"Do you need me to take your spot on the run tonight?"Layne looked up from where he sat hunched over the hood of the car he was working on. Black Cherry in color, it belonged to a local friend of the club, Cash Montgomery. "I'm sorry, what?""Do you need me to take your spot on the run tonight?" Jagger asked again, wiping off his hands with one of the rags they kept lying around the shop."Why would I need you to do that?"Jagger felt like he was talking to an elementary school kid. "You've got a woman here with you. I figured you might want to hang out with her? After all, she did come here from California." The 'duh' hung in the air, unsaid.Sighing, Layne shook his head. "No, I had that commitment before she came. I'll see it through.""The guys will understand if you need the night off. It's not like any of us haven't done it before, my friend."This was so odd for Layne. He had never had to clear his schedule with someone else since he had been welcomed into the clu
"Can I get ginger ale in a beer mug?" Meredith asked Jasmine, the waitress who had come over to their table and who had previously worked with Bianca.Amused, Bianca and Jessica looked at each other, both snickering."What?" She shrugged. "I want to at least feel like I'm part of the group. Just because I'm trying to get pregnant doesn't mean I can't have a good time.""I hate to break it to you," Bianca reached over and put her hand on Meredith's arm, "but you're ridiculous.""Let her do what she wants," Jasmine chided them. "What can I get for you?" She turned to Jessica."Whatever Bianca's having, I'll have too."Bianca glanced at the other woman, and then looked around the room. Jagger sat over to the side, talking with Steele, who was doing protection at the club for them on this night. "Oh, what the hell! Let's do a Crown and Coke tonight."Jasmine took their orders, promising to be back soon. "So what do you think?" Meredith asked as she glanced over at Jessica.
Layne was finding it hard to breathe with Jessica wrapped around his body. Her grip was strong and sure as her fingers dug into his stomach. "You okay?" he yelled behind him where she sat.She nodded but knew that he wouldn't be able to see it. The fact was she was scared to death. Not so much because she was on the back of this bike, but because of the way she felt pressed up against Layne's hard back."I couldn't hear you.""I'm fine," she answered when they stopped at a red light. Glancing up at the street signs, she saw that they were at the intersection of Louisville Road and Porter Pike and they were turning left. It looked very dark where they were going."I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," he reassured her. Without a shadow of a doubt, she knew that, but this was all so new to her. "I know," she told him, holding on even tighter as the light changed and he leaned into the turn."Relax," he told her. "If you don't, you're going to be sore by the time we g
Her hair wasn't wet anymore, but still Jessica sat on the lip of the bathtub, running her towel through the long tresses. It was easier to hide away than to go outside of her cocoon and confront Layne about things she knew he didn't want to talk about. Curiosity, however, was a part of her nature, and she just wasn't sure she could go on anymore without knowing something. Never in her life had she gone into anything less prepared than she had coming here to him. It didn't matter that she hadn't been left with much of a choice, but at the same time, she needed a bone. Something to let her know that the man she had once known was still there.Glancing at her phone, she realized she had dawdled for over an hour. It was time to face the music so to speak. She blew out a deep breath as she opened the door. What she saw was not what she expected to see. Layne lay on the bed—deeply asleep. The times they'd lain in bed together before were some of her favorite and the spot next to him looked
What the fuck had just happened? Layne couldn't remember. All he knew was that there had been fear in Jessica's eyes and it had been directed towards him. He hated when this happened, when he was stuck in a flashback and then couldn't remember it. Those holes in his memory took away parts of his life, parts that he would never get back. That was the part he hated above all. He'd lost so much while away from home that he really didn't want to lose any more of it.With hands that were more than a little shaky, he reached over to the bedside table where a pack of cigarettes lay. He almost couldn't light the one he grabbed out and put in his mouth. When he blacked out, it spooked him—spooked him much more than he was willing to admit to anyone. "Layne, man, you got to get your shit together," he told himself. It wasn't the first time he'd told himself this; not even the first time this night, but he knew without a doubt that something would have to change. Maybe that meant talking to
A few hours later, Bianca and Jagger left the clubhouse, Layne in tow. Jessica wasn't sure where the three of them were planning to go, but she decided now would be a good time to put her plan into action. Quietly, she opened the door to the room she had been given and observed what was going on. Not too many people were milling around the clubhouse this morning. Perhaps they'd heard about the drama and were giving it a wide berth. Walking into the main room, she glanced around for the person she wanted to see. "Who you looking for?"She jumped as she heard the deep voice in her ear. Tyler was so quiet that it was scary. Placing her hand over her racing heart, she turned around to face him. "Liam.""What are you looking for him for?" Those were not words he had expected to come out of her mouth. What did she want with the pres?How did she explain this without sounding like a crazy person? Should she include Tyler in her request? She felt much more comfortable with him; ma
Layne was nervous as hell. He'd been summoned to meet the pres. He could count on one hand how many times that had happened since he had become a fully patched member of the Heaven Hill MC. Had he done something wrong? Come to think of it, they hadn't asked him to do anything specifically for the club since the break-in with Jagger at Money Bags' house. Then there was the worst thought of all that crossed his mind. Were they going to kick him out over what had gone down the night before? It had killed him when he realized he had hurt Jessica, and if the other guys in the club thought badly about him because of it…what the fuck was he going to do now? He didn't have the military; he didn't have family besides this club anymore. Just what in the fuck was he going to do? "Hey, Liam's ready for you, my man," Tyler told him as he sat on the front porch of the pres' home. That was another thing that had struck him as odd. He hadn't been called to the clubhouse for this meeting. He had bee
"I'll come back and get you in about an hour. If you get done before that, give me a call," Jagger told Layne as they pulled up to the front of Doc Jones' farm house.Layne nodded, feeling nervous as he looked at the house. It wasn't what he had expected at all. "Will do," he mumbled as he reached for the door handle to let himself out of the car.Jagger reached over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Between the two of us, Doc Jones is amazing. I've seen her before—still do sometimes. If you let her, she'll help you tremendously.""I appreciate that.""No, I'm serious, man, she will help you, but you have to be willing to let her help you. You've got to let go of everything when you talk to her. I'm not saying that it's going to happen the first session, but you've got to let her do her job. Don't go in there with a chip on your shoulder," Jagger advised. "She's released parts of me that I didn't even know I kept hidden from other people. My life is a complete 180 from
The temperature in the cab of the truck was downright frigid as Remy drove to Tyler's house to drop off Addie first. Tatum refused to meet his gaze and that flat out pissed him off. If she was going to give herself to another man and then have the balls to sit in front of him like this, she should at least have the decency to meet his eyes when he looked at her."Am I going to have to explain to Tyler why I'm dropping you off at one in the fucking morning?" Remy glanced in the review mirror of the truck, looking back to where Addie sat in the extended cab."No," she shook her head, looking about as tired and unhappy as he felt. "He's at the clubhouse. He and Mom had planned to stay and they took Caelin with them."Well, thank God for small favors, because the one person besides Liam he didn't want to face off with tonight, was Tyler."You're lucky I don't call him and tell him where the hell you've been. How could you let her go up there with him?" he questioned her, the irrita
Tatum's heart beat through her chest as she followed Gavin upstairs to a much quieter part of the house. Her mouth was dry – the result of her nerves, or the alcohol she'd consumed – she wasn't sure which. Her hand gripped Gavin's tightly, but she knew it wasn't because she was excited, it was because she wanted to yank on it, and stop him from leading her into the empty bedroom. Part of her wanted to put a stop to it, the other part wanted to go through with this so she could throw it in Remy's face. Those stubborn traits she'd inherited from her dad were alive and well tonight.She glanced over her shoulder, spotting Addie pulling out her phone and making a call. The worried look on her friend's face told her all she needed to know. Addie was probably calling in reinforcements and her time had suddenly become very limited."You feelin' good?" his deep voice questioned in her ear, causing her hair to stand up and goosebumps to appear on her arms. This time it was different than wh
Remy was in a piss-poor mood, had been since the night of the Christmas party and everything that had gone down with Tatum. He bit off the head of anyone foolish enough to ask if he was okay. He'd been eating lunch by himself, and overall had been a miserable fucking loner. Even right now, while everyone else was partying their asses off, his big date was being in the gym and beating the ever-loving shit out of a heavy bag. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him the last few days.Hearing his fists connect with the bag felt good, even if it was muted by the gloves he wore. His arms burned, his shoulders and back ached, his chest heaved, and sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes; making them sting. The sting felt good though, because it distracted him from the guilt he felt for the way he'd treated Tatum. And that guilt was pressing down on him like he was trapped under a thousand-pound boulder.He'd felt every emotion on the spectrum since she'd walked out on him
Tatum's blue eyes took in the party-goers around her. In different parts of the room, she could see members of her graduating class, some kids that were now seniors, and a few college kids. God, this had never been her thing, she'd never found high school or college parties worth anything to her. She could see everything that went on at them and more, at the club parties. Plus, this was a mob mentality – everyone here went along with everyone else, and it was so boring. Nobody had any individuality. Normally, she'd have tossed the invitation in the trash can and not even thought twice about it. She would have spent the night at the club's New Year's party and have an actual good time with her friends and family.Tonight though, she was on a mission."Do you see anybody?" Addie asked as they surveyed the room.Tatum took a drink from the bottle of Strawberry Boone's Farm she carried in her hand. It was the bottom shelf stuff, guaranteed to get you loaded in the least amount of tim
Tatum had never felt anything like the all-consuming lust that blasted through her as soon as Remy grabbed her hip and pulled her deep into his body. She'd thought she had but damn, she was wrong. Her fingers grasped at his shirt, trying to ground herself in the feelings, when she felt his bare palms slip up under the hem of her dress. The sharp intake of breath, and the way he nipped at her lip indicated he'd discovered she'd worn a thong."Fuck, Tate," he moaned as he pulled his lips from hers.She almost cried as he abandoned her lips and smeared his mouth down her neck. She felt the sharp nip of his teeth down to the core of her body. It caused her nipples to tighten further against the lace of strapless bra, and before she knew what she was doing, she was rubbing up against him."Please, Rem," she gasped out when she felt one of his hands on her ass venture back over her hip, and closer to the wetness and heat she felt between her thighs."Has anybody touched you?" he grow
He knew the second she walked in, just like he'd known when she'd entered the bakery. Even seven shots of Pappy in, he could feel her, he knew she was there by the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up, the goosebumps he got on his arms and the way his dick stirred to attention. He wasn't sure what kind of hold Tatum Walker held over him, but it was strong, maybe dangerously so, like some sort of Jedi Mind Trick he'd never be able to resist. And dammit if his hand didn't shake as he took his next shot."Too much for you?" Drew asked as he noticed the slight tremble of the other man's hand.How did he tell the man sitting beside him, he was hard up for his little sister? Easy. He didn't."Nah, I'm good, but I gotta hit the head. Be back."Plan number two when plan number one didn't work? Run and hope she wouldn't follow. As much alcohol as he had consumed, he wasn't sure he could push her away this time. After all, he was only a man and he wasn't immune to the way she lo
He should have brought a date. Those were the first words Remy thought when he walked through the door of the clubhouse. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and all he wanted to do was turn around and head back to Cash and Harper's. Normally, he lived at the clubhouse, but he'd had dinner at their place tonight. He could relieve the babysitter watching Maddy, and he wouldn't have to worry about keeping his guard up.Couples were paired off, which meant anyone without a plus one would be inevitably thrown together. Looking up, he saw mistletoe was hung randomly around the room. Shit. Since he was the youngest, he seemed to be one of the few without a woman on his arm. Sure as the world turned, he'd find himself thrown toward someone tonight.Gazing around the room, he didn't see Tatum and for that he was extremely thankful. He'd been able to avoid her since the day at Harper's bakery, but it'd hadn't been easy. Not that she'd gone out of her way to be around him but they were in the sa
Remy told himself to slow down as he grasped her neck, hauling Tatum closer to him. He cautioned his lust-drunk body not to make a fool of itself. He warned his libido not to let this go too far. They were in the middle of the bakery, in the middle of downtown. Anyone could walk through that door from some dumbass off the street, to her brother, to her dad. But he couldn't stop, couldn't force his hand not to trail down her body and grasp her tight ass in his fingers. He wanted desperately to pull her lower half into his, wanted to shove his thigh between her legs and feel the heat he knew would be there. His tongue was forceful as it made its way into her mouth, testing how far she'd let him go.Turned out she'd let him go as far as he wanted to.His brain tried to warn him that this was progressing too quickly. It was getting too out of control, too fast. If he didn't watch it, he'd be picking her up and putting her ass first against the nearest wall. He was losing his mind, losi
Son of a bitch. Something in the way Tatum's gaze met his made him think he'd said those words loud enough she could hear them. But fuck, she looked amazing. Even more than she usually did. Tatum had been gorgeous for a long time, but with her hair in this new cut, she looked sexy, and almost… sophisticated. But this was Tatum. She'd never fully be a lady, not really. She didn't do dresses unless she had to, she didn't do caked on makeup, and she could hang with the guys – no matter how raunchy it got."Do you like it?" She asked again, this time looking much more unsure than when she'd started out. Very slowly, she ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a tousle.Remy cleared his throat, not sure how honest he wanted to be, but at the same time knowing he couldn't help but be honest. If he lied to her, she would know, and it would do nothing to help the situation they seemed to always find themselves in. The two of them always seemed to be either pushing or pulling at each ot