Monroe, Marla - The Bikers' Babe [The Dirty Dozen 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (4 page)

“Where do we get breakfast?” she asked.

“There’s a diner around the corner. We’ve eaten there several times. It’s pretty good.”

Zack watched as she checked her bike over then climbed on it and waited for everyone else.

“So, what do you do when you’re not riding?”

“I’m a travel nurse.”

“No shit. So you like go from hospital to hospital and work?”

“Basically, yeah. I have an agency I work through. I pick and choose what cities I want to go to and they look for openings there and I fly or bike there. I ship my clothes ahead of me. They provide the apartment for me to live in while I’m there. I haven’t decided where to work next, so I’m just exploring right now.”

“Man, that’s a pretty damn good life.”

“So, what do you guys do?”

“Not a lot different from you except we do construction. We have a couple of contractors we work with and when something comes up we’re interested in, we go.”

“That’s amazing. I mean, amazing that we work so similar.” Tina shook her head.

Cole returned as did several others. Zack could see that she was trying to put faces with names. He wondered if she’d get riled if he introduced her to all of them again. Probably.

“Ready to ride, everyone?” Cole asked.

There were
hell yeahs
all around. They climbed on their bikes and started them up with a roar. Zack loved getting started in the mornings. Right now, though, he was starved. He pulled out after Cole and hoped that Tina was right behind them. He wanted the gang around her to keep her safe. He wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt that way, but he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

They arrived at the diner and were greeted by their usual waitress. She welcomed them in then blushed when they all hugged or squeezed her. She was a good fifty-plus years old, but they liked her because she had treated them nice the first time she had seen them. From then on, they always stopped there when they were out this way on their way home.

“What can I get you guys, oh, and gal. You’ve added a new member. Oh, and what happened to Kyle and West?” she asked with a knit in her brow.

“They’re getting married, and this is Tina, she’s riding with us to Dallas.” Zack made the introductions. “Tina, this is Myrtle.”

“Good to meet you, Myrtle. I take it you don’t mind it when they descend on you.”

“Nope, don’t mind a bit. They tip well.” She winked at them.

Zack smiled and waited his turn as she took everyone’s order. He was surprised when Tina ordered a big breakfast. He was used to women eating light meals to keep their figures. He didn’t think there was a damn thing wrong with hers. She had curves made for riding.

“So, what are you going to do when you get to Dallas? Got a nursing job lined up?” He filled Cole in on what she did for a living. He nodded at the similarities to what they did.

“Nope, no job lined up right now. I just wanted to see Dallas and see if I might like to work here sometime. I’m not sure when I’ll hook up another job. I’m enjoying a few weeks off.”

“Sounds good.” Cole glanced Zack’s way. He knew what he was thinking. He gave a short shake of his head. He didn’t think it was time yet to talk to her about staying with them. Especially not around the other guys.

They ate their breakfast and then, after settling up, got back on the road. They stopped for lunch at a truck stop about four hours outside of Dallas. They were closing in on home. He couldn’t wait and hoped they would have Tina with them when they arrived.

“I’m going to run back out to my bike for a second and get another shirt. This one is tight across my neck.” Tina stopped Zack as they were getting ready to pay.

“Okay. We’ll be right out.”

They paid their tab and walked over to the convenience store side to grab some water for the road. They had just paid for the water when one of the guys ran inside calling for them.

“Man, get out here. Someone tried to grab Tina, and she’s shaken up.”

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have let her go outside without us,” Zack cursed.

Cole was right behind him as they all ran outside. She was sitting on the ground next to her bike with several of the guys standing around her. They parted as soon as Cole and Zack walked up. They both bent down to check on her.

“Hey, baby. Are you okay?” Zack could tell by the tears that she wasn’t.

“I’ll be okay in a minute. I got scared.” Her voice was husky.

“I don’t blame you. Let me look at you. Did he hurt you?”

“Just my throat. He grabbed me by my throat and tried to pull me over to a van. When I finally managed to break his grip on my neck, I screamed and he ran.”

“Let’s see what he did to you.” Cole lifted her chin and cursed.

“Hell, he left bruises, Tina. He could have strangled you. I’m sorry, baby. We shouldn’t have let you come out alone.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s fucking daylight. I wouldn’t have thought anyone would try something in broad daylight like that.”

“Your knees are skinned, too.” Cole looked up at the men. “Someone go get something to clean them with.”

“I’m okay, it’s just a scrape. My jeans kept them from getting much damage.” She started to get to her feet, but Zack stopped her. “Don’t move till we get you cleaned up. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No, really, I’ll be okay.” She still had a difficult time talking.

Zack didn’t like that. If she hadn’t been able to break his hold, he would have had her.

“You realize we need to report this to the police. They need to know about a near miss and the area he was last seen in.” Cole pulled out his cell phone.

“That’s going to put me behind getting to Dallas. I don’t want to ride there in the dark by myself.”

“You won’t be by yourself. Cole and I will ride with you. The others can go on ahead of us.”

“Hell no,” Shane said. “We ride with you. We were out here talking and just about let the bastard get her.”

“See, you’re not alone,” Zack told her.

“Okay, they’re sending a highway patrolman to take your statement.” Cole put his phone away.

“I’m sorry, guys. I’ve caused you all a lot of trouble.” Tina looked near tears again.

Zack knelt on the ground and gently cleaned her knees with the cloth Drew brought back for him to use. He’d wet it in warm water. He could tell it stung because she jerked when he wiped it across the scrapes.

“Look, when we get to Dallas, did you already have somewhere to stay?” Zack asked.

“No, I planned on finding a hotel once I arrived.”

“Stay with us. You’ll be safe and you can heal up after this.”

She swallowed and winced then nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Zack sighed in relief. He hated to think of her alone in some hotel room afraid to get out. He could tell this had shaken her up pretty badly.

Cole stood up and they helped her to her feet. She staggered and Cole steadied her. Zack leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. Cole did the same thing.

“There’s the patrolman now.” Zack pointed at the patrol car pulling into the parking lot.

A rather large man got out. He was taller than either Zack or Cole. Zack noticed she backed into them when the patrolman walked closer.

“Was it you who called to report a near abduction?” The man’s name tag said “Wilkes.”

“That’s right. Tina was nearly strangled.” Zack put an arm around her shoulder.

“Okay, I can see the bruises on your neck. Are you okay, ma’am, or do I need to call an ambulance?”

“No thanks. I’m all right.” Her voice still rasped.

Zack wondered how long before she’d be back to normal.

Tina went back over what had happened and gave the man a good description of her attacker.

As soon as he’d gotten all his information including her temporary address with the guys and how to get in touch with her, he left. They all mounted up and pulled out an hour behind schedule, but not one of the gang had chosen to go on ahead. Zack was proud of them.

They rode with her in the middle of them and Zack would drop back occasionally to see if she needed to stop for a while. She always shook her head no. He guessed she just wanted to get somewhere and relax.

He felt guilty as hell that something had happened to her after they’d assured her they would keep her safe. Would she trust them enough to stay for a while? Or would she insist on moving on toward her next assignment? Zack hoped not. He realized that he was a little in love with her. He didn’t know how Cole felt, but he was thinking of long term. And he hadn’t even had sex with her.

Chapter Four

Tina struggled the entire ride to hold it together. She needed a shower. She couldn’t stand feeling his hands on her neck and her arm. He’d nearly had her. Much more and she would have passed out, and that would have been that. All her self-defense training hadn’t prepared her for this.

Her throat fucking hurt, and her knees were scraped up. She would be throwing that pair of jeans away even if they now looked like the latest fashion with the holes in the knees. It would only remind her of her near death experience. She could do without that.

They rode for the next four hours into the dark. Once they arrived in Dallas, the various gang members peeled off, heading to their homes. She stuck with Cole and Zack, knowing they wouldn’t leave her behind. She made sure to keep up.

They finally pulled down a quiet street in a residential neighborhood. When they pulled into the drive of a beautiful, two-story brick home, she was speechless. She was ashamed to say she had stereotyped them into a small, lower class house in the suburbs. This was just a bit above middle class. She was impressed.
Construction must pay nicely.

They climbed off their bikes and waited for her. She threw her leg over the bike and nearly fell on her ass. Her knees were sore as hell. Zack was immediately there keeping her on her feet.

“Easy there. I expect your knees are sore and then you’ve been on the bike all this time. They’re probably stove-up.”

“They are a bit. This is a really nice house,” she said.

“Thanks, Cole and I like it.”

“You both live here?” She was amazed.

“Yeah. We pooled our money and got a nicer place this way. We’re always together with the construction business so it works out for us.” Zack led her to the back door.

Cole had it unlocked and was holding the door open for them.

“I’ll show you where you can clean up,” Cole told her.

She followed him to a huge bedroom with a massive master bath. Surely this was one of their bedrooms. She turned and started to say something to Cole, but he interrupted her.

“Neither one of uses this room. We keep it for guests. We have our own rooms. We did a good bit of work to the house to make it into what suited us.”

“Thanks, it’s really nice. Um, do you mind if I take a shower?”

“Not at all, it’s your room while you’re here. You can do anything you want. If you don’t want to go right to bed, you can come out, and we’ll get you something to eat.”

“Thank you. You’re both being so nice to me. I really appreciate it.” She couldn’t express how thankful she was to have run into them.