Ruby Falls (45 page)

She nodded. They walked toward the shed and then circled it, avoiding the crowd and music. They headed to the barn. The big doors were open and they strolled inside. The moonlight shone in the entrance.

She ran her hands up her bare arms.

He pulled his jacket off. “Are you cold?” he asked, offering the jacket to her. She shook her head. He hesitated a moment, not sure he believed her and then tossed the coat over a stall. She strolled along the aisle, stopping in front of one particular stall. Steve followed her, the stall she had stopped at being the one they had made love in. The fact she’d chosen that one to stop at wasn’t lost on him. He stood looking at her and then moved toward her until he was as close as he could be. She wouldn’t meet his gaze, instead she stared at the black onyx studs running down the front of his pleated tuxedo shirt. “You’re not wearing the ring. What happened?”

She looked away and shrugged. “Things had changed. It just didn’t feel right anymore.”

He wasn’t completely satisfied with that explanation, not that he wasn’t pleased with the outcome, but he had to get one thing clear. “So, he’s out of the picture?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you come back?” he asked softly.

She looked up at him. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“I think you do.”

She stared at him. His right hand strayed to her bare shoulder, lightly caressing the honey soft skin. He watched her eyes slide closed as his hand ran along her collar bone to her neck. “Answer me one question?” he asked.

Her eyes opened and she stared up at him.

“How good a liar are you?” He watched her brows draw together in a frown.

“What?”

“Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want me,” he challenged in a whisper. He could see his directness and the way he was staring intently into her eyes, momentarily stunned her speechless. Maybe he needed to coax a response out of her. His hands settled on her waist and he pulled her closer as his head dipped down to where her shoulder met the curve of her neck. His lips brushed softly along her throat up to her ear and he whispered, “I’ve missed you.”

Her eyes slid closed again. “I’ve missed you, too.”

He pulled back. Her eyes came open and he studied them. “Have you?”

“Yes,” she admitted breathlessly.

“I’ve lain awake nights, missing you. Too many nights,” he confessed.

“Me, too,” she admitted, trying to pull his head down for another kiss.

He pulled back, just out of reach of her soft lips and stared down at her, wanting her to understand, wanting to be clear. “I don’t want you to leave again.”

She stared up at him. Her mouth parted as if she couldn’t believe she was finally hearing the words.

“I’m…I’m asking you to stay.”

“You want me to stay?”

“I love you, Summer.” He pulled back and his gaze moved out through the open doors toward the house. “I know this farm isn’t much, but do you think you could possibly see yourself making a life here with-”

She flung herself into his arms, cutting off his words with a kiss. His arms wrapped around her tightly. They clung to each other and his mouth plundered hers.

She pulled back. “It took you long enough,” she huffed.

“Yeah, sweetheart, it did. Too long. I guess it took losing you, to realize how much I needed you.”

“I love you, Steve.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.” He pulled her back into his arms. As he kissed her, he heard a long low whistle.

Breaking apart, they both turned to see Cary with Jessie thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, her long dress flowing, as he headed toward his house.

“About time you came to your senses, ol’ man,” Cary yelled out and kept walking.

Jessie lifted her head up and looked at her father with a big smile on her face as she was carted off.

They both burst out laughing.

~~~~~ The End ~~~~~

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Read on for a sneak peek of

CRASH

The Outlaw Series

An Evil Dead MC Story

By

Nicole James

Coming 2014

When outlaw biker Tyler “Crash” Shaw volunteers his services to his club brother, Cole Austin, VP of the Evil Dead MC, he suddenly finds himself a rich girl’s bodyguard and babysitter. Well, it’s a bitch of a job, but maybe he can have a little fun with it. He thinks he’ll get a kick out of teaching the pampered stuck-up girl a lesson or two on how the other half lives. She can cook and clean for him in exchange for his help. No free ride for her. He intends to teach her that money can’t buy her way through life.

The world saw a classy pulled-together wealthy lady. All he saw was a spoiled little rich girl. A troublemaker, that’s all she was to him. Until she revealed the shattered girl inside that tried so hard to hide her weaknesses and fears with a façade of arrogance, attitude, and sass.

He’d tear down those walls she tried so hard to build, if only she’d let him.

Could the love of a man so wrong for her be the only one to save her?

And in his darkest hour, would her love be enough to save him?

From the MC’s California charter in San Jose, to the casinos and brothels of Reno, to brother charters in the Deep South, this story will take you on a ride of highs and lows that lead ultimately to redemption.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from CRASH…

Crash shut the acetylene blow torch off and flipped the front of his welding helmet up. Stepping back, he admired his work. It was finally starting to take shape. The twisted metal sculpture had begun to reveal a woman’s form, her face tilted to the sky above, her arms and hair flowing back, and her chest thrust out.

He’d cleared a large space to use for sculpting in the two-story industrial brick warehouse he’d converted into a loft apartment. Pulling off the welding helmet and gloves, he tossed them to the side and picked up a large canvas tarp. He threw it over his sculpture, not ready for his MC brothers to see just what he’d been spending all his free time doing.

Walking across the polished concrete floor, he glanced at the clock as he pulled his leather cut off the back of the barstool that faced the large granite island in the enormous open-plan area. It was time to meet the guys. He grabbed his keys and walked over to the metal freight elevator. Stepping inside, he slammed the iron gate closed and hit the button to descend to the first level where he kept his bike.

Twenty minutes later, Crash met up with Cole, Red Dog, Wolf Man, and Cajun at a gas station. He rolled to a stop next to them as they all sat on their bikes, Cole casually smoking a cigarette.

“Thought Angel made you give up those cancer sticks,” Crash teased.

“What she don’t know, won’t hurt her. Will it?” Cole replied, squinting through the smoke as he took a drag.

“I ain’t telling her, brother,” Crash laughed with a shake of his head.

“Damn straight, you’re not.”

Crash glanced around. “Where’s Green? I thought he was joining in on the fun today. He’s always bitching about wanting to stomp some ass.”

“He’s not answering his phone,” Cole stated.

“Knowing him, he’s probably wrapped around some pussy and doesn’t want to drag his ass out of bed,” Red Dog added.

“We’ll swing by and pick him up. It’s on the way,” Cole said.

“Since when is Green’s place on the way to Sonny’s?” Crash asked.

Cole grinned. “That’s right, you haven’t seen his new place.”

The others laughed.

Crash glanced around at his brothers, wondering what joke he wasn’t being let in on. “Fuck. Every time that fucker moves, it’s to a worse dump than the place before. Where’s he at now?”

Wolf Man laughed. “Wait ‘till you see it.”

Cole fired his bike up, and the others followed suit. They pulled out, the five of them roaring down the street.

Ten minutes later, they were pulling into a ratty trailer park on the east side. Cole rolled slowly down the lane, the rest following. Crash noticed one piece-of-shit trailer after another. The further back into the park they got, the worse the trailers looked, if that were possible.

Cole finally pulled into the dirt and gravel next to what had to be
by far
the worst place of all of them. But, sure enough, there was Green’s metallic-orange bobbed-tailed chopper parked next to his other two bikes.

Crash parked next to Cole and looked over at him. Cutting off his bike, he said, “You have got to be shitting me.”

Cole laughed.

“There’s no way he’s got pussy in there. No chick would step foot in the place,” Crash insisted as he swung his leg over the bike and stood. “Hell, all he’s missing is a big-headed banjo-playing boy sitting on the front porch.”

The guys collapsed into hysterics.

“You would know. Isn’t that typical of where you grew up?”

“Shut the fuck up, Dog,” Crash snapped.

Cole got off his bike and headed up the porch steps, chuckling. “Well, come on. If it’s good enough for carnival folk, it’s good enough for us.”

“Fuck, carnies live better than this shithole,” Crash declared.

“Maybe some of you should wait outside. Don’t want the place to tilt,” Cole suggested with a grin.

“Hell, maybe we all should,” Wolf Man advised, laughing.

“Could be worse,” Red Dog mumbled.

“How could this place be worse?” Crash looked at him, dumbfounded.

“Could be parked on a hill.” Another round of laugher burst out.

They all trouped inside, Cole not bothering to knock. “Green!” he yelled. Not receiving an answer, he stomped through the tiny corridor that led from the combination living room/dining room/kitchen, toward the back bedroom.

Crash glanced around the place as he followed. The inside was just as bad as the outside. Ratty gold shag carpeting, wood paneling, empty beer cans, overflowing ashtrays, and a shit-ton of crap piled around the place.

Red Dog plopped down on a barstool that sat next to the counter separating the living room from the tiny filthy kitchen. He picked up a bottle of tequila sitting on the counter, unscrewed the cap, and took a long pull.

Crash followed Cole down the hall, his shoulders barely clearing the walls.

Cole entered the bedroom, stood next to the bed, and kicked it. “Get your ass up, fucker. We got shit to do today.”

Green groaned and rolled over, flinging the arm of a woman off him.

Cole leaned over and pulled the cover back to look at her naked back and ass. She was out cold. “Nice ass. She one of Sonny’s girls?”

“Yup,” was all the answer Green gave as he sat up, swung his legs over the side, and rubbed his hand over his face. His eyes squinted over Cole to Crash. “You bring coffee?”

“No, we didn’t bring fuckin’ coffee, asshole.” Cole grinned and shook his head at Crash. “You believe this fucker?”

Crash glanced around the trashed bedroom. “Shit, Green, every time you move, it’s to a worse dump than the place before. At this rate, you’re gonna be ‘living in a van down by the river’.”

“Fuck off, dickhead.”

Red Dog, Wolf Man and Cajun apparently heard the joke, because their laughter could be heard coming from the next room. Red Dog yelled down the hall, “You save up your money, Green, and maybe someday you can park a van outside and use it as a guestroom.”

More laughter followed.

“Shut the fuck up, dickhead. Your ol’ lady will be my first guest,” Green hollered back at him.

Red Dog bolted off the barstool, barreling down the hall.

Crash held him back at the doorframe.

“Let me at the little fucker!”

“Relax, Dog. He’s too ugly for Mary to touch.”

A half hour later, they rolled into the parking lot of a new strip club called Queen of Hearts. The six bikes parked in a line in front of the doors. Crash threw his leg over his bike and turned to Cole. “So how long’s this place been open?”

“Six weeks,” Wolf Man replied from his other side.

“Yeah. Six weeks too many according to Mack,” Cole added.

“So what are we here for?” Green asked, yawning.

“Give notice. We either get a shakedown from the new owners or he takes his business elsewhere,” Cole explained. With the MC invested in Sonny’s Gentleman’s Club, Mack wasn’t about to stand for the competition, not unless the MC was getting a piece of the action. To make matters worse, this new place had opened up only a couple of blocks from Sonny’s.

“I hope they push back. I really feel like beating some ass and busting some heads today,” Green grumbled, a hangover headache burning through his skull.

“We’re here to deliver a warning. They get one warning,” Cole clarified.

“Nice and polite like, huh?” Wolf scoffed.

“Right. Then we come back for the beat down,” Red Dog chuckled.

“Fuck. So why am I here?” Green growled.

“Shut the fuck up and come on. Or don’t you like strip clubs anymore?” Crash asked.

“And who the hell was that sweet piece you had wrapped around you this morning?” Dog asked as they moved toward the door.

“That’s Angeline. One of Sonny’s new girls.”

“They don’t last long before
you
tap ‘em, do they?” Crash commented.

The corner of Green’s mouth turned up in a cocky grin. “Nope.”

“She any good?” Wolf asked.

“Absolutely. Gives great fuckin’ head, too.”

“Shit! You offerin’ to share?”

“Not today, asshole.”

They walked in the place. Unlike Sonny’s, this place lacked any class. In fact, it exuded tackiness. This time of day, there was only one guy on the door. He looked them over, saw there were six of them, and wasn’t about to try to prevent their entrance and sure as hell wasn’t going to demand the cover. Cole wouldn’t have stopped if he had.

Crash and the rest followed Cole to a table, center stage. The few customers the place had, scattered to other tables when they saw the six MC members coming.