Wild Nights (Hell's Highway MC) (6 page)

My heart sunk.

“What does he look like?” I asked.

She scrunched her face at my odd question. “Um, kind of longish brown hair. Scruffy face. Dark eyes.”

I knew it was Blaze. I knew it.

“Tell him no one’s here,” I said.

“Um, too late,” she replied. “I told him you were here and I’d see if you could squeeze him in before we close.”

I sighed, annoyed, and stood up. I wanted to walk out the back door, hop in my car, and drive way, but I couldn’t leave her there alone with him.

“I’m confused,” she said. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no,” I assured her. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Do you know that guy?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said as I walked out of the back room and towards the front area to greet him.

“Well, well, well,” he said as a smile spread across his face and he stood up to greet me. For the first time, he looked normal and not creepy. He seemed excited to see me. “Think you can fit me in for a cut?”

“You know I charge $60 for a cut, right?” I asked him. “You could go to a barber shop and get one a whole lot cheaper.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m good for it.”

“Okay,” I lamented. “Follow me.”

He followed me back to the shampoo bowl where I gave him a quick wash and hurried him over to my station. I pulled out my clippers and shears and got to work.

“I can’t help but feel like you’re rushing this experience,” he said. “Don’t I get pampered at all? I mean for sixty bucks and all.”

I sat my clippers and shears down and pulled out a bottle of hand lotion.

“Give me your hand,” I said.

He reached his right hand out as I gave it a quick massaged, followed by his other hand.

“Feel better now?” I asked.

I couldn’t help but notice the receptionist watching us from the corner of her eye. She could clearly tell this wasn’t an ordinary client-stylist interaction.

I finished his cut, ran some product through his hair, and dusted off his neck line.

“All good to go now,” I said. “You can check out at the front.”

I began to walk away, but he stood up quickly and grabbed me by the wrist. It was gentle, but it was still a grab nonetheless.

“Wait,” he said.

I spun around and saw his pleading eyes.

“I came all this way because I wanted to talk to you,” he said. In that moment, he almost seemed sweet and endearing.

“How the hell did you find out my name?” I asked. “Or that I worked here?”

I still didn’t want him knowing he’d found my correct home address, so I didn’t mention that.

“In this day and age, you can find anything about anyone,” he said. “It’s not hard. Besides, I’ve done some bounty hunting with my dad before. Trust me, I know how to find people.”

It was starting to make sense and seem a tiny bit less creepy, but it was still creepy.

“Look, I know this is really weird to you and maybe even scary,” he said. “Some random guy you hooked up with in Tulsa drives to you town to find you. I’d be weirded out too. But trust me, I’m just a nice guy who wants to get to know you better. You never gave me your number. And I wanted to see you in person.”

I had to admit, he was giving me a pretty compelling argument and making the situation seem a heck of a lot less crazy that I thought it was.

“Let me take you out for one drink tonight,” he said as he clasped my hand in his softly. “One drink. We can talk, and if you never want to see me again, I’ll let you go. You can go on your merry way, and you’ll never see me again.”

It was tempting. I looked down at the ground as I thought about it for a bit. It seemed insane to go anywhere with him, but on the other hand, I truly believed he was being genuine.

“Go pay,” I said as I nodded towards the front desk. “We can go to the Brass Monkey bar. I’ll drive separate and meet you there.”

Blaze’s face lit up and he flashed his megawatt, perfect smile. With his fresh haircut and charming face, he reminded me of the man I first met the weekend before. The man I was wildly attracted to. The man who touched me like no one had touched me before and who fucked my brains out.

I slipped out the back of the shop, making sure the parking lot was still well lit, and headed for my car. In my head, I knew meeting up with him was crazy, but given his unpredictable nature, I knew I had no other choice. If I didn’t do what he wanted, he probably would’ve showed back up at my townhouse later that night. I knew he wasn’t leaving until he got what he wanted.

Growing up the daughter of a clinical psychologist mother, I learned very quickly how to figure people out. I learned how to read people, how to tell if they were dangerous, and how to read between the lines. I was still figuring Blaze out, but any man who could figure out who I was and where I lived in a matter of 24 hours was someone to watch out for.

My mother would kill me if she knew I was meeting up with him, but I had to trust my own instincts. I knew that if I showed him even an ounce of fear that he’d prey on that. People like him loved to scare people. It made them feel more in charge and in control. I didn’t want him to know I was afraid of him. I didn’t want him to know that I was wary of his motives. I hoped that if I treated him like I’d treat any other guy, he might see that I’m just a plain, old boring girl and lose interest.

I had a feeling Blaze was all about the chase. He was the epitome of a cat-and-mouse guy. If I gave him no chase, he’d hopefully move on.

I started my car and immediately locked the doors, checking my peripherals. I pulled out of the alley parking lot and proceeded down to the Brass Monkey bar. It was actually a nice little place despite its God-awful name. It was well lit and far from the seedy bar where I’d first met Blaze. It was in a good, safe part of town that I knew like the back of my hand, and I almost always saw people I knew there.

I figured if Blaze tried to pull anything funny that night, at least some acquaintances or even the bar tender would have a description on him. I sighed as I thought about how easily things could go wrong, but I didn’t want to think about it too much. I had to prove my point. I had to prove I wasn’t scared of him so he’d leave me the fuck alone and move on.

I parked my car in front of the bar, tucked my blonde hair behind my ears, and headed in. I honestly didn’t care that I probably looked like shit. I’d been on my feet since that morning with hardly a break between clients. If I were meeting any other guy, I’d have gotten all gussied up and at least slicked on a coat of red lipstick, but not for Blaze. He wasn’t getting any sort of special treatment.

The night he first met me, I had gotten dressed up to the nines. Tonight, I was probably more of an eight or maybe even a seven if I had to be honest. I’m sure I had bags under my eyes and my foundation had long worn off, but I didn’t care at all.

I walked in and immediately spotted him sitting in a booth in the corner sipping on a beer. He looked a little out of place at the Brass Monkey in his leather jacket with his neck tattoos sticking out from his shirt collar. If he wasn’t so fucking crazy, I’d have actually thought he was hot right then.

His broad shoulders were hunched over and his elbows rested on the table while he took sip after sip of his cool, amber beer. I took a deep breath and strolled over to him, flashing my biggest, fakest smile.

“Hey,” he said as he spotted me. His eyes widened and his face lit up. Despite looking halfway like a homeless person, he seemed happy to see me.

“I see you had no problem finding the place,” I said as I scooted into the booth. “I’m shocked you made it here before me.”

“GPS, baby,” he said as he sipped his beer. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me since I got there.

“So,” I said, trying to fill the awkward silence.

“Let’s order you a drink,” he said as he flagged down a server.

I thought about saying no, and telling him I didn’t plan to stay long, but that would’ve defeated the purpose of why I was there.

“What would you like?” he asked. “My treat.”

“Gin and tonic,” I said. I was dying for something blue and fruity, but I didn’t want to seem too girly-girl. I wanted a serious drink.

“My girl here will have a gin and tonic,” he said to the server. “Top shelf.”

My girl? I wondered. How on earth was I his girl? And top shelf? He must be trying something.

I was intrigued by his choice of words, but I still tried to stay on my guard. He was acting so nice. So normal. This wasn’t the guy who picked me up in a bar in Tulsa and within twenty minutes was fucking my brains out. This wasn’t the guy who pulled a surprise three way with me in my hotel. This wasn’t the guy who drove all the way to St. Louis to find me despite me never telling him my last name.

The drink came quickly, thank goodness, and I got busy working on it. I hadn’t eaten anything since one that day, so my stomach was pretty much empty. I knew it was only a matter of minutes before I’d start feeling the drink, which could either be really good or really bad. I suddenly felt nervous around him. He was throwing me off a bit with his nice and normal behavior. I didn’t know what to think.

“So,” he said as he stared at the table between us. “There’s a reason I had to find you.”

“Oh, yeah?” I asked as I took a few sips.

“First off, I just wanted to apologize,” he said.

“For what?” I asked.

“I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you in Tulsa,” he said. His dark eyes looked up and met mine, and in that moment he seemed one-hundred percent sincere. “You’re a nice girl. You didn’t deserve to meet a jack ass like me, and I shouldn’t have included my friend. That was beyond disrespectful. I feel sick about it.”

I jerked my head back, taken aback by this tattooed, crazy, bad ass biker dude who is feeling remorse over the way he fucked some random woman. Who does that? Maybe I was wrong about him.

“I know it seems crazy that I found you here,” he said, his eyes shifting nervously. “But I had to. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t apologize.”

“You could’ve just called me,” I said. “If you can find out where I live, I’m sure you could find out my number.”

His face fell, and I instantly realized I was being a jerk in the middle of his apology.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Sure,” he said. “I could’ve called you. But the thing is, I can’t get you out of my head, Molly. I had to see you again. And I wanted you to know that I genuinely think you’re a kick ass person. You’re different from every other girl I’ve ever met. When I realized that, I couldn’t believe what I’d done.”

“I see,” I said. My face was beginning to turn numb, and I knew the drink was kicking in. I felt my guard slipping little by little. He was being so kind. I was starting to have my doubts about my first impression of him.

“More drinks?” the server said. She came out of absolutely nowhere.

Before I had a chance to object, Blaze nodded and held up two fingers.

“This night’s not over yet,” he said with a sexy wink. “At least hang out with me a bit longer? I came all this way.”

His sexy brown eyes pleaded with mine as he reached his hand across the table and covered mine. It was a sweet gesture, and I couldn’t say no. The drink had already been ordered.

“Thanks for coming all this way just to apologize,” I said. “I appreciate that. It’s a little extreme, I will admit. But it was a nice gesture.”

“Molly, are you seeing anyone?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” I said, instantly regretting those words. The smarter choice would’ve been to lie and say that yes, I did have a boyfriend and he’s waiting for me at home right now.

Shit, shit, shit, I thought to myself.

“Well, it’s complicated,” I said. “It’s on again, off again. We talk almost every day.”

I couldn’t tell if he bought it or not, but that damn fucking alcohol was like a truth serum. I needed to slow down on my second drink that was for sure.

“I see,” he said as he tried to read my expression.

I almost asked him why he wanted to know, but I stopped myself. I knew the reason.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “A girl like you won’t stay on the market for much longer.”

“Thanks,” I said as I blushed. Growing up, my mom never allowed me to focus on my looks. She always emphasized inner beauty, which was why it was always so difficult for me to accept compliments about my looks. Imagine her horror when she found out I was going into the beauty industry.

“Seriously,” he continued. “Those eyes. Those lips. That body.”

He bit his lip as if he wanted to pounce on me, and much to my surprise, I could feel myself getting a little stirred up below the belt. I couldn’t believe it, and honestly I was a little angry at myself for letting him get to me like that once again. There was something about him that did that to me.

I glanced up at him through my alcohol induced stupor and drowned in his dreamy gaze, his dark eyes, his dark, freshly-cut hair, and his leather and denim uniform. The tattoos that peeked out from under his collar only served as a reminder of the wild and crazy nights we’d had.

I closed my eyes for a brief second as my body remembered what it felt like to have his hands tracing over every inch of me, feeling me up and down, and going into places deep inside me. He knew what he was doing, there was no question, and if things were a little different, I wouldn’t have minded having another go. But I knew I couldn’t trust him. Not sexually. And I didn’t want this to advance into any sort of friendship or relationship. I wanted this to be the last time we saw each other. I wanted him to move on and lose interest, but that all changed the second he got up and slid next to me on my side of the booth.

“Is it okay if I sit here?” he asked innocently. The smell of leather and woodsy cologne instantly filled the space between us. I could smell the beer on his breath and our eyes connected.

“Sure,” I said with a hint of reluctance. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, but admittedly I was curious.

His arm slipped behind me and he held me around my hips. Our eyes locked and before I even realized what was happening, his mouth was on mine.