really hard on him.”
“And it wasn’t for you?” the biker asks.
“Of course it was. But I’m nine years older than him, and he needed me to be strong.”
“That sort of determination and loyalty makes me want you even more,” Nolan says. My cheeks warm up instantly, hating how I feel like I’m under a microscope in the restaurant with all the bright lights shining down on us. I prefer being in the club where it’s dark and more flattering.
“Here you go,” the waitress says when she brings over a tray of food. “Two stacks of pancakes and two sides of bacon. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Thank you,” Nolan and I both say to her before glancing at each other and sharing a small smile.
Still nervous around him, I lower my eyes to my steaming plate. Reaching for the glass syrup dispenser on the table, I pour it over my stack.
“So, you know all about me and I still don’t know much about you other than that you’re in a motorcycle gang,” I remark.
“It’s a motorcycle club,” Nolan replies when he takes the syrup from me. “And that’s about all there is to know about me.”
“Liar.”
“Not much to tell, nothing as exciting or tragic as your life has been.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear it,” I say while using my fork to cut a piece of pancake. “Convince me you’re not just some random pervert trying to get in my pants.”
“All right,” he says with a chuckle. “I don’t have many close friends – just Hugo and Abel, who I met a few years ago in the MC. I like riding my Harley up and down the coast no matter how cold or hot it is. I hate the rain because it means getting drenched or not being able to ride. I don’t have a home because I move around too much, so all my shit is mostly sitting in a storage building in Georgia. And finally, I’m planning to stay in this shitty little town until you tell me to leave.”
“Yeah, right,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“I could put down roots,” he says. “Eventually. For the right woman.”
“What about your family?” I ask when he omitted anything about them.
“My parents are still together, and I have two older sisters. They’re all still alive as far as I know.”
“You’re not close to them?” I guess when he doesn’t elaborate.
He leans back in the booth, looking uncomfortable talking about this particular topic. “No. I’m no longer close to any of them.”
“Why not?” It seems wrong to
avoid his family. If my parents were alive…well, everything in my life would be different.
He lifts his amber eyes to mine and stares at me for several silent moments as if deciding whether or not I’m worth telling his secrets. I don’t blame him, since we just met.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want…” I start before he interrupts.
“It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, Cherry Pie.”
“That’s okay. Tell me anyway. If you want…”
“My parents basically disowned me when I was nineteen. I fucked up, got caught doing some stupid shit, and had to serve time.”
“Time as in…go to prison?” I say in concern, now realizing why he hesitated. A criminal record is not exactly on my top ten list of qualities for a man I want to date or ever sleep with.
“Yep.”
“What did you do?”
His jaw clenches, and I think he’s going to refuse to answer. And if he does, then that’s the end of this little tryst.
“I didn’t hurt anyone,” Nolan starts.
“Okay.”
“There was this girl I was seeing, nothing serious. She was a wild one, a spoiled rich girl who had a thing for adrenaline, and I was an idiot for wanting to try and impress her or whatever. So, when she suggested we take her father’s classic Aston Martin out for a spin, I went along for the ride. Literally.”
“And? That can’t be the end of the story, so don’t leave me hanging.”
“I was driving when we got pulled over, and that was all she wrote.”
“What? You got arrested for that even though she was with you?”
“Oh, as soon as the cop showed up, the girl, Brooke, turned on the waterworks, telling the officer she had begged me not to take her daddy’s classic car out of the garage. He believed she was innocent. So did her father. He was pissed we put a few miles on it when he didn’t even dare drive it.”
“But still, you went to prison for that?”
Nolan nods his head slowly. “Served six months behind bars.”
“And the daughter didn’t get into any trouble?”