by London Casey
The color dropped from her face. She stepped back from the counter and bumped into a stack of mugs. They jangled together and she spun to keep them from falling.
My eyes scanned at her back now. Her shirt pulled up just enough to show a sliver of skin. Her jeans did wonders for her ass. I became instantly jealous of her back pockets, wanting to slip my hands into them.
Then I reminded myself something.
She’s a fucking widow, man. Remember what Aldo said. And someone out there wants to kill her.
Winter looked over her shoulder. Hair in her face, one of her blue eyes shining through it. “Give me a sec.”
She then charged down the counter and disappeared.
A few seconds later she came out of a side door. When she hurried toward me, her breasts bounced so freely. I gritted my teeth with my mouth shut, demanding myself to keep my eyes on her face, which didn’t help much because of how beautiful she was.
“Here,” she said and pointed to a table. “Sit, please.”
I grabbed a chair and spun it around. I straddled the chair.
“Do you want a coffee or something?”
“No,” I said. “You work here?”
“Sometimes. My friend owns the place. I live out back.”
“Out back?”
“There’s a converted garage. Better than being in the clubhouse.”
“The clubhouse?”
“Yeah. Red Aces MC.”
“Fucking hell,” I said. “You’re with the MC?”
“Yeah. Didn’t… whoever sent you tell you that?”
“No. I didn’t get much of anything. Other than you’re a widow and I have to make sure you don’t end up dead.”
Winter sucked in a breath. “Wow. That’s bold.”
“Sorry, darling. That’s how I work. So who is out to kill you?”
Winter blinked fast. “Uh, well, I… I’m not sure.”
“That helps. You shouldn’t even be in this area right now.”
“That’s why you’re here, right?”
“Bullshit,” I said. “If it were up to me, you’d be out of here right now. When does your shift here end?”
“I’m not really on the clock,” Winter said. “I just had to get away from it all.” She leaned across the table to whisper. “All they do is drink and talk about revenge. Then they look at me funny, you know? Like maybe I’m the problem. Or maybe they all want to fuck me, since I’m free game now. The sad thing is… if one of them wanted to… I probably would. Out of necessity.”
A weak smile flickered across her face and faded. I noticed when she spoke she had the smallest of gaps between her front two teeth. For whatever reason, it drove me goddamn wild. I balled my hands into fists.
“That’s not going to happen,” I said. “You’re not fucking anyone while I’m protecting you. What I need you to do is show me where you live and tell me everything you know.”
Winter pointed to my fists. “What happened to your hands?”
I looked at the roughed up scabs. I flexed my knuckles a few times. “A fight.”
“I noticed your face and jaw looked swollen.”
I stood up. “You should’ve seen the other guy. Let’s move.”
Winter pushed from the table. She stood up. I moved closer to her, realizing that she barely came up to my chest. So much shorter than me. Her heart obviously broken. In need of protection. Somewhere inside her, desperate to have the touch of a man.
Fuck. I was in big trouble. Aldo should have just shot me in the head.
6.
(Winter)
He smelled like a man, looked like a man, and threatened every desire my body had. His shoulders pressed hard against his shirt, his arms filling the short sleeves with ease. He was rough, tough, maybe even a little dirty, but not like the guys in the Red Aces. They were designed to look the way they did. Wearing leather cuts, patches that had different meanings and positions.
Not Tripp.
He looked bold and reckless.
Just what I needed.
I led the way out of the back of the coffeehouse, feeling him just inches behind me. A few times, I wondered what would happen if I just stopped walking. If he’d crash into me, his hands at my hips.
Shit.
I side stepped and waited for Tripp to walk at my side. I pointed to the garage.
“That’s my palace.”
“Bigger than mine,” he said. “You don’t feel more protected at the clubhouse?”
“I didn’t say that,” I said. “I just don’t want to be there. All they do is talk. Trying to think of every person that ever did anything wrong to them. Trying to drag my past into it all.”
“What’s wrong with your past?”
I slipped a key into the door and unlocked it. “Doesn’t matter.”
I turned the doorknob and Trip put his hand to mine and squeezed. I looked up at him. His eyes were a dark, wild brown color. His face had a little scruff on it. He was a complete and total bad ass looking man.
“It does matter,” he said. “I’ve never done this before, darling. I’m a fighter, okay? My job is to beat the shit out of someone and earn money. I’m not meant to do this protection stuff. It’s not just your life on the line here. Got it?”
I slowly nodded. “Fair enough. Then I guess I’ll have to be an open book.”
Tripp took his hand away. I opened the door and we went inside.
I flicked on the light and screamed.
At first all I saw was a guy sitting on the arm of the couch, a gun on his lap.
Then I felt someone push me.
I went flying to the left, hitting a wall, a wild pain jolting through my shoulder and arm. My eyes filled with tears.
I saw Tripp lunge forward, fist ready.
Before I could do anything, Tripp attacked.
The guy on the couch was Harlan. But Tripp didn’t know that. He tackled Harlan over the back of the couch. Harlan’s gun fell to the floor, which was probably a good thing. I heard the sound of punches being exchanged and then the men were both standing.
“Stop!” I yelled.
Harlan and Tripp faced each other. Harlan was in his leather cut, fists balled tight. But he didn’t protect himself. I thought about what Tripp had said.
I’m a fighter…
Tripp had his fists up and moved in. The punches were fast, hard, and effective. A punch to the face sent Harlan’s head snapping back. Then punch, punch to the ribs and Harlan let out a groan. He leaned forward and Tripp cocked back another fist.
It was kind of sexy to see Tripp moving like that. He was absolutely gorgeous.
But I couldn’t let him kill Harlan.
I jumped up on the couch and grabbed for Tripp’s arm. I locked mine around his and said, “He’s not a bad guy! He’s part of the MC!”
“Fuck, bro,” Harlan groaned, his nose bleeding and stuffy. “What the fuck?”
Tripp looked at me. He looked at Harlan. He then shook me away and backed up from Harlan. But he didn’t stand down. He kept his guard up.
“Harlan, what the hell are you doing?” I asked. I climbed over the couch.
He stood and wiped his nose. Then he grabbed his side. “What the fuck are you, man? A boxer?”
“Protector,” Tripp said.
Ohmyfuckinggod, how sexy.
“He’s here to protect me,” I said. “Stoney said he was coming. Didn’t you know?”
“Yeah, we heard,” Harlan said. “I was here just in case, Winter. That’s all.”
“You had a gun.”
“For you,” Harlan said. “So you could protect yourself.”
I felt Tripp creep up next to me. “She doesn’t need to protect herself right now. I’m here.”
Harlan stared Tripp down. “I don’t know who you think you are, man. But my leather cut…”
“Want to go again?” Tripp asked.
“Jesus Christ,” Harlan said. “I’m not the bad guy here. She was left stranded. I was just helpin
g out.”
“Being in her place with the lights off and scaring her is not helping,” Tripp said.
“I was just bringing her a gun.”
“I have a gun,” Tripp said.
“What?” I asked.
Tripp reached back and pulled a gun from… nowhere. “I can take it all from here. Go back to your MC and find out who is after Winter.”
“We’re working on it,” Harlan said. He sucked in a breath and wiped his nose again. Then he looked at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Who is your President?” Tripp asked. “I’d like to meet him. Find out all I can.”
“Really?” Harlan asked. “You’re just going to walk in here and demand things from us?”
“You obviously can’t do your job,” Tripp said.
Harlan’s eyes went wide. He then reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. He lifted it.
“Harlan!” I yelled.
“It’s fine,” Tripp said. He put his gun down on my dining room table. Then he stepped forward. Reaching for Harlan’s gun, he lifted it to his own chest, right to his heart. “Make it count, buddy.”
I could see Harlan’s cheeks turning red. He was big, he acted tough, but I wasn’t sure he could fight his way out of a paper bag.
Harlan lowered the gun. “Fuck.”
“Harlan, go,” I said. “Go back to the clubhouse. Tell Stoney that Tripp is here, okay?”
I walked Harlan to the door and he left. I shut the door and locked it. I put my forehead against the door and wanted to cry. But I had too much adrenaline running through my body to cry.
“Hey.”
I cried out and jumped.
I turned and had my back against the door.
Tripp was right there, inches from me.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s just a lot at once. That’s all.”
Tripp slowly reached forward and pulled at a loose strand of my hair. It clung between my lips, annoying me. He tucked it behind my ear.
“I’m here now,” he whispered. “I’m going to protect you.”
I nodded.
I believed Tripp. I almost instantly trusted him.
Maybe because I was just so alone. And not because Rocky was dead. I had been alone long before that. Of course, all of this Tripp didn’t know about.
Yet.
~
The hot water hit my body. I needed a shower so badly. Truth was that half the reason I just wanted to get away from Tripp for a few minutes.
I shut my eyes and pretended for a few seconds that I was in a waterfall. Letting my mind slip away, I felt every droplet of water hit my skin. Through my hair, down my back. Down the front of my body. Then something happened.
My body started to react. The water that touched my breasts, trickled over my nipples, made me tingle. Down my stomach and between my legs, it was like something had been unleashed. Yet I was alone in the shower.
But Tripp was out there.
I stepped out of the water and shook my head.
I needed to cool off.
Right now.
I finished showering and grabbed a towel. I dried off and wrapped the towel around my body. I walked to the mirror and wiped away the steam. I stared at myself. My hair looked really dark when it was wet. And it got curly. Which was weird because when it dried the curls went away and a more blonde color showed.
I had no idea how long Tripp was going to be here or how bad things were going to get. If Stoney and the Red Aces could track down whoever shot Rocky, then it wouldn’t be all that long. But nobody seemed confident in that. Normally when shit hit the fan with the MC they had a plan in place. They went out and started wars to say they could. This time was different. It was darker, slower, everyone still processing that their VP was gunned down and taken out.
When I opened the bathroom door, I let out yet another shriek.
Tripp was sitting right there, against the wall, one leg bent, the other outstretched across the open doorway.
He looked up at me. “Feel better?”
“Shit. You scared me.”
I started to blush, remembering I was in nothing but a towel.
I clutched the towel tighter to my body, but even still, my arms and shoulders were exposed. The towel covered most of my chest but not all. The towel ended above my ankles and Tripp made no effort to get out of my way. So I had to step over his leg to get by. My body was on fire in a way that it shouldn’t have been. This was pure temptation.
I resisted the urge to look back at him as I walked toward my bedroom.
“Where are you going now?” he asked.
I stopped but still didn’t look back. “Going to get changed. Do you want to watch me?”
Tripp didn’t reply.
Although, I wished he would have said yes.
7.
(Tripp)
She was fucking killing me.
Did I need to sit outside the bathroom while she showered? Hell no. Did I need to make comments at her as she strutted by me, that nice ass pressing against her towel? Not a chance.
But I did it anyway.
When she came out of her bedroom, dressed, she looked even prettier. Her hair all messy and wet. A t-shirt that hugged in all the right places. Jeans that did her hips sexy justice. And then pink socks. Freaking pink socks.
I opened her fridge and saw that she lived as poor as I did.
“Yeah, help yourself,” she said.
“I’m checking for bad guys.” I looked back and grinned. “And beer.”
“I haven’t been here in a long time,” Winter said. “Sorry I didn’t go shopping.”
“No worries, darling. Where can we grab some food and beer?”
She called and ordered burgers, fries, and told me that the place had a cooler with six packs. That was the best thing I’d heard all day.
She was pissed that I made her come with me to get the food and beer. She was even more pissed when I escorted her into the dive bar to get our order. Funny though, she didn’t seem all that mad when I paid.
Back in the car, she had the food on her lap, the beer on the floor between her feet.
“You don’t like me up your ass, do you?” I asked.
“Doesn’t really matter. You’re here. I’m here.”
“At least we have something to eat and drink.”
Winter half smiled. She looked at my hands again. She touched my right knuckles and said, “You have to tell me about this.”
“I already did. I’m a fighter.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“None of the guys in the MC fight?”
“You mean… drunk and fight?”
“No. I mean for money.”
“I don’t know. I was never invited.”
“That’s a good thing,” I said.
We drove back to Winter’s place in silence.
I went inside first, gun drawn, and did a quick check of the rooms. I had no clue what to do to protect her other than follow my gut and try to mimic things I’d seen in movies.
We sat, ate, and drank.
Not quite a dream meal or a dream evening, but it was something. And the beer was cold and good. I watched Winter’s eyes following my knuckles each time I lifted and lowered my food and my beer bottle.
It took me four beers to finally start to open up a little.
“I fought a guy called Killer Kidd,” I said. “That’s where the wounds came from.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“It’s an underground thing. It’s all I’ve ever known to survive. Okay? I train, I fight, I earn money.”
“So you win all the fights?” Winter asked.
I gritted my teeth. I felt like a jackass not being able to admit why I was actually there with her. Not because I was a winner, but because I was a loser.
“I survive,” I said. “That’s all that matters.”
“I know the fee
ling,” Winter said.
“Yeah? Then tell me about all this. How’d you end up here?”
“How much time do we have to talk?” she said with a grin.
“For you, darling, I’ve got all night.”
Christ, Tripp, are you seriously flirting with her?
Winter started to smile bigger, those pretty blue eyes flirting right back at me.
I quickly stood up and grabbed the empty containers. I put them in the brown paper bag they came in and walked to the kitchen. The entire place wasn’t really that big, which meant I couldn’t get far from Winter.
I walked to the window and looked out. There was an open field behind the converted garage. Then there were lights of the town, the city, the night settling.
“What are you doing?” Winter asked.
“Just looking.”
“So what’s your plan? I mean, this doesn’t make sense to me either.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Why you’re here. I don’t understand why the club can’t protect me. Or why they can’t just send me somewhere. Or… if someone really wants me dead that bad, why even bother protecting me?”
I slowly turned. “That’s how you value your life?”
“How do you value yours, Tripp?”
“This isn’t about me. I’m asking you a question.”
“I don’t know how I value anything.”
“You’re just upset,” I said. “Mourning. That’s normal. And for the record, the guy who sent me here is more powerful than anything you could possibly imagine. The MC might be rough and tough bullies who control what they want, but the guy I work for controls everything. It’s organized. And it all looks legit.”
“So?”
“Point is, darling, if this guy wants you alive, then your life has value.”
“You know, that’s the sweetest thing anyone has said to me in a long time.”
I swallowed hard. I turned back to the window. I was better off that way. Winter was driving me crazy. Her beauty, her voice, her appeared innocence, her need to be protected, it all turned me on. It was so bad that I was actually standing there at the kitchen sink getting hard.
It took me a few minutes to calm down before I could grab another beer.
I leaned against the back of the couch. “I don’t want to rip into fresh wounds here, but do you have any idea who would kill your husband?”