Breaking The Biker (The Biker Series) - An MC Gold Vipers Motorcycle Club Biker Romance Novel (15 page)

After spending two-hundred bucks on a car seat, I was reminded that children were not cheap. Billy was worth it, though, and that’s why I bought one of the sturdier models.

As I stepped out of the store and back toward Raina and her sister-in-law, I noticed both of them staring at me with silly grins on their faces.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing,” they both said in unison and then looked away.

I walked around the car, to Raina’s side, and put the box down on the asphalt. “Will this work?”

She opened up the door and stood up slowly. “Yes. You didn’t have to get him that model. I know how much those ones cost,” she said, frowning.

“You can’t put a value on that little guy’s life,” I said. “He’s worth it.”

“I know he is but we have another one in my garage,” she said. “This one is really just to get us back into town.”

I tore open the box. “Then he’ll get back safely.”

“I can’t pay you back for this,” she said.

“Did I ask you to?” I asked, pulling out the car-seat.

“No, but –”

“Then don’t worry about it,” I said. “Hell, this thing is pretty sturdy. Maybe I’ll just strap it to my bike and teach him how to ride.”

She snorted. “Right.”

“Problem is, I don’t think the make brain buckets in his size. I’ll just keep the car seat in my truck at home so when we go out, he can join us.”

“When we go out?” she repeated, watching as I pulled the plastic off of the chair.

I smirked. “If you prefer something quiet, you can cook me dinner at your place.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she said, lowering her voice.

“Open the door for me, will you, princess?” I replied, ignoring the comment.

“Oh, we’re back to princess again, huh?” she said, doing what I asked.

I leaned down and put the car seat into the backseat, next to Billy. Then I touched his arm. “Hey, buddy,” I said in a low voice. “We got you something.”

Billy’s long eyelashes fluttered open and when he noticed me, a big smile spread across his face. “You’re still hewe?”

“I sure am. Check this out,” I said, patting the car seat. “I think it has its own shocks and airbags.”

Without saying anything, he unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the chair.

“You like it?” I asked, adjusting the straps to make sure they weren’t too loose or tight.

He nodded.

“Good.” I buckled him into the chair, handed him his stuffed dog, and stood back up. “That should work, huh?” I asked, turning to look at Raina.

She was smiling at me again. “Yes. Definitely. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied, pulling my key out of my jeans. “So, we ready to hit it?”

“Actually, we’re going to stay at a hotel tonight. One here in town,” said Joanna, through the window.

I stared at them in surprise. “You’re not going back to Davenport tonight?”

“No,” said Raina. We’re both too tired to drive and decided that it would be better to get a room here in town.”

I rubbed my chin. “Okay. That works for me.”

“Thanks again for everything,” Raina replied. “You and your club have been great.”

“You’re welcome,” I answered. “I’m just glad everyone is safe.”

“Me, too,” she said.

“Stay safe,” said Joanna, starting up the engine to the car again.

“Where are we going?” I asked, enjoying the look of surprise on both women’s faces. Obviously, they thought I’d head out. I’d already made a decision that I’d be sticking on Raina like glue. I still wanted to talk to her brother and something in my gut told me that she needed someone to watch over her. At least until the cops caught Phillip. If they didn’t, I’d pull some strings and try to make it happen.

“You’re not going back home tonight?” Raina asked.

“Nah. I could use some rest and a bite to eat,” I answered.

“I just made reservations at the James Drake Hotel,” said Joanna.

“Okay. Let’s go,” I said. “I’ll follow you if you know where it is.”

“I do now. I’m not sure if they have any more rooms available,” said Joanna. “You might want to call.”

“I’ll take my chances,” I replied, walking toward my bike.

She said something to Raina and both women giggled again.

I turned around. “Okay, I give up – is there something on the back of my jeans? Every time I turn around, you two start laughing.”

“It’s more what’s in your jeans,” said Joanna, biting her lower lip.

“Oh, my God,” said Raina, putting a hand over her face in horror.

I smiled. “Oh, yeah?”

From Joanna’s expression, it was obvious she hadn’t meant to say those words out loud. “I’ll take my foot out of my mouth and use it to drive now,” she said quickly, her face red.

“We’ll meet you there,” said Raina, getting into the car. She winced and mumbled something.

I swung my leg over the bike. “You okay?”

She looked at me, smiling grimly. “It hurts, but I’ll live.”

“You sure you don’t want a ride on my bike?” I asked, starting my engine.

Her eyes glittered as she looked at my Harley. “Probably not a good idea.”

“Another time?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” she answered, smirking.

“It shouldn’t. Like I said – I always get my way.”

“You must have been an only-child,” she said, getting ready to swing the door closed.

“Good call, but that’s not why.”

She raised her eyebrow.

I looked down at my lap.

“The bike?”

I smiled wickedly “The ride.”

Raina looked confused when she shut the door. As she put her seatbelt on, I saw a smile creep up onto her face.

When we arrived at the hotel, shortly before eleven, we found that there were no other rooms available.

“That’s okay, Raina and Billy can stay with me,” said Joanna. “Tank, you can have the other room.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Of course. My room has two queen-sized beds.” That’s plenty of room for us.” She looked over my shoulder at Justin and smiled. “You can take the room with the king.”

“Thanks,” he said, pulling out his credit card. He handed it to the hotel concierge “Charge them to this card.”

“You don’t have to do that,” said Joanna, frowning. “I’ve already used my VISA to reserve the rooms.”

He shrugged. “That’s fine. They can switch the credit cards.”

“Is this what you want to do?” the hotel attendant asked Joanna.

“Yes, this is what she wants to do,” said Justin, holding the card in front of the woman’s face.

Joanna sighed. “Fine. Whatever. It’s your call and I’m beginning to see that arguing with you is a waste of time.”

“Now you’re learning,” said Justin, as the girl ran his card through the machine.

Billy tugged on my hand. “I want to stay with Tank. Pwease, mommy?”

“No, honey. You have to stay with me and Joanna.”

Billy was about to protest when Justin leaned down on his knee. “As much as I’d love to have you with me, you gotta stay with your momma and make sure she takes care of that leg of hers.”

He tiled his head. “I do?”

Justin nodded. “Yep. She shouldn’t be walking on it too much and you gotta stay on her about that. Maybe even get her a glass of water when she needs it… or turn off the television if she asks.”

“Why can’t Aunt Joanna do dat?”

“Because she’s tuckered. She’s going to fall asleep and someone needs to be in charge. That person is you.”

His eyes widened. “Me?”

“You’re the man of the house now, aren’t you?”

He bobbed his head up and down.

Justin squeezed his shoulder. “That’s what I thought. So, you make sure your momma takes it easy and if you gotta scold her, you do that.”

“Okay,” he said, looking almost exuberant at that idea.

Justin laughed and stood up. “Looks like I don’t have to worry about you tonight.”

“Guess not,” I replied, wondering why he was so worried about me anyway.

***

“Now, isn’t this better than a cheap motel room?” asked Joanna, walking out of the bathroom wearing a white hotel robe. She’d just gotten done taking a shower and Billy had crashed after the three of us shared a pizza.

I looked around the room. It wasn’t a suite, but it was large, spacious, and clean. The mattresses were luxurious, however, and totally worth the extra money. 

“It’s nice, I agreed.

“Wonder how that biker is doing in the next room?” she mused, pouring some of the hotel’s lotion into the palm of her hand. She began rubbing it on her leg. “He’s been very quiet over there.”

“To be honest, I don’t think he’s there right now.” Justin had mentioned that he was going to grab a bite to eat in the bar before we’d ordered food ourselves. He’d invited me to join him, but I’d declined, not wanting to leave Billy out of my sight.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Where do you think he went?”

“He mentioned grabbing a bite downstairs.”

“I should have joined him. I could use a tall glass of wine after everything we saw tonight.”

“You could still go down there,” I said.

“Nah,” she said, rubbing more lotion onto her other leg. She tilted her head and smiled. “By now, he’s probably sitting with some pretty little thing, having a cocktail. In another hour or so, we’ll probably hear some noises going on in the next room that will make you regret not joining him yourself.”

“I’m not looking for…” I looked at Billy and lowered my voice, “anything other than friendship with Justin.”

“That’s not what your eyes say every time you look at the man.”

“I’m just grateful for everything he’s done. There’s nothing more.”

“You don’t have to give me any excuses. Heck, if I were you, though, I’d thank him the way a man like that wants to be thanked. With a blow-job or good old-fashioned sex,” she whispered, grinning wickedly. “I’m thinking that he’d be open to either.”

“Like I’m in the position to skip off and do either of those things,” I said, waving toward my son and then my leg.

“I’ll watch Billy,” she said, putting the cap back onto the lotion. “And you’re not running a marathon. All you have to do is lie there and enjoy yourself,” she whispered.

An image of me lying underneath a man like Justin made my sex tighten. I imagined wrapping my legs around his hard, tattooed body and opening myself up to him. From the bulge in his jeans, he had a lot to offer a woman, especially one who hadn’t had sex in ages. And he did brag that he knew how to give a good ride. “No. It’s not going to happen.”

“Suit yourself. I’d keep his number handy, though. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“I thought you said I shouldn’t get involved with a guy like him?” I reminded her again.

“Who said anything about getting involved? I’m talking about having yourself some fun. After the last few weeks, you certainly deserve it.”

I sighed. Even if I wanted to have sex, I didn’t think I could look Justin in the eye when we were curled up in bed together. As much as he claimed to not blame me for killing Slammer, I still blamed myself. “I think I’m going to take a shower,” I said. Maybe even a cold one after some of the thoughts that had been running through my mind.

“Careful with your bandage,” she said, nodding toward my leg.

“I know. They gave me a couple of other bandages along with some extra ointment,” I replied. “It’s really not as bad as I thought it was, though.”

“That’s good.”

I nodded and looked down at Billy again. “I gave him some of that medicine for his ear. It’s in the mini-refrigerator. Remind me not to forget that stuff tomorrow.”

“I’ll write myself a note,” she said, walking over to the other bed. “By the way, there’s another robe in the bathroom.”

“Thanks,” I said, hobbling toward it.

**

Trying not to get the bandage wet in the shower proved to be more challenging than I’d thought. Ultimately, I removed the damn thing and bore through all of the unpleasantness.

When I was finished, I dried myself, put the robe on, which stopped just above my knees, and then went in search of the ointment and bandages.

The lights were out and both Billy and Joanna were sound asleep when I stepped out of the bathroom. Trying not to run into a wall, I grabbed the bag of medical supplies the doctor had given me and snuck back into the bathroom. Inside of the bag, I found the bandages, but the ointment was missing.

“Shit,” I mumbled, recalling that I’d given Justin the tube to hold for me right before he’d carried Billy to the car. Sighing, I looked down at my thigh again, which was tender, and decided that I needed more of it. Making sure that the robe was cinched tightly around my waist, I quietly left the room and stepped next door, to Justin’s. Before I could knock, however, I heard noises coming out of his room. Thinking they were rather strange, I pressed my ear against the door.

“Yes,” gasped a woman’s voice. “Right there… uh, huh!”

Shocked, I jumped back.

“Hey,” said a voice down the hallway.

My head whipped around and there was Justin, walking toward me with a bucket of ice.

I stared at him in confusion. “I… who’s in your room?”

“Nobody. At least… I hope not,” he said, walking a little faster.

“I heard a woman’s voice,” I replied.

Frowning, he took out his room key and slid it into the door. The light turned green and he pushed it open. “Oh,” he said, stopping abruptly in the doorway.

I got on my tippy toes and peered over his shoulder. There wasn’t anyone in the room, but the television was playing a porno.

Justin walked over to the bed and grabbed the remote. He switched off the television. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why that was playing.”

I smirked. “So, that wasn’t your choice?”

“No. Hell no. It must have just started playing on its own. To be honest, I would have chosen something much dirtier,” he said, flashing me a wicked grin.

“I’m not even going to ask,” I said, feeling my face heat up. “Anyway, the reason I’m here is because I think you still have that ointment the doctor gave me. For my leg?”

His yes traveled down my robe. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. How does it feel?” he asked digging into the front pocket of his jeans.

“I took a shower, obviously,” I said, pointing to my wet hair. “And the bandage came off. It’s definitely sore.”

“Can I see it?” he asked, looking at where the robe was tied around my waist. From the look in his eyes, he might have been talking about something else.

“My wound?”

“Unless there’s something else you’d rather show me,” he said, grinning again.

“I doubt you want to see the wound,” I said, quickly, changing the subject. “It’s gross.”

“Somehow I doubt anything on you would be gross. Come here,” he said, grabbing my hand.

“I should probably get back to my room,” I said, allowing him to lead me over to the bed like a puppy-dog.

“You can. Afterward. Sit down.”

Not knowing what else to do, I did what he asked and sat down on the bed.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, setting the ice bucket down. He then went into the bathroom and washed his hands.

Feeling jittery, I stood back up. “I should really get back to my own room,” I called out. “Billy is going to wonder where I’m at if he wakes up.”

Drying his hands, Justin stepped out of the bathroom and walked back over to me. “He’s sleeping?”

“For now.”

“You’d probably wake him up if you go over there now, so park your ass back down and relax. I just want to have a look at your wound. Make sure the doctor did a good job with the stitches.”

“Of course he did a good job,” I said.

“I’ll be the judge of that. Sit.”

Not knowing what else to do, I sat down on the edge of the bed.

Justin got down on his knees and began taking the cover off of the ointment. “I’ll let you show me where it is.”

Swallowing, I leaned to the side and pulled my robe up. The gash from the bullet was on the outside of my hip.

“Jesus,” he said, staring at my leg.

I moved my leg a little and looked down at it. “I know. It’s gross. I warned you.”

Licking his lips, his eyes met mine. “I’m going to try something new and be a gentleman for once.”

“Well that’s a relief,” I said jokingly.

He pulled my robe down, covering up a spot that had peeked through unknowingly.

My face turned red. “Did I just… flash you?”

“Let’s just say that I know you’re not wearing panties,” he said with a wicked smile.