Bad Boys of Romance - a Biker Anthology (27 page)

I sit up quickly, my head pounding from the sun and sudden movement, and smack her lightly on her butt. “You’re a genius! I’m gonna go start looking at apartments now. I have a ton of money put aside but I think I want a change of scenery, somewhere not too close, but close enough.” She eyes me warily and sits up. “Come with me! I’d love your genius opinions.”

“You’re going to move there aren’t you? It’s a little ‘hick town’ for you, isn’t it?” I give her a huff and roll my eyes.

“No, not there. But in between there and here would be perfect! Come on!” I grab her hand, and she rolls her eyes as I pull her up. We grab our towels and beach bags and head back to my apartment to change. I’m so excited and to be out from under Daddy’s thumb will be the highlight. Now, I just need to find an apartment, and then I’ll find a job. The money I’ve saved won’t last me forever.

“This is actually perfect! Beautiful scenery from the deck, pool around the corner, washer and dryer in the place and it’s clean and has a lock on the downstairs front entrance. I love it!” Betsy says as we walk around the apartment. I turn to the apartment manager and tell her I’ll take it, handing her cash, and she has me sign the contract then hands me the keys. Betsy smiles as she looks up at me. “Time to go shopping!”

While the town is small, fifteen minutes from Booneville and thirty minutes from Daddy, it has a large shopping mall with everything I need to outfit my new apartment. It’s dark by the time we get back, and a small moving truck is following Betsy and me back to my new place. By the time the two not so appealing looking guys unload and set everything up, it’s nine o’clock. Betsy decides to spend the night as we’re both too exhausted. The moving guys will meet us at my old apartment in the morning. They will load up everything there and bring it to my new place. We’ve set up blankets and pillows on the floor in what will be my bedroom and are laying there talking.

“You know, you could set up your books online and probably make a small fortune selling them.” My brow raises as I look over at her and she frowns. “What? They’re really great and what woman doesn’t like a hot and sexy romance novel? I’m telling ya, you could make it really big.”

I let out a sigh. “I guess I could try it. Who knows, maybe you’re right. I just never thought about my writing. I always do it for fun and out of boredom.” She gives me a smirk and rolls over. I close my eyes and think about what she said. Tomorrow, after I get all settled in, I’m gonna upload them online and see what happens. My heart skips a beat as I think of Steele and how I didn’t make it to the bar tonight. Steele’s face then appears, invading my mind as I start to fall to sleep.

The movers came early and took everything to my new place. I gave back the keys to my old apartment, and now I’m at my new one getting ready to begin my new life. Betsy reluctantly left about an hour ago, but said we’d chat on Facebook later today. I spent the last hour putting clean sheets on my bed and unboxing things. I finally took a break and am sitting at my desk, in the second bedroom, and uploading all my books to my new author account online. Being an editor at a newspaper, Betsy had edited my stories for free. Another friend from school, who’s a graphic artist, did the covers. I look up at the clock and see it’s almost time to take a shower, and I can’t wait to see Steele tonight at the bar, hoping by some small miracle he missed me.

Chapter Four

I have no idea how this bar gets so slammed every night, but I thank God for it. Another killer band tonight and there’s hardly room for people to walk around. I’m running around with my head cut off when a sexy woman stands at the counter behind a couple of people seated there and winks at me. I’m in no mood as I’m tired, because I didn’t sleep well last night thinking about Kallie and how I can’t have her. I hear a whistle and turn my head to see Kallie standing there. Her long blonde hair is curling down over her ample breasts. She’s wearing a silky pink half top showing her flat stomach and belly button piercing, low riding black jeans and black boots. She looks at me with her full lips parted and starts to open her mouth, and I turn back to the lady in front of the counter. “What’ll you have, sweet thing?”

She bats her eyes at me, licking her lips and then smiles. “I’ll have a double shot of Jack, please.”

The man sitting in front of her gets up. She quickly sits down, putting her arms on the counter and leaning up, showing me her very large cleavage pushing out of her low cut top. I grab a glass taking a quick peek over at Kallie and see her lit up face has dropped, pour the shot and set the glass down in front of ‘sexy lady’. “Here you go.”

I watch as she downs the shot and sets it back down on the counter, her eyes never leaving mine. “Another.”

I give her a wink and then take her glass, filling it again, then set it down. “Better be careful, darlin’. Men don’t like their woman too drunk.” I wink at her and watch her take the shot and set the glass back down again, then I lean down with my arms on the counter getting closer. “But I like ‘em a little drunk.” I faintly hear a gasp and look just in time to see the hurt look on Kallie’s face and a tint of wetness in her eyes as she turns and storms out of the bar.

“Well, in that case I’ll quit drinking now as long as we have something at your place after the bar closes,” ‘sexy lady’ says making me turn my head back to her. My eyebrows lower and I stand back up.

“Maybe some other time.” I start to walk off to another customer when I hear her huff and when I get up in front of the next person, I turn and see she’s gone.

When a fight breaks out I hop over the counter, and with all my pent up energy and disgust for myself, I start beating my fists into someone’s face, over and over. “Steele! That’s enough, man.” My arm is high in the air getting ready to punch this guy again, but I turn when someone grabs my wrist. Tiny, one of our largest bouncers is holding it and giving me a sad look. “Take it easy, man.”

I take a step back, getting out of my fighting stance, as he releases his hold. I give him a nod and start to walk back to the bar when Joe stops me with a hand on my chest. “Steele, take tomorrow off and this time, don’t come in! Get rid of some of that anger. Leave now and shake it off.” He pats my chest, and I close my eyes. I open them, take a deep breath, give him a nod and walk to the front door and out of the bar. The breeze instantly calms me a little and when I get on my bike and head down the road, I feel even calmer. What the fuck am I doing? Why is she plaguing me so badly? After getting home and having a beer, I go outside for a smoke and wonder what in the hell is happening to me. Then I take a hot shower, beating off once again, and get into bed. I lay there staring up at the ceiling and try to think about anything other than Kallie, but it’s useless.

The next day I decide to hit the gym in town, trying to get some of this energy taken care of, and then I go to the grocery store. When I get home, I fix myself a couple of sandwiches, chips and a soda and watch TV while I eat. It ends up being a beautiful day outside, so I sit out on the bench swing, smoking and thinking about Kallie, who will not stay out of my head no matter what I do. I look up when I hear a motorcycle coming up the road and see Tiny. He parks it in front of the house, gets off, and I nod as he steps up onto the porch. He sits down in the wooden chair beside the swing and nods at me.

“Wanna beer?” I ask him, and he smiles. After getting us both a beer I sit back down and take a big swig of mine. “What brings you here?”

He takes a big drink and then holds the bottle in his hand, leaning back in the chair. “Eh, nice day out for a ride. Thought I’d come by and see if you’re staying out of trouble.” He gives me a smirk as he raises an eyebrow.

I let out a chuckle and take another drink. “Yeah, as much as I can. Worked out this morning but now, there’s nothing to do so I’m getting a little bored.”

He nods and looks out around the yard. “Whelp, you could mow or something. Grass is as tall as me.” I chuckle again and look around. “You got it bad, don’t ya?” My head snaps to him and know my confusion is showing. “That girl, that sexy, pretty young thing. The one that came into the bar the first night you worked. You fucked her, didn’t you?” I lower my head, my heart racing with the thought of her and I lean back and take another long swig. “Hey, it’s okay to want a girl, ya know? No sense beating yourself up and everyone else around you.” He laughs and takes another drink as I turn my head and give him a smirk.

My brows lower and I start peeling the label from the bottle. “It’s just….” I look over at him and frown. “She deserves better, man. I’ve always been a loner, looking out for no one but myself. I’ve fucked women at every bar I’ve worked and I don’t know if I can be a one woman man.”

He leans his arms on his legs and looks at me. “What’s changed then? Why are you so moody, wanting to get in everyone’s face and beat the crap outta them? What’s going on in that hard, stubborn head of yours?”

I let out a big sigh and strip off some of the label. “She’s changed me,” I whisper.

“So? What’s wrong with that? Change is good. Do you want to die an old lonely man, no kids to keep your memory alive, no woman to love and no one who cares about you? ‘Cos, if you do, you’re doing a great job and if you don’t, then you need to get your shit together, man.” I look at him and raise an eyebrow. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I do want a woman to love, one that will care about me and love me back. Kids? I used to want them, a long time ago. I could see having kids with Kallie. Damn, they’d be good looking kids. “It’s not too late to change, you know?”

“But after last night….”

“Shit! Just means she wants you or she wouldn’t have gotten so hurt.”

Fuck! He’s right. I stand quickly and then sit back down. “I have no idea how to find her. Fuck!”

He looks down at his bottle, chuckling, then looks back at me. “I have her friend, Betsy’s number. Seems she kinda liked me that first night, once she loosened up.”

“Damn! Give it here!” He laughs at me and pulls out his phone, finding her contact info and then handing it to me. I pull my phone from my pocket and enter in her number and then hand his phone back, smiling. Things may just be looking up. As soon as Tiny leaves I call Betsy immediately.

“Hello? Who is this?” She asks angrily.

“Uh, Betsy, it’s me, Steele…. Uh…. From the bar? Do you remember me?” Silence. Okay, this can’t be good. Maybe she doesn’t remember me. “You know, Kallie and I….”

“Shit! Steele! Oh, my God! I’m not sure how you got my number but thank God you did. Kallie, she….”

“I know. She’s so pissed off at me and I swear I can explain. If she’d just let me talk to her, if she’d….” I’m babbling and I know it, but I can’t seem to stop myself.

“STEELE!” I shut up quickly. My breathing is heavy as I try to catch my breath. “Steele, she was in an accident on the way home from the bar last night.” What? Did I just hear her correctly? “She’s in the hospital. Steele, she called me on her way home. She told me what you did and she was so upset. She wasn’t pissed, Steele. You broke her heart.” The lump in my throat that has formed won’t go down with my swallow.

“What? What happened? If I caused that, if I was the reason she….”

“No, she was slammed into by a drunk driver, Steele. You didn’t cause the accident.”

Another fucking drunk driver. “I need to see her. I need to….”

“I’ll text you the address of the hospital and room number. Steele?”

My heart is pounding so hard, and I feel like I could be sick to my stomach. “Yeah?”

“She…. She doesn’t look very good. The accident banged her up pretty bad and her dad? Well, let’s just say that all her life he hasn’t given her a bit of attention unless it’s to parade her around at one of his banquets but right now, he’s pretty torn up and won’t leave her side. Steele, be prepared. I’m not sure he’s gonna like you.”

Story of my fucking life and as usual, I don’t give a shit. Right now? The most important thing is to make sure Kallie’s okay and to beg her to forgive me for being such a dickhead last night. I end the call and wait for her text. I light up a smoke and take a deep drag. The thought hits my head, and I wonder if somehow her being upset with me caused her accident. I would never forgive myself.

ᵴ    ᵴ    ᵴ    ᵴ

“Ungh, what happened?” I open my eyes to the bland, bare walls of what looks like a hospital room. My head hurts when I turn my head, and my face hurts too. I move my hand up and feel a large bandage covering the right side and then move my eyes to see Daddy sitting in a chair next to my bed the look of concern and worry marring his face. I look over to see Betsy standing next to him, wringing her hands in front of her and biting her lip.

“You were in a car accident. You don’t remember?” Daddy asks quietly. I shake my head slowly, but that makes it pound so I stop. I look down as he takes my hand in his and my brows lower. When I raise my eyes, I see tears in his. “Oh, princess. You scared me so badly. I’ve already spoken to the best plastic surgeon. You’ll be your beautiful self again in no time and going to the banquets and heal….” I pull my hand, but his tightens so I pull harder and remove my hand from his bringing it up to my chest. “All I meant was….”

“I know what you meant, Daddy. All you want is your beautiful, little girl back that you can parade around and show off to your clients.” I look up, and notice Steele is standing by Betsy. My heart starts beating fast as he stares into my eyes.

“Now, princess, that’s not fair. Haven’t I given you everything? Haven’t you wanted for nothing? And why in the hell did you move out of your apartment I set you up in. I’m not paying for that. I give you everything and then you….”

I look down at the bed, tears begin to form and I brush them away quickly. “Not everything,” I whisper. My heart pounds, and I feel like I could choke as it hurts my chest.

“Okay, it’s time to go. The patient needs rest. Out! Come on!” I look up to see a nurse walking in quickly and Daddy stands up, touching my arm and my eyebrows lower in frustration.

“I’ll be back later, princess. You get some rest. I’m sure all of this is coming from the accident and you being so tired.”

I pull my arm away from his hand and shake my head. “Don’t call me princess.” I look up at him to see the shock on his face and raise my head up high. “Don’t come back, Daddy. I don’t want you here.”

“Well, I….” My heart rate increases more, and my chest starts heaving with my heavy breaths.

“Time to go!” The nurse touches his arm, and he glares at her, shaking his arm away and then looks back at me. His head tilts, and he looks utterly confused. “Let’s go!” He looks at the nurse again and walks out of the room. “Okay, people. You too! Let’s go.”

Betsy walks over, leans down to kiss my forehead and whispers, “You get some rest, girl. I’ll come by later tonight. Don’t let the old man get to you. You just concentrate on getting yourself healed, okay?” I smile sadly and nod and watch her leave the room.

My eyes move up to Steele’s, and I’m confused how he found out that I am here and even more why he’s here. He starts to turn towards the door until I yell out. “Wait!” The nurse turns her head at him, while putting a needle into my IV line, and he stops and turns his head. “You came all this way. Can you stay for a little bit?” He nods and stands there, arms crossed over his chest, until the nurse is finished.

“You need anything, you call me.” She gives me a wink, and I smile a little and nod. “Why would anyone treat a sweet girl like that I’ll never know,” she mumbles on her way out then shutting the door behind her.

Steele walks over slowly then sits down in the chair Daddy was in earlier. “So, um…. You okay?” He asks as he clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable. My hand unconsciously moves to the bandage on my face, and I nod. He looks down at his hands and then back up into my eyes. “Look, Kallie, about last night at the bar…”

“No. I mean. It’s okay. I’m a big girl. You didn’t make me any promises and you were straight with me from the beginning. It’s fine, really, I’m fine.” I grab a long piece of my hair and start winding it around my finger, over and over in frustration and hurt.

He leans over and takes one of my hands and holds it tight. “No, it’s not okay and you’re not either, Kallie. I’m sorry for the way I treated you last night. I….” My brows lower and my confusion sets in. “I did that on purpose to get you to see the real me only….”

“Only what?” I whisper.

“Only. I want to change. For you. Kallie, I want you, see you, hear you and feel you. You’ve bewitched me or maybe I’ve finally come to my senses. I dunno.” My smile is growing with his words, and my heart starts beating faster. “All I know is, I want to try. Try to be with you, make you proud, and show you I’m not the horrible person you think I am.”