by Jamie Begley
“I should be working. We need to paint your car, and—”
“It can wait until we come back. We can take a quick ride and be back in twenty minutes.”
She tried to resist, and as she looked toward Cash and Moon, he realized what was holding her back.
“It’ll be on the clock. I want you to listen to my motor. It’s lagging.” He invented the excuse for her.
“Oh … then I should go with you, just so I can hear when it’s doing it.” Jo turned red when Moon held a helmet out to her.
“We’re heading back to the club. F.A.M.E is here to give us a ride back,” Moon told him as Jo circled her arms around Rider’s waist.
Rider nodded as they left, raising his hand to F.A.M.E as he rode out of the garage and saw him sitting outside in Cash’s truck.
Turning in the direction of town, he watched his speed, being attentive when her arms would relax or tighten as he drove. Being the first time he rode with her at his back, it was important for both their safety to take it easy and get her comfortable riding with him. It was why he loved riding a motorcycle—it was the closest he could get to sex without actually fucking.
It was a high he didn’t have to smoke, and he could let any problem fly away on the wind that rushed past them. There was only one experience he likened to it, and that was no longer available to him. Riding his bike was as close as he could get to it now.
“How you doin’?” He turned his head when he stopped at the red light in town.
“It’s terrific! Let’s go on the road to Jamestown. You can go faster,” she urged him excitedly, shaking the motorcycle as she bounced on the seat.
If he let her talk him into riding toward Jamestown, he wouldn’t be able to keep the promise to be back to the garage in the twenty minutes he would have Jo back in.
“No, some other time.”
“I dare you to run the light.” She kept bouncing her ass as she tightened her arms around his waist, trying to coerce him into breaking the law.
He narrowed his eyes at her disappointed expression. His old lady was learning to pout a little too well. He would save that for later when he taught her how to give him a blowjob. He was a firm believer of a need-to-know mentality. When it benefited him the most, she would need to know. He would play whatever cards were dealt to him. At the same time, there was no need to stack the deck against himself.
“If you want to go to Jamestown, we’ll go.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Blue eyes, whenever you want to be bad, I’m never going to say no.”
Grinning, he turned back around, seeing the light was still red. Releasing the throttle, they took off.
He was in the game to win Jo’s heart. She just didn’t know it. When she did, it would be too late.
31
“Fucking hell. I’m going to tell Cash myself it’s impossible to restore this piece of crap.”
Ignoring Rider’s rant, Jo tried not to give in to her misgivings as she tried to fit a salvaged fender that she had taken off a scrapped motorcycle onto Cash’s wheel frame. “No, you’re not. I’ll fix it. You just have to be patient. I told you I don’t need your help. Don’t you have something to do at the factory?”
Repairing Cash’s motorcycle had been consuming more time than she had anticipated. When she became too frustrated, she would set it aside and work on another job. She had just finished working on Gavin’s bike before going back to Cash’s. She already wished she had started on F.A.M.E’s when Rider came in to witness her failure.
Rider gave Cash’s motorcycle an impatient glance. “No. You trying to get rid of me?”
Jo shrugged. “I just thought you might have something better to do than drive me up the wall.”
He put an arm over her shoulder. “That’s not the way an old lady should talk to her old man.”
Jo jabbed her elbow into his flat abdomen. “I told you not to call me old lady.”
“If the shoe fits, wear it.”
He hunched over at his attempt of humor resulting in another jab.
“I need to work.”
“Okay.” He moved away from her. “I can see when I’m not wanted. I need to go anyway.”
Jo’s stomach sank when he mentioned leaving, although she had just told him to go.
Wiping her hands on a rag that was sticking out of her coveralls, she grimaced at the grime that had worked its way under her short nails.
“Are you working tonight?” she asked as if she wasn’t interested in his reply, though butterflies were filling her stomach.
In the last three weeks, they had spent the majority of their nights together, Rider coming by after he got off work and leaving in the mornings, except for Fridays and Saturdays. He was at the clubhouse those nights, coming over during the day to spend time with her. She never asked what he did those nights, keeping her fears to herself that he was using them to be with other women.
She tried to blame it on their newfound intimacy. That was what women her age did, right? Well, that was what she told herself. She didn’t want to pressure Rider into talking about his feelings for her, whereas she kept finding it difficult from expressing hers to him. She was afraid of scaring him off, trying to combat her fears that he was becoming more entrenched in her heart.
Sexually, she was sure she was more repressed than some of the women he had been with, but he had never shown that he wanted more than she could give him when she had shyly broached the subject. Instead, he had assured her that she more than satisfied him. However, deep down, she wanted him to experience more than satisfaction when they had sex. She wanted to blow his mind. Because of her inexperience, she didn’t know how.
The thought of spending another Friday unable to sleep and watching horrible movies had her voicing her thoughts. If he was with other women, she would rather know the truth than be kept in the dark.
“I had lunch with Rachel today.”
“I know. I was here when you left.” He raised a brow at her comment.
“She showed me a dress she’s wearing to the party tonight.”
“And?”
“Is Aly still there?”
“Since you had lunch with Rachel, I assume you already know the answer to that.”
Jo nodded miserably, not knowing how to get the question out without making a fool of herself.
“Come here.” Rider went to the workbench. Jumping on it, he tugged her between his thighs. “Look at me.”
Jo raised her eyes to look at him, placing her hands on his jean-clad thighs. Every time she did something as simple as touch him, she felt the newness of their relationship.
Rider made no secret of their relationship, referring to his woman within hearing every time one of The Last Riders stopped by. They had eaten out at several of the restaurants in town, and even gone to dinner at Rachel’s together.
“You know the parties get pretty wild, right?”
“Rachel goes. So do Lily, Beth, Winter, and Willa.”
“Occasionally.”
“It can’t be too bad if they go.” She lowered her eyes to her hands on his thighs, feeling a possessiveness for him that was at the root of her problem. “I can’t see Lily or any of them going if—”
“Jo, you do know Lily and Shade have sex? That Willa and Lucky do, too?”
“I’m not stupid.” Hurt, she started to turn away, but his hands covered hers, keeping her in place.
“I don’t think you are. I’m just trying to be delicate. Bluebonnet, your friendship with the women blinds you to the fact that they share a very healthy relationship with their husbands. A relationship that you may not understand, but it works for them.”
“I know Lily, Willa, Beth, Winter, and certainly not Killyama had sex for votes to become members.”
“There are different ways to get votes.”
His evasiveness neither confirmed nor denied how to become a member.
“I could do the other ways.”
“Are you t
rying to ask me to take you to the party tonight?”
“Only if you want to, and if I don’t have to have sex with any of The Last Riders.”
“That can be arranged. You good now?”
She couldn’t understand his wide grin, chalking it up to her not asking how he had spent his time during the parties while they had been together.
“I’ll come back and pick you up in a few hours.” He hopped down from the bench.
“Wait. What should I wear?”
“Wear the dress you wore to the auction.” He gave her a quick kiss before trying to leave.
Grabbing his jacket sleeve, she stopped him. “Be serious.”
“I’m sure what you have on under those coveralls is fine.”
Jo flushed, looking away.
“Let me see.”
Jo smacked his hand away when he tried to unzip her coveralls.
“I washed all my jeans. They’re in the dryer.”
“Unzip it and go climb on top of the hood. I want to take a picture,” he ordered, taking his cell phone out of his pocket.
Jo threw the dirty oil rag at him. “Go! Before I—”
“Sheesh. It was just a fantasy of mine and all red-blooded men in the universe.”
“They make calendars for men like you.”
“Really? Will you buy me one?”
“I’ll buy you a new pair of boots, because I’m about to shove the pair you have up your …”
He was smart enough to leave before she could finish her threat.
Her smile disappeared when he was out of sight, now wishing she hadn’t agreed to go. Was she moving too fast with Rider?
Jo worked on Cash’s lighting kit until she saw it was almost four. Closing the garage, she went to her house to search her closet for something to wear. The dress Rachel had shown her wasn’t overtly sexy or provocative. She had also seen how Aly had dressed one night before going to one of their parties.
In the back of her closet, she found a sweater she had bought at the thrift store without unfolding it. When she had gotten home and planned on wearing it, she had been surprised to find the arms laced up, exposing the skin underneath. It was blue—the color of her eyes.
Taking her favorite pair of jeans out of the dryer, she then took a shower, using a nail brush to clean her nails. Blow-drying her hair took longer than expected. Then, after dressing, she had to rummage through her closet to find a pair of boots that had a small heel that she hadn’t worn since high school, praying they still fit. Dressed, she tapped her foot as she turned to see herself in the mirror.
Running a brush through her hair, she tugged the back of the sweater to raise the front higher. The deep V was lower than she had expected. Thinking about finding something else to wear, she was going toward the closet when she heard Rider knocking at the front door.
“I’m coming,” she yelled toward the door, making a pit stop at the bathroom to spray herself with perfume. Waving her hand to dissipate the smell, she then opened the door.
“I was going to make us something to eat before we leave.” She nervously fiddled at the ties at her wrist. “Or, if you want, we could eat at the diner.”
“We can eat at the club.” Bending, he kissed her, then rubbed his jaw along hers. “You smell fantastic.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re ready, we need to go before the food’s gone. Willa cooked tonight.”
Jo grabbed her coat, then stepped outside to see he had arrived in style. “You drove your car.”
“I thought you could drive us to the clubhouse.” He took the keys out of his pocket.
She snatched them away before he could change his mind. “I’ll be gentle,” she teased.
“If I didn’t believe that, you wouldn’t be driving it.”
She looked at him from over the roof of his car, catching his expression as he was about to get inside.
“Is something the matter?”
“No. Why?”
Jo got inside the car. “Nothing. I must just be nervous.”
“There’s no reason to be nervous. We’ll eat dinner and hang out at the club for an hour before I have to work.”
“You’re working tonight?” She frowned, starting the car and backing out.
“I work every Friday and Saturday. They’re the nights the brothers hate to work, so I volunteered to take them. Then I don’t have to be scheduled for the other days of the week.”
Relief filled her at his explanation. She wouldn’t have to spend the weekend nights imagining him partying with the women anymore.
The short drive to the clubhouse wasn’t long enough. She wished she could talk him out of going to the party and spend the night experimenting to see how fast his car could go. She knew it was a forlorn wish when he gave her an encouraging look as they got out the car.
“Bluebonnet, you’re not going to the doctor’s office. It’ll be fine. Have I ever let you have a bad time?”
“No, but I don’t want tonight to be the first. I don’t really fit in at parties.”
“You’ll fit in. If you hate it, we can leave. Cool?”
“Yes.”
Jo smiled at the man standing at the front door when they reached the porch. Awkwardly, she tried to pull her hand out of Rider’s clasp, but he just held it tighter as he gave a brief introduction to the man who opened the door for them.
“F.A.M.E, meet Jo. Jo, F.A.M.E.” Rider then led her through the doorway before she could respond.
“That wasn’t nice.”
“You’ll see why.”
She wasn’t given time to take in the entryway that had another flight of steps going upward before she was forced to quicken her steps to keep up with him. They went through a large room that had a bar with stocked shelves behind it, two pool tables, and several couches and chairs placed in different areas in the room. Taking it all in, she nearly walked into Rider’s back when he pushed a swinging door open. She couldn’t even fit in the room with the long line reaching around the expansive kitchen.
She peeked over his shoulder to see a table that was already full.
“Maybe we should go to the diner.”
“It doesn’t take long. Now you see why I was rushing.” He placed his hand on her back to move her to stand next to him so she wouldn’t have to stand in the door.
She had known there were quite a few Last Riders and several women in the club, but seeing them all together … there were more than she had assumed there would be.
“Are Rachel and Cash here yet?” she asked out of the corner of her mouth.
He looked over the crowd critically. “I don’t see them. Why?”
“Just curious.”
“Jo, you don’t have to whisper. No one else is. You don’t need Rachel and Cash to be here either to make you feel more comfortable. I’m standing right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“All right. I know I’m being silly.”
“Relax. The food here is better than the diner, and it beats yours.”
“What’s wrong with my cooking?”
“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m tired of eating pizza and burgers.”
“I can cook. It’s just easier to order pizza or grill a burger.”
“Bluebonnet, you don’t grill your burgers; you obliterate them.”
“See if I grill you another one,” she mumbled, staring at the man’s back in front of them. She didn’t recognize him from the back, and she certainly didn’t from his strange haircut. Half was long, reaching his black long-sleeved shirt, while the other half was completely bald and covered in tattoos.
“The cows of America thank you.”
At his joke, the man in front of them turned around.
Dismay and fear had her shaking in her boots. His tatts extended to his neck and face, leaving one cheek unmarked. She could see the startling beauty of how handsome he was. However, the other side with the tatts made her afraid to be in the same room with him.
As his expressionless eyes looked her over, she unconsciously took a step back, bumping into a woman who was trying to come through the door.
“Watch it.”
Jo recognized her from the auction, remembering her name from the night she tried to excuse herself.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Calculating eyes swept past her to Rider’s, then to the man who had turned toward them.
“They’re sick, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t describe them as sick.”
“It’s just an expression.” The woman turned her nose up at her, raising her hand to her own cheek. “I’m thinking of getting a few on my cheek myself. What do you think, Rider?”
“I think you’re going to do whatever you want. You always do.”
Jo looked at Rider, seeing the warning glint he was giving Jewell. The smugness he received in return showed Jo that Jewell had received whatever message he had sent her.
Ignoring the byplay between the two, she held her hand out to the man who was silently watching the interaction between them.
“Hi, I’m Jo.”
“Gavin.” He didn’t take her hand, turning around to move along with the line that had finally began moving.
Letting her hand drop to her side, she tightened her lips when she saw Jewell’s curl in a smile.
“Behave, Jewell.” Rider’s cold voice cut through her thoughts of pretending to have a headache so she could leave.
How Lily and Willa could survive this hostile environment shocked her. Rachel, she could understand. Her friend had three brothers. She had learned how to survive nasty comments. Even Beth, being a caretaker for several elderly patients, would be able to hold her own. Killyama, she was pretty damn sure could have made them frightened of her. Winter was used to dealing with troubled hoodlums, so even Jo could understand that. But poor Lily and Willa? It must have been like leading sheep to the slaughter.
“Or what? You’ll punish me?” Snide dripped from her lips.
“No, that doesn’t interest me anymore.”
She knew from the catty way Jewell’s gaze darted toward her that she was going to be the next target to show her anger at Rider’s shutdown.