Page 2 of Drifter (Redemption Riders #2)
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Drifter
I t’s just coming up on midnight when the limo returns. Simon walks Sasha back up to the door, and his expression is that of a pissed-off brother trying to hide his emotions and keep his temper in check. Sasha, on the other hand, has a smile on her lips, which masks her true feelings.
Simon murmurs something to his sister and kisses her on the cheek, making sure she gets inside and even waiting for her to lock her door before going back to the car.
His gaze moves back to Sasha’s home. It’s as if he’s trying to decide whether he should go back.
In the end, he pulls out his phone, types out a message, and waits for a response.
He raises his head and once again looks at the house.
The lights blink on and off twice, then his phone pings.
He grins before getting back in the limo.
I watch as the chauffeur drives away with Simon.
At least she has one family member who gives a shit about her.
This does nothing to quench my thirst to know more about Sasha.
My desire for her was immediate. Is she beautiful?
Yeah. But I fucked a lot of beautiful women, and none have affected me the way she does.
The kicker is, I’ve hardly said a word to her.
I avoid her whenever possible, and she does the same to me.
Sasha stirs up feelings that I’ve buried for a long time, and that scares the shit out of me.
A rival biker group, punks on the streets, even a firefight in the Middle East, haven’t terrified me as much as an adorable woman with a heart-shaped face and long hair that looks like strands of caramel-colored silk, with a body that is toned and fit and curvy in all the right places.
Up to a few short months ago, I was under the impression that Sasha’s quiet life was perfect.
If it weren’t for Etain moving into the cottage next to her, I never would have witnessed her dick of a father getting in her face and shouting at her.
That was the first time I’d seen fear in her eyes, and I hated it.
Hawk wasn’t too happy about it either, and seeing that Etain and Sasha have become best friends, anything that disturbs Etain is going to rile Hawk.
Apart from that, Sasha was the one who spread the word that the Redemption Riders didn’t settle in our little town to rape and pillage.
As shy as Sasha is, she has courage. She walked right into our shop and demanded to know what our business was, then proceeded to tell us about the wonderful people in this place she calls home.
It took a while for Hawk to reassure her, but in the end, she became a friend and an advocate for our shop.
I stayed away all this time because a girl like Sasha doesn’t need a man like me.
I’ve seen too much ugliness for me to be a nice man.
Jaded is a good description of who I am.
Unfortunately, when my mother left me and my father before I was even a year old, that set the stage for the kind of relationships I have with women.
My father was a good man, and I miss him every day.
He was my one solid brick in the wall when everything else was crumbling around me.
Dad’s death hit me hard, and if it wasn’t for Hawk’s friendship, I’m not sure where I would have ended up. Hawk’s more family than he is a club president, and as his VP, I’d die before I let anyone touch my brother or the club.
That’s another reason to stay away from Sasha.
She’s beloved in this town. No one ever has a bad thing to say about her.
The birds sing for her, the flowers bloom in her presence, and she’s capable of making the sun shine brighter when she’s out.
Ridiculous, I know, but that’s what she brings when she’s around.
She visits the senior center once a week, bringing them treats and playing checkers or watching Jeopardy with them, yelling out the answers along with them and making them laugh.
Sasha participates in the bake sales, toy drives, and any other charity cause that arises in town, and she does what she can to make them a success.
A girl like that…just doesn’t fit with a hard-ass, jaded prick like me.
But I can’t control my need to make sure she’s safe.
Which has me hiding in the shadows outside her home at this time of night.
And, even worse, I can’t leave until I see that she’s all right.
I inch along the side of the house, toward the back.
There’s a light on in her back room, the only light on in her home.
Lucky for me, there’s a snag in the blinds covering the window where I can sneak a peek.
This is what I have resorted to: I’m a peeping Tom!
I glance in the window. Sasha is sitting on a yoga mat on the floor with her legs crossed, her palms turned up and resting in her lap, which is a natural pose for Sasha. But there’s no missing her tearstained cheeks, or how she’s trying to control her breathing.
Sasha does a slow intake of breath and then exhales. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Christ! I’m fucked! I can’t walk away from this woman. This could go really badly, but if it goes well, it’ll be the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten. There are a hundred reasons to back the fuck off and only one lame reason to make my move. I pull back and go back to my motorcycle.
Hawk needs to know how I’m feeling about Sasha. Not that he’ll have a problem with it, since he’s been rattling my cage about my feelings for her from the time we got to town.