by Jayne Blue
Paps laughed. “Fine. I wasn’t gonna say cap him. I was just gonna say find his weakness. If he’s a one-of-a-kind rare asshole who doesn’t have one, you make it.”
I grabbed a beer bottle from the fridge and slid it across to him. Paps nodded and unscrewed the cap. “That’s plan C,” I said. “Hammy’s talking to Carleen. I’m sure she can set one of her girls up with Dodge. That shit gets messy though, too many moving parts.”
Paps took a sip of his beer. “Yeah. But it works. So what’s plan B, or A, or whatever the hell you’re on?”
“Hoping he’ll see reason. There’s no downside to The Den expansion. None. Ya know we could do this the normal way and take it to the public. Put pressure on him that way.”
Paps set his beer down. “Well, that’s no fun. Plus, that could take a year or more. You don’t have that kind of time. I’ve seen the books.”
I sat across from him and opened my own beer. “What the hell are you doing snooping around in my books?”
Paps leaned in close. He had my same green eyes, though his dulled a little. He still wore his hair long, pulling his thinning strands of gray back into a ponytail. “I’m just keeping an eye on my retirement plan.”
I tipped the neck of my beer bottle at him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “That’s one thing you never have to worry about, Paps. I take care of my own.”
“Hmm. Your own. You mean that motley group back at The Den or do you just mean me?”
“Both.”
Paps shook his head and reached across the table. He grabbed my wrist. “Son. You’re thirty years old. And I ain’t getting any younger. At a certain point, I’m not gonna be able to take care of you anymore.”
I patted his arm and leaned across the table. I gave him a kiss on the top of his head and finished the last of my beer. We’d had this conversation a million times. “Don’t start.”
“You got nothing but that club in your life; you’re gonna wind up dead by the time you’re forty. Just like half my old crew.”
“You’re worse than a woman.”
“Yeah? If your ma were still here, she’d be telling you the same thing.” I hesitated in my step. Paps rarely brought up my mother. I was two years old when she died and barely remembered her. She was a casualty of that last club war. The bastards shot up the garage where most of the crew worked. My mom did the books and got caught in a hail of bullets. He drifted for a few years, then finally, he couldn’t stay in Kentucky with his memories. When I was twelve, we came to Emerald Point and he patched in here.
“I’m okay, Paps. Don’t worry.”
He made that dog growl noise again and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Get outta here,” he said. I raised a brow at him. He waved me off. “I mean it. You can’t keep shit secret. You’re meeting that girl from the other night.”
I grabbed my jacket off the hook on the wall and headed for the door. Paps kept calling after me but I ignored him. If I stopped to engage him, I’d never hear the end of it. I didn’t need one more hassle before I saw Harper again.
I took the scenic route along the coast. More than anything I wanted Harper on the back of my bike to share it with me. With any luck, I’d get my wish. That is, if she showed up.
I pulled into D’Angelo’s early. I had some business to talk over with him anyway. He gave me a wave over the cash register when I walked in. I reached over and clasped his hand.
“Am I overdue?” Dee said. He slid a pencil behind his ear and pulled off his apron.
“Naw, man. I’m meeting an old friend. That’s all.”
“Hmm. You want something private? The table in the back is cleared off. I know you like watching the door.”
I nodded. “Old habits. And thanks.”
“You wanna let me know who this old friend is? I can have one of the girls keep an eye out.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Nosy old shit, aren’t you? Let’s just say you’ll know her when you see her.”
Dee laughed and slammed the cash register drawer shut. The bell chimed at the front door as it opened again. Dee lifted his chin and his eyes narrowed as he looked at me again. “I think I know what I’m seeing. That your friend?”
I jerked my head around. Damn. Harper was early. She wore a pair of faded blue jeans that cupped her ass and a fitted green t-shirt that said “Run for MS 5k Detroit.” She still had her hair in that tight ponytail and slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans as she walked in. Her face flushed when she saw me and I turned back toward Dee.
“Shit, Nash,” Dee whispered as he leaned over the cash register. “I know that girl. She’s new in town. She comes in here with her old lady on Sundays. Works for the mayor. She’s out of your league.”
I turned back and smiled. “Stick to counting your money, Holmes.”
Harper wagged five fingers at me and I pointed toward the corner table in the back. Slapping the top of the counter, I asked Dee to bring me back a black coffee and whatever Harper usually ordered. He bit his lip to keep from smiling then nodded his head.
Harper sat down before I could get to her, taking the chair closest to the wall. I sat opposite her and crossed my knee at the ankle. I didn’t know how to act with her. I wanted to reach across the table and give her a friendly kiss hello like you do with old friends. But she kept her posture rigid, folding her hands in her lap. Dee caught her eye and she lifted a finger to confirm her order.
“Thanks for meeting me,” I said. “I wasn’t sure you’d show.”
Harper smiled. “I wasn’t sure I would either.”
“You look good,” I said. “Hell, you smell good. I forgot that part.”
This earned me that slow flush of her cheeks that got to me every time. She straightened her back and brushed her hand along her thigh. Dee came over himself with our drinks. He had a towel slung over his shoulder and took his sweet time wiping a spot in front of Harper before he set down her Diet Coke.
“You let me know if he starts any trouble, Miss May. Nash here can get a little feisty.”
Harper cocked her head to the side. “I remember.”
I shot Dee a cold stare. He raised his hands and backed away.
“I guess you still get around,” she said.
I took a sip of my coffee then pushed it away from me. “Emerald Point isn’t very big. Hell, there aren’t that many natives up and down the coast. Population is mostly tourists. You stay here long enough, you’ll know everybody too. Is that what you’re planning?”
She took a sip of her drink and I couldn’t help how much I liked watching her lips. It sent a shiver through me. If I closed my eyes, I could see her naked on my bed at the old apartment. She was lying on her stomach kicking her feet back and forth as she flipped through a magazine. When I walked to the edge of the bed, she slid her hands up my thighs and cupped my ass. “I want you,” she’d whispered, then slid those lips around me and made my toes curl.
Once upon a time this girl held nothing back from me. Now she was wound up tight as hell.
“I live with my mother,” she said. “She can’t handle Michigan winters anymore.”
I leaned back and crossed my arms and read her shirt again. “I remember. She was sick. That’s why you had to go back to Michigan. MS, is it?”
Harper’s eyes flicked to mine. She gripped her glass and stared into it. “Yes. She’s okay most of the time. But she had a bad flare-up a few months ago and now she’s in a wheelchair some days. I took her to the doctor today.”
I reached across the table and closed my hand around Harper’s wrist. An electric charge seemed to arc between us but she didn’t pull away. “She’s lucky to have you.”
“I’m lucky to find work with full benefits.” She hadn’t met my eyes, she just kept staring into her glass. It was an explanation I hadn’t asked for. Harper was doing what she had to do to survive, just like she’d done six years ago. Just like we both were.
“Ah. So that’s how he lured you down here?”
; “He? Who’s he?”
“Mayor Dodge.”
“Partly, yes. Also the climate, like I told you.”
“Hmm. Well, now you’ve told me why Emerald Coast is better for your mother. What about you? Was it the beach you couldn’t stay away from?”
Her blush deepened and finally, the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile. There was my girl. She recovered quickly though. “I’m not a teenager on summer break anymore, Nash. I’m a grown woman with certain responsibilities.”
“Your mother. You said that. You got her good bennies and sunshine. But Florida’s a pretty big state. And there are plenty of other places where the sun shines. Why come here?”
Her blush receded and her skin started to look pale. She fidgeted and drew lines in the condensation on the side of her glass. “It’s where I got an offer.”
“Mmm hmm. Just out of the blue?”
“Nash, what are you getting at? Is there some question you wanted to ask me? Is that why you wanted to meet?”
“I wanted to meet because I’m glad to see you. Hell, baby, I had no idea how glad until there you were sitting in some dark corner of my bar.”
“Really? I’m surprised you noticed, what with all the tentacles hanging off you.” She tightened her lips into a little “o” after she said it. She’d tried to maintain her cool but obviously the Darcy Show got to her.
I barked out a laugh. “Well, I can’t claim to know you anymore, Harper. But you sounded jealous just then.”
She shook her head. “No. God. No. What you do is your own business. And what I do is mine.”
“Is it?”
She slammed her hand down and sat back hard in her chair. “Just come out and say it. You’re dancing around a question. Out with it.”
I leaned forward. My leather jacket creaked as I took her hands in mine and brought her fingers to my lips. God, she tasted good. Her skin was warm and soft and tasted like honey. I remembered what the other parts of her tasted like and it took everything in me not to bend her over the table right then and there and see if she was wet for me. The way her eyes flashed fire, I knew the answer was yes. We’d had such a short time together, but I still remembered every inch of her and how she responded to me. Damn if I didn’t want to relearn it. But she was right, we had business between us.
“Dodge,” I said. “Does he know you’re here with me?”
She blinked wildly and tried to pull her hands away from me. That gave me all the answer I needed. I dropped her hands and sat back.
“That’s about what I figured. So tell me, how’d he connect you to me?”
She rubbed her hand over her brow and crossed her arms in front of her. “It’s not like that.”
“What’s it like?”
“I don’t know, okay? Shit. Nash, I need this job, okay? More than I can even tell you about.”
“Right. So what’s the play? He thinks if you come at me in those tight jeans I’m gonna lose control and tell you … what?”
She slammed a fist against the table loud enough to draw Dee’s attention behind the counter. “I don’t know what the deal is between you and Mayor Dodge. It has nothing to do with me.”
“So he didn’t ask you about me after I left? Hell, Harper, I told you. Emerald Coast ain’t that big. Your friend, pencil-necked Chris, figured out we had a history in about two seconds. For days you avoid me. Then after the mayor sees you with me, I pick up a phone and bam, you’re ready to meet me here. How’m I doing so far?”
Harper’s face turned to stone. She squeezed her arms around herself so tight I thought her tits might actually pop off. I wasn’t mad at her. Far from it. But if she started lying to me now, I’d know it.
“Maybe you just have an inflated sense of your own importance,” she said.
I shook my head and laughed. “Come on, Harper. I’m not going to pretend we know each other like we did all those years ago. But I know enough. Something’s upsetting you, you’re holding something back. You work for a mayor who’s had it in for me and my club since the day he took office. We’re at crossed purposes, you could say. I know he’s not above trying to use somebody I care about against me.”
She flinched.
“Yeah,” I said, leaning in. “I said it. I care about you. Never stopped.”
“Nash … I …”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. You can’t. You just keep telling yourself that, maybe you’ll start to believe it. What I do know is that, what was it, six years ago? You and I shared a pretty spectacular weekend together, baby. One that I think about a hell of a lot more than I like to admit. By the blush that’s creeping up your neck right now, I’m guessing you do too. I’d like to get to know you again. But I’m not gonna be played by you or the mayor. Got it?”
She let her eyes fall and let out a breath. I sat back in my chair and rested my chin on my fist. The ball was in her court now. Truth or lies. If she told me coming here was a mistake one more damn time, I was gonna walk out the door and never look back.
“I had no idea the mayor had any sort of beef with you when I took the job. I swear.”
I nodded but didn’t shift my posture. She looked up and finally met my eyes. Hers widened and she jutted out her chin, irritated that I wasn’t going to let her off the hook with just that.
“Okay, fine. Yes. The mayor likes the fact that I know you personally.”
“Yeah? What does he know?”
“Nothing! You weren’t exactly stealthy the other day. Like you said, everyone in that office figured you were on the make … er … with me.”
I slammed my fist against the table and leaned in close so she’d hear me whisper. “Are you fucking telling me that prick is trying to pimp you out to me?”
She ground her teeth so hard I heard a little popping noise. “I’m not a whore, Nash. He asked me to meet with you.”
“Uh huh. But I’m guessing it wasn’t to convey some message directly from him.”
She shook her head.
“Honey, you work for a bad dude. You get that?”
She nodded, but her eyes pleaded with me.
“Now when you left six years ago …”
She put up a hand. “I didn’t just leave, Nash. If we’re being honest with each other, let’s not stop now.”
I sat back again. “Fine. You’re right. Shit went down hard and you were unlucky enough to be near it.”
“You asked me to stay with you, then you pushed me away.”
I smiled. “Would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Would you have stayed? Be honest.”
Tears clouded her eyes and my heart twisted up. I hadn’t accounted for the fact that the way we left things hurt her. Fuck. I was a dick. I made her a lot of promises that weekend. I kept the ones I could and some of them she could never know about. But in the end it was way too damn dangerous for her to be around me back then. The last night at the old Den, the Brigands started a fight and I got stabbed trying to defend Harper. She wanted to stay and take care of me but I made her get on a plane and promise never to look back. I wasn’t going to have her end up like my mom.
“You didn’t give me a choice,” she said.
“Fair enough. But what about now?”
“Now? I barely know you.”
“But you can’t deny that the main reason you came here today was because Mayor Dodge ordered you to. Is that right?”
She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. Shit. She was in turmoil. That was plain to see. It took everything in me not to want to ride straight over to City Hall and pound the shit out of that asshole. But above all else, I had my club to protect. As much as I wanted to make everything okay for Harper, she was right. We didn’t know each other anymore. I couldn’t assume anything.
“It’s all a front anyway, isn’t it?” she asked, looking up at me with tears in her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“You and the mayor. You’ve cleaned up your act. He says that’s what you want ev
eryone to believe. But trouble still follows you around, doesn’t it? The kind that gets people hurt.”
I rose slowly and threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table. “You asking for him or for you? Is that what you think?”
She ran a hand across her nose and looked back up at me. “I don’t know.”
I looked up at the ceiling, shook my head, then leveled my gaze back at her. “Three days, Harper. I gave you three days of my life. If things had been different … Did you think I was hiding anything or holding back? Because I wasn’t.”
I leaned down and kissed her. It was hard and urgent, full of all the promises I wanted to make her all those years ago and some new ones too. She tilted her head back and sank into me as her body responded to mine just like it had back then. Fuck. There’d be nothing to relearn. She remembered. I’d forgotten how fucking good she felt. She yielded to me with a little groan that made my cock ache for her.
But it didn’t matter. If she didn’t believe me and allied herself with the mayor, it didn’t matter one damn bit. I couldn’t afford to head down this road with her until I knew the stakes.
Harper was breathless when I pulled away. She put two fingers to her swollen lips. Her eyes glistened with tears that tore at me. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t think with my dick where she was concerned. Too many people depended on me. “See you around, Harps,” I said. “When you figure out whose side you’re on, that is.”
She gasped as I slammed my fist against the table, waved toward Dee, and walked out the door.
Chapter Seven
Harper
* * *
I had no legs. No breath. I was stupid to think getting this close to Nash wouldn’t come with consequences. He turned my blood to liquid heat with just a look. When he kissed me I couldn’t think straight.
“You okay, Miss May?” D’Angelo stood over me. I think he’d asked the question more than once. I shook the fog out of my head and smiled up at him.
“Yeah. I’m good. Thanks.”