Hearts of Iron (7 page)

The thug moved away from Katie and toward the outspoken woman. Without a word, he smacked her and knocked her out.

Katie leaned over the table and vomited on the floor. “Oh god,” she coughed. “Please stop them.”

the sheriff laughed, “He’s teaching her to keep her mouth shut.”

Nothing she could say would influence the evil criminals at her table.

Please, please don’t let Miller suffer for my own snobbish ignorance.

Just then, when she thought all was lost, the tense atmosphere in the bar changed. A blanket of calm replaced fear, although there were still a few bolts of electricity lingering. Katie looked past the sheriff and his deputies, to see past the crowd gathering around whoever entered the bar. All she could make out was shaggy, blonde hair capping a very tall man. She felt the collective sigh of relief in the air. Desperate to confirm who it was, she attempted to stand up. Once again, the Sheriff wouldn’t let her. “Let go of me!” Katie shrieked, trying to retrieve her hand.

“Sit down!” Sheriff Clancy yanked on her arm so hard she thought it might come loose from her socket. “You don’t want my guys to turn nasty on your town, do you?”

Katie coughed in his face. The sheriff leaned away, scared she’d vomit on him. At least it got his stench away from her, even if he wouldn’t loosen his grip. She looked again in the same direction, heard another smack. This time a thug flew across the hall, landing unconscious on the floor.

Oh my god, we’re saved.

“Seems someone else has already secured our protection contract, Sheriff.” Katie grinned, her heart leaping a little with hope.

Everyone cheered at their savior, offering him beer. The other men stayed quiet at the bar, unwilling to move against the giant newcomer they were totally unprepared for. Or perhaps they awaited the sheriff’s direction?

The crowds surrounding him finally dispersed, allowing him access to the bar. Dan and he shared some special handshake and Dan nodded over at the drunkards. That was when she saw Lance’s face at last. That beautiful face, sucking on the lip of a beer bottle. When he replaced it on the bar, he said to the cowering thugs, “So, I take it you’re here with the new lawmen? When are they gonna come riding to your rescue?”

Katie cringed
because Lance clearly knew what their set up was before knowing any of the facts. Was it so obvious to everyone but her?

Lance strolled over to open the door so the young single women could leave. At the same time another biker came in, smiling and greeting Lance with another special handshake. Two younger men who’d apparently been playing pool before all hell broke loose also left. They thanked their hero on their way out, the sheriff’s men doing nothing to stop them. The only people left were Dan, the bad guys, Katie, and two bikers.

She couldn’t believe the power Lance radiated.

She wanted to call out to him, to tell him the lawmen were here and they had guns. But she couldn’t. What if he came over and got shot? She couldn’t bear it. “I need to use the bathroom, as you can see I’m unwell.” Katie snatched her hand free. “Besides, looks like you got competition.” She considered leaving through the back door, to find more of Lance’s friends at the burger bar. Get them to help him, just in case guns got involved.

Sheriff gave her a warning look. “Don’t be long, Princess. We got some celebrating to do and business to discuss. Oh, and we’ll take care of your hero over there.” He patted his gun.

She left swiftly, headed for the toilets in the opposite direction of Lance, fingers crossed and breath held.
Please don’t shoot him, please don’t shoot him.

CHAPTER TEN

Almost through the doors to the toilets, Katie heard his familiar deep voice at her back. “Hey, what you doing in here, Katie?” She desperately wanted to turn around and run to him, to ask for his help. But he already had to deal with so much because of her, and he’d hate her for it all. She decided to remove any distractions, and walked on.

“Hey, Scum,” Lance called to the thugs. “Leave now or wait for my pals. It’s gonna get more messy if you stay, but we’re cool with that.” He glared at the lawmen and frowned at Katie.

She walked through the swing doors, fingers still crossed.

“Hey! What? I’m not good enough to talk to in front of your friends?”

She grabbed him and pulled him into a toilet cubicle. “Shush. They’re the lawmen, and they’re with the thugs in the bar.”

“You were drinking with them?”

Lance stood silent. She cringed at what he must be thinking. Tears formed in her eyes when she looked at him. “I thought I was doing the right thing for the town, Lance. I didn’t know you then, I just thought…”

“-You thought we were wrong and you were right. Without checking the facts.” He stepped back, a grimace contorting his soft features. “Is that what the fucking was about? A distraction while they moved in?” He appeared genuinely shocked, hurt, and livid all at the same time. He stormed from the cubicle to kick the garbage can across the floor; its contents flew over the bathroom floor.

“Oh god, please.” Katie panicked. “I’m so sorry. But that’s not how it was…” Although it had been her plan to distract him, she had let it go so far because she needed him. Not for any other reason. She stepped closer; she had to deal with one thing at a time. “Look at me, Lance.” Reaching up and placing her palms on his cheeks, grateful for her four inch heels, she said, “I made a terrible mistake. Those guys are gonna ruin our town. They’re as corrupt as the office who sanctioned their jobs. I’m powerless and it’s all my fault.”

“Oh, so you fucked me to distract me, but now that they’re exactly what I said they’d be, you want me to clean up after your mess?” He opened the door, one foot ou,t and turned back. “You’re good. You’re really good, I’ll give you that. A real pro. Your mess, you deal with it.”

Her heart beat so fast she thought it might burst. “It’s not like that, please Lance. Don’t leave like this.”

But he did.

***

Katie left the bar by the back door and got home as soon as she could. She knew the men were at least temporarily taken care of. She thought of her actions and ignored the repeated calls from Sheriff Clancy. She’d been so wrong about everything but Lance, but…she’d hurt him.

After she locked the door behind her, straight away she called the office that employed the sheriff to tell them what was going on. They stalled her complaint, asking for proof. As if she’d have anything other than her word over his at this stage. They told her they couldn’t make a move on someone based on her suspicions alone. Finally they told her—you ask for them, you deal with them.

Frustrated, she hung up and sobbed. “What can I do? What have I done?”

Only one person could help her town, whether he wanted to or not, and she’d persuade him somehow. She got back into her Mercedes and drove out of town to his trailer. At least she would be safe there, away from the sheriff who knew where she lived.

Lanced returned home some hours later, a little worse for wear.

“Hey,” said Katie, flashing her headlights and sticking her head out her car window.

Lance approached her, wondering what the hell she was doing at his place. Hadn’t she caused him enough trouble, enough humiliation? She lied and got what she wanted.

She sniffed while climbing out of her car and asked, “May I join you?”

Lance grunted in reply, more than slightly drunk on booze.

Katie swiped the whiskey bottle away from him before taking a great big swig and then throwing it through the air against the nearby trash can. Her aim was another thing she sucked at.

“Hey. What the…?” exclaimed Lance.

“I think coffee’s a better bet for you right now.”

He shrugged. He’d had enough an hour ago but just kept on drinking to help him pretend he hadn’t been made a fool of by a woman, but mostly that she hadn’t given him hope of a future for five glorious minutes and then snatched it rudely away. “If you want good coffee, you came to wrong place.” He was pissed at her. He’d thought they had something. Something he’d never had before. Something real. When all he’d been was a necessary hookup to keep him busy while the law moved in.

“I want to talk and for you to listen,” said Katie. “It’s you who needs the coffee, not me. I’m wired enough.”

“Why should I listen to more of your lies?” He noticed red rings around her eyes. Had she been crying? “And why are you so wired? You got what you wanted, didn’t you? And don’t worry, I’m in no mood to mess with your precious law. I’ll get out and take our business elsewhere.” He said, but the thought of leaving his first real home ripped him to shreds. But even if he got rid of Clancy, he wouldn’t want to see Katie about town; she;d date, eventually settle down with some other guy, giving that guy a son. Instead of him.

No!

“Because they’re not lies,” implored Katie. “They’re pleas for understanding, for forgiveness.” She stepped closer and her coconut fragrance swooped in, reminding him of their incredible afternoon together. “And for your special brand of justice.”

Lance was shocked. Did he hear her correctly? Had she just asked for him to…?

“Thought my special brand of justice wasn’t good enough? It dealt with those jerks earlier. They won’t be back around Miller anytime soon.”

Katie sighed, grateful for him and for his strength, but still felt as though the weight of the world were on her shoulders. “I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, Lance. I got it all so wrong.” Tears smudged her makeup, and the panda eyes she’d had after their incredible time on her sofa reappeared.

Lance wanted to hold her, tell her it would all be okay. He found the genuine expression on her face so irresistible he just couldn’t fight her any longer. But he needed desperately to believe that she really wanted him, still needed him.

“What about using me… to keep me out their way? Wasn’t too much of a sacrifice, I hope?”

She searched his face, brow pinched tight. “What? Is that what you think?”

Lance gulped at the possibility he might be wrong. She appeared insulted by his questions. But he’d met smart women before; they wrapped his brothers around their fingers with cute pouting lips and butter-wouldn’t-melt attitudes. He wouldn’t fall for it.

“Say it and mean it. Say what we did meant more than…”

“I admit, I got you back to my place that day to avoid answering your question. I knew the law would be arriving the following day and didn’t want to have to deal with your club alone.”

I was right!
“What did you think we’d do?”

“That’s just it. I thought you might go crazy.” She grabbed his arm. “I panicked.”

He snatched himself free, “So you did use me. Fuck!” He felt as though his head might explode with hurt and grabbed both temples.

Katie wrapped her arms around him, squeezing his waist. “No, no!” she screamed. “Stop thinking that, please.”

Lance stepped away, unwrapping her tiny arms from around him. “Just leave.” He had to look away; he hadn’t cried since he was boy and he sure as hell wasn’t about to cry in front of a woman.

“Please, Lance. You made me feel more than I’ve ever felt for a man. That’s why things happened between us. I’ve thought about us on a loop since you left my house.” She touched his hand, her tiny fingers entwining with his. His heart beat furiously, bursting with emotions he had never felt.

He wanted to respond, wanted to tell her how precious she was to him already. But he felt ridiculous. They barely knew each other. The tension of heartache ebbed away a little, replaced by lust.

“I’m eating a huge slice of humble pie—help a girl out? Say something, please.” She stood on tiptoes to kiss his mouth.When he felt her trembling lips on his, his spine straightened.

“Why me?” he said, touched her tear-soaked face. “You could have anyone.”

“Because from the first time I saw you in the hospital, there was something between us.”

Excitement bubbled in his stomach, and his lungs finally accepted air. Could she really be saying this, meaning this? About him?

She kissed his fingers, each one. “I’m yours Lance. This is real for me, real enough that if you could possibly give me another chance, I’ll do all I can to make you happy. I promise.”

How he held himself back from taking her right there, he would never know.

“But I do need your help, and it might be dangerous. I trust no one else to handle this mess I’ve caused. Help me, please. I’m an idiot.”

“Wow,” he said finally, picking her up so she could straddle him. “You eat humble pie as well as you eat—”

She silenced his filthy mouth with hers and they kissed passionately while he carried her into his trailer.

Once inside, he sat her down on his bed, wishing he’d changed the sheets ever, and inwardly rebuked his habit of smoking indoors—again. “Sorry, this place is…”

She pulled him to her and silenced him with more kisses again. They rolled around his bed, kissing, touching each other’s faces, reestablishing their physical closeness. “I missed you so much. I don’t understand it,” Lance admitted, genuinely confused by how he felt for a virtual stranger.

“Oh look at you, so lost in love.” Katie giggled,

Lance wasn’t laughing. What if she was right? Is this love—some crazy wave of unexplained emotion? So terrifying, so incredible, he hoped it would never end. He looked into Katie’s eyes, longing to spy on her thoughts, to really see what she thought about him. Insecurity was never something he suffered from, especially not with women. But right then, he felt vulnerable in her tiny hands. “What if I am? Would you laugh at me? Would you join me? Or would you run away screaming?”

Katie stopped teasing, her pupils dilated, her cheeks flushed. “You’re serious? Are you teasing me again?”

Lance wiped the dampness from her cheeks, held the face he knew that somehow, he loved, between his hands, and said, “I’m so fucking serious.” And as he made this confession, one he feared he’d never make, a lump formed in his throat.

Katie gasped a little, as if breathing became difficult. “I thought, I just never thought you’d… But yes, I want to stay with you.”

They were in love, even if it was one day in the life, one moment in time. For whatever reason, two very different human beings connected and wished to remain connected from then on.

She smiled softly, letting his hair fall through her fingers, moonlight bathing her in silver. She said, “You have such beautiful hair.”

He smiled lazily. “For a guy, you mean?” he was transfixed by her every gesture, lost in overflowing emotions.

Katie stroked his shaggy beard. “Even this is sexy. I used to hate facial hair, but now…”

He kissed Katie absently, allowed his hand to cradle her ass. “…But now?”

Lance watched as she searched his face with her pale green gaze and said, “Now there’s you, who are too, too perfect for words.”

He wanted her then, wanted to make her feel how hearing that made him feel. Wanted to explain how he felt about her. But how?

She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm; such a tender action.

“I’m not good with words Katie, but…” He looked away from her for clarity, then thought of something. “Look, let me see to the lawmen and their scum.” He kissed her button nose, her hot salty cheeks. “Then I’ll
show
you.” Winking, he added, “I’m a man of action, not words.”