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“What would you call me?”

Mine.

I blinked slowly and stopped the word from shooting out of my mouth. “Nice.”

He tipped his head to the side. “Nice. I don’t think I have ever had someone call me that before.”

“I’ve never had nice before.” I shrugged. I caught a glimpse of the clock over the bar and frowned. “And I really won’t when I get up to my apartment. Tommy is going to be mad that his dinner is late.” I slipped off my stool and bumped into Hail. His arm slipped around my waist, and my hand pressed against his chest.

“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.

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