Saving Dallas

by Jones, Kim

  “What about your mom and dad?” I asked trying to change the subject because I could tell he was becoming uncomfortable.

  “Let’s just say my dad did not follow in my Pops footsteps and wasn’t really happy about me doing it either,” he said, laughing a little and lightening the atmosphere. “My mom is great. A true southern belle is what some would call her. You remind me of her,” he said turning to look at me.

  I laughed, “You are kidding right? Honey, I’m far from a southern belle. They’re charming, classy and refined and I am none of those things.” Most people would think so by my appearance on the outside and I could even convince some, mostly my clients, that I was a real lady. I was not. I had been broken and hurt and had a past that would make some of the worst kinds of people look like saints.

  “I think you are all of those things,” Luke said, with no trace of humor on his face. I just smiled in response. It was hard to argue with him when he was being so sincere, and honestly I didn’t want him to know the real me. I wanted him to believe I was all the things he thought I was.

  “So, tell me about tonight,” I said, that same chill returning that I had earlier when I thought of being on his bike.

  “Our club is hosting a benefit for a local boy who has brain cancer. We are going to a couple bars around town gathering the donations that were taken for him and then we are going to his house to visit with him.”

  “Wow… that’s very charitable of you,” I said, blown away by what he had just told me. I was not expecting that answer at all. I had stereotyped him, believing we would be intimidating people around town while delivering illegal drugs to the back of a warehouse.

  “I try to do my part,” was all he said. The look on his face looked like that of guilt. I wondered if his show of charity was only a deploy, while he did the things I was silently accusing him of. “I should probably let you know that I will have some minor business to attend while I am there, so I’m gonna have to leave you with the girls.”

  I knew it. “Is that ok?” he asked nervously. It most definitely was not ok. I would much rather be in the comfort of my own home, hiding away in my big bed and away from the scrutiny and callousness I was sure to endure by hanging out with the trashy bitches he considered friends.

  “That’s fine,” I responded tersely. I was not going to give these bitches the satisfaction of not having me there. I would handle it, one way or another. Plus, Red would be there and she wasn’t that bad.

  “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he responded relieved. “They’re really not that bad once you get to know them.”

  I didn’t respond I just stared at him, my face completely impassive, but on the inside I was burning with rage. Hearing that I would have to be around these women tonight, automatically put me in bitch mode. They had the home field advantage, but I had the sweet satisfaction of knowing I had Luke. That itself was worth fighting for.

  “Carmical,” he suddenly said.

  “Pardon?” I asked confused.

  “My last name is Carmical, Lucas Lorn Carmical. Some people may refer to me tonight as LLC and I didn’t want you to be in the dark when you heard it. Maddie will use anything she can to make you feel unimportant. Please don’t over think anything she says, she is just jealous.”

  “You think pretty highly of yourself,” I said, not really meaning for it to sound as demeaning as it did.

  He laughed. “No babe, it ain’t me she is after. It’s this,” he said pointing to the leather vest lying on the seat between us. “It’s a power trip for her. She thinks that if she can’t be the President’s Ol’ Lady, no one else should either.”

  “Ol’ Lady?” I asked, confused once again. “We will get to that, just remember, tonight you are with me and no one else. I don’t want you associating with any other men. Understood?” The seriousness in his tone made me feel uneasy, but it quickly vanished when he added, “I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone’s hands or eyes on you.”

  I understood jealousy. I wanted to tell him the same went for him, but my phone rang interrupting us. I was surprised that someone was calling me on a Sunday. No one ever called me. I dug the phone out of my pocket, seeing my assistant Lindsey’s name displayed on the screen.

  “Yeah,” I answered, a little aggravated that she had called messing up my conversation.

  “Hi, Dallas! I’m so sorry to bother you, but my mother is coming into town tomorrow and I was wondering if I could come in a little late so I could pick her up at the airport,” she rambled, talking fast, probably in hopes that I would say yes if she said it quickly. Why did people do that?

  “What time will you be in?” I asked, getting pissed that she would call on such short notice when she knew we had a closing tomorrow.

  “By noon,” she responded, already sounding defeated. Good. She had just made my job a little easier.

  “That’s ridiculous Lindsey. Just send a car to get her we have a deal to close in the morning. The clients will be there at nine.”

  “Actually, Mrs. Holifield called today to re-schedule for twelve.”

  How convenient. “Well, go ahead but you better be back by twelve. I don’t want to have to deal with that bitch on my own.”

  “O-ok, I will thank you so much,” she stuttered. I didn’t even say goodbye. I just hung up the phone -- so much for enjoying my morning. I would have to be at the office early tomorrow all because she didn’t have her priorities straight.

  “What was that about?” Luke asked, luring me from my thoughts.

  “My assistant. She wants the morning off,” I responded boringly.

  “From what I could hear, sounds like you didn’t want to give it to her. Does she call in often?” he asked interested. I thought for a minute. For the two years that she had worked for me, she had never asked for a day off. Nothing outside of her two week vacation and holiday time anyway.

  “No, this is highly unusual for her. I guess she will start now that I have given her an inch, I’m sure she will take a mile.”

  “That’s not fair Dallas. I’m sure she had good reason to take off to call you on a Sunday and ask. Why are you so hard on her?” he asked, making me feel like shit.

  “I’m not hard on her,” I responded, my defenses going up. “I pay her very well to do her job. I’m more than fair and I never ask her to do anything that I myself have not done. What’s the big deal about picking someone up from the airport anyway?” I asked, mostly to myself. I realized then how little I knew about Lindsey. I didn’t even know her mother lived out of town.

  “Give her a break. I’m sure she deserves it. Everyone does every now and then,” Luke stated, making me feel even guiltier

  “Do you mind stopping somewhere? I am in desperate need of some caffeine,” I said, dropping the subject completely.

  “No problem,” he said, turning into a service station just off the highway.

  “You need anything?” I asked, opening my door to get out.

  “No, I’m good,” he responded with a mischievous smile. What was that about? I walked inside, browsing the items that I did not need. I selected a candy bar and a soda and made my way to the cashier. I looked outside to see Luke looking down at what I assumed was his phone. He was so breathtakingly gorgeous even from a distance.

  “Thanks,” the cashier said handing me my change. I smiled in response and headed back to the truck.

  “Lindsey texted,” Luke said as soon as I sat in the truck.

  “I’ll text her back later,” I responded with absolutely no intention of doing so.

  “I already did,” Luke said, pulling back onto the highway. I jerked my head around towards him.

  “You did what?” I asked, trying to remain calm but failing to do so.

  “I messaged her back. I told her to just take the whole day off tomorrow.”

  “Why would you do that?” I asked calmly, too calmly.

  “Because we are making each other better people, Dallas. I want to be a better person
when I am with you and I can tell you do too. I want you to act towards her the way you act around me. I bet she’s never seen the playful and fun Dallas that I know,” he stated, making eye contact with me as much as possible without running us off the road.

  He had me. This sexy man knew he could do or say nothing that would keep me mad at him, and without knowing it he had used this new found knowledge to benefit someone other than himself. I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t. He was right, and as much as I hated saying that anyone other than me was right I couldn’t help but smile. He had won me over with his good looks and charm and now he was making me feel better about helping someone even though I had not done anything.

  “You're welcome,” Luke said, grabbing my hand and pulling me across the seat next to him. I snuggled into his side and let out a sigh of contentment. “Sometimes we who are fortunate tend to overlook those who are not. I promise by doing this you will benefit more than what you ever thought possible. Trust me, I know from experience,” he said, sliding his arm around my waist pulling me closer and kissing my head.

  “So, you were once a crude self-centered bitch too?” I asked all the fight out of me. He threw his head back and laughed. “I guess you could say that. I took out my own misery on others. It never ends well.”

  I glanced down at my phone, reading the message of thanks from Lindsey. I wasn’t real happy about what had happened, but I knew in my cold heart it was the right thing to do and just by acknowledging that was a great accomplishment for someone like me. I opened my candy bar and took a huge bite, letting the chocolate soothe my worries and chased it with a large drink of soda. I continued in my own thoughts of selfishness ignoring the world completely, consuming the entire thing in only four bites.

  “I like chocolate too,” Luke said, interrupting my thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, did you want some?” I asked innocently, staring up at him with pure satisfaction on my face.

  “I guess not,” Luke said, seeming hurt. I rubbed my tongue across my lips moaning to myself.

  “It was so delicious too,” I said, closing my eyes and dramatizing the moment.

  “You’ll pay for that,” Luke said giving me his dark bedroom stare. “Looking forward to it LLC.”

  Chapter 6

  We pulled into Luke’s driveway around two-thirty. I took notice that everyone else seemed to have left and that it was just the two of us. Luke grabbed my hand and led me through the house into a room I had never been in. The entire room was covered in brick and the floor was concrete. The walls were decorated in black and white pictures of motorcycles. The ceiling was painted into an American flag and there were French doors that led outside. The one item that took my breath away was the huge motorcycle that was parked in the middle of the room. I had never seen one so beautiful. It was solid black and covered in chrome. The gas tank had orange flames outlined in white that ran all the way to the leather seat. The saddle bags were hard plastic and had a chrome bar that ran all the way around them. Road King was inscribed on the front fender.

  “You like it?” Luke asked, staring at me with a huge grin on his face.

  “I love it,” I replied enthusiastically. I was surprised at myself for having such strong feelings toward a motorcycle. I had never taken notice to one before, but then again I had never fallen for a motorcycle man either.

  “Wait ‘till you ride it,” Luke said, smiling again. I could tell this was something he loved. His whole demeanor seemed to change in the presence of this beautiful machine. “Here,” Luke said handing me a helmet that looked like it was custom made just for me. “I hate ‘em but it’s the law.”

  I silently thanked the great state of Mississippi for enforcing such a law and put my helmet on as Luke pushed the bike out the door.

  “That lid never looked so good,” Luke said grabbing his own helmet off the large chrome tool box that I just noticed was there.

  “Lid?” I asked, completely confused. He patted my helmet with a wink. I was going to have to purchase a motorcycle lingo for dummies book in the near future.

  “Ready?” he asked, taking my hand and leading me out the door.

  “As I’ll ever be,” I replied nervously. My breath started to quicken and I realized that I had really not thought this whole motorcycle riding through.

  “Hey,” Luke said wrapping his arm around my waist. “You’ll love it. Don’t be nervous, I won’t let anything happen.” He grabbed my chin lifting my face to his and leaning down, giving me a kiss that erased every doubt I had. He climbed on, cranking the bike causing the vibrations to carry through the concrete and all the way up my body. A shrill of excitement surged through me as I stepped on the foot pegs, slinging my leg over and settling on the back seat. It was much more comfortable than I thought possible and back rest gave me a little more since of security as I settled back placing my hands on Luke’s shoulders, not real sure where to put them.

  “You don’t have to hold on so tight babe, you’re not going anywhere,” Luke yelled, turning to me laughing. I realized my knuckles were white from grabbing him so hard and I immediately let go. “Just move with the bike, it will come naturally.” I took a deep breath, trying to relax. The vibrations were so intense I could almost feel the sensation through my pants. Luke pulled the bike onto the dirt road. The bike suddenly leaned to the left then right and my automatic reaction was to bail off the side, but I realized that it was over before I could react and my body had not moved an inch. I knew he was trying to help me get the feel of it, but I wasn’t going to lie. I was scared shitless.

  By the time we got to the highway, I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it. Luke must have felt my uneasiness, because he didn’t pull onto the highway. Instead, he pulled the bike over and got off. He came beside me, opening the saddle bag and pulling out an iPod with ear buds.

  “Here, this will help calm you down a little,” he said, selecting a playlist and handing me the ear buds. I put them in and was surprised to hear Coal War blaring through the small speakers. Once again, he kissed me sweetly giving me a wink then climbing back on and pulling out on the highway.

  I closed my eyes, smiling to myself and letting the lyrics take me away. When I opened them, I felt like a new person. The wind blowing through my hair and the music in my ears made me feel so free. The air was warm and inviting. I lifted my hand up letting the air pass between my fingers. I felt like I could ride forever. The iPod shuffled to the next song which just so happened to be one of my favorites. Hearing the song brought back memories of one of my best childhood friends, Kandice. Just like so many others, life had taken her from me way too soon. Kandice loved music. She was such a free spirit and I envied her ability to be so carefree. A hippie at heart, she was able to quote any song from The Beatles to Lynyrd Skynyrd. I laughed through my tears at the memory of us on our road trip to Dallas, Texas, singing at the top of our lungs. We replayed the song over and over until we knew every word.

  Listening to the Black Crowes sing “Josephine” changed me in that moment. Life had dealt me a shitty hand, but I had an ace in the hole. He was my saving grace and in this moment, I had finally realized it.

  I wrapped my arms around Luke. Leaning forward I placed my chin on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Thank-you.” I know there was no possible way he knew what I was talking about. Perhaps he thought it was the iPod, or the ride, or the wakeup call he gave me when he texted my assistant Lindsey, but he responded when he reached back and ran his hand down my thigh and landed it on my knee, where he held on while I rested my head on his shoulder until we came into town.

  Our first stop was at 59 Hangout, which was an old run down bar off of highway fifty-nine. On the left and right side of the white block building were old junk cars that had grass growing up around them. A wooden fence separated the building from two trailers that were overgrown with vines and brush. The large green door that led into the building was the only sign of color. We pulled in alongside about fifty other bikes, parkin
g towards the front. Before Luke had time to even cut the bike off, we were surrounded by people. I recognized some of the faces of the men that shook Luke’s hand from the bar the other night. Most of them gave Luke a big hug, slapping him on the back, seeming genuinely glad to see him. I noticed that none of them made any attempt to speak to me until Luke introduced me.

  “This is Dallas. Dallas these are my brothers; Tiny, War and Regg,” he said waving his hand in their direction. I slid my helmet off, doing my best to smooth my hair and shook each of their hands. Tiny was a large man, every bit of 6’5 with long stringy hair and kind eyes. I noticed the patches on his vest were similar to the ones Luke wore. War was a man of short stature with a no-nonsense look on his face that made me think his bite was just as bad as his bark. He made me nervous, causing me to quickly dart my eyes to Regg.

  “Hello beautiful!” Regg said to me smiling, and then pulling me into a bear hug. He had a boyish face with big brown eyes. His hair was a very light blonde and his goatee was the only thing making him look a day older than fifteen. He was shorter than Luke but not by much and his husky size reminded me of a big ole teddy bear. I returned his hug and not being able to help it landed a kiss on his red cheek.

  “Damn girl, you gonna make me take you home with me!” Regg responded laughing. I liked him immediately. He seemed so full of love and life.

  “Red will beat the hell outta you boy,” Tiny said playfully punching Regg in the arm.

  “Ok, ok, that’s enough,” Luke said breaking us apart and running his arm around my waist claiming his territory.

  “Red inside?” Luke asked, looking at Regg. “Yeah, that crazy bitch is in there. She is giving hell to a prospect at the bar.” He replied shaking his head.

  “That figures. Come on babe,” Luke led me towards the door, stopping several times to shake hands and hug people, but never introducing me. I wondered why, but just passing it off as him being in a hurry I just stood there and smiled, although they never acknowledged my presence.