“I finally got you, and I don’t want to let you go, Mary Jay. Stay for one more drink,” he pleaded.

  It was tempting. “Not tonight.”

  “Then, at least let me walk you to your door,” he reasoned.

  “You sure you can handle the twenty feet to the stairs?”

  He slipped off his stool, and I stepped back. His arm stayed around my waist, and he held me against him. “I got you, babe.” He threaded his fingers through mine and led me through the crowd to the stairs in the back.

  He didn’t stop there, though.

  He climbed the steps with me trailing behind him, my hand in his, and we stopped on the landing in front of my door.

  “Please tell me you at least have a deadbolt on your door.”

  I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door handle and then the deadbolt. “I also have a chain on the other side I use when I’m home.”

  “Thank god for that, babe. One of the reasons I stuck around until closing time was to make sure no drunk idiot decided to see what was at the top of the stairs.”

  “I have a question. I asked it before, but you didn’t really answer it.”

  He grabbed my hand again and stroked my palm with his thumb. “Hit me with it, babe.”

  “Why did you wait so long? Why not talk to me sooner?” I asked. Hail had told me he was the type of man who knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to go after it. Not chase it, per se, but take it.

  “I’m not good enough for you, babe. I know you deserve a hell of a lot more than I can give you, but I’m a selfish bastard. I tried to let you be, but I couldn’t do it anymore.”

  “I live above a bar with my cat and work in a warehouse, Hail. I’m not some princess locked away in her castle.” I had never thought I was better than anyone in my life.

  “I’m a biker.”

  “Okay,” I laughed.

  He tugged me close until the toes of my boots bumped his, and I splayed my hands on his chest to keep from tumbling over. “All I have to offer is a place on my bike and half of my bed, babe. My job is being the prez of the Lost Mavericks, and every day looks different.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  He reached up and trailed his fingers down my cheek. “You deserve a whole hell of a lot more than that.”

  “Don’t you think I should be the one to decide that?”

  “For two months, I did.” His eyes dropped to my lips. “But that all changed yesterday.”

  “So what about today?” I whispered.

  “Today, I’m a selfish bastard.”

  My heart raced, and the electricity in the air hung heavily.

  Time stopped, and there was only Hail and me.

  Less than an hour I had spent with this man, and yet it felt like I had known him my whole life.

  “I’ve been waiting two months for this moment, babe,” he whispered. “Tried to let you go every day, but every night, I was back wanting just a glimpse of you.” He inched close, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies floating around my stomach. “I can’t wait any longer.”

  Our lips met in a searing, electrifying kiss.

  His arms pulled me tight against him, and his hands traveled over my body.

  I held onto him as if he was the only thing grounding me to the earth.

  I didn’t want to let him go.

  His lips moved over mine, and he pressed me against the door. My heart raced, and it felt like time stood still.

  I couldn’t wrap my head around how this had happened or how I got so lucky, but I wasn’t going to question it too much.

  “Hail,” I gasped when we finally came up for air.

  “I can’t resist you any longer, Mary Jay.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  He chuckled low and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Go inside and lock your door.”

  “Huh? I kind of like it out here.” That kiss was just a taste, and I wanted more. A whole lot more. We had just been kissing, and now I was just supposed to go inside. Without him?

  “I waited two months for this; I can wait a little bit longer until I truly make you mine.”

  My eyes widened, and a gasp escaped my lips.

  “I wasn’t joking last night when I said I was going to call you mine, Mary Jay.” He reached down and twisted open the door.

  I stumbled backward and looked up at him, dazed.

  “I’ll see you tonight, Mary Jay.” He reached for the door and shut it in my face. I listened to his footsteps fade down the steps and laid my hand against the door.

  Well, that was not at all how I expected my night to go, but I didn’t know what I was going to do if they all didn’t end that way from now on.

  Hail had kissed me.

  Kissed. Me.

  I wanted more. So much more.

  Chapter Five

  Hail

  “This is new, but not.”

  “Go back in the bar, Tiger,” I drawled.

  “I don’t think I have ever seen you this hot and bothered over a woman before,” he pondered out loud. “She got a golden snatch or something? Like Harry Potter?” He tipped his head to the side. “Or was that a golden snitch?”

  “You’re an idiot, Tiger.”

  He plopped down on the bench outside the bar and kicked his feet out in front of him. “You’re right, but I do tend to keep things interesting around here.”

  “Can’t argue with that.” I looked up and down the street. “But you can go keep things interesting inside. Not looking for a wingman.”

  “What is it about this chick?” Tiger asked. “I get that she is hot, but so are a lot of other chicks.”

  I pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in the corner of my mouth. Tiger tossed me his lighter, and I lit the end of the cigarette.

  “She’s different, Tiger. I can’t tell you exactly what it is, but there is just something about her that I can’t let go.”

  Tiger shrugged. “Can’t say I understand what it is you’re saying, but I guess I get it. If you’re gonna take an ol’ lady, then she should be different than all of the other pussy running around.”

  I tossed the lighter back to him and shook my head. “That’s your one free pass of calling her pussy, Tiger.”

  He held up his hands. “Sorry, boss. Gonna have to give me a second to get used to you having an ol’ lady.”

  She wasn’t mine yet, but it was only a matter of time before she was.

  I knew that Mary Jay felt the same thing I did.

  It was a feeling you couldn’t put into words and could only understand when you found it.

  Mary Jay was it for me.

  “This mean you’re going to live above the bar?” Tiger asked. “You think you’ll get free drinks?”

  “Go inside, Tiger,” I laughed. “You can put your drinks on my tab.”

  “Fuck yeah,” Tiger cheered. “If you’re going to be this generous because you’ve got an ol’ lady now, then I am all in favor.”

  “Get out of here,” I chuckled.

  Tiger jumped up and strutted through the front door of the bar with a holler, “Drinks are on Hail!”

  “Fucking hell,” I muttered.

  I pulled out my phone and sent off a quick text to Jersey, who was inside, to put a kibosh on Tiger spending all of my money.

  “Hey.”

  My head snapped up, and Mary Jay stood in front of me.

  “Damn, babe, I didn’t even hear you walk up.”

  She chuckled and nodded to my phone. “You seemed pretty into your phone.”

  I hit send on my message and shoved my phone in my pocket. I took one last drag of my cigarette and tossed it on the ground. I snuffed it with my boot and reached for Mary Jay.

  “We’re not going to be awkward with each other after last night?” she giggled. “I was fully prepared to say um fifteen times and struggle to find anything to say.”

  “Nah, I was hoping we could just skip right over that and pick up where we left off last night,” I suggested. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. I pressed a kiss to her lips, and she melted into me.

  I had been slightly worried Mary Jay would spend our time apart talking herself out of whatever it was we were doing, but she obviously hadn’t.

  “I have a long list of questions I need to ask you,” she whispered.

  Or maybe she had talked herself out of this. “A long list, huh?”

  She tipped her head back, and her eyes connected with mine. “Uh, yeah. Not like I need to ask them all tonight, but maybe we can hammer through a few.”

  That didn’t sound too bad. “You wanna grab a drink?” If we could work through some of her questions, then we could really pick up where we left off last night.

  She shook her head. “Uh, no. I was thinking you could come upstairs. I know it sounds crazy, but Tommy about mauled me last night. I don’t think he would appreciate having to wait two nights in a row to be fed.”

  “Is this like meeting your family?” I laughed.

  “It kind of is because Tommy is all I have.”

  I threaded her fingers through mine and tugged her toward the door. “Then let’s go, babe.”

  We weaved our way through the bar, and Tiger let out a shout when we passed by the club bellied up to the bar, taking advantage of my bar tab.

  “They seem like they are having fun,” Mary Jay called.

  We made it to the stairs, and I glanced back at her. “That’s because they are drinking on my dime tonight.”

  She looked back at the club. “Uh, they look like they can drink a good bit. That’s eight or nine guys, Hail.”

  “Jersey will make sure they don’t get too crazy. That was who I was texting when you walked up.”

  “Is he like your right-hand man or something?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, he’s my VP.”

  “Are they your only family?”

  Standing at the bottom of the stairs was not where I thought all of the questions were going to happen, but maybe it was best to just get them out of the way.

  “Uh, for the most part. My mom is still alive, and I have a bratty little sister who lives in Colorado.” I didn’t have the typical shitty upbringing like a lot of the guys in the club. Most guys join an MC because they’re looking for a place to belong, a family.

  I had a family who loved me.

  The club was just another place I felt at home.

  “Where does your mom live?” Mary Jay asked.

  “On the edge of town. She works at the library.”

  Her jaw dropped, and her eyes bugged out. “Your mom is Sue Scott?”

  “Yeah, babe. You meet her before?” Mom had been working at the Crest Falls library for the past twenty-seven years. I was pretty much raised among the shelves and shelves of books.

  Too bad the love of reading never stuck with me.

  I much preferred bringing my Hot Wheels tracks to the library and building huge, winding tracks that intersected and climbed the shelves of books.

  She looked up at me and squinted. “I love your mom. When I was younger, she always helped me find books, and when I returned them, she talked and talked with me about them. She was a bright light in my dismal childhood.”

  “She is pretty amazing, and I’m not really surprised you like her. The whole town does.” I pulled her up the stairs and stood to the side as she unlocked the door. “Do I get more points since my mom is Sue?” I asked.

  She pushed open her door and smiled wide. “I really think you should have started with, Hi, I’m Hail, and my mom is Sue Scott. Would have gotten through a bunch of hurdles.”

  “Never would have thought my mom would help me to land a girl, but if it works, then I’m good with it.” I walked through the door and straight into her kitchen.

  “Where did you go to school?” Mary Jay asked. “I don’t remember you.”

  “You wouldn’t. I went to school in Branford. They had a better football team, and back then, that was all I cared about.”

  “That would explain it,” she laughed. Before Mary Jay could even shut the door, a loud meow sounded from somewhere in the apartment.

  “Tommy,” she sang. “I told you I wouldn’t be late tonight.”

  I walked further into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. A plump yellow tabby cat slinked out from under the bed and headed straight for Mary Jay. “Please tell me you call yourself Mama.”

  “What?” she laughed.

  Tommy wove in between her legs and let out a few meows before Mary Jay picked him up and buried her face in his fur.

  “Say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “Something along the lines of Mama is home.”

  She moved over to the window over the sink and grabbed a can of cat food off the counter. “You have a mommy fetish?” she asked. She cracked open the can and walked over to a little food dish along the wall by the couch.

  “I bet that wasn’t initially on your list of questions to ask me,” I chuckled.

  “You would be correct.” She dumped the food into the bowl, and Tommy camped out in front of the bowl and dug in. “And yes, I do sometimes call myself Mama, but now I’m not going to do it in front of you.”

  I raised my hands. “Fair enough, but for the record, I will not laugh at you.” If anything, I would toss her over my shoulder and ravish the hell out of her. “Kiss you, but not laugh at you.”

  “I’ll file that information away for another day.” She watched Tommy eat and didn’t look up at me. “Here is the awkwardness I was expecting. Let’s watch Tommy eat.”

  “There is nothing awkward between the two of us, babe.” I pushed off the counter and slowly stalked toward her. “Though I do think there are other things we could be doing besides watching Tommy eat.”

  She kept her eyes on the cat, and I could feel her anxiety rise.

  “Baby,” I cooed. “Look at me.”

  “This is crazy, Hail. I can’t even tell you the last time I had anyone in my apartment, and now you’re here.” She looked up, and her eyes were like huge saucers. “And the crazy thing is, if you were to leave right now, I don’t know what I would do. You’ve been in my life for an incredibly short time, but somehow, I don’t want you to leave, ever.”

  Her words propelled me faster across the room, and I gathered her in my arms. I buried my face in her hair and inhaled. “Thank fuck, because I feel the same way, babe. I can’t tell you how much shit I have been getting from the guys for staring at the damn door downstairs, just waiting for you to walk in.”

  “Stalker,” she jested.

  “Call me whatever you want, babe, as long as you’re in my arms.” My heart raced, and I couldn’t go one more second without her lips on mine.

  Our lips met, and just like the first time, it felt like coming home.

  She leaned back slightly, her breathing uneven, and said, “This doesn’t make sense, but I’m not going to fight it, Hail. I’ve never really had anything good in my life, so I’m going to hold onto this for as long as I can.”

  I looked into her eyes, which were filled with desire and vulnerability now. “I’ll do anything I can to make sure you only have good, Mary Jay. I don’t know what you’ve been through; I hope you tell me, but no matter what it is, know I will die before anything bad ever touches you again.”

  “Hail,” she whispered. “I don’t know where you came from or what I did to deserve you, but I fully accept it.”

  Her lips crashed into mine, and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I lifted her into my arms, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her to the bed and tossed her on top of the fluffy comforter. “Take your boots off, babe.”

  She hastily tore through the laces and kicked her boots off the bed while I did the same. She pulled her baggy sweatshirt over her head and tossed it on the floor.

  I knew I should take things slow with Mary Jay, but I wasn’t thinking with my head right now, at least not with the head on my shoulders.

  She clambered onto her knees and peeled my cut off my shoulders. I grabbed it from her and tossed it on the couch. “That doesn’t go on the floor, babe.”

  “Noted,” she laughed. “Respect the vest.”

  I cradled her face in my hands and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. “Three things I’ll always respect. My club, my cut, and you, my ol’ lady.” Her brow wrinkled, and I could see the wheels in her head turning.

  “I am...” She cleared her throat. “Is that you...” She moved out of my reach and sat back on her butt.

  “The second my lips touched yours last night, Mary Jay, you were mine. Mine means you’re my ol’ lady.”

  “I suppose you did tell me you were going to call me mine,” she whispered.

  “You good with that, babe?” She was mine, but I didn’t want to scare her. Life moved fast when you were in an MC, and that also was true for ol’ ladies.

  “That’s just like being your girlfriend, right?”

  “Uh, sort of, but way more.” A woman didn’t become a member’s ol’ lady on a whim. It was pretty much like being married in biker. “I’m your ol’ man, and you’re my ol’ lady.” That didn’t really explain it much more, but it was just something Mary Jay was going to have to experience.

  She launched herself into my arms, and I took a step back before she knocked us both to the floor. “Yes,” she laughed. “I might need to talk to some of your friends’ ol’ ladies to make sure I don’t mess up, but yes.”

  “You’re the first in the Lost Mavericks, babe. You’re going to be the one setting the precedent.”

  She cringed. “Uh, I’m gonna set the bar pretty low, Hail. I’m a hermit cat lady who only ever really leaves the house to go to work and the grocery store.”

  I pressed a kiss to her lips. “The cat lady and going to work part is good. We’ll work on not being a hermit when you’re not working.”

  “Already trying to change me,” she giggled.

  Oh, fuck. I didn’t want to change a damn thing about her. “Babe, I don’t–.”

 

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