Page 3 of Property of Prowler (Kings of Anarchy MC: Nevada #1)

TWO

TAYLOR

“What the hell was I thinking?” Taylor asked the dishes she was banging into the dishwasher.

“I knew better than that. I knew. Too damn sexy. But hey, I always gotta fall for the bad boys, huh?”

She slammed her favorite coffee mug a little too hard and broke it.

“Fuck,” she cursed as she sucked the blood off her finger.

“No, no, no, no,” she cried and fished out pieces of her CUNT mug.

Cursing herself some more, she tossed them in the trash and finished cleaning up the kitchen.

Taylor had zero intentions of sleeping with her sexy-ass biker neighbor when he’d moved in. That lasted all of about six months.

Then, when they did come to an arrangement, she resolved not to fall for him. Just sex, which is all either of them wanted.

What is it they say about best-laid plans? Yeah, that. It only took about two months of a steady diet of his cock and tongue, and her traitorous cunt was falling and taking Taylor down with her.

She wasn’t head over heels in love, but she definitely had some fonder than like feelings for her tall, blond Viking of a biker neighbor. That thought came with a metric fuckton of complications.

They had an agreement, and “fonder than like” was strictly forbidden.

Cassidy.

Fuck, if she told Prowler how she was starting to fall when she promised not to catch feels, he’d definitely distance himself and his daughter. She’d miss Cass so much if that happened.

They’d promised each other when they were done being neighbors-with-benefits, things would go back to normal. They’d remain neighborly, and she’d still watch Cass.

However, they never discussed what would happen if one of them fell for the other. Frankly, they were both one hundred and ten percent convinced it would never happen.

Taylor for damn sure never expected it. Hell, the first time she’d even realized it herself was just minutes ago. When his ex was all over him, and he did fuck all to stop it.

She felt like a moron just standing there stupefied while it happened. She’d wanted nothing more than to either rip Allie’s hair out or to turn and go back inside, but she didn’t do either … couldn’t.

When Allie had kissed him, though, Taylor felt like she couldn’t breathe. That’s when it’d hit her. She caught feelings.

The scene stung hard, and not just because she’d kinda, maybe, sorta, fallen, but that Prowler would’ve allowed it.

With everywhere their tongues had been when they were together at night, they didn’t kiss, not really.

He’d go to town between her legs, and she’d swallow his load, but they didn’t kiss on the lips.

So, in witnessing that, it had been a moment of truth for Taylor.

Not just with the realization she had fallen for him, but that there was still something between Prowler and Allie.

Something she couldn’t, and wouldn’t, compete with.

Granted, she’d broken their rule by falling, but he didn’t know that.

Kissing his ex on the mouth was devastating to Taylor.

With that in mind, she had no intention of ever, ever telling Prowler how she felt or that she was fostering those feelings. No, she would shove them down until they dissipated.

She couldn’t keep sleeping with him, though. Not now that her heart had entered the chat. Being intimate with him would just nurture any feelings she harbored. But boy, would she miss that. Prowler was an exceptional lover and a good man.

Her ex was the exact opposite of Prowler in that aspect. Still a bad boy, but of the loser flavor. It had taken her a year of working a job she wasn’t proud of to dig out of the financial hole he’d left her in.

Once she had, she moved to Vegas, changed everything, even her name, and had been self-reliant ever since.

And, just last year, she’d finally stopped looking over her shoulder waiting for Billy to find her like he’d promised.

He said he’d kill her if she ever left him, and she’d believed it.

That’s why she took the job as a legal escort while he was locked up for one of his short stints.

Billy never thought to look for her that close to home or as an escort of all things. Hell, they’d had top-class security there, so it had been perfect.

She knew Billy had half-heartedly looked when he’d first got out, and that’s when she high-tailed it to Vegas and changed her name, her hair—everything she could do to change her appearance at first glance.

The best part was her nose. The third and final time he’d broken it, she’d had to have surgery, but he’d gotten pinched before the bandages came off. He had no idea how different her face looked, all thanks to him.

Kind of poetic to her way of thinking. It was his constant abuse that made it hard for her to be recognized by him or any of his loser buddies, even when she’d come face-to-face with one of them.

Tommy, Billy’s childhood friend, had tried to tip her a fifty-dollar chip to come down and “be his good luck charm,” and he was none the wiser to who she was.

She’d almost shit a gold brick. Scared her so bad, she faked the flu, took a week off, and didn’t leave the house.

Nightmares still plagued her occasionally, but she’d heard Billy lost interest when he replaced her with a new woman willing to put up with his selfish lovemaking and financial dependency.

But when she’d seen his face on the news, going down for another nickel, that’s when she truly could breathe and started living.

“I am swearing off bad boys, all flavors. Maybe I’ll find a nice accountant type who plays pickleball or something.”

She poured herself a huge soda. “Yep. That’s the plan. Move on from old habits,” she pep-talked herself aloud while waiting for the foam to dissipate so she could top off her drink.

Having a plan made her feel a little better, even if her grand plan consisted of telling Prowler she was ending their happy, happy fun time, per their prior agreed-upon conditions. That way, things could go back to normal, and she would still get to have Cass in her life.

Taylor didn’t want kids, never did, and never would, but Cass was something different.

She wasn’t just the child of the man Taylor was having sex with.

She didn’t see Cass in that way. Cassidy was more like a friend, as weird as it sounded, if it were socially acceptable for a grown-ass woman to hang out with a fourteen-year-old.

With a new resolve to end her addiction to the wrong men once and for all, she headed to the living room.

The beeping on her front door told her someone was entering the code. Within seconds, Cass called out.

“Taylor, look what my dad got me.” She came bounding into the living room with a handheld gaming system, handing it to Taylor as she plopped on the couch next to her.

“Oh, this is noice. ” Taylor spoke in an over-the-top voice before handing it back.

Prowler was an amazing father. Seeing him with Cassidy had been the thing that tipped her over the should I sleep with him line.

While she didn’t have that biological drive to have kids, a man doing dad stuff and loving it was still sexy as fuck.

Prowler had predator written all over him, but when he looked at his daughter, every fiber of the man’s body changed. She couldn’t help but finally say yes when he extended the invitation to his bed yet again. That had been months ago, and they hadn’t stopped banging like bunnies since.

But that was done. Hotel Vajayjay was closed. No vacancy.

“Earth to Taylor.” Cassidy’s voice broke through her internal ranting.

“Shit.” She got up and followed Cass to the door where the guy stood smiling a little too flirtatiously as he handed over the white box.

Taylor gave him the stink eye as he leered at Cass walking away from him with their dinner. The way he pursed his lips while leaning sideways and watching her ass was gross. “She’s a kid, you jackass.” She slammed the door in his face.

“That perv will not be delivering here again,” Taylor declared with finality.

“Write your bad review, or whatever people your age do, but just don’t tell Dad, okay? He’ll do something all overprotective dad -like.”

Cass opened the box and served them both a slice, handing Taylor her plate, then proceeding to the couch.

Taylor followed. She mirrored Cass as she sat. One leg tucked under her backside, the other toeing the carpet, half facing each other and half facing the TV at the same time.

“First off, drop the people my age crap. I’m not ancient.” She knew Cass was teasing; she always did. “Second, your dad is levelheaded.”

Cass just stared in disbelief, and it was all Taylor could do not to laugh.

It wasn’t an out-and-out lie.

Taylor had never witnessed him in a hot-headed moment, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind he had it in him lurking just under the surface, waiting to pounce if need be.

She took a bite of pizza, and that heavenly flavor exploded on her tongue … kinda. Vegan pizza didn’t exactly hit the same way. However, Cass had convinced her she could in fact live without cheese, but baby calves couldn’t live without their mothers.

That and all the other gross things Cass had showed her about the dairy industry had her saying no thank you.

That didn’t mean she didn’t miss the high that came from the first bite of ooey-gooey cheese, but she agreed it wasn’t worth it.

Pizza was still the perfect movie-watching entrée, vegan or not.

“Overprotective dad is what he’s supposed to be. Chin up, kiddo. That’s a good thing. Mine didn’t protect me from squat.” Least of all himself, she didn’t add.

Cass brought her slice to her mouth, almost like she was hiding behind it. “Yeah, but his overprotective dad is leveled up.”

Taylor just watched Cass take a bite and thoughtfully chew. Yeah, Prowler was in an MC, so there was no doubt they hurt people, but not just for fun.

That thought plagued her, though. Did Cass think he’d hurt someone willy-nilly?