Unplugged: A Bad Boy Rockstar Romance (17 page)

“
It was the only time we
…”
he trailed off.

“
It was the only time we could find where
Henry wouldn’t be around,
”
said Maggie for him.
“
Where we knew he would be busy and we could steal a few
hours. Is that how you want this to be
—
us
forever sneaking around my
dad?
”

“
If you moved in with me, this wouldn’t
be happening,
”
said Jase.
“
He couldn’t stop us then.
”

“He
’
s your president, Jase. He
’
s my dad. And he practically owns this
town. Moving in together isn’t going to make those relation
ships magically disappear.
”

Jase sighed.
“
What are you trying to say, Maggie? What
do you want?
”

“
I want you to move away with me,
”
she said.
“Let
’
s go find a new start somewhere else,
away from all of this. Let
’
s have our own lives.
”
She ran her hands up
his chest
and looked up at his face with hopeful eyes.

Instead, she saw only pain on his face.
“
Maggie
…”
Jase took her hands in his.
“
My whole life is here. My friends are
here. My mom wouldn’t have anyone else if I left.
”

In all her imagining of this mom
ent, Maggie had not prepared herself for this. She thought
she had, but she discovered a level of pain for which she had no name
“Don’t
you love me?
”
said Maggie, unable to stop the tears
surfacing in her eyes.

“
Of course I do,
”
said Jase. He kissed her hands with
fervor and looked into her eyes.
“
Of course. I love you. That
’
s why I want you to stay and make a life
with me here.
”

“
Jase, what if I can’t? What if Henry
won’t
let us?”
she said.

“
He will. We
’
ll make
—“
Jase was interru
pted by the sound of a motorcycle rumbling down the neighborhood street.
Both he and Maggie froze and looked at each other.
“
What is he doing coming back this early?
”
said Jase.

Maggie saw the look on his face, and
gave him a sarcastic one of her own.
“
I t
hought we didn’t have anything
to worry about from him?
”

Jase frowned and made a soft, grumpy
noise at her. He walked over to the window and stuck his fingers between the
blinds to get a look outside.  Maggie stood behind him with her arms crossed
and
listened to the bike pull into the driveway and
park.

“Oh,”
said Jase as he let out a breath.
“It
’
s not your dad, it
’s just Will.
”

“
Like that
’
s any better,
”
said Maggie as she moved to put some
clothes on. Jase was right behind her, stepping into his jeans
and fumbling his white shirt over his head. By the time he
had his cut on, they could hear Will
’
s soft knocking on the front door.
“
What’s he doing here?
”

“
How should I know?
”
said Jase.
“I’ve
been busy the last few hours.
”
He nuzzled up to her as she pul
led her hair out of her shirt. As upset as she felt, she
couldn’t resist his embrace, but the kisses she gave him were short. She
followed Jase down the hall to the front door.

Will leaned patiently against the porch
railing, chewing on a toothpick and staring into the dark sky. He turned to
them with a smile.
“
Hi, guys. I
’
m sorry to interrupt.
”

“
Everything okay?
”
said Jase as he straightened his cut.

Will tossed the toothpick i
nto the garden as he straightened.
“Henry
’
s been looking for you, he needs you for
something, but you weren’t picking up your phone.
”

“
Yeah, I turned it off,
”
said Jase.
“
For a reason.
”

“
Well, he
’
s…
insistent,
”
said Will with a soft shrug.
“
I said I might
know
where you were.
”

Maggie stepped up to the doorway.
“
You didn’t tell him, did you?
”

Will shook his head, pursing his lips.
“
Not that you two are a secret, or
anything. But I think we all have an unspoken code to, uh
…
move around the facts.
”

“
How
’
s that
?
”
said Maggie.

In a bit of embarrassment, Will
’
s lopsided smile made an appearance.
“
I think Henry knows exactly where Jase
is when he
’
s not answering his phone, and he
doesn’t mind me offering to be the one to possibly catch you in the act.
”

Maggie sighed heavily. Next to her, Jase
said.
“
He really needs me to come right now?
”

“Captain
’
s orders,
”
said Will.

“You don’t say,”
Maggie said in a flat voice. She felt
emotions rising and turned away from the men at the door. She heard Jase speak
sof
tly to Will for a few moments.

Jase came up behind her as she stared at
the dark living room fireplace and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He
nuzzled into the side of her hair and kissed her.
“I
’
m sorry, he says it
’
s important.
”

“
Shocker.
”

He held her tighter, as if his embrace
could wipe away the truth. Maggie felt tears running down her cheek and wiped
them away nonchalantly. In the dark, he couldn’t see.

“
Just stay with me,
”
said Jase into her ear.
“
I
don’t
want to lose you. You
’
re my wo
rld,
you know that don't you
?”
He squeezed her again.
“
You have been my world for a very long
time.
”

Despite herself, Maggie sighed and
nuzzled into him. She planted a few tiny kisses on the side of his warm face.
“You
’
re mine, too.
”

He held her for a few
more moments before he released her, leaving her feeling as
cold as she ever had.

Maggie trailed Jase to the front door
like a ghost, clinging to his hand. Before he walked out, he turned and kissed
her deeply.
“
Just hang on for me, okay? Things will
smoo
th out.
”

Even though she didn’t believe that,
Maggie gave him a tight, teary smile, and a nod. She said nothing, only kissed
him on the side of his mouth.

“
I love you.
”

“
I love you too,
”
she said.

After one last lingering embrace, Jase
finally pulled awa
y from her and headed down the
porch steps towards the driveway. Will was already on his bike; he gave a smile
and a wave up to Maggie, and she returned it. Jase climbed on his waiting bike,
shiny and chrome under the steady glare of the streetlights. She
felt her heart race a little at the sound of them revving
up, and waved at her biker boyfriend one last time as he backed out of the
drive.

As they pulled away, Maggie
’
s face turned to look down the hallway
towards her room. Under the bed, she could see th
e
shadow of the suitcase she had already half-packed. She stared at it as she
listened to the bikes disappear into the night.

~
ONE ~

FIVE YEARS LATER

Just breathe. Deep breath, girl. You
’
re not about to walk into a gunfight.

Her own advice was useless. As soon as
her SUV passed by the sunny yellow sign welcoming her into the town of LeBeau,
Maggie felt her heart begin to pound in her chest like an angry drum line. She
gripped the steering wheel tightly and tried to focus on th
e road. It was a beautiful spring day and despite the town
’
s small population, the streets bustled
with activity. She wondered if it had been a particularly terrible winter. The
folks seemed eager to be out in the sun and warmth. She didn’t feel the same.
She wanted nothing more than to find a cold, dark cave to
crawl into and never come out.

It had been over five years since she
’
d been back in her hometown. Five years,
and yet hardly anything looked different. Cleaner, maybe; there was a sparkle
to the pl
ace she didn’t remember from before. But
maybe that was just nostalgia shining up the ugly parts of her memory
…
of which there were plenty. She noticed
a new-fangled, big box supermarket chain on Vine Street and wondered how hard
her father had fought to
keep that monstrosity out of
town. Wasn’t hard enough, apparently. The parking lot was bustling with
shoppers who seemed to be enjoying it well enough. She thought she saw an old
friend from high school, Misty Walters, loading up groceries into a minivan s
tuffed with three screaming kids. She couldn’t help but
snicker at that, and it made her mood just a little bit lighter.

Lighter, that is, until she pulled up to
a stoplight right next to four men on motorcycles, wearing the black leather
cuts of her fathe
r
’
s club, the Black Dogs. She stole what
glances she dared from behind her sunglasses, to see if she recognized any of
them. Or worse
—
to see if any of them recognized her.
The SUV was new, but Maggie didn’t feel like she looked that much different
than she
had years ago. As the light seemed to linger
on into eternity, she finally turned nonchalantly to examine the men. One of
them met her gaze. He smiled approvingly and nodded his head, but it wasn’t a
smile that said he actually recognized her. The other t
hree couldn’t have cared less, staring straight ahead as their bikes
rumbled like wild dogs beneath them. Maggie didn’t recognize them, either, and
the tightness in her chest loosened just a little bit. The light changed, and
the four roared off down Main
Street without a second
glance at her.

Maggie followed Main Street until she
arrived at her destination. Dot
’
s Diner was one spot in LeBeau that had never, and would
never change. She could still hear Dot’s strong, smoke-stained voice in her
head:
I
would
gladly watch this town burn down around my ears
before that!
She had been one of the originals to set up shop in LeBeau,
just like Maggie
’
s father. The old guard that tried their
damnedest to keep things the way they had always been. When she was a teenag
er, Maggie had loved Dot, but had thought her foolish in
her steadfast stubbornness. Now, though
…
now Maggie wondered if the old lady
hadn’t been on to something all along. Change brought pain and darkness and
turmoil. Change was trouble.

The diner was mo
re packed than the supermarket had been, just like Maggie remembered.
Even at the latest hours, there never seemed to be a shortage of customers
waiting for a warm piece of pie and a cup of coffee. And, just like Maggie
remembered, a good chunk of the park
ing lot gleamed
with chrome motorcycles, all lined up in a pretty row like they were
contestants in a beauty pageant waiting to be judged. The MC practically lived
at Dot
’
s—
at least when they weren’t at the
clubhouse. As she waited to turn in, Maggie notic
ed
the four bikers from the stoplight walking into the diner, clapping each other
on the shoulders and laughing at something.

Are you sure you wanna do this?
A little scared voice in the back of her
mind asked.

What else am I supposed to do?
Maggie answe
red
herself.
I need them. I have no choice.

She could have gone straight to the
clubhouse, she knew. But she was too cowardly for it. After all these years
trying to prove to herself that she was half as tough as her father, in the
end, she simply wasn’t
sure that she was. She
couldn’t even face him, not yet. She wasn’t ready. The thought of walking into
that clubhouse and seeing the stern grey eyes of Henry Oliver looking down at
her from his redwood throne filled her with a dread so strong, it made her w
ant to swerve back for the highway and leave this place
forever.

And then there was the thought of facing
Jase.

A honking horn behind her broke the
hypnotics of her inner dialogue, and Maggie shook her head to clear her
thoughts as she took a careful turn
into the diner
’
s parking lot. She parked her SUV and
killed the engine. It took her a solid two minutes to get the guts to push the
door open and step out of the car. When she felt her hands itching for a
cigarette, she knew then that her coward
’
s heart w
as
stalling, and would stall forever unless she did something about it.

“C
’
mon, you bitch,”
she said to herself in an angry, hissing
voice.
“
Are you an Oliver, or aren’t you?
”
Hearing her family name out loud sent
strength through her blood, and she put h
erself on a
forced march to the diner
’
s front door before she lost the momentum of her bravery
—
such as it was.

She walked into Dot
’
s Diner and was immediately hit with the
full weight of homesickness and nostalgia that had been building the whole
drive h
ome. She saw the Wilsons in their corner
booth, the same damn spot they had been sitting in at Dot
’
s for longer than Maggie had been alive.
Some of the waitresses were certainly new, yet there was a vague familiarity to
some of them, as if she remembered t
hem as
schoolchildren. The friendly bellowing laugh of Roy the cook sailed out from
the kitchen. The diner was alive with sensory input: the clinking of
silverware, the din of conversation and laughter, the sizzle of cooking food,
the smell of coffee and b
acon and hash. It was busy
enough that no one immediately paid her any mind as she stood in the front
foyer. Finally one of the waitresses saw her and headed over with a big genuine
smile.

“
Hi there, ho
n!”
she said.
“
How many’ll it be?
”

Maggie was caught a little off guard.
She wasn’t there for the food.
“Oh, I, uh…”

“
You can sit at the bar if you like,
sugar.
”
The waitress handed her a floppy plastic
menu.

“I
’
m not here to
…”

“
Lord, is that Maggie Oliver?
”

Celeste, one of the diner
’
s old
est and
most experience waitresses, peered from behind the giant glass case that
twirled the pies and cakes around like they were showgirls to be ogled at. She
came around with her arms opened wide and sunshine in her eyes.
So much for doing this my way
, t
hought
Maggie to herself.

“
Maggie, oh my Lord! I can’t
believe it
’
s you!
”
said Celeste as she wrapped Maggie in a
strangling but loving hug. Her uniform smelled like cigarette smoke, burnt
coffee, and the lingering scent of the same cheap perfume her husba
nd bought for her every year for their anniversary. Celeste
always loved it.

Maggie was surprised to feel her tension
and worry melt almost completely away for that moment she was wrapped in
Celeste
’
s arms. She hugged her back and felt
tears pooling up in her eyes. For that brief moment, it was like she had never
left LeBeau.

“
Honey, you look so beautiful!
”
said Celeste as she pulled away from
Maggie to give her a once-over.
“
Look at you
…
you
’
re grow
n up into a proper lady. I
can’t believe my eyes.
”

Maggie smiled, and felt a tiny tear run
down her cheek.
“
Hi Celeste. Boy, I didn’t realize how
much I missed you.
”

“
I missed you too, sweet girl. We’ve all
missed you. It
’
s been too long. Your pa hasn’t
come into the diner yet today. Have you already seen him?
”

Mention of her father made Maggie
’
s tension resurface in her muscles, and
she gave Celeste a tight smile.
“
No, not yet. Actually, I was stopping by to
…”
Something in the air made Maggie stop.
She t
urned and looked out into the large dining room
to her right. The place was filled with black leather cuts, the gathered
members of the Black Dogs from several nearby towns in for a lunchtime break,
laughing and drinking coffee. In the midst of them, one h
ad stood up and was staring at her from across the room.

It was Will Bowers. He didn’t look a day
older than when she had left. Always a handsome man with boyish features, now
he had supplemented them with a gruff chin-stubble and mustache the color of ru
st, same color as his soft curly hair.

Will was never an emotional guy. It was
only those who knew him well who knew how to read him, and right now Maggie was
reading an entire novel
’
s-worth of emotion on his seemingly expressionless face. It
was all in t
hose deep brown eyes which stared at her,
unblinking.

Maggie slipped out of Celeste
’
s grasp and maneuvered around the chairs
and tables into the dining room. She gave the waitress
’
s shoulder a tender squeeze as she did
so, and Celeste didn’t interrupt or
protest. The old
woman was wise enough to know what was happening.

Will moved to meet her halfway. Maggie
’
s nerves began to sing a warning song,
unsure how he would react. She did not want to begin this new and terrifying
chapter in her life by being publ
icly humiliated in
this place.

But when he finally got in front of her,
Will just smiled his gentle, lopsided smile.
“
Maggie,
”
he said, quiet as always.
“I can’t
believe it
’
s you.
”
His eyes were searching her face,
looking her up and down, as if he was try
ing to
dedicate every detail of this moment to memory.