...or something: Ronacks Motorcycle Club

by Debra Kayn

  "God damnit." He yanked his hands out of his pockets and grabbed her arms. "If I had no thought of what I was doing to you, I'd put you upstairs and make sure you're in my bed every fucking night."

  "It's what I want, too. It's always been what I wanted," she said, her voice rising. "What is stopping you?"

  "You had no choice," he said, his harsh voice raised their hair on the back of her neck, and her skin chilled.

  "Had no choice?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"

  "You were young, carny-girl. I had a world of experience when I brought you home, and no matter how long I wait, you'll always see me as a father fig—"

  "Don't even go there," she said on a hiss. "How can I even think of you in a parental role when I've never had real parents. I had foster parents. There's a world of difference. I never bonded with any of them and love never entered the picture. I was their responsibility. The same way you took responsibility for me, but I fell in love with you. So, don't tell me I have some daddy issues, and will never see you for a man. That's all I see when I look at you. A man that loves me, but is too much of a coward to let me love him."

  He shook his head, his eyes full of pain, and turned away. She stood on the dock and let him leave her. Everyone always walked away from her or gave her away. Nobody ever kept her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sunday morning, Bree followed Battery down the stairs without a word. He entered the main room of the house and stood in front of every member of Ronacks and a few of the wives who worked under the umbrella of the club at the assortment of businesses in Haugan and took advantage of the added protection the club offered.

  "Listen up." He stopped beside the pool table. "We've got some changes to the roster that's going to change things around here starting Monday and continuing for a while."

  Bree moved out from behind him and sat at the table with Duke and Raelyn. Battery kept her in his peripheral vision to gauge her reaction to the news.

  "The Tire Pit will need some extra hands starting next month to prepare for fall and the uptick of business through winter." Battery pointed at Duke, Sander, and Choke. "The extra work is yours if you want it."

  "Hell, yeah," said Duke.

  Sander lifted his index finger. "I'm in."

  "Appreciate it, Prez." Choke raised his tatted hand to his chest and thumped his fist twice against the front of his vest.

  "Swiss...?" Battery half turned to face the other side of the room. "You're going to join Rod at Watson's Repo and Towing. They're having trouble with a disgruntled customer harassing the customers and interrupting business. A lawyer has been hired, but until they can go to court, they'd like security during open hours."

  Swiss nodded at Rod. Battery glanced at Bree. She wanted to pretend to have indifference toward him, and after their moment on the dock he wanted to make sure she understood her place within the club.

  "Last business of the day before you all enjoy a day off." Battery stepped over to the table. "The diner is going down to a skeleton crew. You won't be working there anymore, Bree."

  She sat up straighter. "Then put me somewhere else."

  "There's no openings or need for extra female employees at this time at any of the other businesses." He knocked his knuckles against the top of the table.

  "Then, I'll get a job outside of the club," she said.

  He shook his head. "It's against the rules. You're either in or out, and I'm keeping you in."

  "I have no choice?" She pursed her lips.

  He kept his gaze on her and said, "No."

  Her eyes narrowed. She refrained from saying more and got up from her chair and walked out the front door. Battery never gave her attitude a second thought. If she wanted to belong to him, he'd show her what it was like to become the president's woman.

  She'd no longer work for tips and deal with overly friendly men or put herself in the position of taking flak from women in the community because of where she lived and how other men reacted to Bree's looks. She deserved respect and to get that reverence from others that came with being his woman. He'd make her start now and see how well she handled her new position.

  "Meeting is over," he said, pulling out his pack of smokes and walking toward the door in search of Bree.

  Outside, he lit the end of his cigarette and peered around the yard. Not seeing her, he walked to the end of the house and looked out on the dock to her go-to-place when she wanted to be alone. His gut tightened in pleasure remembering the way she came in his hand last night while rocking on the water.

  Not finding her by the pond, he headed back to the front and caught sight of her marching in anger down the driveway toward the house. He stopped. Hell, she must've taken off running when she'd escaped the news.

  Bree headed straight toward him. He dragged on his cigarette and watched her long legs stride deliberately forward. Her breasts swayed with each tempered step. Dragging his gaze up to her face, he bit back a chuckle.

  He'd missed that stubborn expression with her mouth pinched, brows lowered, and the heated flush staining her cheeks. She'd worked herself up something good.

  Bree stopped in front of him. "You've proven your point."

  "What point would that be?" He flicked his cigarette away, enjoying the husky tone of her voice and yet surprised at how calm she sounded when she fought to control her temper.

  "I can't have both worlds with you." She crossed her arms, and her shoulders rounded. "Except, I have to ask myself why you'd go to such lengths as to take my job away from me and put me back to being supported by you if you have no intentions of making me anything more than your roommate."

  "Roommate?" He scoffed. "Give me a break, Bree. We've never been roommates."

  "You gave up your position as my guardian, and I stopped being your charity case when you had sex with me two years ago." She stared at his chest. "After last night, maybe you've decided you'll turn me into your whore once a year on my birthday and you can—"

  He grabbed her upper arms and hauled her to his chest. "Don't."

  "It's true, Batt." She lost all fight in her. "No matter how you try to explain or don't explain, we've veered off into a relationship that is hurting both of us. It kills me to be around you and know I'm missing out on the comfort you've always given me. You're mad all the time, and yet I can see the pain when you sit down and have dinner with me. You want that intimacy we have back and don't lie to me and say you don't. I won't believe you."

  She understood more than he gave her credit for. How he ever thought she wasn't mature enough to handle him or understood the struggle he went through every day loving her ended with her explaining his problem better than he could. He was making them both miserable.

  "How long am I supposed to wait for you?" she asked. "Do you have everything planned out. Torture me for five years. Use me for five more. Maybe when I'm your age, you'll finally slow down and be ready to have one woman in your life."

  He set her down and let go. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."

  "You know." She laid her hand on his arm. "I only wish I knew your reasons."

  He shook his head. She could never know. If she learned all about him, found out the things he'd done, she'd never forgive him. She'd never understand. He'd lose her love.

  "Despite your age and your position in the club, you're the one who isn't ready." She dropped her arm to her side. "You scare me sometimes, Battery."

  "There's no reason to be scared," he said.

  "Easy for you to say." She laughed sadly. "I went my whole life never letting myself get close to others, not allowing myself to touch, hug, and feel deeper feelings to the people that came and went in my life to protect me from the hurt that happened every six months when I was ripped out of one home and put in another. Then, you walk into my life, and I found something special between us that I couldn’t even understand. But, I knew from the first time you showed up at the carnival that I was safe with you, and I could let you get close, something I've nev
er allowed myself to do with anyone else. Now I'm scared of losing you."

  He reached for her. She stepped back avoiding his touch.

  "I'm scared that you're going to push me out of your life and force me to walk away."

  He shook his head. "Ain't going to happen."

  "It's happening now." She inhaled deeply. "Do you expect me to continue living here, wanting you, loving you? Every time I show you how I feel, you take a little, then push me away. It's a tug of war, Battery. One I'm tired of playing."

  Bree looked away from him. His head throbbed. Guilty of what she claimed, he couldn't explain his position. She was right. About everything.

  He gazed at her, awed that she understood more than he could say or show her. And, yet, not surprised that she figured him and their connection out. She always saw things he never spoke of and accepted changes he never asked of her. An old soul with eyes that spoke to only him.

  "You're all grown up, aren't you?" he said, his voice deep and tight.

  She leaned into him and kissed his lips softly. "I don't think I was ever young, and maybe that's the problem."

  Bree landed flat on her feet and walked around him to the house. He licked his lips. There was one thing she was wrong about. He'd never allow her to leave, and he'd never send her away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bree stood at the side of the pole building glancing around the corner toward the house. She'd stayed in her room until after Battery rode off around noon and noticed Mel posted outside as guard. It took a minute of flirting and a promise to watch a movie with him if he gave her a few minutes alone to grab her bag out of her car, and she was free of anyone following her.

  She could lose Mel if he tried to catch up with her.

  Opening the car door, she got inside and quietly shut herself in the Corvette. The second she started the engine, she put it into first gear and pulled out into the driveway and drove away looking in her rearview mirror.

  So far, Mel hadn't become aware that she was leaving.

  She stayed on the back road until she hit the outer town limits and then went down the Main Street of Haugan. Her destination came to her at four o'clock this morning when her anger finally showed up, and she decided if Battery wasn't going to bring her fully into his life, then his rules for her meant nothing.

  The carnival was her end point at fifteen years old when she lost faith in social services and decided she could do better herself. She'd lied her way through the interview and on the application, and fooled them all. It wouldn't be hard to lie again with Battery not around. He would have to understand that he had no legal right to her, in society or club life.

  She turned at the end of the block and parked behind the Pine Bar and Grill. Tina spoke about a job opening at the bar at her birthday party and was thinking about applying because the tips were high and the crowd lively on the weekends. After searching on the internet, she found out they hired scantily dressed waitresses to serve the drinks, and their specialty was an outdoor grill and a menu full of meat.

  Smoke billowed from the large barrel shaped barbecue behind the building, and she hoped she wasn't too late to apply. She shut off the car and looked away when the man operating the grill glanced her way.

  She had one chance to get a job here. If she failed, Battery would tighten security at the house, and she'd be lucky to take a walk outside. From the information she'd gained online, there were two rooms upstairs above the bar that the owners rented out to the employees. She prayed one of the rooms was vacant and the owner hired her on the spot.

  It wasn't hard to hide all her skimpy clothes in the same backpack she'd used to run away the first time from foster care. She'd make do with the bare essentials until she figured out her next step. If she failed to get the job, she'd return to the house and wait for another time to leave Battery.

  She stepped out of the Corvette and walked over to the cook.

  Before she could ask him where to find the owners, he said, "Sweet ride."

  "Thanks." She lifted her arm and pushed her hair back off her forehead. "Do you know if there're any openings here?"

  The man shut the lid of the grill and wiped his hands on his white apron. "There might be. One of the regulars got knocked up. You can always ask inside. I'm not sure if they filled the position yet or not."

  "Great." She glanced at the back door. "Just walk right in?"

  "You better go around to the front. It looks better." The man, who wasn't much older than her, winked. "The owners, Patty and John, they're good people, but they like the rules to be followed. Oh, and if they ask, tell them Gary sent you their way."

  "You're Gary?" She held out her hand. "I'm Bree."

  He shook her hand firmly. "Nice to meet you, and good luck."

  "Thanks." She clutched her bag at her side and walked around the building and through the front door.

  She stood still to get her bearings and peer around the bar. Never having been in one before, the place looked exactly like she expected.

  The smoke from outside wafted through the back door and smelled up the place. Two women wearing bikini tops and skimpy shorts helped the customers. An older woman stood behind the bar talking to two older men seated on the stools.

  She walked past the tables and to the bar and waited away from the conversation for the older woman to notice her.

  The wait only lasted a few seconds and the woman smiled and approached her. "What can I get you, hon?"

  "A job." Bree grinned. "I'm new in town, and my last job was waitressing. I love the customers and the busy work. When I was asking around town, everyone I met mentioned Pine Bar and Grill was the place to go, so here I am looking for a job."

  "Uh huh." The woman eyed Bree's body up and down, openly studying and ogling her choice of skimpy outfit for a job interview.

  If female bodies brought in the business, Bree left nothing to chance by wearing a tight tank, ripped down the center showing a demi push-up bra that took her from a size D to a DD. She'd left her legs bare with a skimpy pair of shorts and put on a pair of black pumps high enough to break an ankle if she moved too fast.

  "My name's Patty. My husband, John, and I own the place." Patty motioned Bree to sit at the counter. "Tell me about your last place of employment."

  "I waitressed at Golden Cup, a sixteen table bar, in western Washington on the coast for almost two years." She folded her hands on her lap. "Then the place closed. Not because of business, but the owner got cancer."

  Patty clucked her tongue. "Bad news."

  "Yes. It devastated all the employees. Mrs. Harrison was very much loved, and we thought the world of her." Bree inhaled and lifted her shoulders.

  Patty filled up a glass with ice and water and put the drink in front of Bree. "Married? Got a kid?"

  "No, on both questions." She looked Patty in the eye.

  Finally, she could speak the truth. After last night and her decision to work outside the club, she had no one.

  "How old are you?" Patty tilted her head. "You don't look very old, but your eyes..."

  "Excuse me?" Bree lifted her brows. "I mean, I'm twenty-one. What about my eyes?"

  Patty frowned and clicked her tongue. "I've met a lot of people tending bar during my lifetime, and you remind me of someone else. I'd recognize an old soul when I see one."

  Bree relaxed. "I've heard that before. Not sure I understand what it means, but if it's a good thing, I'll take it."

  "It is, honey." Patty smiled and planted her hands on the counter. "You said you're new in town. Where are you staying?"

  "Right now, a motel over in Idaho. I'd love to find a job here in Haugan and find a place to rent. Especially, before winter and driving over the pass gets questionable."

  "Well, we have a trial period for any of our employees. At any time if we find your work performance or ethics unsatisfactory, we can let you go instantly. After two weeks, you get one warning to fix the grievance to continue working for us. Stay on a full year and we'll pay
your medical insurance if you can work a forty-hour week. You won't find those benefits at any other bar in a hundred-mile radius. We treat our employees well for dedication and hard work." Patty leaned her round hip on the counter behind the bar. "I don't mind taking you on, but I'd prefer someone who lived closer to Haugan and not an hour away. If you can manage to get a room at the motel in town by the end of the week or if you want to stay upstairs, we have rooms for rent, and you can start this afternoon. We charge a hundred and seventy-five dollars a week and trust me, honey, with your looks and the amount of tips you'll bring in, you won't have any problem swinging rent."

  "I would love to have the room upstairs and the job," said Bree.

  "Don't get too excited yet." Patty laughed. "The place is quiet now, but by four o'clock this afternoon this place is packed until two o'clock in the morning."

  "That sounds perfect. I look forward to working." Bree stood from the stool.

  "Okay." Patty thrust her hand over the counter. "Let me call John and have him show you upstairs and he can give you the paperwork to fill out. Think you can jump on board for tonight's shift?"

  "Absolutely." Bree shook her hand. "Thank you so much. I won't let you down."

  Patty laughed. "Girl, are you sure you're not from around here?"

  "No." Bree pressed her hand to her stomach. "Positive."

  "Hm. Even your smile looks familiar." Patty's lips pursed and then she shrugged. "I'm usually good with faces, and it'll come to me who you remind me of. Maybe it's some movie star or television show I've watched. Though Lord knows, I don't get much time to squander my days away watching shows anymore."

  Bree let the older woman's mystery go unsolved and followed her directions on where to find John in his office in the back. She wanted to skip in celebration and forced herself to walk calmly on her high heels. Her plan worked out perfectly.

  She got the job, and there was nothing Battery could do to stop her. Working at the bar would be better than the carnival, better pay than the diner, and for the first time, she was grateful to have something to keep her busy and her mind off everything she wanted with Battery and Ronacks Motorcycle Club.