by Romi Hart
They both stood, and she motioned for him to lead the way. “Alright, after you, cowboy.” Harrison started toward the back entrance, Skye on his heels. This was going to be a disaster if he didn’t play his cards right, and he wasn’t great with a poker face when it came to these things.
He slowed his gait, taking his time as he continued trying to find the right words. He glanced back at Skye and wondered what she was thinking, her face contorted with concern. She obviously noted his reluctance, and he could do nothing to change that. What would she think about his proposal? He pushed the back door open and held it for her as she slid past him into the darkness beyond.
“Well, we’re alone. In an alley,” she commented, raising an eyebrow at him. “What’s going on?”
Harrison lifted his hand and scrubbed his palm slowly down his face, as if he could wipe away the stress of this discussion. “Since you were attacked again, I’ve been wrestling with how to tell you this. I’m terrible with words, so I’ll just say it outright.” He sighed and drew in his lip as he bit into it slightly. “I don’t like you working here, being in danger and getting mauled on a regular basis. I don’t like the way all these assholes drool over you and paw at you. I know you have goals and dreams, and the last thing I want to do is get in the way, but it’s killing me to hold back, Skye. So, I want to pay for whatever business it is you want to run so you can quit this shithole.” There, it was out in the open, and there was no taking it back.
Skye blinked twice but said nothing, just staring at him. Then, her eyes sparked, even in the darkness, and Harrison knew he’d made a grave error in judgment.
Hands on her hips, she began in a deathly calm voice, “Who are you to tell me what to do? We’re not an item, Harrison, and I really don’t need to bow down to your desires. So, let’s set that record straight. You don’t have to like what I do, unless you want to stake a claim on me.
“But what’s worse is, you take that stance as if we’re going to be together, and you still have no fucking clue who I am! You go running off at the mouth, still not understanding a damn thing I’ve told you.”
Confused, Harrison stared back, eyes wide. “I thought you wanted out of here, Skye. I’m offering you everything you wanted. Why would you fight it?”
She spread her arms, looking exasperated. “How stupid are you, Harrison? Don’t you get it? I don’t want or need your money. I never have. I can take care of myself, and I won’t let anyone buy me. I’m not for sale, and I’m not going to let you take my independence to ease your fucking jealousy.”
Jealousy! That wasn’t the big issue here, and Harrison wasn’t going to admit there was any issue at all in that capacity. Angry, he shook his head. “Damn, Skye, I try and try to do what I think will make you happy, but it seems like when it comes to me, you’ll never be content. I should have known it all along.”
She flinched, as if he’d slapped her. “Yeah, well, maybe it’s time you learned women aren’t commodities that you can buy and trash from a cheap liquor store. You might need to back off.”
“Fine. I’ll just exit stage left.” He stormed past Skye, toward the end of the alley where he could walk around to the parking lot without going back through the club. He needed to get out, fast, before he said or did something even dumber.
“That’s it?” Skye hollered after him. Harrison turned and gave a sarcastic salute before rounding the corner and disappearing completely from Skye’s line of sight.
* * *
Harrison rounded the chicane quickly and rolled the bike into the lot of the Devil’s Flames’ clubhouse, still reeling as he slammed on the brakes and shut the machine down. It was still a confusing mess, but her adamant refusal that there was anything between them spoke volumes, and he was just glad he hadn’t confessed his feelings to her. That would have been an even bigger kick in the balls.
He stewed as he entered the clubhouse, realizing he’d screwed up yet again by leaving the damn strip club without telling Eli. He pulled out his phone and punched in a message, jamming his finger so hard at the screen he wondered how he didn’t break it.
“Shouldn’t you be on security duty?” Harrison barely glanced up at his president as he stepped behind the bar and reached for a bottle of Petron.
“Fuck off, Corey,” he launched. He never talked to his leader that way, but he was in no mood to deal with reprimands at the moment.
“Excuse me?” Corey didn’t take well to his boys giving him attitude, but Harrison was beyond caring.
Meeting Corey’s eyes as he opened the bottle, he sneered. “I said. Fuck. Off.”
“You think you want to make me?” Corey asked, his voice full of rage as the vein in his forehead popped out.
“If the job needs doing.” Harrison cracked his knuckles, coming around the bar fast to confront his president, his vision and thoughts clouded with fury. But before he could shatter Corey’s jaw as he pictured, Rafe’s hand closed in a firm grip on his wrist. Harrison spun, intent on connecting a fist with his VP’s chin, but Rafe caught it and held Harrison back.
“That’s enough of this shit,” Rafe said firmly.
“Get your hands off me, Rafe,” Harrison warned. “I’ll take you both. Don’t piss me off any more than I already am.”
Corey stepped up beside Rafe, fuming, pointing a finger in Harrison’s face that he wanted to bite off. “I don’t know what crawled up your ass, but you better pull it out before I perform said surgery myself. And I won’t make you comfortable for it.” He walked away, his shoulders tight, and Harrison wanted to follow and throw down. But he knew it wouldn’t accomplish anything but bad blood with his leader.
He shoved away from Rafe, who stood watch but didn’t grab him again. Pacing back and forth, he mumbled to himself, the liquor forgotten. Rafe gave him space, but eventually, he broke through in a low, calm voice. “I don’t know what’s got your goat, but fighting amongst ourselves is going to make things more difficult for everyone. We’ve got bigger fish to fry, but we have to work together. We have new intel on Gomez.”
That finally got his attention. Their last attempt had been a failure because there was another leak in the overall organization, and Gomez caught wind of the plan in time to disappear. The Diamond Kings had dealt with their traitor, and things had settled down while they all waited for a new opportunity. “Well?” he snapped.
“He’s underground, and the Kings called in the Hellhounds to sniff him out,” Rafe explained. “They tracked him, and if we play it close and tight, we can snag him and call it a day.”
That was music to Harrison’s ear, and he smiled, despite his festering mood. “Great. We’ll make sure he stays underground. Six feet under.”
* * *
Harrison stood at the edge of the lake, staring out over the water. He was weary, his mind exhausted and his emotions wrecked. Although he looked forward to the upcoming plan with the Flames to dispense with Gomez once and for all, his heart remained heavy as he considered that he understood even less about women than he’d imagined. He’d obviously misread the signals and interpreted kindness and lust on Skye’s part as reciprocated emotion.
He’d known she was too good for him. How could he have let himself fall for her? He’d never thought he’d fall for anyone, much less someone out of his league.
His body tensed as he thought about her physical reaction to him. Sure, he was good in bed. That seemed to be the consensus across the board. But no one had ever seemed so satisfied with him, the sex never so intense. Had he imagined it? Could it be that perfect if only one person was emotionally involved?
As all of this roiled inside him, he wondered why he couldn’t find the peace he usually sought at the clubhouse. Being around his club brothers only seemed to feed the beast that wanted to pillage and plunder to ease the pain of rejection. He felt crushed, suffocated, and so he’d come here, to the lake, where he looked for solace when all else failed.
It was a strange source of relief, considering he’d near
ly drowned here once. He and his aunt had often come out here together, his time with Aunt Darlene precious. But even as his heart rate slowed and he started to breathe normally, his mind pulled up the terrifying memory.
He’d been young, he couldn’t remember exactly how old, but around ten, and he wasn’t the best swimmer. Still, he’d wanted to cool off on an oppressively hot day, so he’d swam out into the lake against Aunt Darlene’s instructions. And he’d gone too far, unable to touch the bottom for leverage and running out of dog paddle energy.
“Harrison!” Her voice echoed across the water and came to him in bits and pieces as he struggled to keep his head above the surface and started to fail. She was already in the boat and paddling, getting close enough to toss out the lifesaver. “You can do it, Harrison! Grab on, hurry!”
He flailed and reached, and somehow, his fingers closed around the edge of the ring and drew it to him. He forced his arms through the opening and gasped for air as she started to haul him back in. He coughed and choked, water spewing and his head and lungs aching as she lifted him into the boat and wrapped him in her arms.
The fleece blanket that was half eaten with wear and elements served to wipe his face as she studied him. “I’m alright,” he sputtered, his throat sore.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded. “You know you can’t swim well enough to go out so far! I told you not to go in without me.”
“It was hot, and I got carried away. I’m sorry, Aunt Darlene. I won’t do it again.”
She nodded and patted his cheek. “So anxious to grow up and be the man of the house. But there’s a reason I make you wear a life vest when we go out. If you want to be a good captain and keep the family business alive, you have to be patient. Listen, learn, and take it all in before you make any decisions. Aunt Darlene had smiled at him, but she’d also waited for his confirmation that he understood.
Honestly, at the time, he hadn’t seen how stepping too far into the lake equated to taking over the fishing business. Now, though, he knew what she meant. He tended to act before he thought things through, and that led to failure in so many areas. It affected every area of his life. He couldn’t even have a place in the Devil’s Flames if he didn’t act like the leader he was supposed to be and make sure to have his brothers’ backs.
And he would chase tail for the rest of his life, never settling down, if he couldn’t control his impulses. Jesus, when had that become a priority?
“I’ll make you proud, Aunt Darlene, I promise,” he’d told her as he’d picked up the oars and rowed back to shore.
She had laughed and shaken her head. “You already do, every day, kid.”
How long had it been since he’d seen her? Aunt Darlene had died so many years ago, and yet being back here, the memory was so fresh. He remembered the last time he’d seen her alive and realized she had been a large part of shaping him, even that day that he’d nearly died.
How poetically painful that the same water that had nearly taken his life ended up taking his aunt’s. Harrison had always measured women against his aunt, and they’d fallen short. None of them had that light, and maybe that was why he’d never cared to settle down. And then he’d met Skye. Her spirit was that bright beacon, like Darlene’s, and he didn’t miss the irony of having found his light only to have it turn him away. It was like nearly reaching shore as he followed the shimmer of the lighthouse, only for that light to burn out just in time for him to hit the rocks. And now, he wondered if he was going to survive that crash.
12
Rory’s tennis shoes crunched across the gravel lot as she strode toward the strip club. Thankfully, with it being the earlier hours she felt a little less unnerved about coming to this place, but since Eli had been stationed there regularly as of late, she didn’t really have much choice. As she approached the front door a Devil’s Flames prospect gave her a head nod, “Afternoon, Miss Rory,” he murmured as she walked up to the door. He pushed it open and held it for her as Rory regarded him with a polite nod of her own.
“Thanks, is Eli around?” she asked, pointing to the interior.
“Inside somewhere. I’m sure Charlie can help you out there.” Rory slipped through the door and gazed around uneasily before forcing herself to continue toward the bar where Charlie was busy wiping the counters. He looked up at her as she approached and smiled in greeting. It made her minutely less anxious.
“Hey, Charlie,” Rory said, sliding onto a barstool.
Charlie nodded and glanced past her as Skye strolled over. “Hey, Rory.” she side, plopping down hard on the seat next to her.
“How’s it going?” Rory replied.
“It’s…going.” Her frown deepened.
“You girls need a drink?” Charlie asked, eyeing them both as if trying to figure out the dynamic. Rory was pretty curious herself. Skye looked as unsettled as she felt.
* * *
“The usual, but make it a double,” Skye muttered with a wave of her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Rory asked, obviously unnerved by Skye’s mood.
Skye really hadn’t wanted to talk, and she certainly hadn’t meant to trigger this reaction in a woman who was big and pregnant with twins. But she sighed again and glanced sideways at Rory, considering the merit of confiding in her versus Eli’s rage if she managed to upset his beautiful wife. “It’s been a rough few weeks, and I know tonight’s going to be hellacious, especially if Harrison is still out,” she hedged.
“I can only imagine. You need a girls’ day out? I’m still up for mani-pedi outings, even if I don’t like shopping right now.” She wrinkled her nose and rubbed her belly, making Skye laugh.
Charlie set a bottle of water in front of Rory. “Let me know if you need anything else, will you? I have juice and soda.”
“The water is perfect, thanks.” Rory beamed at Charlie, who blushed.
Skye shook her head. That girl had a way of brightening anyone’s mood, just by being in the room. “How are you feeling? How’s the whole pregnant thing treating you?” Skye asked.
“Oh, swimmingly. And I mean that literally. Sometimes I feel like there are giant catfish flopping around in there and not nearly enough room for them.” She shook her head. “But we’re not talking about me, so stop trying to change the subject.”
Skye scowled. Rory was also far too perceptive sometimes and managed to poke the bear without making it roar. “There’s nothing a little girl time won’t erase,” she said, though she didn’t believe it herself.
“Great, a girls’ day starts with yoga, always. And in this case, I think we’re going to have to talk about your chakras. And Harrison.” She slipped the last in under her breath.
Groaning, Skye lowered her face into her hands. Apparently, even the Tall Dark and Silent type gossiped when they went home to their old ladies. And Eli tended to see more than she wanted to realize. “Yeah, we can talk about it. But not here.” Relenting, she asked, “Is tomorrow good for you?”
“Tomorrow is great!” Rory gushed.
Skye thought maybe this would give her a chance to ask questions of her own. About the Devil’s Flames, and about Harrison in particular. “But I want some answers of my own in exchange.”
“Fair enough. I’ll tell you what I can. There’s a lot I probably don’t know. That’s just the way it works.”
Skye nodded. “I’ll take what I can get. Text me your address. I’ll pick you up at noon tomorrow.” She stood to leave, having drained her drink faster than she’d planned.
“Wait, do you know where Eli is?” Rory asked. “I came to talk to him and got sidetracked. Glad for the distraction, though. I’m excited!”
“Me, too,” Skye admitted. “And I think he’s standing guard by the back door.”
“Thanks, Skye. I’ll text you my address and see you tomorrow.” Rory smiled, and Skye waved to her as she strode away.
Rory was a lucky woman. Eli seemed brooding and sometimes standoffish. He didn’t say a lot, but she had a feeling
he opened up quite a bit at home. And more importantly, he was loyal. He treated her with the same familial devotion he showed the club, and that was important in a relationship. They obviously communicated well, too, and beyond that, there was honesty and openness between them. They were on the verge of having a family, and that was amazing. Skye had always wondered if she would ever have one, and at this point, chances were looking pretty slim.
Was it wrong that she’d imagined having a child with Harrison’s good looks?
What Skye had started to realize was that she wanted what Rory had, as much as she wanted her independent, successful future. The problem was, society set a standard of expectations, which often diminished the importance of certain individuals based on profession or gender or some other quality. And Harrison may say he didn’t judge her for being a stripper, but his attitude about getting her to quit certainly said otherwise. And he still had that antiquated idea that you could buy a woman and her commitment. Somehow, he didn’t realize he already had her love, and he just needed to get a clue. Then, maybe they could be together.
She wasn’t blind, either. Her fierce independence caused even more problems. She sometimes got defensive, and that escalated an argument every time. She also knew a certain protective nature came with the territory when you got involved with a member of an MC, especially the Devil’s Flames. She saw that with Eli and Rory, and with Zeke and Leigh. But the overbearing need for male dominance that Harrison exuded chafed, and she was still livid at him for his offensive offer to buy her out of the strip club.
Didn’t he realize that, if he funded her future, her business, it wouldn’t be hers? She wouldn’t have the freedom she wanted. She would always feel obligated to at least share it with him, if not give him outright ownership, and that didn’t equate with what she wanted out of life. She’d still be answering to someone else, living on someone else’s dime.