BEAST (A Coyotes of Mayhem MC Novel) (Motorcycle Club Bad Boy Romance) (7 page)

I was hoping she’d be cooled off by the time she got out of the shower. I expected her to walk out of the bathroom wearing some sort of sexy nightgown, ready to apologize for the way she spoke to me. Instead, she came out wearing an oversized t-shirt. She walked past me and climbed right into bed without saying a word. Even though she didn’t do it on purpose, the shirt was sexy on her. With the way she was laying, the bottom of her ass peeked out at me, practically begging for me to part her legs and pound her. I slid into bed next to and started to rub her ass.

“Don’t!” she snapped as she pushed my hand away from her. “I just want to go to sleep. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough for me.”

I rolled over and tried to fall asleep as well, trying to figure out what the fuck she meant by that statement.

The next morning, I woke up to find that I was alone in the room. Naturally, I freaked the fuck out. I had clearly pissed her off the night before so I was sure she was ratting me out to someone. When she came into the room with coffee for both of us, I was shocked.

“Apology accepted,” I said to her as I took a swig from the cup. She darted an icy glare in my direction.

“Apology accepted? You think I’m apologizing for something? I don’t have anything to apologize for. You were the one being the asshole last night. I just thought it would be nice to get you some coffee since you’re going to have a long day.”

“A long day? You got something planned?”

“Yeah, I’m going to relax and enjoy the rest of my cruise. You’ll be getting off the boat when we get to Belize.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? What happened to all the bullshit you said about wanting to help me?”

“I changed my mind. Now I just want you to get off the boat and leave me alone. I want you out of my life forever.”

“I can’t fucking believe this. I could have gotten off the boat in Honduras. I had someone waiting there to help me. You didn’t want to me leave. You said you wanted to help me, and all that other shit. All you’re doing is fucking me over.”

“Listen, it’s not personal. I’ve just had some time to think and it was a stupid decision to say that I could help you. I think the situation you’re involved in could get dangerous and violent, and I don’t particularly want to be caught in the middle of—whatever it is you’re in to. I’ve never been in any kind of trouble before and I’m not going to let you change that.”

“Fuck it then. If that’s what you want, then I’m out of here. When does the boat dock?”

“In about four hours. Until then, I’m going to go hang out by the pool. Good luck, Beast.”

§

There was only about two hours until the boat docked in Belize and I was sitting in the room by myself realizing just how fucked up the whole situation was. Of course, I played a big part in how everything was going downhill. I had this sweet girl who was willing to help me and all I did was shit on her. I had to assert my dominance and show her how I controlled things. I can’t help it. That’s the way I’ve always done shit; it’s in my nature. It’s part of my reputation and where I come from, reputation means everything. If you don’t act like a fucking man, you’ll get treated like a bitch and that ain’t happening.

I thought I had seen the last of Paige, and that thought fucked me up inside. I don’t usually give two shits about feelings, mine or anyone else’s, but this was different. She had me all twisted up. They always say think with your head, not your heart. Problem was, I was thinking with my head—just the wrong one. And okay, I guess my heart, too. In only a couple of days, I’d started to fall for this chick. The thought of never seeing her again pissed me off and made me feel dejected. Of course, I’d never dream of telling her any of this. That’s the exact type of shit that men don’t say.

Unexpectedly, Paige came into the room. She was soaked from head to toe.

“What the fuck happened to you? Someone throw you in the water?” I asked.

“No, it just started pouring out there. It was bright and sunny one minute and then storming the next.” She grabbed a towel to dry herself off.

I continued sorting my bag in preparation for my departure. Looking at her and realizing that I was about to see the last of her made the gloomy weather outside seem like sunshine. I felt like I should say something to try to make everything right. I wasn’t going to apologize because that’s one thing I never fucking do, but I felt like I needed to say something to her.

“I just want you to know that I don’t think you’re beneath the club whores. It was just something I said because I was frustrated.”

“Yeah? That’s why you said all that mean stuff last night?”

“Where I’m from, the people I hang with, that’s just how we are. My whole family is crude, including me. Certain types of girls cater to guys like us and we kind of get used to it. When we encounter a girl like you, it’s easy to forget that you’re not all the same. Fuck Paige, you’re the complete opposite of any club whore I’ve ever seen and you deserve to be treated better.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect to hear any of that from you. I want you to know that I appreciate you saying it. I’m sure saying something like that is hard for you. Anyway, we’ll be docking in about 90 minutes. Just wanted to let you know so you can be ready.”

CHAPTER 8

PAIGE

For the first time, I started to see a different side of him. I wasn’t sure if he was just trying to say what he thought I wanted to hear in order to get me to let him stay or if he truly meant what he was saying. What I did know was that when I told him he would be and the next port in 90 minutes, there was a look of pain on his face. I wouldn’t say that it was sadness necessarily but it was as close as I was probably ever going to see him come to showing genuine emotion.

He didn’t realize it but I was testing him. I was watching his movements and mannerisms. I was waiting to see if he flew off the handle when I told him he was still getting off the boat. It was actually what I was expecting to see. What I saw instead surprised me. What I saw was the first glimpse of a real human trapped inside of his massive body. Maybe he wasn’t a monster after all. Maybe, just maybe he wasn’t the monster I thought he was when he grabbed me from behind and told me to shut the fuck up on the night we met. He said it himself, he didn’t intend to take a hostage on the boat. I just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At lot had happened in the last couple of days. You really get to see different sides of someone when you are locked in a tiny room with them for 72 hours. You even get to see sides of them they don’t necessarily mean to show and are, in fact, not even aware that they are showing it. It was at that moment that I realized he never opened up to anyone. I probably knew him better than any other woman in the entire universe, except maybe his mother. But even that was a big maybe. I decided that I wasn’t going to make any decisions just yet. He had said what he wanted to say but still hadn’t apologized to me. I wanted to see if he would come right out and tell me he was sorry for the way he had treated me the night before.

§

We were only about twenty minutes away from the port in Belize and he still hadn’t said sorry. He had said a lot of things and groveled in his own special way but he never said those two magic words that I had been longing to hear. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn’t going to happen. He simply wasn’t going to say that he was sorry. In his mind, he had already apologized. To him, telling me that I wasn’t like the club sluts was his way of telling me that he didn’t mean what he said and that he was sorry. I was willing to accept that and let it drop. The truth was, I didn’t really want him to go. I really did want to help him but I wasn’t sure how I could do it. It would take a little more time for me to come up with something but first, I had to prevent him from getting off the boat. I wasn’t going to tell him I wanted him to stay just yet though. I was still a little pissed about the night before. It was my turn to make him sweat a little.

§

The boat docked and Beast was waiting for the surge of people to get off the boat before he made his move. He told me that security was going to be on high alert with so many people getting off the ship at once. It would be easier to pose as an employee and sneak off after the rush to disembark. I decided that enough was enough.

“Beast, you don’t have to go anywhere. I don’t want you to go. I was just pissed off last night. I really do want to try to help you.”

“Jesus Christ, you’re gonna be the death of me by the time all this shit is over. I can’t do all this back and forth shit. I know you’re a woman and all, but fuck. We’re talking about my life here. Are you going to get pissed at me again and tell me to fuck off at the next port?”

“I know. I know you can’t do that. Being cramped in this small space, the frustration of the whole situation…it just… I can’t explain it.”

“I’m not sure I should stay. I still don’t know how the fuck you think you’re going to be able to help me.”

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about today. I think I’ve come up with something really good. You were able to sneak onto the boat by posing as an employee so maybe you’ll be able to sneak off as an employee too when we get to Galveston.”

“I don’t fucking know about that. I left the employee that I stole the uniform from locked up in a closet at the terminal. I’m surprised nobody’s been on the boat trying to find out what happened.”

“They might have for all we know. Remember, you haven’t worn that since you came on the boat. If they’re looking for someone, it’s going to be someone pretending to actually work on the ship. If searches come up empty, they’ll probably think the guy is making it up. Maybe they’ll think he missed the boat and is trying to save his job.”

“You have a good point. Anyway, say I do make it off this fucking thing with no problems. Then what? Then I’m in the same situation I was running from in the first place. I can’t go back to the States. My mugshot is everywhere by now.”

“Here’s what I was thinking. You stay on the ship with me while it docks in Belize and Mexico. Stay with me all the way until we get back to Galveston. I’ll get off the boat with everyone else. I’ve never cruised before but I’m pretty sure they’ll be checking everyone out when they get off. I read that customs loves to check passenger bags to make sure we aren’t bringing anything into the country that we’re not supposed to have.”

“What in the hell do you recommend I do while you’re doing all of that?”

“That’s where it gets a little bit risky. What you’ll have to do is stay on the boat. Change back into the employee clothes and wait here. You’ll have to come up on deck so you can watch what everyone is doing. I have no clue what happens as the passengers all get off the boat. Just try to stay out of sight and don’t draw any attention to yourself. When you see a decent group of employees make their way off the boat, blend in with them and get off. If you were able to get on the ship easily, I can’t imagine it will be any harder for you to get off.”

“Then what?”

“While you’re getting off the boat, I’ll get the car ready. I’m parked in the front of the south lot. I want you to wait until there are no cars parked right in front the area where you pick up passengers, and then come outside. As soon as I see you, I’ll pull up and you can jump in. I’m supposed to be returning the car to the airport and getting on a plane to go home but I’ll make other arrangements. I’ll just keep the rental car and drive home. You can hide out at my place.”

“If you were supposed to get on a plane, that tells me you don’t live anywhere close to Galveston. Being in a vehicle for any significant period of time is fucking risky. Where do you live anyway?”

“That’s the thing you’re not going to want to hear. I almost don’t want to tell you because I’m afraid you’re going to jump off the ship and then I won’t be able to help you.”

“Jesus Christ! What? Just tell me.”

“I live in Scottsdale.”

“Arizona?”

“Arizona.”

“Fuck!”

“I know it sounds bad but I think that will make it easier to help you.”

“How will being a half-hour from where all this shit went down going to make it easier to help me? I’ve got pigs searching for me to arrest me. I’ve got the Aces of Anarchy fucks trying to track me down so they can fucking kill me. My club went through a lot of shit to get me out of Arizona and you want to take me right back into the middle of the hunt?”

“Just listen to me before you make any decisions. You say you’re completely innocent, right? You said you didn’t do the things they’re accusing you of. Is all of that true? You really didn’t do it?”