Page 4 of Maverick

Chapter One

Willow

One Year Later

The sun was burning down on my back as I leaned over the hood of my old Volkswagen Van. “Goddamn piece of shit!” Steam blew out and I slammed my fist against the side of the van. Orion, my Belgian Malinois, laid on the ground next to me growling every so often. “I know, Orion! No need to give me attitude. I’ll get this fixed as soon as I can.”

He barked and climbed into the van, completely unimpressed with my lack of knowledge of engines. I hopped down and kicked the front tire, mumbling under my breath when a motorcycle came roaring up beside me. My heart started to beat faster and I scurried trying to find a weapon and a quick escape plan.I thought I was safe! How did they know I was here? My Goddamn mother probably has a tracker on me!

The man stopped the bike in front of my van and started walking towards me. He was tall and built like a brick house. The mystery man was wearing a leather motorcycle vest over his black hoodie, dark brown leather boots peeked out from his tight jeans.

I grabbed the knife I had in my back pocket and flipped it open. “Stop where you are right now! Don’t come any closer!”

The tall man laughed and took his helmet off. My breath caught in my throat and I was temporarily stunned. He was the most gorgeous man to ever walk this earth. His piercing green eyes stared right through me, shaggy brown hair fell perfectly in his face. I almost forgot where I was when Orion got out and started growling, circling me and pushing me back to the van. The man knelt and gently put his hand out and quietly whistled. Orion’s ears perked up as he slowly walked towards the ridiculously good looking mystery man.

Mystery man looked up at me and smiled. My knees went weak like some cheesy romantic movie.Get yourself together Willow! He could be here to drag you back to that hell.I shook my head and tried to remain calm. He had perfect white teeth and a smile that was sure to have tons of girls dropping their panties, and I was fucking close to it.

“You can put the knife down, darling. I ain’t gonna hurt you or your dog.” His voice was smooth yet rough at the same time, like a good whiskey. I cleared my throat and Orion came running back to me.

“Yeah no offense, but I’m still not going to trust you. Good looks don’t mean anything.”

Mystery man smiled and winked at me. “So you think I’m good lookin’ huh?”

I stepped back towards my van, stuttering my words. “Uhhh..I...well, yup I do. But that doesn’t mean shit. So you can just get back on that bike of yours and find some other poor girl to seduce.”

He started to slowly walk towards me with his hands up in the air. “Look, babe. I was just stopping to make sure you were okay. It’s a small town and that’s what we do around here. What’s going on with your van?”

I looked him up and down, wondering if I could trust him. His vest didn’t have the same patch as those assholes I was running from, but they could easily have some club they work with helping them hunt me down.

“I ain’t got all day. My nephews’ birthday party is starting soon. So are you gonna let me help you or stay stranded out here?” His green eyes lit up as he moved closer to me.

I stared at him with a puzzled look then shrugged my shoulders. “I guess you can’t be all that bad, but don’t think about trying anything funny. I’m not some club bunny.”

He just laughed as he leaned over the hood of my van. He was so tall he didn’t even need to climb up the front of the van like me. I walked around the van while carefully eyeing him, my hand never letting go of the knife.

I need to call my sorry excuse for a mother and see if she’s got someone after me. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had another club hunting me down. She probably sold herself in exchange for my head. Fucking sick woman she is...

Grabbing my cell phone, I called her. She answered on the third ring. “Hey there, baby girl! What are you doing? Where are you?”

I barked out a sarcastic laugh at her questions. “Wouldn’t you like to know. Look, Mary. Just tell them to drop it. I don’t have your drug money and I never will. Deal with your own shit. I’m tired of running and just want to live my own life.”

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