Devil May Care (Four Horsemen MC Book 4) (6 page)

Now, here he was standing in the desert holding her skull. It was like that fucked up Shakespearean play Lex had dragged him to,
Hamlet
. “We need to get rid the rest of her.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Shep took the bone from him and stomped on it. It began crumbling beneath his boot with a sickening crunch. Captain did the same with the femur, only he smashed it with the crow bar. A few more stomps and strikes from the bar and her remains were totally pulverized.  They kicked sand over the crushed bone.

And just like that, she was gone.

Captain winced.  Someday his sins would catch up to him. And then he’d be just like her…laid out for the scavengers in the desert.

 But not today.

Right now, he was gonna head back to Perdition and see Eddie.  Time to sack up and ask her on a real fucking date.  He’d hemmed and hawed enough. Life was short. Too short to spend it wonderin’ what might have been or what could happen. 

What do you know? Steele had been right. For once.

Captain turned on his heel. “Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

***

After finishing the moonshine with Pretty Boy, Eddie had gone back to her office at Perdition. It was just after two in the morning, and Ryker and the rest of the crew had gone on home. She sat at the computer with a cup of tea and opened her payroll software program.

Eddie liked this time of day, somewhere between the night and morning. It was her most productive time and she didn’t feel like sleeping, so she might as well knock some work out of the way.

Suddenly, the jukebox started up in the other room.
Killer Queen
by Queen began to play. Alarmed, she pulled the Colt from her desk. Sliding off her heels, she made her way down the hall quietly. The element of surprise was important in these situations.

Rounding the corner, she cocked the pistol. “Hands up, asshole!”

Captain stood at the jukebox and as he turned to face her, he placed his hands high in the air. “Damn. I won’t be sneakin’ up on you again.”

“See that you don’t.” She lowered the gun. Then, pressed a hand over her hammering heart.  “Dammit, Captain. You scared me half to death.”

“Didn’t mean to,” he said softly.  “This song reminds me of you.”

“Yeah, well, you were about to get a demonstration.” She threw the safety on and dropped the piece on a nearby table before approaching him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you. Actually, I
needed
to.” He scanned her head to toe.

God, when he looked at her like that…well, it was hard to maintain her distance. She had the urge to loop her arms around his neck, maybe steal a kiss.

Stop it, Eddie.

“You saw me this morning,” she reminded him.

He smiled, real slow and sly. “Yeah, but it wasn’t enough. I always crave more of you and I wanted to get you all alone.”

She had a feelin’ they were about to have a big relationship talk. Captain wanted to go out with her. She’d known it for years. Hell, decades. When he’d been a prospect, he had eyes for her, but she’d chalked it up to a harmless crush. And when he’d gotten married, she thought he’d get over it.

He hadn’t.

With Joker in jail and the two of them in working in such close proximity, the sexual tension had always been there in the background. She’d tried to laugh it off, ignore it. But it was always there between them, unspoken.

This had been coming for a long time.

She should shoot him down and stop this once and for all, but she hesitated. Part of her enjoyed the flirtation. Sometimes, she played with the idea of taking it to the next level, seeing what happened. It had gotten her through some long, lonely nights.

He selected another tune.
Wild Horses
by the Stones started to play. “You like this song?”

She nodded. “Love the Stones.” Eddie had a thing for seventies rock in general, Queen in particular.  She’d even named Ryker, Freddy Mercury Rollins, much to his chagrin.

“We danced to it once. Do you remember?”

She didn’t have a clue.  “Did we?”

He nodded, a sad smile on his face. “Yeah, at Viper’s wedding.”

Viper, one of former members, had gotten married in eighty-one shortly after she and Joker got hitched. She barely recalled that night. She and Joker had gotten blitzed on bourbon before they went to the reception.

He filled in the gaps for her. “Joker was so wasted he couldn’t walk and you wanted to dance, so I obliged you.  You had on this long, red dress.”  He licked his lips.  “And you wore your hair down. It fell to the middle of your back and I kept brushing my fingertips against the strands. They felt like silk.” He held out his hand to her. “Come here. Dance with me again. I need to feel you in my arms.”

She stared at his big, warm hand for a moment. God, she really wanted to. It would feel so damn good to be held, but she stepped back. “I think that’s a bad idea.”

“Come on,” he coaxed. “No harm in a little dance.”

Before she could stop herself, she’d slipped into his arms. She’d worry about the fallout later.  They slowly moved across the dance floor and she relaxed in his arms, listening to Mick Jagger’s raspy voice as he sang about a lover slipping through his hands.

“You look just as beautiful tonight as you did back then,” Captain whispered, his mouth against her ear. Their bodies fit together perfectly, as they effortlessly moved across the floor.

Eddie knew she was leading him on.  She shouldn’t be doing this. “This is only a dance. Nothing more.”

“It doesn’t have to be. It could be the beginning of something fucking fantastic.  Give us a shot. See what happens.”

She forced herself to say the words. “You need to stop pursuing me.”

He laughed bitterly. “I can't. Believe me, I‘ve tried, but I can’t get you out of my head.”

“Why?” She honestly didn’t understand his fixation. “I don’t get it. I’m an
older
old lady. If Ryker and Elizabeth get their act together, I’m gonna be a grandma soon. What the hell do you want with a grandmother?”

He chuckled. “If you didn’t notice, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m not that awkward prospect who followed you around like a lovesick puppy.”

There were many words she’d use to describe him and awkward wasn’t one of them. He was bossy, stubborn, and okay…hot. “You’re what…fifteen years younger?”

“And?”

“You could have any of the young hellions hanging around the club. Why the hell are you tryin’ to date me?”

 “Because I don’t want any of them.” 

“Liar.” She tossed her head to the side, glaring up at him. What man wouldn’t want a girl half his age? Wasn’t that a big ego stroke? “You could have a trophy on your arm, maybe even start a family again.”

He grimaced. “Oh, hell, no. I’ve been there and done that. I love Lex. She’s the best damn thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I’m done raisin’ babies. If she sees fit, I’d like a grandkid or two. Not for a few more years, though.” Then, he raised a brow at her. “Besides, I’ve always wanted a Mrs. Robinson.”

She laughed, despite herself.

“I’m serious! I used to fantasize about you comin’ on to me when I was a prospect.  And I’ve been a monk these past couple of months because I’ve been workin’ up the nerve to ask you out.”

Eddie had heard the rumors, but she’d never seen him so much as glance at a hellion. “Yeah, I bet you’re aren’t’ always pure and innocent.”

His eyes danced. “What happens on a run, stays there. That’s why I haven’t fucked around with any of the girls here.”

“Be still my heart.”

His hand slipped lower on her back, grazing her ass, and she tugged his wrist, until he moved it up. He smirked at her. “We both know if I fucked one of them and then tried to take you out, you wouldn’t give me the time of day, would you?”

Dammit. He knew her a bit too well.

“No, I wouldn’t put up with it.” She couldn’t tolerate cheating. Early on in her relationship with Joker, she’d made that clear. And she’d never caught him with anyone. “But you and I aren’t dating.”

“Not yet,” he insisted. “I don’t even fuckin’ notice anyone else. I want what I want…and what I want, Eddie, is you.”

He brushed his lips across her forehead and she shivered.

She ducked her head. “Captain, we can’t.”

“Why? Give me one good reason and don’t say the age thing because that’s a non-issue.”

“It would feel like I’m being unfaithful to Joker,” she whispered.
That
was the truth of the matter and the real problem.

His features tightened. “Unfaithful,
to him
.” There was a strain in his voice, she didn’t quite understand.  He sucked in a breath, studying her face. “Eddie, he’s no longer among the livin’. You can’t cheat on a dead man.”

“I know, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“You like me,” he insisted pulling her closer, so her breasts rested against his chest.

 Her head was swimming. He felt good, smelled good, and he seemed so damn sincere. And, yes, she liked Captain, always had, and Lord knows the man was attractive, but he was cocky. “I do,” she said cautiously.

Then, he pleaded his case.

“Good. Then, let’s see if we hit it off. Come on. Let’s try something. One date. One goodnight kiss. If it doesn’t work between us, I’ll back off and we can pretend this never happened.”

She hadn’t gone on an actual date in years. Would it be so bad if she indulged herself for one night? Flirted a bit? She could shut this down afterwards, tell him it wasn’t going anywhere. Surely, it had to be better than dodging the topic, and then avoiding him altogether.

Or maybe, you want an excuse to go out with him.

And this was a guilt free way of doing it. Regardless, before she could talk herself out of it, she agreed to his proposition. “Okay, one date.”

 “And a kiss,” he said, raising his chin. His eyes blazed blue fire down at her.

Her tone held a warning. “Don’t push it, Captain—”

“But you can’t decide if you want to buy a car, unless you kick the tires.”

“And a kiss,” she agreed, with a gusty sigh.

His smile was as wide as the state they lived in. “Now, I’m gonna get the fuck out of here, Killer Queen, before you change your mind. We’ll make plans tomorrow.”

 After pressing a kiss to her hand, he slowly sauntered to the door, looking every bit the swaggering alpha male.  He paused at the door, turning to her for a moment and then paraphrased
Wild Horses
. “We gotta do a helluva lot of livin’ before we die.”  

With a wink, he left.

Chapter  Five

Eddie finally got home around three in the morning.  

She tossed her keys on the table by the door and was about to head upstairs when she heard a knock at the door. Ruby howled in protest and she quickly shooed the dog upstairs. It was too late for visitors. Besides, if Ryker or Axel had come by, they would have walked in. So would Shepherd, for that matter.

For a moment, she wondered if it was Captain, but he would have called her name by now. Showing up on someone’s doorstep at this time of night could only mean trouble.

The question was, which kind?

She hit the light switch on the wall, illuminating the porch, and peered through the peephole to find Byron Beauregard standing on her welcome rug.

She reared back with an indrawn breath. It was like finding a rattlesnake curled around your coffee pot. And, frankly, she’d rather deal with the snake.

 She had an inkling why he’d come to see her.  The moonshine business had steadily grown these past few months. She’d bet her buttons it had cut into Beauregard’s profits. The family had been bootleggers since the prohibition days—among other criminal activities.

Shit.Shit. Shit.

She grasped her Colt, pulling it from her purse. She always kept a gun for protection. Not to mention a Louisville Slugger in the bedroom closet.  The Horsemen had many enemies and most of them were spineless enough to come after an old lady, instead of one of the brothers.  Especially an old lady who lived alone.

With a sigh, she slid the lock out of place, and opened the door, but she kept the gun at her side. While she doubted he’d ring the doorbell and then kill her, it was better to be safe than dead.

Byron was a gorgeous, blond man in his early thirties, roughly the same age as her sons, with piercing blue eyes.  You might say they were
heavenly
. So big and light blue, they had an innate purity.

His eyes were the only thing pure about Byron.

Like his poetic namesake, Byron Beauregard, was mad, bad, and dangerous to know. His family had an unholy alliance with the Dixie Mafia.  According to rumors, they were into all kinds of illegal activities – drugs, murder for hire, extortion, and who knows what else.

All of the Beauregard boys had B first names: Branson, Braxton…
blah blah blah
. And every single one of them a bastard.
Look at that, another B. 
Not in the literal sense, of course. All of them were conceived in wedlock, but still…they had a dickish way about them.

She usually saw him strolling around town in an expensive suit but inexplicably, he wore a tuxedo tonight.
Like Satan in a Sunday hat.
  He offered a cocky grin through the screen door and for a moment she was struck by his good looks. He was so
excruciatingly
beautiful. Seriously, it almost hurt to stare at him.

 Although, the devil had once been God's chosen angel—handsome, intelligent, and utterly perfect. Until, he fell from grace.

And woe betide the world.

 “Good evenin’, Mrs. Rollins,” he drawled.

“Evenin’. You’re a tad overdressed,” she remarked.

 He ran a hand down one satin lapel. “I just came from a weddin’ in Dallas and I didn’t have time to change. I’m sorry to be callin’ so late, but I saw your light was on, so I figured you’d be up.”

Good manners warred with her natural impatience. Southern hospitality dictated she invite the gentlemen in and make polite small talk, maybe offer him a drink. But she felt more like ordering him off her property at gunpoint. An intolerance for assholes was a potentially lethal flaw of hers. Her mouth had gotten her in trouble more times than she could count.