Page 31 of Fire Meets Fire

I’m their prez. If I say she’s under my protection, they’ll have to be content with that. Sure, that’s worth more than a cool two million. I roll my eyes. For that money, they might take myPrezpatch.

I stand so fast, my chair topples over. Without bothering to right it, not wanting to tarry and be subjected to more of the same thoughts going through my mind, I stomp out of the office.

Weasel waves, trying to get my attention, as I storm through the clubhouse, but my raised hand and pace shows I’m not going to be stopped. I’ll get to him later. Skunk steps in my way, but moves aside fast when I glare and shake my head. Iron looks upand laughs, while Bull, catching my eye, does that winking thing again. I’ll really have to ask him if he’s got a problem.

Having successfully navigated the increasingly loud and rowdy room, I reach the stairs and climb them, now certain the racket will have woken Helo. I pause in front of my door, knocking twice on it, before inserting the key and opening it. On my bed she’s stirring, still in the process of sitting up and rubbing sleep from bleary eyes.

Her words come out partly smothered by a yawn. “Is it time to go?”

No, it’s fucking not. Never if I get my way.

Crossing the room to her, I stare down, noticing she’s got a little more colour in her face than she had earlier, but the way she’s rubbing her temples suggests that her head is aching. That makes me remember she fell hard on the solid tiles. Diagnosing she probably needs something to take the edge off, I grab a bottle of water from my mini fridge and extract a pack of painkillers from my nightstand. She smiles gratefully as I pass them to her, presses out a couple of tablets and swallows them down.

I had thought about taking her downstairs and introducing her around, hoping that meeting her, seeing her as a person, would help the men welcome her into their ranks. Before any word of the size of the bounty leaked out, I wanted them to discover for themselves what I’ve found. That Helo is an inherently honest person, and could be useful to keep around. Or, at least, not hand over to be killed.

But looking at her now, while I have no doubt she would rally if I asked her too, I’m not sure it’s the right time to introduce her to my brothers’ boisterousness. They can be loud at the best of times, so I make a swift change to my hastily thought-out plan.

“Just wanted to check if you were alright. You’re okay to stay here if you’re still tired. I’ll bring some food up in a while.”

She glances out the window. As my eyes follow her gaze, I notice, as she probably has too, that the sun is low in the sky. “Itistime for me to go,” she remarks. She seems to have a one-track mind.

At the thought of her disappearing from my life, my heart misses a beat, and I want to scream no. Somehow I’d persuaded myself that I could keep her. But how can I explain to her I don’t want her to leave if I don’t know the reason myself? It doesn’t sit right that she’ll vanish into the night and I’ll never see her again. And with that fucking bounty on her head the chances of her staying safe are next to zero.

For a moment I wish to fuck she’d never stolen from us and put herself onto our radar. If she’d kept to her lane, we’d never have known about her, never had to satisfy our curiosity as to who she was, and she’d have been safe staying with MacPherson. I’d never have met her and my equilibrium wouldn’t have been disturbed.

“Later,” I suggest, buying time. “There’s no need to hurry. It’s better if it’s full dark and there’s less traffic on the road.”

She winces as though hearing this isn’t what she wants, but if she wants help to boost her on her journey, relying on me is all she’s got. “You’ll get me a ride?” If I have to, I will, so I nod. “Will I be able to go via Harold’s so I can collect my bag?”

“Sure.” Yeah, it’s entirely possible. Doesn’t mean it will happen though. I want to try to persuade her to hang around.

Strangely, even with her lying on my bed where I’ve had so many women before, while I find her sexually appealing, the urge to get my dick wet isn’t what’s driving me. Instead, there’s a connection between us I’ve never experienced with anyone else, and a knowledge that simple sex would complicate things and possibly ruin it, I’m wary of admitting that’s my ultimate goal. Her consent will need to be earned, not just cajoled, and I’ll needto deserve it. I’ve never been nervous about fucking a woman before, but I am with her.

Suddenly I feel awkward standing there, though fuck knows why. This is my room and my bed that she’s in. Normally that would give me liberties over any woman lying there, but not her. I feel strangely discombobulated like a schoolboy on a first date, not knowing what’s expected or how to behave. Mentally I slap myself. She’s no date, and I’ve no intentions like that with her, so why do I feel this impulse to stay while at the same time having the burning urge that tells me to run away?

She’s giving me no signs that she’d like to take advantage of the position she’s in, but even if she was willing, I can tell she wouldn’t just be a quick fuck. All I can offer her is something I’ve never suggested to a female. Friendship. I’m in uncharted territory.

A few moments pass as we do nothing but look at each other. It’s strange, as if neither of us wants to break the silence, nor bring to an end this strange impasse. Finally, words escape through my tongue-tied lips.

“I’ll…er… go rustle up some food.”Fuck, that’s not me. I never stammer.But then, I’ve never had someone so strong, so beautiful, so fucking admirable and unobtainable, lying in my bed.

The worrying of her lip by her teeth shows me she’s not a fan of the delay, so I edge backward out of the room. Again I pause outside the door trying to get my thoughts together, trying to understand why she makes me so confused, and how she brings all the protectiveness from inside me. She’s the last woman on earth who needs a man to stand up for her, or that man would need to be a giant. Is it something of a challenge that I want to be the person she leans on? The man who she can depend on to keep her safe.

Why can’t I see the slippery slope that? If I followed my impulse, I’d be in danger of falling in. I’m lying to myself. Friendship be damned. I’m getting dangerously close to wanting a woman in my life but only if it’s her.

Best thing for both of us is for me to get Shitface to give her a ride to the state line, and then forget all about her.

My fingers curl into my palms. Yeah. That’s a plan. I give a sharp nod. Resolve made. As I straighten my back and determinedly step down the staircase, I’m preparing to issue instructions to the prospect. He can get her food, then get her out of here. I never need see her again.

And I won’t regret it.

I falter on the third to bottom step as I realise the clubroom is noisier than normal for this time of day. Normally there’s someone assing around, but mainly they don’t get crazy until a few more beers have been downed. Tonight it’s pandemonium, brothers all speaking at the same time, and each trying to be heard over the other.

“I’m getting that Fat Bob I’ve always had a hankering for.”

“I want the Road Glide.”

My head swivels left and right as if I’m watching a tennis match as various requests are called out around me.

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