JAGGED EDGE: A BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE (ALPHA MALE) (17 page)

“You are in a philosophical mood, Wrench.”

“Wrench? Shit. Do you realize that you only call me that when you want to remind me I’m just some fucking grease monkey? You aren’t exactly subtle. But pissing me off doesn’t change the fact that you’re being a shit with this chick for no reason.”

“If you think someone needs to play Daddy for her, then you do it.”

“So you don’t care about her.”

Dirk felt his stomach tighten. Greg had fallen for her. He could see that. But that wasn’t his problem. Greg was a big boy and she was a big girl. Maybe if they got together he could stop feeling so bad, stop feeling like the very shit that Greg was accusing him of being.

Greg put his feet down. “Are you thinking you can get macho points for being a complete asshole?”

“I think you need to mind your own business. You’re worried about the chick, then you go comfort her. She loves to have her pussy eaten, and you can calm her down, make her feel real fucking good. I don’t give a shit.”

Greg stood. “Maybe I’ll do just that.”

“Fine.”

“And maybe I’ll kick your ass if you go near her again.”

Dirk scowled. Greg’s passion surprised him. The way he took her side in this pissed him off. Sometimes friends overstepped. “You think you can kick my ass, then go for it. Otherwise, just keep the bikes running. We’ve got a long way to go before we can be rid of her ass and it can’t come too soon.”

Greg started to say something else, then turned and went out.

* * * *

Dirk looked at the door for a time after Greg left. He hadn’t meant to give his friend all that shit, but man the guy was being weird. Unfortunately, Greg’s outburst made him realize that he cared more about Audra than he wanted to admit.

His muddle about her was now even more confused. He did like her. He couldn’t talk with her, or just spend time with her the way she wanted. It hurt too much. She was smart. It wouldn’t take her long to learn who he really was, and then she’d have nothing to do with him. She’d push him away. Better to keep her at arm’s length. He wanted her again… to take to bed. She was great in bed. She was probably every bit as great a chick as Greg thought, and that scared him.

He wanted her, but he didn’t want to hurt her… but if he let her get to know him he would do that. If somehow she accepted who he was, if she hung around, then what he did would hurt her. Sooner or later, if he let her close he’d do something bad to her or someone else would hurt her because of who he was.

That seemed too painful. Still, if she was willing to let him have her, there was no way he was staying away from her.

Greg’s interference bothered him. It wasn’t like him to butt in. Not that he wouldn’t try to steal a girl, have her for himself, but to actually give him a lecture, tell him that he was being a shit… that was new.

He dropped the magazine and went out the door to track her down, to see what he could work out. As he’d expected, Audra was in the laundry making sure she’d have her second set of clothes ready for the next day.

“Greg came by to defend your honor,” he told her.

She seemed surprised. “What do you mean?”

“He’s worked out that we got it on and he’s trying to make me act nice to you, telling me what an asshole I’m being.”

“You’re acting as if it meant nothing. You’re making me feel like I did something wrong.”

The look she gave him made him want to cringe and he fought to show nothing on his face. The eyes told him that she wasn’t accusing him. He’d hurt her. She was confused. Hell, he was confused and they’d both gotten messed up. “I just can’t do this.”

“What?” It was a sincere question, and it startled him.

“Be your man and your hired gun.”

“Why not?”

How to explain? He didn’t even understand it himself. “I need my full attention for the job. You distract me. It’s a delicious distraction, but still.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It was sex. We both wanted it.”

“That’s true, at least I know I did. And it was so good, you were so passionate that I thought it meant something.”

“So I need to apologize for being passionate now?”

She shook her head. “Not if you meant it.”

It occurred to him that it was him complicating the story, making it harder to sort out. He wanted to get out his knife and cut through those complications, simplify things, but even he couldn’t slice words or meaning. “I meant it. It was great.”

“And that confuses you?”

“Not exactly. I just can’t make up my mind about you.”

She laughed but not at him, not at what he’d said. “You aren’t exactly a simple person to know.”

“I’m simple, in the way that matters. I’m cursed. You’d figure that out sooner or later. I’m useful to you because of who I am. You won’t care for me when you understand what that means. It’s best if we just accept that. There’s part of you that is nearly irresistible, but that girl isn’t going to go for me. The wilder part of you enjoyed being with me, and that was good. In fact, it was great.”

“What does that mean to you, seeing as you have this worked out?”

He watched her eyes, seeing caution, concern, a healthy wariness. “That we can go to your room and fuck our brains out. I’ll be passionate as hell, and all it will mean is I want you. But when we aren’t in bed, the rest of the time, we are just traveling together.”

“You could do that? Is that what you want—travel buddies by day, fuck buddies by night?”

Wondering exactly that was what had him trembling. He had no idea. He wanted her in the worst way. Just hearing her talk turned him on, but she made him care about her. Being around her made him feel things he didn’t understand. It was heady shit, but the reality was that no matter what he felt, he couldn’t let it be serious. She’d be gone in a few days and then they’d both be alone. He needed to be strong. “Sure. That’d be sweet.”

“I don’t think so.”

His heart hurt. “Why not? Call me when you finish your laundry and I’ll come to your room and ram my pecker in that tight hole of yours until you scream.”

She gave him a hard stare.

“Fuck off.”

He looked at her for a time. “If that’s how you want it.”

When he turned, she called to him. “Dirk.”

He looked back. “Yeah?”

“I’m pretty sure we were followed this afternoon.” He waited. “A black sedan. I think it was an Audi. They paced us for a time, then dropped away, then they were back again.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure the car was there all day. I can’t be sure what they were up to. You said to tell you.”

He wanted to burst out telling her how wonderful it was that she saw something he didn’t. He wanted to tell her that it was all right if they were followed, because he would protect her. But those would be as much lies as telling her he didn’t care about her, and he’d done enough lying for one day. “Okay.”

Then he left to tell Greg about the sedan.

Talking to her the way he had made him feel stupid. It embarrassed him, although why it mattered to him wasn’t clear. Why what she thought about him could make him burn with an agony that should have visible wounds. Nothing changed the fact that eventually, if they made it, she’d be in Canada and he’d be heading back to LA.

Chapter Eight

The next morning at breakfast, it didn’t come as a total surprise to Audra when Dirk told her to ride with Greg. But it still stung, and when he said it, those words hanging in the air, she thought the temperature in the diner had suddenly dropped.

Greg put down his fork and gave him a dark look. “Are you sure you want to go there?”

Dirk nodded. “Unless you have a problem with that. Either of you.”

Greg looked at her inquisitively. “No. None at all,” she told him.

Greg stayed silent for a moment, studying her face, then finally nodded. “Okay, Cutter. Whatever.”

Heading out shortly after, an aching emptiness took over her. It seemed like she’d been filled with something and then had it taken away. Feelings and thoughts crowded inside her until, in the late morning, she saw clearly that what she’d been filled with, and then lost, was the joy and excitement of being in love with Dirk.

Despite having her arms wrapped around Greg, Audra felt the emptiness that came with being alone. Greg was steady, but when the job was done, she’d lose that steadiness as surely as she’d managed, somehow, to lose Dirk’s affection. They were taking her to Canada, keeping her safe, doing a job. When the job was done, they’d head back to LA, leaving her alone and empty, with her new identity in an unknown place.

Losing Dirk hurt more because it had been so long since she’d been with a man she wanted, and who wanted her, and who held her lovingly. Dirk had really turned her on. She wasn’t entirely sure what that attraction was based on, and wondered if it was simply physical, an animal magnetism. Whatever it was, it had been impossible to ignore on the days she spent riding on the back of his bike. Then she’d spend hours with her arms wrapped around his body, feeling him breathing. They vibrated together as he drove his bike north and she ended those days with her body tingling. Only part of that was from the steady vibrations of traveling the road. Part was from wanting him.

But he didn’t want her. Not in a meaningful way, and even if he did, in a few days it would end.

She wanted to cry.

For the time that remained on the trip she had a few choices. One, the most obvious, was to simply suffer, aching for him. She could also do what he asked—fuck him. She could accept the cold comfort of having meaningless sex with him. And that would make her pain worse.

Or she could turn to Greg. It would inevitably be nothing more than casual sex but without the pain of desperately wanting it to be more than that. She had no doubt that he wanted her. The way he responded when she put her arms around him told her she aroused him and she was certain that if she were to let her hands move down, put her fingers on the bulge of his crotch, she’d feel him grow hard with desire for her.

In her fantasies he would be a fine lover, a considerate lover, and passionate.

The worry was that she’d still be craving Dirk. If it weren’t for the cold reality of the mornings, his hard face, his brisk manner, she might deal with fucking Dirk while knowing he didn’t want her for anything more. She’d be willing to be his road whore, if only he’d treat her like a person during the day.

Greg might want more, be willing to act as if they could mean something to each other, even while knowing they couldn’t have it. Maybe that would be easier.

Why was escaping turning into such a trap of its own?

* * * *

Somewhere on a dark stretch of road, the car following them got too close and caught Dirk’s attention. He suspected it was the same car Audra had spotted. He cursed himself. He must’ve let his attention wander. Now that she’d pointed it out to him, he realized it had been behind them for a long time. She’d been wrong about the make. It was a fairly new, black Ford sedan with tinted windows and, he remembered, California plates.

It could be nothing. They were on a major road, but for at least two days now, the car had paced them, staying behind. It never passed, never wound up ahead of them, even when they stopped for gas or food. It was worth paying attention to.

At the next rest stop, Dirk pulled in. “Audra was right. We’re being followed.”

“That black Ford,” Wrench said. “She and I were talking about it.”

“The car has three guys in it,” Chris said. “I saw them at the last gas stop.”

“Anything special?”

He shrugged. “Two could pass for mob muscle. The third was a little guy. Weird eyes on that bastard. A nasty piece of work. I’d love smashing his weasel face in.”

Dirk nodded. Three wasn’t bad odds, but if they were goons, they might be armed. Besides, there was nothing to be gained by a confrontation. It would just make them certain where Audra was.

“Next town we can find out for sure if they are after us. Have a little fun.”

The car kept its distance, following them out when they left the rest stop, and even tracking them down the off ramp Dirk took that led into an industrial area. They accelerated down the streets, with Dirk leading the crew in and out of old, stained brick buildings, most empty, dilapidated, with each biker taking a slightly different path. They lost sight of the Ford quickly.

Wanting to be safe and not sorry, Dirk had them press on, riding into the night. With no more sign of the car, they finally stopped at a small motel and got three rooms for the night.

They ate dinner at a small cafe next door where the food was surprisingly good.

After dinner, over beer, they made their plans. “Tomorrow we’ll get an early start. If we lost them, we want as many miles between us and them as we can get.”

Chris scratched his head. “How the hell did they find us?”

“Hard to say.”

Wrench smiled. “It isn’t like there are a lot of major routes heading in this direction.” All they needed was one sighting. They’d know we were going away from LA, so…”

Wrench groaned. “Highway patrol. The accident is about the only time anyone might have spotted Audra.”

Dirk looked at him. “What?”

“They might have someone in the highway patrol working for them. If your accident got reported, it would be suspicious that you didn’t report it. They’d take pictures of Audra and canvas the area.”

“And they’d find out there were more bikers.”

“All they have to do is have their eyes and ears keep a lookout for us.”

Dirk considered the situation. “We might need to do a lot more night riding for a time.” He looked at Audra. “Audra, you’ll need a babysitter for the night. We can’t risk having you alone.”

“We can share a room,” Greg said. He glanced at Audra and she nodded.

Dirk’s laugh was hollow. “So gallant of you.”

Chris laughed, not really getting the joke. “What about moving a little upmarket just to throw them off.”

“I’d thought of that but anything else will insist on credit cards and ID. That would put us on their radar.”

Audra laughed. “Which is not what we want. Okay, it’s another night at the Sleazy Six Motel, then.”

“Chris and I will share a room on one side of you, and Johnny can take a room on the other side.”

Audra suppressed a small shudder at the irony that she needed to be encircled to ensure her escape.