Page 3 of Jana's Fierce Biker

“I’m just glad I got here when I did,” Gunner said.

“Yes. Thank you.” Jana walked over to the gate and could feel the man’s gaze on her back. She almost snorted. Now, why would the thought of his eyes on her make her happy and hot? She’d never seen herself with a biker before, but then again, the ones she met mainly came to the ER because of fighting.

She had to put him out of her head because she wouldn’t have to deal with him again unless Cody needed him. Only that would get the two together again, and she wasn’t sure that was a good idea but couldn’t do anything about it at the moment. She needed to get her mind off of him. Easier said than done.

Chapter Two

After she closed and locked the patio door behind herself, her adrenaline rush from fear disappeared, leaving her shaking and dizzy.

She decided that a shower would help and made her way into her bathroom. She stripped and stood under the spray for a long time. Only when the water started to cool did she wash quickly and then turn it off.

After drying, she pulled on her soft summer pajamas. She made herself a cup of tea and sat on the sofa, and her cat, Snookie, jumped up to sit by her. “Hey, there’s my baby. How was your day?”

The cat meowed a few times like he was answering her, making her smile as she petted his soft fur.

Her thoughts turned back to what happened, and she had to admit it had been a stupid move on her part to take on a large man high on drugs and with a shovel, no less. She thought she was getting better at thinking before reacting.

She knew some of it had to do with Cody. He had a special place in her heart. He had from the day they met about four months ago when she moved in.

Jana had been carrying boxes in with the help of another nurse, and Cody and a few of his friends had come to ask if they could help. With their help, everything was in the house and in the room in no time. She thought it would take hours for her and McKinley, better known as Mick, a nurse she worked with in the ER, to get everything done.

She bought pizzas for the group and made brownies. Jana had a blast listening to the teenagers rib each other as they stuffed their faces.

Jana had glanced at her watch and saw it was close to eleven. “Don’t you boys have a curfew?”

The boys froze, looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. Jana rolled her eyes while Mick laughed, too.

Cody wiped his eyes as he tried to calm his laughter. “Jana, we’re all thirteen and fourteen. We don’t have curfews anymore.”

Jana knew this was the best time in these boys’ lives to set rules and curfews because they tended to get wild when left alone, but she wasn’t his mother.

When everyone left that night, she remembered feeling lonely, which was crazy since she’d been alone since she was seventeen. Jana could remember feeling this way as a child even though her mother and father were there. They were so caught up in each other they sometimes forgot they had a daughter.

Snookie jumped up on the mattress and made himself comfortable against her side.

“There’s my sweetheart,” she said and hugged the cat. She had to admit, her cat made her life fuller and less lonely, and she loved the thing so much. She’d found her behind a dumpster. She was a tiny kitten, and Jana could tell she was in bad shape. She was skin and bones and dehydrated, so weak, and could hardly meow. Fortunately, Jana had been close enough to find her. If she hadn’t, the kitten would have been dead by morning.

Jana had taken her directly to a vet hospital, and they rushed to save her life. It had taken a few days of fluids and food for the kitten to be strong enough to stand. Now, she couldn’t keep her still.

She lay in bed staring up at the ceiling and trying to blank her mind out enough to sleep. But Gunner was a hard man to ignore. When she finally did fall asleep, she dreamed of him.

The next few days, she worked and came home. Alone. And it stayed that way until work the next day. It was a cycle she’d been unable to change.

Jana was dragging herself home Saturday late afternoon, wishing she’d never gotten out of bed that morning. The day had been a bitch. They’d lost two patients in the ER, and one had been a child.

The fact that the child was in the hospital in the first place was due to his parents’ abuse. The staff had seen that the boy had been abused for a long time. She’ll never forget all the bruises and contusions on the little boy’s body. She hoped the parents would get arrested and put away for a long time. It would be even better if they got the same treatment in prison as they had given their child.

Jana showered, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, and made herself a ham sandwich for dinner. She didn’t have the energy for anything more. It was too early to go to bed, so she grabbed the book she was reading and a throw blanket to take out on the back porch. She cuddled into her favorite padded lounger and started reading.

“Hey, Jana.”

She heard her name being called, blinked open her eyes, and turned her head to see Gunner. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t a dream and was crouched beside her lounger.

“Hey, there she is,” Gunner said and laughed. “You must be wiped out, Babe. It took me a minute to get you awake.”

Jana pushed herself up to a sitting position and yawned. “What are you doing here?”

Gunner tossed his head toward his sister’s house. “We’re BBQing and wondered if you wanted to come over.”

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