by L. Wilder
“Hey, Kane. How’s it going?” I asked, wondering what I’d done to have the VP come knocking at my door.
“Allie’s going to babysit Dusty tonight, and she wanted to know if you’d like to go with her.”
“Sure! I’d love to,” I told him as I quickly closed the laptop.
“She’s waiting for you out front. I’ll let Maverick know where you are, and I’ll send one of the brothers along with you to keep an eye on things.”
“Great. Thanks for asking me. I’ll be right out.” I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and grabbed my purse before heading out front to meet Allie. When I got there, Maverick was busy talking to several of the prospects. They were all intently listening to whatever he was saying; however, his mouth stopped moving the moment he saw me heading in their direction. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he watched me walk over to Allie, and it made me wonder what they were talking about. I was still staring at him when Allie called out to me.
“Hey, Henley. You ready to roll?” Allie asked while she pulled her long hair up into a messy bun. She was wearing a short pencil skirt and high heels, and her smile was bright and welcoming. I could see why Guardrail was so smitten with her.
“You bet. Thanks for asking me to tag along. I needed to get out of that place for a little while,” I told her as I got in the passenger seat of her car.
“Girl, I know. There’s only so much testosterone a girl can take!” she said laughing.
“Testosterone and sweat!” I snorted.
We were both still laughing when we pulled out of the driveway, but my smile faded when I spotted Maverick. His green eyes were focused completely on me as he continued to talk to the prospects. The minute he was out of my line of sight, I found myself longing to be back there, looking at him and watching his every move. Damn. What was wrong with me? Was I really turning into one of those crazy stalker ladies that drool over some guy who wasn’t even interested in them? Yep. I had a thing for the Grinch.
I was relieved to have a distraction from Maverick, even if it was for only a few hours. We spent the night playing Candy Land and Hungry Hippo with Dusty. Allie and I were completely out of practice, and Dusty won every single game. Seeing the smile on his face made me want to keep playing, even after Dallas came home.
I really enjoyed having the time to get to know Allie better. She was so easy to talk to, and her eyes sparkled when she told me about the youth center that Guardrail was building for her company. Now that it was almost complete, she was planning a huge grand opening celebration. Between that and her upcoming wedding, I couldn’t imagine her being any happier.
“I have my final fitting for my dress next week. Would you mind going with me? Tell me what you think? I really need an honest opinion,” Allie asked.
“I’m sure it will be perfect, but I would love to go with you.”
“Great. I’ll let Kane know so he can get it worked out with Maverick.”
“He’ll want to send the cavalry along with us. Hope you’re okay with that,” I warned her.
“Girl, I’m used to it. I’m lucky if I can go to the grocery store without someone tagging along. But after everything that happened with Tony, I like knowing that he’s looking out for me,” she explained.
“Actually sounds kind of nice when you put it like that,” I confessed.
“When you find someone who loves you enough to put your life before their own, there’s nothing like it in the world. I never thought I would find it, but now that I have, I’m going to hold on to it.” I could see the love in her eyes as she spoke of their relationship. I found myself wanting that kind of love.
When we pulled through the gates of the clubhouse, things were oddly quiet. After making plans to meet Allie after lunch tomorrow, I headed inside. I couldn’t figure out where everyone had gone. Usually the place was humming with the guys moving about and music blaring from the bar. I considered myself lucky to have a quiet night and headed to my room for a hot shower.
When I turned the doorknob, I heard a strange rustle behind my door. Thinking maybe someone was in there, I quickly swung my door open. Before I could move out of the way, a gazillion packing peanuts came barreling into the hall, covering my feet and ankles in white. I stood there frozen, stunned by the mountain of styrofoam pieces that filled my room. There wasn’t a place where I could look that wasn’t covered.
“What the hell?” I screeched as they continued to cascade down through the doorway.
My attention was instantly drawn over to a dark corner at my left when Maverick purposefully cleared his throat. Gloating, he stood with his arms crossed, wearing the sexiest smile I have ever seen in my life. Just looking at him, with his childlike expression of pure satisfaction, made me want to wrap my arms around him. I should’ve been pissed. I should’ve wanted to scream and yell at him, but seeing that look on his face was worth every single little piece of styrofoam in that room.
“You did this?” I asked laughing as I pointed towards the huge mess in my room.
He nodded, still smiling with pride.
I looked back at my room for just a brief moment, making sure that I wasn’t dreaming. Styrofoam crunched beneath my feet as I walked over to him and said, “You’re pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” he snickered.
“I have to admit,” I said, motioning towards my room, “that is pretty impressive.” He remained silent as I continued, “I mean that took some time. I bet you enjoyed planning this all out. Thinking of the perfect way to get me back and waiting for just the right time.” I stopped talking when he took a step closer to me.
“I did.” His voice was raspy and deep as he inched closer to me. My knees trembled ever so slightly as the warmth of his breath caressed my neck. “All the time it took to get those damn things shoved into your room. It was worth every second to see the look on your face when you opened that door,” he whispered.
My eyes drifted down to his perfect round lips. Unable to stop myself, I leaned into him and pressed my mouth against his. His arms immediately wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. A light moan vibrated through my chest as his tongue gently ran across my bottom lip. I couldn’t hide my attraction to him any longer, not from him, not from myself. His hands slowly reached up to the sides of my face as I opened my mouth to him. The kiss became demanding, sending an involuntary shudder down my spine. This man had consumed my thoughts, my dreams, my very existence for weeks, and now, in this moment, he was consuming my heart. His scent, his touch, the heat of his body next to mine. I wanted all of him. My hands roamed across his broad chest, feeling his muscles tighten as he continued to claim me with his mouth. I wanted to remember everything about this moment. The feel of his hands against my body. The taste of him against my tongue. Every miniscule detail about this moment would be locked away forever in my memory. Without me even realizing it, Maverick had claimed my heart, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he would do with it.
With my back pressed against the wall, he pulled back, releasing me from our embrace and repeated, “Worth every damn second.”
Chapter 13
Maverick
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I’D BEEN SITTING at the bar for over an hour watching Henley and Cassidy carry out an endless line of garbage bags from her room. She’d slowly lost that adorable smile that she was wearing last night, and now she was pouting. Each time she walked past me, her look of irritation grew. I wanted to stop her and pull her close to me so I could feel her lips against mine. I wanted to feel her go limp in my arms, and make her smile like she did last night. Before I could call out to her, Guardrail came and sat down beside me.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Guardrail asked as he watched them walk out the back door.
“Not as much as I thought I would,” I confessed.
“You could’ve had the prospects help her,” he suggested.
“Yeah, but where is the fun in that?” I asked as my eyes involuntaril
y wandered to the back door, waiting for her to come back in.
“Ahhh, brother… she’s getting to you,” he told me with a knowing smile.
“She’s a pain in the ass.” Even as I said the words, I knew I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t even look at her without thinking of her lips on mine. That one moment of being with her made the hell I had been going through just seem to fade into a distant memory.
“Been awhile since I’ve seen you like this, brother. Pain in the ass or not… she’s been good for you,” he stated. He stood, resting his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Get the prospects to finish cleaning up that mess you made.”
Knowing that I had put it off long enough, I picked up my phone and ordered Cooter to get it done. “Cooter’s on it.”
“Big Mike has been in contact with other clubs in the area. So far, we’re the only target, but that isn’t really a surprise. We all know that we are the only ones capable of trafficking on a large scale. There has to be a connection we’re missing,” he explained.
“I think we’ve been looking at this all wrong. I don’t think this is about some pissed off club trying to get back at us,” I told him. “These motherfuckers don’t give a damn about us or our club. These guys are after our territory.”
“And?” Guardrail questioned.
“It’s time for us to figure out who is looking to take over our claim on Clallam County. It’s a prime location for illegal distribution with all the different ports along the coast. Any idiot could look at a map and see that. We just need to find out who is looking for a new place to move their product.”
“I’ll talk to Cotton. We’ll get Big Mike to do some digging and see what he can come up with,” he said as he stood to leave.
After talking with Guardrail, Cotton called us all into church. It didn’t take long for him to explain everything to the guys. They all agreed that the chances of someone trying to take over our territory was a real possibility, but finding out who wasn’t going to be easy. Cotton planned to get Nitro to look into things on his end, see if he could find any leads.
I was on my way to find Henley when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I was surprised to see that it was Lily calling. I hadn’t heard from her in a few weeks, making me worried that something might be wrong.
“Lily?” I asked.
“Hey, Maverick. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Is everything okay with John Warren?” I asked, unable to hide the panic in my voice.
“Yes, he’s fine. He’s doing great… growing like a weed. He’s practically taken over the place—walking, climbing, running. He never stays put,” she said laughing. I could hear the love in her voice when she spoke of him, reassuring me once again that he was exactly where he needed to be.
“Good.” My chest tightened at the thought of seeing him again. There was so much that I’d missed, and I hated myself for not checking on him more. I should’ve wanted to know everything about him. I should have, but I couldn’t. Instead, I pushed it in the back of my mind, trying to forget, trying to pretend that none of it ever happened. It was just easier that way, easier not to think about what an asshole I really was. “Is there a reason you called, Lily?”
“You know how I told you a few weeks ago that we’re trying to get everything finalized with the adoption? Well, now they’re really pushing for a DNA test. I thought the birth certificate would be enough, but they want to be sure. Would you mind…” she started.
“When?”
“If it’s okay with you, I was thinking you could come here to do it. Then you could spend some time with John Warren. They said we could get the results within twenty-four hours, so you could sign the papers while you were here,” she explained. “I know that’s asking a lot, but…”
“I’ll come as soon as I can. If I can work it out, I’ll leave tonight,” I told her.
“That would be great. I know John Warren would love to see you, and maybe you could spend some time with Gavin while you were here.”
I hadn’t seen Gavin since the day he left for Tennessee. We’d spoken on the phone a few times, and the way he talked about working in the garage and prospecting for their club, let me know that he’d made the right decision about moving. That didn’t mean I didn’t miss having him around.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Maverick?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For everything,” she whispered.
“See you soon, Lily,” I told her as I hung up the phone and headed straight for Cotton’s office.
Cotton and Guardrail were standing in his doorway talking when I walked up. They both turned their attention to me when I said, “I need to go to Tennessee for a few days.”
“What’s going on?” Cotton asked.
“I’ve just got some things I need to take care of. I won’t be long,” I clipped. I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture tonight, and I knew I’d get one if Cotton knew that I was going to sign those adoption papers. He’d given me his blessing, but I knew he’d always hoped that I’d change my mind about it.
“And Henley?” Cotton inquired.
“Fuck,” I mumbled. “I guess she’ll have to go with me.”
“Yeah, she will,” Guardrail smirked, but I wasn’t in the mood to debate with either of them. I ignored that fucking grin on his face as I headed for the door.
“She isn’t going to be happy about it,” I called out as I walked out into the hall.
I hadn’t noticed that Guardrail followed me until he said, “I’ll talk to her. You go get packed.”
I didn’t have time to argue, so I nodded and headed to my room to pack. As I threw my clothes into my duffle bag, my mind drifted to Henley. I wanted to think that having her there with me would make things easier, but I wasn’t really sure how she’d feel about me signing those papers. Would she truly be able to understand why I was doing this? Could she come away from this without hating me? Fuck. How could I expect her to do something that I wasn’t able to do myself?
Chapter 14
Henley
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“SOMETHING’S COME UP, Henley. You’re going to need to pack a bag,” Guardrail ordered.
“Why? What’s going on?” I asked, startled by his command.
“I don’t have time to explain it all, but you’ll be going to Tennessee with Maverick for a few days. He has some things to take care of, and since he is in charge of watching out for you, you’ll have to go with him,” he explained. “He’s taking his cage to save time, so feel free to pack a suitcase.”
“Really? Do I have to? I can’t hang out here until he gets back?” I whined like a three-year-old child. I hated long road trips, and the thought of being confined in a car for hours upon hours with Maverick freaked me out. I couldn’t even look at him without staring at those perfect full lips, thinking about that damn kiss.
“Like I said, I don’t have time to explain all this shit to you, Henley. Just pack a bag and be ready to go within the hour.”
“I’ll be ready.” I couldn’t help but wonder if everything was alright. “Is Maverick okay? Is something wrong?”
“If he wants you to know, he’ll tell you.”
“Okay,” I mumbled as I turned to leave.
“Henley, I don’t know what you’ve done, but since you’ve been around, he’s been better. Don’t give up on him.”
“I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes,” I told him. I went back to my room and started cramming my clothes into my suitcase. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Guardrail said, and I wondered if it was really true. Was Maverick truly better because of something I’d done? I was lost in my own thoughts when Cassidy walked into my room.
“I just heard about Maverick. Road trip!”
I just grunted as I threw my make-up bag into my suitcase.
“Do you need any help packing?” she asked.
“No, I think I’ve got it,” I told her as I continued to shove all my odds and ends into my suitcase.
Her eyebrows rose as she asked, “Are you okay with this?”
“Honestly? No. I’m totally freaking out,” I confessed. “I have no idea what’s going on, and …”
“It’s going to be fine, Lee Bug. It’s just for a few days, and you’re going to love John Warren. He’s absolutely precious. I wish I was going with you so I could see him, too. I’ve really missed him,” she paused. She cleared her throat, trying to change the subject, as she said, “I’ve heard that Paris is a really neat place, and they have a beautiful lake.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel any better?”
“You never know. You might just enjoy yourself.” She smiled as she reached out and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “Be yourself, and everyone will love you, including Maverick.”
“Do you have any idea what’s going on with him? Guardrail didn’t tell me anything.”
She released me from our embrace and looked me in the eye as she said, “No, but I have a feeling that this trip is going to be hard on him.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“You weren’t here to see him when he came back from taking John Warren to Lily and Goliath. It was hard to see him like that,” she explained with tears filling her eyes.
“If going back there is going to be difficult for him, then having me there is only going to make it…” I started.
“No matter what is going on with him, having you there will only make it better. Now, stop worrying yourself to death about it and let’s get a move on. If I know Maverick, he’s already in the car ready to go.”
“Alright. Let’s do this,” I told her as I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, tugging it out the door.
She was right. Maverick was already waiting for me at the end of the hall. He didn’t say a word as I followed him out to the car. In fact, he didn’t say anything for the first four hours of the drive. He just drove with his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. The tension just rolled off of him, making it hard to know what I should do or say. I decided that this was one of those times that I just needed to sit there with my mouth shut. There was no need to poke the bear with a stick, so I just tried to keep my attention focused on the scenery outside my window. There were a couple of times that I noticed him looking over in my direction, but he never said a word. I wished he would say something. Anything. I had so many questions, but I couldn’t work up the courage to ask him.