Page 30 of May 11

"The short, unless I stop you and need to know more." She pulled out a chair and sat at the table.

She had guts. Most women would be afraid to ask him about his past. It wasn't pretty, and women were usually after a fantasy of getting fucked by someone they couldn't control. He wasn't someone a woman looked at for the long term.

He sat opposite her, leaned back, and put his bottle on the table. "How far back are we going?"

"Childhood."

"Back then, my name was Wire."

Her eyes glistened in excitement. "I never thought of that. What's your real name?"

"Quint Wilson."

She rolled his name silently over her tongue.

"My childhood." He whistled softly. "Don't remember my mom. She dumped me onto my grandparents. They raised me until I hit my teenage years and then handed me off to a couple of aunts who passed me back and forth. I split when I was sixteen years old."

She sat quietly, listening to the roughness of his voice deepen.

"The next few years, I ran the streets. Did almost two years in prison for armed robbery—"

"Were you guilty?"

"Yeah." He wiped the condensation off the bottom of his bottle with his thumb. "That's what I did to survive. Once I got out, I wanted to stay out, so I joined Havlin—at that time, I lived in Beaverton. I've been running with the club ever since."

"No law breaking?"

"Depends on the day." He winked. "Life would be boring if I settled down."

"But, you work as an electrician."

"It takes money to survive." He thrummed the table with his thumb. "I'm sworn into Havlin. The club is my life. I'll still be involved with the club when I'm too old to ride. In return, they're my family."

She flinched and looked down at her hands. Having taken her family for granted when they were alive, she had never considered claiming those around her as family like Wire had with his MC brothers.

Finding herself alone and lonely, she arguably would swear that friends could be called family. That was one of the challenging aspects of living on the road. Friendships were complicated. Now that she planned to stay over the summer in Seaglass Cove, she could feel herself becoming attached to Dania, Brooke, and Wire.

They helped push the loneliness away.

"I'm sorry about your childhood," she whispered. "I can't imagine how it was for you not having a permanent place to call home and parents there to love you unconditionally."

"It was a long time ago."

She raised her head. "How old are you?"

"Forty-eight."

She nodded. Her guess was correct. She'd gauged him to be between forty-five and fifty.

"What about you?" He gazed straight at her. "What's your story."

Her mouth softened. "Long or short version?"

"Surprise me."

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, not sure where to start. In some ways, she was scared to tell him about her past. She'd protected herself so far, but she was always worried about saying too much, exposing herself too far, and being taken advantage of.

But she was alone, and she wanted to trust him.

---