Page 41 of It’s Always Been You (Always #1)

It was almost midnight when Nate and Sam walked through the doors of the B no filter on that mouth.”

They stood in silence for a while, both lost in thought. Finally, Nate said, “Look, you may not agree, but I think you should let me and Sam handle Caitlin’s security. Stay out of it.”

Travis expelled a shuddering breath, rubbing his eyes in frustration. “Just so fucking tired. I can never seem to catch up on keeping her safe.”

“You’re not looking at this logically, Travis. You protecting your own wife wouldn’t even fly in our security protocols.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Travis snapped. “I can’t fucking trust her to anyone else, but after all these near fuck-ups, it’s killing me that I have no choice. Tell me, Nate.” His voice turned ragged. “Tell me I have no choice.”

“Fine,” Nate said firmly. “It’s out of your hands, Travis. I’ll take charge. But I’m warning you, if you question any of my orders or argue with me, I’m going to ask you to separate yourself from Caitlin.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m taking her to a safe house away from you. ”

Travis glared at his friend. “The fuck you will.”

“The—fuck—I—will,” Nate fired back. “Caitlin has become a client. Her best interests are my concern now. And my friend, I hate to tell you this, but right now, you’re not in her best interest.”

“Fuck you, Nate,” Travis muttered, no heat in his curse.

“Good. Glad we’re on the same wavelength,” Nate said. “Let’s go inside. I’ll have Sam do a perimeter check. Suggest you and Caitlin catch some rest. She’ll be riding with me tomorrow. You ride with Sam.”

Travis was ready to protest, but catching Nate’s warning glare, he kept quiet.

He would let Nate play it his way. For now.

It was hard for Caitlin to say good-bye to the town of Iron Ridge and the friends she’d made in the four days she was there.

Meghan and Celia, the bartender at Foster Bar, Ms. Betty, and all the other folks whom she had known in such a short time, all came by the inn to see her off.

Even as Ms. Betty protested, Travis compensated the innkeeper for their planned two-week stay.

Caitlin agreed. The B&B shouldn’t bear the loss brought about by her problems.

Crane showed up with Ashe the morning of their departure.

For some reason, the Iron Skulls president had taken a shine to Travis.

Ashe was, well, just Ashe the big scary guy.

But now that he wasn’t trying to act intimidating, the thirty-two year old VP was actually ruggedly handsome.

Surprisingly, Duke showed up. Travis was ready to go nuclear except the biker prince walked up to him first.

“Wanna apologize,” Duke said. “I was sloshed that night and didn’t believe this beautiful woman was your wife.”

Nate raised a brow in interest, avidly listening. Apparently, Travis had not shared with his best friend the events leading to their introduction to the Iron Skulls MC.

“Listen, Duke, you could’ve hurt her,” Travis replied.

“I wasn’t gonna—”

Travis leaned in. They were the same height, so they were eye to eye. “You—could—have—hurt—her. Regardless if she was not married to me, you don’t have the right to haul off a woman like a caveman.”

“Hypocrite,” Nate murmured, prompting a glare from Travis.

Duke’s eyes slid to Caitlin’s. It was then that she felt an odd sense of nostalgia. Jase . Blond braids, ice blue eyes, and the relaxed slouch of a surfer dude. To her horror, the back of her eyes stung.

Duke grinned. “Aw, your wife’s gonna miss me.” Travis’s gaze cut sharply to hers, his face darkening in a scowl.

“You’re a laugh a minute, Duke,” Caitlin said, proud of her swift recovery. “I just got something in my eyes. I don’t have Stockholm Syndrome. No matter what your crazy brain tells you.”

Duke’s grin turned wistful. “Well, you take care, doll face.” And risking Travis’s wrath, the young blond biker bent forward to give her a quick friendly hug.

“You guys stay alert and take care of this young lady,” Crane said, shaking hands and exchanging back thumps with Travis, Nate, and Sam. With Caitlin, the MC president gave her a bear hug, lifting her a couple inches off the ground.

“Maybe when this is all over, y’all can come back for a visit,” Crane said. “We could use some excitement every now and then.”

When all goodbyes were said and done, the bikers revved up their Harleys and waited for the SUVs to be on their way.

Caitlin gave Ms. Betty one final hug and was about to get into the passenger side of Nate’s SUV when Travis grabbed her, slammed his mouth down on hers in a possessive, hard kiss. It lasted a tad too long because Nate cleared his throat.

When Travis lifted his head, there was a proprietary gleam in his eyes as he whispered, “See you in a bit, sunshine.”

He kissed the top of her head and turned to stride to the Suburban where Sam had the engine idling.

“You’ve got our man riled up,” Nate murmured, amusement in his voice as she hefted herself up beside him.

“Don’t know what you mean, Nate.”

Nate checked both sides of the road before pulling into traffic. “Don’t play coy with me, missy. It hasn’t escaped my attention that the guy, Duke, could have been John Cooper’s younger brother. The similarities are uncanny. You thought of Cooper right then, didn’t you?”

“Was I that obvious?”

“Yeah, you were,” Nate said. “Now I don’t think you did it on purpose and neither does Travis. I think he’s still insecure with what went on between you and Cooper.”

“Jase and I were over a few months before you guys met me in Berlin,” Caitlin said stiffly.

“Travis doesn’t know this, does he?”

“No.”

“You should tell him, Cat.”

“How? He goes batshit crazy every time Jase comes up in conversation. Not to mention unreasonable.”

“I know it used to eat at him,” Nate said gently. “But these past two weeks, I think he’s gotten a handle on it. Tell him, sweetie. It’ll go a long way. Believe me.”

Caitlin nodded. She leaned toward the console and peeked out at the Suburban that was trailing them. She owed him that, at least.

The glare of her laptop taunted her. The cursor blinked in a steady cadence that matched the pounding in her head.

Caitlin couldn’t sleep, so she tossed and turned.

Travis tried to trap her body underneath his so she’d quit moving, but she was too strung out to have her body encumbered by warm, hard, ridges of muscle.

So she slipped away. Travis protested sleepily, but she told him she was thirsty.