by KB Winters
“That’s true, but you forget we’re all veterans. Planning has been drilled into us until it’s second nature.” He shrugged. “Some guys don’t live that way because they hate it, but for some of us, it has become a way of life.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep.” Finally, the waitress arrived with our food, burgers and fries for both of us. I dug in and moaned. “Definitely a sleeper.”
“A what?”
“You know, it looks like the kind of place that will give you food poisoning, but damn this burger is amazing!” It had bacon and avocado on it with smoked Gouda.
“You could still get food poisoning,” he pointed out.
I froze at his words and grinned. “Totally worth it.” We made quick work of our food, but still the sun was sinking in the sky when we walked out to his bike. “You guys have something against actual cars?”
He flashed that damn panty-melting smile again, and not gonna lie, those bad boys melted right off. “Wouldn’t make sense for a motorcycle club to drive minivans, would it?” His lips twitched, and I bumped my hip against his.
“You’re not funny.”
“Yet you’re smiling.” He pushed me up against the pickup beside his bike with his big body shadowing out all other light. “Why is that I wonder,” he brushed a kiss along one side of my jaw, then the other. “Maybe you actually like me,” he whispered before nibbling my ear and kissing his way to my mouth. “Is that it, Minx, you like me?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, just took my mouth in a blistering kiss that made me forget all of my reservations about him. Made me forget that we were in the middle of a parking lot on the side of the freeway. Forget that this man kissing me was a distraction. But dammit, he was deliciously distracting, doing things to my mouth that I felt in my pussy. Moments under his spell and my skin became slick. Slippery. And his hands—big and strong and compelling—never moved from my hips. He pulled back, and I knew I wore a stupid, hazy grin. “I really like doing that.”
He grinned. “Me too,” he responded and stepped back to help me on the bike. In no time, we were eating up the pavement toward Brently. The night air chilled my overheated skin, but a prickle of awareness washed over me, and I didn’t know the cause. I’d learned years ago to listen to that instinct, and I held myself stiff and looked over my shoulder.
Nothing.
Weird. Maybe I imagined it, I thought. It wouldn’t be completely odd for me to feel in danger when no danger existed, but this didn’t feel like that. I looked again, and just as I turned back two sets of lights flipped on. Bike lights. “Cash,”—I patted his shoulder and shouted in his ear— “we have company.”
He took a look of his own and revved the engine, throttling faster down the highway. The roar vibrated my whole body which was still on the edge from that kiss. It was a strange mixture of fear and desire that I wasn’t sure I liked, but seeing as I was pressed tight against the hard body of a former SEAL, there wasn’t much I could do about it. He crossed between cars on all sides, making a serpentine motion down the road to put some distance between us and the bikers giving chase. Five minutes later the lights couldn’t be seen, and he slowed onto the side of the road and turned off the lights. “Shit.”
“I guess you know who that was?”
He nodded as he removed the helmet. “Got a pretty good fucking idea.”
Of course he did. “Club shit?” Lately there had been too much club shit going on for guys who proclaimed to be the good guys.
“Yeah.”
“Okay then. Get me home please.”
He nodded and climbed off the bike and walked away to make a call that lasted maybe twenty seconds, and then we were back on the road. Forty minutes later I closed and triple-locked my door behind me and let out a few calming breaths. My hands shook and my teeth chattered, only a hot tea with a shot of whiskey would do me any good, so I marched to the kitchen on autopilot.
I couldn’t say for sure but I was pretty sure some bad shit was brewing—again—and I had a feeling this time, things would end with a simple club vote.
***
Cash
“Those fuckers tried to run me off the road, and I had Minx on the bike with me!” I fumed, pacing in front of the Church doors where Mick and Roddick waited for me. “They had to have been following me because I only came up on Minx by chance.” I froze. “Unless they were following her.”
Roddick stood, an imposing figure, stood broad with arms crossed and a dark scowl on his face. “No more following them on your own. Teams from here on out.” He stared me down to make sure I heard him.
“Got it.” Goddamn Rocky and Wagman had become a pain in my ass and the club’s. Right about now I wanted to kick my own ass for not voting to get rid of them all. “They’re moving drugs over the border for the Mexican Devils.”
“Yeah, Dante told me they tried to sell some to his crew which is weird since the cartels don’t fuck with black.” Mick scratched his beard, his gaze darting between me and Roddick. “Think we should take that news to Lazarus?”
Roddick blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand down his beard. “You mean some enemy of my enemy type shit?”
He nodded. “Exactly. It would relieve us of the headache they’re causing by hanging around Brently. Plus, if Lazarus finds out on his own we’ll be cleaning bodies up off the streets of Brently, and then we’ll have to worry about Sheriff Darlington.”
I nodded. “If they’re following me they might be following others, so we need to make sure everyone keeps their heads on a swivel.” I was so fucking amped up from that chase, I knew it would be hours before I came down. Knowing one of those crazy bastards could have started shooting with Minx between us made me so damn mad I didn’t think I’d be able to stop myself from hunting them down and filling those assholes full of lead. “I need to get out of here,” I grumbled, still pacing like a caged animal.
“Come on, let’s go grab some food.” Mick clapped me on my back and pushed me toward the exit. “You’re too damn wound up, man.”
“Minx was on the back of my bike, bro. Last time fucking Wagman let a few bullets loose.” I shook my head, still fucking fuming from that shit. “I got a bullet with that motherfucker’s name on it, Mick.”
“If you have to, just make sure it’s justified. The last thing we need right now is to start more shit with the cartel.”
I knew what he was saying was right. We were still rebuilding our numbers and getting back to trusting one another again. CAOS wasn’t ready for battle, and I’d be damned if I pushed us there before we were. But I had a strong urge to fuck some shit up right about now.
“So you and Minx, huh?”
I grinned as we walked into Black Betty. “She’ll deny it until her dying breath, but yeah.” I wanted to ask Mick about her past again because I knew she was hiding something, but for some reason, I wanted her to be the one to tell me. “Skittish as hell, though.”
Mick took the booth near the back, facing the window. I didn’t like having my back to the door, but I trusted Mick with my life. Had done so many times in the past, except those last three years after he’d retired. “Yeah, well, she has a good reason to be skittish. If you mistreat her, Talon will cut off your balls so…you know.”
Yeah, I knew, but still I laughed at the image of his little dark-haired spitfire coming at me. “Yeah, I got it,” I sighed. “But the truth is she’s more likely to mistreat me,” I told him. She was scared, and I knew people often struck out when they were too scared to act, which meant I needed to be careful. I liked Minx, but settling down wasn’t on my immediate agenda. “You think we’re gonna end up in the shit with Wagman and Rocky?”
Mick nodded, but his answer came slower. This was why I respected Mick so much. He never made snap decisions. He thought about shit before he spoke. “They’re trying to make some cash as freelancers which comes with more danger, but they know how we operate so they know how to work around us. Mo
st important of all, those assholes want revenge.”
Yeah, I knew how fucking dangerous that could be. “Who would’ve thought we left the middle east behind and still ended up at war?” It’s not exactly how I pictured retirement, but when I left the SEALs I was lost. After a decade of structure and order and unattainable goals, my head was fucked up without it. Meeting up with Mick and CAOS had given me new goals that were doable. It had given me a purpose. I could be a badass outlaw without actually being a bad guy.
“Yeah, but this is the first time we’ve had to deal with shit like this. Some guys need more money because they’re not smart enough to come up with a side hustle like the rest of us. If I didn’t have the mini mart and service station, I might be more understanding.”
I nodded, understanding perfectly. Years in the service with no home, no bills, and no debt meant most of us had come out with a shit ton of cash saved to invest in something when we got home. Guys like Toro and Wagman spent until they were broke and then bitched about being broke. “Still they could have taken it to Rod.”
When the waitress—not Nadine thankfully— dropped off our food, we dug in and ate in silence for a few minutes. Though I had just eaten, I inhaled my club sandwich. It wasn’t close to what I wanted to release this tension, but I was pretty sure it was my only option if Minx’s goodbye was any clue.
“You gotta remember, Cash, some of these guys are old school. They didn’t volunteer like we did, hell even like Roddick did. Coming back with what we came back with when you didn’t want that shit in the first place? Breeds a fuck of a lot of resentment.”
“I guess.” I couldn’t stay calm and think about those fuckers, so I finished off my sandwich and onion rings and ordered a beer. I needed to focus on something more compelling. Like a certain sultry brunette with more curves than a San Francisco street and big brown eyes that could drown a man if he wasn’t smart enough to reach for air.
I feared I wasn’t quite that smart.
Chapter Four
Cash
“You gonna hit me with that?” My lips twitched as I eyed the bat Minx held in her hands, a wary smile aimed my way.
“I might. You planning on making a habit of dropping by unannounced?” Despite her harsh words, she stepped back and let me in. “No food this time?”
I laughed a pulled a big white bag with a greasy, nearly clear bottom from behind me. “Rosita’s okay with you?”
She nodded and pushed the door shut behind me, engaging all three locks as she always did. “If you have a burrito in there with green chile salsa, I might start liking you.”
“You already like me,” I told her arrogantly because we both knew it was true. She might not want to like me, but she did. That’s why she let me in her house and why she smiled at me now, like she knew a secret the rest of us didn’t. “It’s okay, Minx, because I like you, too.”
“Now I can die a happy woman,” she put on her best Southern drawl with her hands to her chest and fluttered her lashes.
“Glad to oblige, sugar.” I winked, and she yanked the bag from me and left me standing in the small foyer. “So how’d you end up doing on that test?”
She frowned at the question as she pulled small cups of condiments from the bag, then recognition dawned. “I got a solid A. Not a perfect score but pretty damn close.”
“Care to share what that test was, exactly?”
She sighed and slammed one of the burritos on the table. “I’ve been taking online courses at UCSD, and one of my classed required an in person test. No big deal.”
Seemed like a pretty big fucking deal to me, but I decided not to push. For now. “I took a few business classes before investing some money with my friends. Made me think maybe I should’ve gone to school instead of the military.”
“You regret your time in the Navy?”
“No, but that shit doesn’t go away.”
She nodded like she got it, and I wondered what shit from her past stayed with her. “You’re a numbers guy?” I nodded, wearing a proud grin. “Figures,” she grumbled. “I work hard to get good grades, but being out of school so long means it’ll probably always be hard.” She froze as though she was waiting for me to ask more.
Since she started opening up to me a little more, I looked her straight in the eyes. “You gonna tell me now?”
“Maybe after dinner,” was all she said and opened the first burrito. “We can split them unless you have a preference?”
My gaze darkened at the tiny scrap of clothes she wore, the way her nipples puckered under my gaze. “I’d prefer to eat it off you, but I suppose you have objections.”
She laughed. “Melted cheese and salsa? Yeah, I object.”
“I don’t know, girl, it could be fun.”
She froze, and I waited for her sharp tongue to lash me for my words. “Maybe on your sheets, but I’m not cleaning it up.”
Well damn, she shocked the hell out of me. I leaned back and laughed loud and hard while she stared like I’d grown another head. “Thanks for that. And I’ll happily clean up anything you let me eat off you.”
She kept a saucy grin on her face while we finished putting together our plates and took them into the living room, along with a bottle of tequila. She made margaritas but I was a man, I didn’t drink margaritas. “Suit yourself.” She shrugged and poured a glass for her then set a measly half shot of tequila in front of me.
I ate in silence while that dinky little shot mocked me. In the end, I blamed the hot salsa along with my desire to see Minx smile again on my surrender. “Fine, pour me a drink. Please.” The sound of her laugh and the way her tits jiggled when she did made it all worth it. Never mind the margarita was damn good. “You make good drinks. Maybe you should get paid for it,” I joked.
“Want to pay me for it?”
“Cash or credit,” I asked with more than a little innuendo in my tone. I gave her a long, heated look and licked my lips. Her pulse raced as her breathing changed, a small triangle of pink peeked out of her mouth and swept across her bottom lip, pulling a groan from me. “Flesh?”
With a pronounced swallow, she picked up her refreshed glass and took a few big gulps. “You’re not that irresistible, you know.”
“Oh, but I am,” I told her and sat back, the half empty plate on my lap. “And you want me.”
She stood quietly and walked away, and I bit back a groan. Damn, the woman was prickly as fuck. I never knew which words of mine would set her off. But she turned me on, and I couldn’t stop flirting with her. I opened my mouth to apologize when a very small and thin tank top landed on my head. “You’re right. I do.”
I was on my feet and marching after her down the hall because goddammit I couldn’t get enough of her. She was a unique mixture of shy and adventurous that kept my dick hard and my mind occupied. I stepped over her shorts on my way to her room and had to stop and adjust my cock trying to press past my zipper. Yeah, I knew I would keep coming back as long as she would let me because she was fucking irresistible. “I knew it,” I told her and stopped dead in my tracks at the door to her bedroom.
Minx lay on the bed with her feet up, completely naked with her head tossed back and one finger plunging into the slick heat between her legs. “You gonna join or watch?”
I swallowed. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll watch first. Then join,” I told her and freed my cock from his restraints, stroking it as I watched her.
“Fine by me,” she moaned, and I gripped my cock tight knowing I wouldn’t be able to wait too long.
Chapter Five
Minx
Another week off from the clubhouse made me glad that I own my little business or else I’d be in serious financial trouble. With Magnus gone there was a consensus that I didn’t get paid unless I worked, which I respected, but now that work hadn’t been as steady as it was, I knew I needed to step up my plans. I spent the first two days off finishing Talon’s dress along with two retro style rompers. Over the next day and a half, I cut
new patterns and made two new dresses with different cuts and put them up online. I offered nearly a dozen colors and sizes so all I needed to do was wait. And advertise.
Today, though, I planned to rest, maybe do a little grocery shopping and clean my house. A nice boring day that most people took for granted but always managed to make me feel a little giddy. Packing up three boxes, I stopped at the post office where I ran into Trudy. “Hey, babe. How are things?”
Her smile looked haunted, but it was real. “Good. Really good now that Dagger’s fully healed.” Her shoulders had finally gotten rid of the stress they’d carried around for months now.
“I’m glad to hear that.” The guys had fucked him up pretty bad, leaving him with busted ribs and broken fingers, never mind all the bruises and cuts everywhere.
“Do you think Talon would mind if I stopped by? I have some things for her, but I don’t want to intrude.”
“Are you kidding? She’s bored when she’s not at the restaurant because Mick won’t let her do anything but sit around wrapped in cotton. I’m headed there now, why don’t we go together?”
“Oh no, that’s all right. I just wanted to thank her for saving Dagger’s life. He finally told me he went over there and she helped him without question.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I owe her so much. I just…” She turned her head, looking around as if someone could hear us. “I just don’t like all the bad things that happen around the club,” she said, practically in a whisper.
“Come with me.”
“No, that’s all right. But you can take it to her. I’ll wait for you in the parking lot.”
I frowned but agreed. I guessed I shouldn’t judge her too harshly because I might not act all that different if my man had nearly died. I shipped my packages and grabbed the cooler from Trudy before I got in the van and headed to the fabric store for some new fabric for a few patterns I had in mind. I put everything else out of my head—or at least tried to. Cash, my secret wish for my own little boutique. Cash. My future in Brently. Cash.