“I never asked why you have it.” I search my memory and realize she’s right.
“I got it for my family, my mom, dad, and Amber. I was going into the Marines and wanted a tattoo that meant something to me about them.”
“The tattoo wasn’t meant for Niki?” I watch the tears fall from her eyes again and I brush them away.
“No, I got it after I graduated and there wasn’t really a Niki and me at the time. Cara, a tattoo is something permanent and I would never make a decision like that to ink myself because of a woman.” Now that’s not really true because if Cara asked me too I would. I would do anything to please her right now. Hmmm, maybe that’s something to think about doing.
“Okay.” She takes in a few deep breaths and then lets them out slowly. “Are we going to get ice cream?” I smile and take her inside. I let her get what she wants and then pay. We decided to take it back to where everyone else is.
When we get back downstairs Jessica just looks at me and smiles. I just hope she won’t question why we were gone. I just got Cara calm and happy. I take a seat on the couch and pull Cara to my lap. There really was no other place for her. Cara continues to eat her ice cream in silence.
“Niki, you really serious about getting your first tattoo on the ribs.” I feel Cara shift on my lap and instantly I want to deck Tyler for asking that question.
“Yes, why do you care?” The tone of Niki’s voice is off and I watch the look she gives him. Tyler lets out a laugh and I just watch Cara see if she stops eating the ice cream. I slowly start rubbing her back and feel her relax just a little.
“I don’t think you’ll do it. Do you have a tattoo artist in mind?” I’m not sure where Tyler’s going with this, but he better shut up soon.
“Not really, I just want to get this done.” I get an uneasy feeling when Niki glances over to me for a second.
“I know a great tattoo artist he does all of the mine. If you want, I can take you on Monday.” Really, he’s pushing this and I see Cara’s paying close attention.
“No thank you,” Niki says irritated.
“I’ll sweeten the deal because I want to see if you’ll do it. I’ll pay for it.” Cara stops eating for a second. I catch the look in her eyes. She’s not happy.
“Really, fine you have a deal.” Tyler offers his hand to Niki and then turns his attention to Cara.
“Hey beautiful, I was wondering if you would like to go to work with me on Tuesday?” Cara turns to look at me, I tell her it’s okay.
“What are you doing?” She says attempting to hide the sadness in her voice. Fucking Niki.
“Well, I have to go help the MC and thought maybe you would want to check them out with me.” He’s not pushing, but then if she goes it might ease her into things.
“I don’t have any plans. I’d like to go.” I’m pleased and shocked she so easily accepted his offer.
We stick around for a few more hours before heading home. Cara seems to be thinking about something when she climbs into bed. “Pretty girl, you want to tell me what you’re thinking.” She stops and looks at me.
“What would you say if I wanted to get a tattoo.” Okay, that’s not what I was expecting.
“I’d be okay with it. Why, do you want to get a tattoo?” She pouts her lips and rolls her head side to side.
“I don’t know, maybe to show that I always wear my heart on my sleeve. Plus, I still don’t like the idea of Niki getting a tattoo.” She gives me a little smile. I don’t know what to do to ease her mind about Niki.
“What would you get?” I ask because I know she’s been thinking something since we left the hangout.
“A heart, like those watercolor type tattoos I’ve seen, on my arm right here.” I guess she’s been thinking about this way more than I imagined. She sounds certain of this idea as she points to a spot on her left arm.
“I like the idea, but come here and let me love you a little.” I pull her to me and roll so she’s underneath me. I kiss her nose first then her lips. Sex isn’t needed right now and I just spend a few minutes making out with my girl. Then I turn off the side lamp.
Cara does what she’s been doing the last few weeks and tangles her body with mine. Normally I would get way to hot sleeping like this, but I have the air set to turn down low at night. Cara can keep her blankets wrapped around us and her around me without me burning up. I’ve found for some reason I sleep better like this.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Monday didn’t go over as well as I expected. Cara went into the office with me and I had her talking with Maria for a little while until she came in to see me. She was sitting there reading when Tyler came in.
“What’s up Tyler?” I asked I could tell he needed something.
“Well, I’m taking the rest of the day off to go with Niki to get her tattoo. Just wanted to let you know.” I hated that he had to bring this crap up with Cara in the room. She has been on pins and needles lately and I can’t calm her.
“Go do your shit, Tyler,” I tell him as I open an important email from Matt Donovan. I need to take care of finalizing the case involving Travis. I’ll be glad to have all that shit behind me.
“Do you have to take her Tyler?” I turn my head when Cara asks her question.
“Well, I want to see how serious she is about this tattoo. I think it will be fun. You can come with if you want.” Really, Tyler’s asking to punched.
“No, thank you. I don’t want anything to do with Niki or her tattoo. I just wish… Never mind, it’s rude. Go on and have fun” I watch as she tries to avoid any more talking with Tyler.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up in the morning around nine if you’re still coming with me tomorrow?” He’s trying to get her attention.
“I can be ready by nine.” She tells him without looking at him. Then I watch Tyler leave. I get up and shut the door to the office and sit next to Cara.
“Hey pretty girl, you okay?” I’m treading on dangerous ground, but I have to ask.
“No, I don’t like that he’s taking her to get that tattoo.” She turns to look at me. “You were right, there’s nothing that can be done about it.”
“I’m sorry Cara.” There really isn’t any more to say. I go back to my desk and finish the email then we head home.
CARA
I spent the rest of Monday worrying about Niki and her new tattoo. I don’t like that Tyler took her and even offered to pay for it. How could he? I can’t stop what happened. Niki’s been around a lot longer than me.
It’s been driving me crazy. What’s going to happen after she gets the tattoo? Will Jordan want her now that they share something that personal together? I’d like to think not, but they do have a history together.
I was ready to go to bed when the time came. I could hardly eat dinner and had to have a protein shake. Then I went for a run. I got in six miles. I needed the run to relax my mind. I just ran and listened to my music trying to forget everything.
Tuesday morning came too fast and I was up early. I went for a short run only four miles and then I came back to get ready. Jordan was in the shower when I came into the bathroom. “Can I join you?” I don’t know why I asked.
“Always pretty girl.” I climbed into the warm water with Jordan.
“I love you.”
“I love you too” Jordan finished washing and then took my soap. I’ve given up on trying to stop him. I think he likes to have his hands on my body. Plus, I can’t really say no when he washes my hair. I love having his hands running through my hair.
We finish with just enough time for me to get dressed in shorts and a shirt. I was able to put on a little makeup. I was staring at my face in the mirror when Jordan wrapped his arms around me.
“You’re beautiful no matter what you do?’ I had placed my hair in a braid. I wanted something on so I chose eyeliner and mascara. “When you’re done with Tyler I want you to come by the office.”
“Okay, I can do that,” I spoke just as the doorbell rang. J
ordan left to answer it. I quickly cleaned up the bathroom and then was ready to go. I walked out to Jordan and Tyler talking hushed about something.
“You ready beautiful?” I took in a deep breath.
“Yes.” Jordan gave me a kiss and told me he loved me before I left. I still had trouble getting into Tyler’s truck luckily he helped me in.
“My friends excited to meet you today.” What’s he talking about?
“I don’t understand Tyler.”
“Well, I talked with Brandon, he’s the MC President, and his old lady, Sierra about you. They’re looking forward to meeting you.” He smiled as we drive to where we are going.
“Can I ask you how the tattoo went yesterday?” I don’t know why I want to know, but I do. I need the knowledge of knowing Niki got the tattoo I was thinking she planned. A tattoo identical to the one like Jordan’s. The idea of that is just eating away at my insides.
“Yes, you can beautiful. I picked up Niki and we drove to my friend’s tattoo shop. Anyways, I asked her about the tattoo she was wanting to get. She told me the tattoo would say ‘For those I love I will sacrifice’, so I took her to the shop.” Tyler kept driving and I wanted to hurl. I was right about the tattoo.
“So what happened when you got to the shop?”
“Well the guy talked with her and I was ready to pay for the tattoo. I did ask her the hard question about her getting this tattoo because she hopes to get Jordan? I was still willing to pay for the tattoo, but she got really mad at me. Saying that she always planned on getting the tattoo. Willie then scared the crap out of her and she backed out of the tattoo. I kept my money.” He began to laugh and I was relieved.
I didn’t ask any more on the tattoo. I was glad that she didn’t get it, but that doesn’t mean much. My insides were all jittery because of this. I forced myself to smile and reminded myself there was nothing more I could do.
We arrived at a ranch style home. Tyler had a remote to open the gate to let us in. The house was huge and had a long driveway. I saw some people outside. When Tyler stopped he was kind enough to help me out.
“What am I doing here?” I asked as I looked around.
“Simple beautiful, you just get to talk with Sierra.” I nod, I guess I can do that.
We walk into the house and Tyler takes me into the kitchen or I think it’s the kitchen. The room is large and open with what looks like a bar. There’s a skinny, blond woman cleaning glasses.
“Hey Tyler, this Cara?” She asks barely looking at me.
“Yes, she is.” Tyler pulls out a chair and I take a seat. “I’ve got some things to take care of. Your fine right here with Sierra, but I won’t be far.” Tyler gives me a wink and walks over to a man with a scruffy beard.
“That man would be Brandon, the Prez, I just wish he would trim that damn beard sometimes.” The woman said from behind the counter. “Cara, tell me about you? We were wrangled in to help when you went missing. The ladies were given the task of cleaning the destruction called Tyler from your home.”
“I never knew that, thank you.” I’m shocked that Tyler destroyed the house. Why did he do that?
“Your welcome honey. It was my pleasure. I’m just glad they found you and you’re safe. Tyler mentioned you’re having memory issues about what happened.” Now I realize why Tyler brought me.
“Some issues yeah. My memories from the event come back in funny puzzle pieces. Like a ruined old movie reel. I’m kind of surprised Tyler told you all that about me.” I tell her as she stops what she’s doing to give me her full attention.
“Well, then we need to work on that. Helping people like you is what we do.” She just smiles at me as two other women walk into the room. They seem to be arguing about something. One of the women is tall and curvy with long blond hair. The other woman is thinner and tall as well with brown hair. “Kristina and Rachel knock it off we have a guest.” Sierra commands.
“Really.” The brunette says. “I’m Rachel.”
“Cara.” She then looks me over.
“Jordan Carter’s Cara. Really, wow. Nice to meet you Tyler has been talking a lot about you.” Why do I think it’s a bad thing to be Jordan’s Cara?
“This here is Kristina.” Rachel tilts her head to the blond.
“Hi, Cara if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask,” Kristina smiles and pats me on the shoulder.
“Thank you.” There’s something about Kristina that warms my heart. I can’t place the feeling, but I feel safe with these women.
I look over at Sierra. “Why do I feel being Jordan’s Cara is a bad thing?” She lets out a laugh and tilts her chin to Rachel. Sierra has a strong presence in the room and doesn’t seem to hold back.
I turn to Rachel who looks to be rolling her eyes at Sierra. The exchange between the two women leaves me more puzzled than before.
“Okay fine I’ll talk. I tried hitting on Jordan a while back. He just turned me down without even giving me the time of day.” Rachel tells me.
“Can I ask how far back?” I mean we could be talking months or years.
“I think it was in May. He seemed to be distracted when I talked to him. I mean I could flirt with him before, but after that day, I knew something had changed.” That was around the time we started dating. If you even want to call it dating.
“Tyler was kind enough to mention you and that said it all,” Kristina spoke as Rachel laughed.
“Seems you took a great guy off the market. Lucky you. If I were you, honey, I would hold on tight to my man.” Rachel said as she and Kristina walked over to a table and took a seat. They seemed to go back into their earlier conversation.
“Cara is there anything I can get you?” Sierra seemed to have an endless amount of things to wipe down.
“I would like something to drink, what do you have.” Sierra lets out a small laugh.
“We have alcohol, but I don’t think you want that. We have all kinds of soda, water, tea basically you name it we probably got it.” I take a moment to think about what I want and decided to come up with a drink.
“Can I have a cherry coke?” I give Sierra a smile and then watch her move around me to look over at Kristina and Rachel.
“Hey Rachel, you want to make a cherry coke for Cara?” Rachel stands to her feet and places a hand on each hip.
“I don’t know, can I? I mean did you buy me the stuff I asked for?” I turn my attention to Sierra who is trying not to laugh.
“Yeah woman, a lot of your crap.” I look back to Rachel who’s now laughing.
“You love me.” Then she walks off into another area of the kitchen. I look back to Sierra, I’m confused.
“She won’t drink anything with alcohol. Her father was an abusive alcoholic. She likes her cherry cokes. They’re her specialty.” Oh that explains everything. While Rachel’s off making my drink another biker walks into the room.
I watch him for a moment as he looks me over. I’m not sure what to think about this new person. He enters the room and walks over to me.
“Hey, my name is Justice and you beautiful lady are?”
“My name is Cara.” I’m puzzled by this man.
“What a beautiful name for a beautiful lady, you don’t look like a biker bunny.” He’s leaning next to the bar. Sierra moves over to Justice and whacks him in the back of the head with her towel. “What was that for?” He gives her his attention now. I’m trying hard not to laugh.
“Really you’re fucking calling yourself Justice still. Justin, you’re a moron you know that right?” Now I really can’t help the little laugh that escapes my mouth.
“Awe come on Sierra. I want a cooler name, work with me.” He pleads with her.
“Your fucking name is Justin. Stop trying to be an exaggerated badass.” She goes back to her cleaning for a moment. Rachel comes over to me and hands me a fancy looking glass. I look at the beverage and see the red tint to the soda. She used a syrup. I go to move the straw and spot a bunch of cherries inside the soda.
“Thank you, Rachel.” I take a sip and wow. I like this and then I dig out a cherry.
“I am a badass Sierra. I mean I can kick come ass. I like Justice.” I watched them for a moment.
“Justin I’ll say it again. You’re a moron whether you can kick ass or not.” I decided to look around while they talked to see everything else going on.
“Cara, what brings you to the club house, honey.” Oh, I almost forgot about Justice, no Justin for a second, the house was very beautiful.
“Well...” Sierra’s back in front of me.
“Are you really trying to flirt with her Justin?” She crosses her arms in front of her. I can see that Tyler is watching us from afar.
“Well, she’s hot why wouldn’t I flirt with a hot chick.” I begin to play with my straw trying not to laugh, but honestly, I can’t help it.
“You are an idiot. Her name is Cara, as in Jordan Carter’s Cara. She’s not some fucking biker bunny” I catch Justin look from me to Sierra out of the corner of my eye and I break into giggles. “You remember Jordan right. The same man that beat the crap out of you for disrespecting his sister Amber.”
“Um…yeah I remember that very clearly. He was kind enough to leave me with a fucking black eye and a broken nose.” I’m still laughing and I can’t stop now. “I’m just lucky Ryan didn’t jump in.”
“Yeah, so do you think that being a fucking flirt right now would be a good idea.” Justin turns to me and I’m trying really hard to control my giggles.
“Cara, I would like to apologize for flirting with you. Please don’t tell Jordan.” Now I should say something, but I can’t control my laughter and my sides hurt. I take a deep breath to gain some control.
“I can’t promise I won’t tell him, but I can tell you that he won’t be beating you up.” Justin smiles then taps me on the shoulder and leaves the room.
“Is everything okay guys?” I turn to see who Sierra’s talking to. I notice that Tyler and Brandon have fully entered the room.
“Yeah, everything is fine. I heard the laughing and came to see what was going on.” Brandon announced. Oh, that’s me. I try again to grab some control on my giggling, but I’m lost. My cheeks kind of hurt.
Remember Cinderella (True Loves Fairytale Book 2) Page 13