Page 32 of Bullet

I’d asked the girls to pick up some things to make her more comfortable, but they’d transformed the room. A soft gray comforter covered the bed with a few fluffy pillows at the head and a soft throw blanket at the foot.

I set the duffel on the dresser next to bottles of shampoo and shit. A cool evening breeze blew through the open window, but the room carried the provocative scent of wildflowers and vanilla. Her perfume.

“This doesn’t have to beourroom.” She grabbed the duffel, unzipped it, and dug through the items. “Steele moved in across the hall. If I need anything, I can ask him.” She pulled baggies full of money from the side. Her shoulders dropped, and she let out a ragged exhale. “I’ll pay him for his services.”

“Not happening.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I didn’t ask for your permission.” She set the money on top of the dresser. “It’s all I have,” she said. “It’ll be enough to get me the hell out of here.”

“You sound irritated.”

“Why should I be irritated?” She opened a drawer and shoved the clothes from the duffel inside. Then she grabbed the cash and dropped onto her hands and knees. “I just don’t want to, I don’t know… I guess I don’t want to be an interference in your life.”

Her words were muffled by her position. A position that had my cock pressing against the fly of my jeans. I adjusted before she could notice, and a low groan climbed up my throat. Her ass swayed as she pushed the baggie under the dresser as far as her fingers allowed.

“You’re my responsibility. You don’t need to hide your money. No one in the MC will steal from me. Since you’re with me, that includes you.”

She stood and pushed her bangs from her face. “No, I’m not. I’m not one of your girls.”

I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. “And you never will be.”

“Thanks. Although I doubt you meant it as a compliment considering your girls, but I’ll take it as one. I’m not going to get on my knees for you. I’m grateful to you, but I’m not paying you with sexual services.”

“Fuck, brown eyes.” I growled. “That isn’t what I meant. You’re beautiful—”

“I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”

“Let me finish. That attitude would emasculate most men.”

She cocked a brow. “I’m glad there isn’t going to be any weird attraction between us.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I said most men, not me. You don’t need me to tell you that you look good. Those assholes at the Landing Strip paid to see your pussy, not to hear you bitch.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Her shoulders stiffened as she stepped closer. Her eyes narrowed, and her brows furrowed.

“I don’t take clients to bed, so don’t even go there. Don’t forget you were fucking Bristol last night.” Breath gusted over her slightly parted lips.

I couldn’t forget. I couldn’t forget a fucking thing about Stormy. But I couldn’t deny her reactions to me were valid. Anyone but her, I wouldn’t’ve treated any different than one of my girls. I would’ve fucked her, rolled out of bed, and gone home.

But she was different. She was the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about.

If I had known who was in the bed, I wouldn’t have been balls deep in Bristol. “I fucked one of my whores last night. Like you said, I didn’t know it was going to be a slumber party.”

She spun around and ignored my comment. “I appreciate the offer of help, but everyone is getting the wrong idea about us. You’re Bristol’s biker-boyfriend-pimp, and I’m a liability.” She finally looked at me. “But I’m notyourliability.”

“I’m not in a relationship with Bristol.”

“You are. And one I won’t be in the middle of.” She was breathing hard, and her pulse fluttered in the hollow of her throat. She touched her tongue to her lip, and then swallowed. “I think if we wait a couple days, I can get out of town. If I go to Vegas, I can dance, and it’s far from here.”

She wanted to run. Maybe from her ex. Maybe from me. I couldn’t let her go, not until I knew she’d be safe.

“You don’t want to live your life looking over your shoulder.”

She rested her hand on my forearm. The soft touch of her fingertips burned like fire against my flesh. I uncrossed my arms and took a step back from her. Jesus, one touch had my gut knotted and heat slipping beneath my skin.

She tucked her fingers into the back pocket of her jeans. “I can’t stay.”

“Decide once you don’t have a reason to run.”

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