Page 10

Emma

“I have a meeting to get to, so Tiny is going to be your shadow while I’m gone.” Ace stopped the truck in front of the clubhouse to let me out.

Tiny, who was anything but, was waiting for me on the wraparound porch, and saluted Ace. It looked a bit corny between two bikers, but made sense after learning about their military background.

“You mean he’s my bodyguard?”

“‘Shadow’ sounds so much nicer.”

“At least you didn’t say he was my jailer.”

“That would be silly. You’re not under house arrest.”

“No, but I can’t leave without permission. Or a keeper. Or possibly both.”

Ace grinned that infuriating grin. “Exactly. For your own good.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Makes me sound like a difficult-to-control toddler.”

Heat infused his eyes as they swept over me. “Possibly difficult, but definitely not a toddler.”

I sighed. I wasn’t going to win this one, and he did have a point. I’d asked for protection, and he was providing it. “Who are you meeting?”

“Club business.” He reached over and opened the door for me. “Should be back within an hour. Two at the most. Tiny can carry your crap up to my room so you can get it sorted. Beast is going to drop me off at my place after to pick up my bike.”

I rolled my eyes as Tiny obediently grabbed the suitcase and garbage bag out of the back of the truck. I noticed he waited for me at the door, until Tigger came out and replaced him. They took this bodyguard stuff seriously.

I slid out of the truck. I didn’t consider myself to be short, but the ground was a good two feet below my toes.

Just as I regained my balance, Beast rounded the side of the house and headed for the truck.

He nodded at me and grunted, waiting for me to get out of the way before climbing into my just vacated seat.

“Hi to you too,” I grumbled. I swear I saw the tiniest ghost of a smile cross his face.

I waved at Ace. “Have fun at your meeting.”

Ace didn’t bother to answer, throwing me a smoldering look before taking off.

I watched the truck until it disappeared behind the bend in the driveway. Damn. I wanted him to stay, and that made me grumpy. I thumped my way up the stairs to the porch.

“You mind telling me what’s with the ‘club business’ thing?

” I threw the question at Tigger, not really expecting an answer.

One thing had become glaringly obvious from the time I first set foot in the clubhouse, and that was the way these guys covered each other’s butts.

I thought it was an admirable trait, until it kept me closed out.

“Not sure, but I imagine it has to do with the murder you saw.”

I threw him a surprised look. “You know about that?”

His head bobbed. “Yeah. Prez filled everyone in at church this morning.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to tell me what happened at church.” I frowned.

He held the door open for me to enter. “You already know about that, so it doesn’t count.”

“What exactly does count?” I asked.

“Nice try.” A wide grin stretched across his face, instantly shaving years off his appearance. “Everything else.”

I obviously wasn’t going to get any more answers out of him about the meeting, and I honestly wasn’t sure I wanted to.

I was suddenly too tired to care. Not sure if it was the overwhelming events in the past forty-eight hours, the throbbing bullet wound, or the effects of the painkillers. Probably a combination of all three.

Tiny deposited my gear in Ace’s room. I looked around. There was a dresser against the far wall, but I felt reluctant to open the drawers and squish his stuff to make room for mine. It wasn’t like I was moving in or anything. And it felt like I’d be invading his privacy.

I’d left the door open, and I turned as I heard grunting noises. Tiny and Tigger appeared, hauling a second dresser between them.

“Mom said you’d need this. Where should we put it?”

I gaped at them.

“Not trying to rush you, but this damn thing is heavy.” Tigger put his end down. “How about right beside the other one?”

“Umm. Okay.” I managed to close my mouth.

The two burly bikers maneuvered the dresser through the door and placed it beside the current one. Tiny dusted his hands off on his pants. “Anything else you need?”

I shook my head, at a loss for words. My stay at the clubhouse suddenly looked a little less temporary. “No. Tell Mom thanks.”

“Sure. If you need anything, just holler.” They headed out the doorway.

As they left, I realized I only heard one set of footsteps going down the stairs. I stuck my head out the door and saw Tiny lounging on a chair in the hallway.

He looked up. “You need something?”

“No.” I cocked my head sideways. “Are you making sure I don’t escape?”

He laughed, a deep-down belly type laugh. “Hell no. Just the opposite. I’m making sure no one gets past the guys downstairs and gets to you. Prez would not be happy if we let anything happen to you while he’s gone.”

“Oh.” What was I supposed to make of that? There was protective, and then there was crazily paranoid over the top protective. I should probably be upset, but it felt kind of nice. “You guys do this a lot?”

“No, at least not this personally.” He squinted, as if trying to decide how much to tell me. “Sometimes we do protection, but this is personal. You belong to Prez, and he wants you to be safe.”

“I don’t belong to your Prez.” That made me sound like some kind of prized pet. “I just asked him for help.”

Tiny didn’t look convinced. “You’re in his room. And he put you off limits. You and he can figure out what you want to call it, but from where I sit it looks like you belong to each other.”

Belong to each other .

I kind of liked the sound of that. Except our expectations from life were so very different. He was top guy in a biker gang, and I was desperately trying to get myself out of the ghetto and into a respectable profession. The two were not compatible.

Were they?

“How did you end up a Riptide prospect?” I asked.

“Just luck, really. My family life was shit when I was a kid, so I joined the Navy as soon as I made the age thing.” Tiny squirmed around in the chair to face me.

“When I made it into the SEALs, I felt like I finally had a home, and a family. Prez was my platoon sergeant. All the guys were close. So, when I got out I kind of didn’t do so well.

Felt like I was back where I started. Alone.

Then Prez showed up and offered to get me into Riptide. Saved my life, really.”

“Offered to get you in?” I tilted my head. “Oh right, Mom told me you had to be sponsored or something like that.”

“Yup. Riptide is by invitation only.” He shrugged. “You have to have someone sponsor you, and then you have to prove you deserve the patch.”

“So, a prospect is not quite a member?”

“I guess.” He looked thoughtful. “I’ve been here over a year now. Prez is trusting me with more shit. It’s a real honor being asked to watch his old lady.”

“Old lady?”

“That’s just what you get called if you’re like claimed by one of the brothers. Mom is Jake’s old lady. It’s a term of respect.”

It didn’t sound that respectful to me. I did not consider myself old. Still, it was one more thing to take up with Ace. Or not. Once this murder thing got cleared up, I’d be on my way. I wouldn’t be here long enough for it to be an issue.

Why did that thought not make me feel happier?

“Guess I’d better get unpacked. Thanks for the dresser.” I withdrew back into Ace’s room and stared at the new dresser. Putting my clothes in it would make this seem real, seem like I planned to stay.

My side was starting to ache again. Hopefully I hadn’t overdone it. I downed a couple of the magical painkillers and laid down on the bed while I waited for them to kick in. I could always unpack later.

The sound of a dozen or more Harley engines pulled me out of a fitful sleep. It was no doubt Ace returning from his mysterious meeting. Minutes later, the clubhouse erupted with sound downstairs as the bikers all jostled their way inside.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and glanced at the alarm clock. I’d been out for over an hour, but it sure didn’t feel like it.

“She okay?”

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of Ace’s voice. Much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was happy he’d come back, and happy he worried about me.

“Yes, sir. She’s been in your room the whole time. She didn’t close the door so when things got real quiet I peeked in and found her passed out cold on the bed. Been through a lot lately, I guess. Must have tuckered her out.”

“I’m sure it did. Thanks for watching her for me. Joker been around to see her?”

“No, sir. Not while you were away. Thought maybe he went with you.”

“Can you go tell him to come on up when he has a minute?”

“No problem.”

I heard the rattle of the chair as Tiny left to find Joker.

Ace loomed in the doorway. God, the man was gorgeous. Not fancy magazine type gorgeous, but the rugged, scarred kind of gorgeous that told you he knew how to look after himself and anyone he cared about.

He ran one hand through his thick mane of hair as he stared at me. “Woman, you are trouble.”

I propped myself up on one elbow and tucked my feet under me. “How so? I did exactly what you told me. I stayed put and didn’t even leave this room while you were gone.”

He stalked across the room, lowering himself to the bed beside me.

Placing one hand on my thigh, he shook his head.

“What you saw was an execution by a rogue club from Atlanta, and intel is that they plan to run drugs through Riptide territory. This is our town, and we like to keep it clean. No way we’re going to sit back and let them set up shop here. ”

“How do you plan to stop them?” I had the sickening feeling I already knew the answer.

“We’ll throw some friendly clues their way. Let them know their presence isn’t appreciated. Hopefully they take the hint and move on. There are other towns around they can spoil with their presence.”