Pipe quirked his eyebrow. “What the hell you got going on now?”
“It’s not me, exactly, it’s for Karmen.”
Pipe laughed. “I thought you were dating some shy, quiet nurse. What the hell does she need an in for at Winchester?”
“She is shy and quiet, it’s her family that isn’t. Her dad killed a couple people drunk driving a few years back and is in prison.”
Pipe whistled low. “Jesus.”
I nodded. Jesus was right. We may live crazy and wild in the club, but we knew drinking or smoking and then deciding to drive was fucking stupid. Unfortunately, some people didn’t get that memo before they learned it too late. “Yeah. I haven’t even met the guy, and my view of him is far from perfect. The first night I was with Karmen, he called after fucking midnight.”
“You just said he was in prison. How in the hell did he manage to get a call out at that hour?”
“That was my first thought, too. He called, and she freaked the fuck out. She cut ties with the asshole years ago, and apparently, he only calls when he’s about to get paroled.”
“That’s an asshole move.”
I dipped my head in agreement and took a sip of my beer. “Yeah. So, I told her I would find out what he wanted since I told her it wasn’t right that he was calling.”
“And you can’t find out shit.”
“Here’s the fucking thing…I have a connection to the prison, and he told me Handel got sent to the hole the same night that he managed to get a call out to Karmen.”
“And now you can’t get to him at all.”
Pipe hit the nail right on the head. “I told Karmen not to worry about her dad, but something is telling me that shit ain’t right, and I’m afraid it’s going to fucking blow before I figure out what’s going on.”
He nodded. “I’ll see what I can do when we get back to the club. I think Wrecker knows a few members from other chapters that are in there. They might be able to get word to Handel or figure out why he’s in the hole.”
Well, that was at least some good news. “I’d appreciate it, brother. I hope it’s nothing, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Nickel, Pipe!”
I looked over my shoulder and saw Jenkins sitting at a table in the corner calling us over.
“Put a fucking lid on it, brother, and just listen to what he has to say.”
We both lumbered over to his table and took the two empty chairs.
“Figured you would want to meet Cora before she hops on the back of your bike tomorrow morning.”
Pipe cut me off before I could tell him she wasn’t riding on the back of my bike. “She’ll be on my bike tomorrow. Nickel has an ol’ lady.”
Jenkins nodded his understanding that the only chick who was going to be on the back of my bike anymore was Karmen. “I didn’t know you had settled down.”
I leaned back in my chair. “It’s new, but it’s for real.” I didn’t want him getting any ideas that I was going to hook up with his sister.
“Good. I’m sure it’ll be hard for Cora to adjust to a new place. Hopefully, your ol’ lady can help her settle in.”
“I thought that this was just temporary?” I didn’t want this chick living with me forever. Hell, I didn’t want to be responsible for her at all.
“She’ll need to stay as long as she does.”
Well, if that wasn’t a shit answer.
“You think you can tell us why she needs to hide out in Weston?” Pipe asked. He was also annoyed with the minimum information that we were getting.
Jenkins looked to his left and right. “There is some shit brewing here that I think it would be best for Cora not to be around when shit hits the fan.”
“So that shit isn’t going to follow her back to Weston, right?”
“As far as I know, it shouldn’t.”
That wasn’t exactly a solid yes. “So, where is she?” I wanted to see who the hell I was being forced to take home with me tomorrow.
“Ryker,” he called out, “go find out where the hell Cora is.”
“She said she’s not coming out,” a guy, who I assumed was Ryker, called out.
Jenkins slammed his bottle down on the table. “Damn her. Why the hell can’t she see I’m just trying to keep her safe?”
The three guys who were sitting at the table snickered at a joke that Pipe and I were not a part of.
“You know how she is,” the guy to my right said. Although I had been to the River Valley chapter man times before, I was never able to remember any of their names. Maybe it was my brains way of saying none of these guys were important enough to remember. I managed to glance over and see his patch said Mercy. I could imagine the story that went along with his name.
“Well, she can hide out in her room all night, but come morning, she better have her ass on the back of his bike, or there will be hell to pay,” Jenkins warned. He pushed away from the table and stood. “I’ve got some shit to take care of. I doubt I’ll see you before you leave in the morning. I’ll be in touch if there is anything more you need to know.”
Jenkins stalked past the bar and out the front door. “Well, that answered absolutely none of the questions we had,” Pipe muttered under his breath.
Not like I expected Jenkins to actually give us any information that was useful. “I’m just gonna head to bed. The morning is going to come quickly.”
Pipe nodded. “Night, brother. I’m gonna finish my beer and maybe play a game of pool.”
I wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t going to call it a night. Pipe was always the last one to fall into bed, but he was also the first one to be awake in the morning. I didn’t know how the hell the fucker did it. “Try to get some sleep, brother.” I clapped him on the shoulder as I left the table and walked down the hall to the bedrooms.
River Valley’s clubhouse was twice the size of Weston’s, but it was run down and in need of a good cleaning. Pipe had made the comment that you got the original MC feel here and, more than likely, some of the dirt leftover from the original members.
I fell onto my stiff as hell bed and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had been trying to call or text Karmen when I had the time, but that wasn’t often. She had told me that she had a night in with her girl last night, but tonight, she just planned on doing nothing.
That was where Karmen and I were different. I had to be doing something. Even if it was just hanging out with the brothers shooting pool, it was still doing something.
I swiped across her name and put the phone to my ear. It was half past eleven, and I didn’t know if she would be sleeping or not.
“Nickel?” she answered sleepily.
Fuck, I missed her. “Baby girl, you asleep already?”
I heard her light sigh and the covers moving over the phone. “It’s late, and I was tired.”
“How was your day?” I, unfortunately, hadn’t been able to talk to her at all today and only sent three or four texts back and forth.
She hummed under her breath. “So busy. Two residents passed away today.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Yeah, they were both totally unexpected, too. I hate having to call family to let them know they’re loved one has passed away. Thankfully, Nikki worked with me, so she helped.”
“That’s your girl, right?” I had never really paid attention to anyone besides Karmen. I could pick her friend out of a lineup, but I didn’t know her name.
“Yeah, we were both a bit hungover from drinking too much cheap wine last night, but we snapped right out of it.”
I chuckled. “At least it wasn’t Jack like the other night.”
Her light giggle floated through the phone. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that again anytime soon.”
“Don’t make promises like that. I like when you get a little tipsy.”
She groaned into the phone. “You just like that my brain completely shuts off when I drink.”
“That might have a little something to do wit
h it. You manage to overthink everything enough for the both of us.”
“Sometimes, I think people wish I was brain dead,” she growled softly.
I laughed and covered my eyes with my forearm. “You know that’s not what I want.”
“I know. How is whatever you’re doing going?” she asked, changing the subject.
“All done. We’ll be heading back in the morning. Pipe is living it up with the guys, but I thought I would come back to my room and wake you up.”
“Well, you succeeded on that.”
“You got work in the morning?”
“No, thank goodness. I don’t think I could manage working tomorrow.”
“Nice,” I mumbled. “I’ll be over after I get back to the clubhouse.”
“You could just come straight to my house,” she replied coyly.
“I could, but I have something I need to drop off at the clubhouse, and I need to go over some things with Wrecker before I’m able to come over.”
She sniffled into the phone. “Well, hopefully, I’ll be home when you get here. I need to go grocery shopping and pick up some new scrub tops at the mall.”
“You better be there when I come over or I’ll find you, baby girl.”
“Promises, promises,” she tsked. “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if I’m there.”
“You’re kind of sassy when I wake you up.”
I couldn’t see her, but I knew she had just rolled her eyes. “Then I guess I better go back to sleep. I’ll maybe see you tomorrow, Nickel.”
“Oh, Karmen. You’re definitely going to see me. I should be there around three.”
She hummed. “Well, I guess I can get all of my errands done before then.”
“And if you can’t, wait for me, and I’ll go with you.”
“You wanna go to the mall with me?” she asked, shocked.
“Pretty sure I’ll go anywhere as long as you’re with me. We could hit up that fancy bra store, and you could do a little modeling for me.”
Karmen laughed and damned if my dick didn’t harden. “You mean Victoria’s Secret?”
“Yeah, baby. You and I could have some fun in those fitting rooms together.”
“And this is where I get off the phone, Nickel. You being in a fitting room with me is too much to think about at this time of night.”
“I’ll let you go only if you promise to wait to go to the mall.” I was liking the idea of having my way with Karmen in a tiny fitting room.
“You’re a dirty man, Nickel. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Night, baby girl.”
She hung up before I could bug her more about waiting for me. I dropped my phone on the bed next to me and looked up at the dingy white ceiling. I was in a shit hole bedroom, but talking to Karmen on the phone had made all of this shit disappear, and I wasn’t even pissed anymore.
Having Karmen around was going to be good for my sanity. I just hoped she decided that she wanted to stick around.
**********
Karmen
“You’re early.”
“I said it would be around three.”
“It’s one-thirty. That isn’t around three. That’s more like around one or two.” I peeked out at Nickel through the three-inch gap I had opened the door. I wasn’t ready. Well, physically I was ready, but I hadn’t been able to give myself a pep talk yet. “Come back at three.” I moved to shut the door, but Nickel stuck his foot in the way.
“I see me being gone two days fucked up all the progress we made last week.”
Ha, that was the damn truth. “Just give me an hour, and I’ll be ready.”
He pushed open the door and looked me up and down. “You look ready to go to me. Grab your purse or whatever you need to bring and let's go. We can take the bike.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “We can’t take your bike. I need to buy stuff. How am I supposed to hold onto you and a bunch of bags?”
“We’ll put your shit in the saddlebags.”
“How big are they?”
“Big enough.”
“Hmph, every man says that,” I whispered.
Nickel wound his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against his body. “You know it’s big enough, baby girl.”
I couldn’t control myself not to roll my eyes. “I think we established many times over that it is more than big enough,” I looked down between us at his crotch.
Nickel’s body shook as a chuckle rumbled around me. He brushed my hair out of my face and tilted my head back to look up at him. “What’s it going to take for me to get you out of this house now and not an hour from now?”
My eyes traveled over his handsome face, taking in his stubbled skin. “I like this,” I whispered as I stroked his cheek. A smirk spread across his lips, and I was mesmerized. God damn, this man was handsome. Every time I looked at him, I found something new to focus on.
“Thank you, baby. Now answer my question.” Nickel wasn’t messing around.
“You keep the scruff, and we take my car.” I wasn’t budging on the scruff. If he really tried, he could get me on the back of his bike, and I would just go shopping after work to get the rest of things I wouldn’t be able to fit in the saddlebags.
“Deal, but I get to drive.”
A smile spread across my lips, and I bobbed my head. “You’ve got a deal, Outlaw.”
“Outlaw?” Nickel laughed. “You giving me another road name?”
I tilted my head to the right. That reminded me of the question Nikki asked me before. “What’s your name?”
Nickel smiled hugely and shook his head. “I think it’s time to go.”
I gripped his biceps., “Not so fast. I don’t leave until I find out what your real name is.”
“I’ve been called Nickel for the past fourteen years of my life. That is my real name.”
“Nope, that’s not gonna fly. I wanna know what your name was before you became Nickel, the outlaw.”
“I am not an outlaw.”
I waved my hand. “Ignore that then, just tell me what your name was the day you were born.”
“You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”
Hell no. I knew the bare minimum about this man, and I was going to start finding out more. “Spill it, or I keep calling you Outlaw.”
“You find out what it is, you keep that shit to yourself, Karmen. The only other person that is alive who knows my name is Pipe.”
There was another little nugget of information about Nickel. His parents were both gone. I held up my hand and smiled. “Scouts honor. My lips are sealed.”
“Grab your keys. I’m not telling you until your ass is sitting in the car.”
Leave it to Nickel to still be in charge when I had the upper hand. “Your alpha drives me crazy sometimes,” I mumbled as I hitched my purse over my shoulder and grabbed my keys.
“No idea what the hell that means.”
“You’re bossy. Too bossy.”
Nickel scowled, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out of the apartment. “Don’t act like you don’t like it, baby girl.”
He didn’t let go of my hand ‘til we reached my car and I beeped open the locks. “I like it, but sometimes, it’s a bit too much. I’d like to make my own decision sometimes.”
“Okay, I’ll let you decide if I’ll kiss you here or when we get in the car.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for the door handle. “How kind of you.”
He shrugged and knocked my hand out of the way. “I’m assuming we’re gonna make out in the car. I’m good with that.” He pulled open my door and motioned for me to get in. “It’s been two days since I kissed you. Get your ass in the car before I put you in the car.”
I ducked into the car and slammed the door shut. The man was absolutely insane. I was half tempted to lock the doors and not let him in.
Nickel moved around the front of the car and pointed at me through the windshield. “Don’t even think about it,” he hollered.
“Damn
man,” I mumbled as he got on the driver’s side.
“Remind me why you need to be the one to drive.”
Nickel stuck the key in the ignition and turned in her seat to look at me. “I like to be in control. You know this.”
“I didn’t know that dealt with everything.”
“It does,” he replied.
“I don’t know if I can handle that, Nickel.”
He threaded his fingers through my hair and pulled me close. I was pressed against the center console, and I braced my hand against his chest. “You’ll get used to it,” he promised against my lips.
My fingers balled his shirt up in my grasp as his tongue swept through my mouth, and I did the only thing I could—hold on. Nickel kissed me thoroughly while his hands drifted from my hair and over my body.
“Do we really need to go to the mall?” His mouth moved from my lips to my neck, and I tilted my head to give him better access.
“I…uh…there is stuff…Jesus Chri—” I pressed against Nickel’s chest and moved toward the door, out of Nickel’s reach. My face felt hot, and I knew I was blushing all the way down to the tips of my toes. “I need more scrubs for work. I’ve been washing the same two tops every other day the past three weeks. I’d like more than one day where I don’t have to do laundry.”
He grabbed my hand and tried to pull me closer. “I’ll do your damn laundry for you as long as you get your sweet ass back over here.”
I shook my head and buckled my seat belt. “No. Not happening.” Even though my body was screaming for his touch, I had to say no. I was horribly terrified that Nickel didn’t want to be seen with me in public, and this was going to be the test to see if that was true or not. “Drive.” I looked forward out the windshield and saw Nickel out of the corner of my eye. He was still turned toward me, and he looked like he was ready to scream.
“You get one hour at the mall. That’s it. I’ve been waiting to have you underneath me the whole ride back to Weston, and I’m not going to let you make me wait too long. Don’t forget your body belongs to me, baby girl.”
I turned my head toward him and watched him buckle his seatbelt and start the car. “How gracious of you to give me an hour to shop. Maybe you should just wait in the car while I get everything I need.”
Nickel (Fallen Lords M.C. Book 1) Page 8