Dangerous Love

by Jamie Begley

  “Good morning, Carter.”

  Her scorn-fueled greeting had the man she was addressing going pale.

  She shifted her eyes to their crotches, waiting for one or both of them to piss themselves after the obvious fact that she’d heard their remarks. “Maybe if you didn’t turn in papers that were filled with so many errors a five-year-old would write, you might have actually gotten that last award. But then, what do I know? According to you, I’m a brainless cocksucker.” Usually, Mika let such crass behavior slide off her back, but being called an ugly cunt had lit a fire in her that her thick skin couldn’t tolerate. “I’ll have to ask Nancy in HR if cocksucking is in my job description because, according to you, I’ve been slacking on that duty.” The others in the group began to disperse at frightening speed.

  That Carter looked like his leg had become ensnared in a bear’s trap hadn’t given her any pleasure. She’d been too hurt and disgusted at the level some men went to take the blame off their own shoulders, and instead putting it on an innocent who took her work seriously.

  It wouldn’t be the last time she’d had to deal with that type of behavior, but at least they’d been smart enough afterward not to do it within earshot.

  After toweling herself off, she opened the bag of makeup sitting next to the sink in the hope of doing an adequate job at applying it on her face.

  Taking a step back, she admired her handiwork. “Not bad, Mika. Not great either, but it’ll do.”

  If any of the men had a few drinks under their belts, it could get her a passing glance in a darkened bar.

  She was certain that neither of the two men outside would’ve given her a second glance, even with the casual clothes and makeup.

  Thankfully, she wasn’t looking for men who reminded her of Hawkeye or a dark-haired Thor. She was searching for basic. And the more basic, the better. Someone who didn’t stand out. Someone she could use to find out if she were capable of being normal during her brief stay in Treepoint.

  Classified as a prodigy since she was three years old, she spent her life in classrooms, striving to learn more to satisfy the thirst of knowledge that, despite the hours of dedication she put in, was never enough.

  She had few friends, and the few she’d kept throughout the years considered her boring and lifeless. They asked her how to fix a computer but never bothered to ask her opinion on the latest movie. And she loved movies, yet her “friends” never asked her to go to one. They’d used her as their listening board or shoulder to cry on, but anytime she ventured to give advice or expand the limits of the “friendship,” it was not just ignored criticized.

  That was why she decided to use the opportunity being in Treepoint would provide.

  A one-night stand. A way to get her feet wet with no repercussions, no guilt.

  Nothing but a brief encounter, one that would springboard a more confident and assured Mika. Then, when it was over, she would go back home to California. And the next time one of her friends talked about sex, she would have the experience and knowledge to contribute.

  She believed you learned by doing, but so far the only experience she had with sex was a goodnight kiss after her one and only date. That had been two years ago when she had agreed to meet someone on a dating app.

  Picking up the tube of red lipstick, she glided the vivid red color on her pursed lips. She had done her preliminary research, discovering that men found the color red sexually arousing.

  Preening in the mirror, she smacked her lips, then winced at her reflection.

  “This is going to be a disaster.”

  Yes, it is, the little voice at the back of her mind spoke up.

  CHAPTER 2

  While sliding a bill into the money slot, Jonas was unable to take his eyes off the auburn-haired woman as she turned the corner. If she hadn’t been giving him a death glare, he would have tried to make small talk.

  A finger was hovering over his selection when his partner and the redhead bumped into each other. His mouth twitched in a small smile when he saw that Hammer was just as disconcerted as he had been. But when the redhead moved aside, continuing on her way without giving Hammer the time of day, he was just as disappointed as when she had done it to him.

  “Damn.” Hammer had a heavy frown as he approached him.

  “I know, right?” he grumbled. “She say anything to you?” Making his selection, he then bent down to grab his soda.

  “She said, ‘excuse me.’” Taking his wallet out, Hammer grabbed a bill to get himself a drink as well.

  “What’d you say?” Jonas asked, unscrewing the bottle, then hastily holding it out so the bubbling liquid wouldn’t spill on him.

  “What do you think I said? I said, ‘I’m sorry.’”

  “That’s it?”

  “The rest is kind of a blur. Man, did you get a look at her?”

  “Yeah. Damn, I wonder how long she’s in town for. Or if she’s married.”

  “She didn’t seem like she wanted to stop and chat.” Hammer got his drink, not bothering to open his after seeing the mess Jonas was dealing with from the overly shaken bottle.

  “It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t seem the type to take us on anyway.”

  “No shit. Can’t imagine her taking on either one of us, much less both.”

  “Damn. You think she was here for the wedding?” Jonas knew that wasn’t possible, but he wanted to make sure. It had been hard to let the compelling woman walk away.

  “No.” Hammer strode next to him as they made their way back to their room. Opening the door, he went inside first, letting Hammer follow and close the door. “T.A. and Dalton invited close friends and relatives to the wedding and reception, and since we’re the ones who checked them all out, you know damn good and well she wasn’t there.”

  Jonas set the soda on the nightstand before sprawling out on one of the two double beds. “This is getting ridiculous. There has to be a woman somewhere that we can agree on, and who won’t run away when we tell them that we want to have a triad relationship.”

  Hammer sprawled out on the other bed. “If you come up with any ideas, let me know. I’m out of them. The last woman you wanted me to consider gave me the heebie-jeebies.”

  “Don’t blame me for that one. You’re the one who picked her out from her profile. I was just willing to take more of a chance and actually meet her, instead of wasting time sharing texts. At least we knew after five minutes it wasn’t going to work out.”

  “It would have been a dumpster fire.”

  Jonas agreed.

  Grabbing the remote, he turned the television on, settling on a murder drama. They watched in silence until the alarm on his watch went off.

  “You ready?” Hammer asked, already getting off the bed.

  Jonas switched the television off, then each of them grabbed their jackets before going outside to their Escalade.

  Letting Hammer take the driver’s seat while he climbed into the passenger’s seat, he scoured the front of the motel building, hoping to catch another glimpse of the redhead.

  “Give it up,” Hammer advised.

  Jonas buckled his seat belt, gloomily looking outside at the bleak landscape. He hated winter months with the trees bare.

  “You should start seeing Debra again.”

  Jonas looked at his lifelong friend. “It’s useless. She already said no to us.”

  “She said no to a relationship with me, not you. You liked her. It could work out.”

  “It won’t work without you. We’ve talked this over a million times. A polyamorous is the only hope we have of making a relationship work. Sooner or later, we’ll find someone.”

  He tried to be positive, but he was beginning to mirror the doubt that he saw in Hammer’s face.

  “We both know the problem isn’t with you. It’s me. Find a woman and settle down, Jonas.”

  He gave Hammer an unsparing glance as the man drove into the parking lot of the local bar. “I haven’t exactly had a successful relationship w
ithout you taking part in it. I don’t know why you think I have all these women falling at my feet.” Jonas gave an angry huff. “We’re both miserable sons of bitches alone. Without each other, we’d end up in divorce court before the honeymoon was over. So, cool it. We’ll find her.” Jonas tried to perk his friend up by trying to joke about their predicament. “You never know, the lucky woman could be in Rosie’s right now, just waiting for us to make her night.”

  Hammer pretended to heave at his joke. “You’re full of shit.”

  Jonas laughed as he got out of the SUV.

  The outside of the bar was nondescript, sitting nestled in the middle of the mountains, not far from The Last Riders’ clubhouse.

  Walking inside, Jonas was disheartened to see there weren’t any women. He ignored Hammer’s I-told-you-so glare as he strode toward the bar.

  “Hey, Mick.”

  “Jonas, Hammer, what can I get you guys tonight?”

  “We’ll take a couple of beers.”

  Recognizing one of the men sitting at the bar, he gave a brief nod at Moon who sat glumly, staring into his glass of whiskey.

  “Rough night?” Jonas asked, reaching for the beer that Mick set down in front of him.

  “Fuck off.”

  Jonas wasn’t offended by the man’s insult. It looked like he and Hammer weren’t the only single males who were unhappy at spending Valentine’s Day alone.

  Letting his eyes slide around the bar, he took in the other men sitting around. Outside of one guy sitting at a table by the wall, the rest of the men were all looking just as downcast as Moon. It was dark in the bar, but Jonas was experienced enough to recognize that the man sitting alone was pretty lit.

  “What are you two doing here instead of hanging out at T.A.’s wedding?”

  At Mick’s voice, Jonas turned his attention back to him. “It was too crowded.”

  “Uh-huh.” Mick gave them a quizzical look before refilling Moon’s glass.

  Jonas was sharing a glance with Hammer when the sound of the bar door opening had him casually turning his head to see who was entering.

  Hearing Hammer choking on his beer, it was hard not to look to make sure his friend was okay, but he was afraid that if he did, the woman walking toward the bar would become nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

  “You okay?” Jonas finally asked from the corner of his mouth, still refusing to cast his eyes away from the approaching beauty.

  “Yes. Is that …?”

  “Yes.”

  Jonas tried to appear casual as she took a seat farther down from where Moon was sitting, but he still gave a silent groan.

  He and Hammer ran a bounty-hunting business with Killyama. They had been in her life since she was a young child and both considered her more like a daughter than a business partner. When she married Train, one of The Last Riders, they’d met Moon.

  Killyama had told them how Moon earned his nickname, and if that confidence she shared with them was true, then he and Hammer didn’t stand a chance with the familiar redhead who was sitting closer to Moon than to them.

  His gut twisted when he saw the smile spread across Moon’s face. There was no way Jonas was going to let The Last Rider steal her away from them.

  Jonas’s ass was about to slide off the stool when Hammer’s low warning stopped him.

  “Chill. She’s not interested.”

  Jonas took another look and saw the same disinterest on her face that she had treated them to at the motel.

  Remaining seated, he and Hammer watched as the woman ordered a beer.

  Jonas took his eyes off her long enough to shoot a questioning glance at Hammer. “Should we make a move?”

  “You go ahead. I’ll hold back until you signal for me.”

  Jonas made a face at his friend. Hammer always preferred he make the first move.

  He almost decided not to make the effort. If Hammer had a spark of interest in the woman, then he’d be the one to make the move and not always leave it up to Jonas. It was the only thing that he worried about when it came to sharing a woman with Hammer—that his friend wouldn’t have the same attraction to the third as he did. That Hammer’d think his feelings weren’t as important as Jonas’s.

  “What’s the holdup?” Hammer asked.

  “I’m going—”

  “Too late.”

  Jonas swung his head around to see the redhead carrying her beer toward the solitary man sitting at the table.

  “What the fuck?” Jonas couldn’t believe the woman had chosen the drunk over Moon, him, or Hammer.

  He snapped his mouth closed, turning back to his beer and taking a drink to ease the ache of disappointment.

  “Fuck that!”

  Jonas was now the one snorting beer out of his nostrils as he watched Hammer stride across the bar toward the table where the woman was now sitting.

  Grinning, Jonas hastily grabbed his beer and Hammer’s, moving to follow him. The way Hammer was now looming over the occupants at the table, it was clear his wish for Hammer to be more involved had been granted.

  “Ask and ye shall receive,” Jonas said, laughingly out loud to himself.

  “Huh?” The bartender looked at him as if he was crazy as fuck.

  “Nothing,” Jonas replied as he watched Hammer take a seat at the table without asking.

  This was what he had been waiting for. When his partner set his mind on something, he broke through it, despite the resistance he met. It was how he had earned his nickname in the Army Rangers.

  The woman had no idea she was now Hammer’s target.

  Jonas plastered a friendly smile on his face, ensuring that, if Hammer wasn’t successful, he was the perfect backup. God, how he loved being a part of a team.

  CHAPTER 3

  Mika found the bar easily enough. What wasn’t easy was forcing herself out of the car. Her mind was in turmoil on whether she should or shouldn’t.

  Just go in and get a beer. If you don’t like it, just leave, she reasoned with herself.

  Stroking her confidence up, she shakily got out the car and walked toward the door. Feeling like an idiot for coming up with this plan in the first place, she almost ran back to her car.

  “You’re so fucking lame, Mika. Dillion loves me.”

  “When I want advice from Dear Abby, I’ll email her.”

  “When’s the last time you got laid? Have you ever even been laid?”

  “Don’t give me that look. You’re so predictable that even your cat got bored with you and ran away.”

  Replaying the last conversation she had with her friend still stung. She hadn’t talked to Julia in three months, and it still hurt, both the argument she had been drawn into when she tried to discuss her friend’s toxic relationship, and Julia’s refusal to text or call her back regardless of the numerous messages she Mika left.

  The memory of the argument bolstered her to go inside.

  Holding her breath all the way to the bar, she kept her eyes forward, not paying attention to the men inside. She then took a stool situated away from the others and ordered a beer from the bartender who looked like he expected her to ask for directions instead of the beer she requested.

  Turning her gaze away from the bartender, Mika glanced briefly at the man sitting closest to her to see whether or not he was a viable option. It only took two seconds to figure that one out.

  His come-hither smile was meant to be enticing, but he was too good-looking not to be aware that women found him attractive. Therefore, Mika didn’t buy into the illusion that he was just the good ole boy he was trying to portray.

  When her eyes shied away from his, she saw “the men” sitting farther down the bar. She hadn’t even noticed them when entered, too conscious upon realizing she was the lone woman in the room.

  Not seeing any prospects that filled her crazy plan, she brightened when she saw the man sitting next to the wall… alone.

  “Hey, pretty lady. The name’s Moon. What’s yours?” the good-looki
ng man at the bar asked.

  Ignoring him, Mika paid for her beer, then slid off the stool to make her way across the room.

  Her pulse quickened when she realized he was drunk. With any luck, if she was successful, whoever he was wouldn’t remember what day of the week it was or that he had bagged a stranger he met at a bar.

  “May I join you?”

  His blurring eyes had trouble focusing on her. “You want to sit down with me?”

  “Yes.”

  Mika cringed at the sexual interest he looked over her with.

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  You have lost your freaking mind, Mika castigated herself but sat down next to him anyway.

  “Are you from Treepoint?” she asked before taking a drink of her beer.

  “Born and raised.” The cackle of his drunken laughter had her taking another drink, wishing she ordered something stronger.

  “My name is … Mary. What’s yours—”

  “I hate drinking alone. Mind if I join the party?”

  Mika gaped up at the man who she recognized as one of the men she bumped into at the motel. That he wasn’t alone and his buddy was here too, still seated at the bar sent off alarm bells.

  Men like them never gave her the time of day. This one was like a high school star quarterback, who only dated the prom queen. She hadn’t even been a member of the queen’s court.

  She opened her mouth to refuse when her chosen prospect spoke up.

  “Sure. Why not? The more, the merrier.”

  Feeling uncomfortable, Mika didn’t look at him as he sat down, trying to keep her attention focused on the prize. Well, not really a prize. More like a booby prize, but she was more than happy with that.

  When she finally had sex, she wanted a man who would make her feel confident and sure of herself for the first time, not one who already had her feeling like she would never measure up when the clothes were off. The gorgeous man was undoubtedly used to doing playboy bunnies, not Dear Abbys.