Outlaw (15 page)

“You good?” Crash asked.

Cole took a hit off his beer. “Yeah.”

“That was some shit today, huh?”

Cole looked over at him, and nodded.

“Not really our problem.”

“You got something to say?”

“It’s just, I’m trying to figure you out, man. What
was that all about?
We
ain’t the
Justice
League
.”

“Are you telling me, when you first got a look in
the back of that van, that that shit doesn’t bother you? Some of those girls
were only sixteen.”

“I know. It’s just that I don’t understand why you
got the club involved. I mean, hey, you’re my brother, and I’ll back your play
every time, I’m just not sure where your head’s at.”

“My head is fine!” Cole snapped at him.

“Yeah. Okay. Cool off.”

They stood quietly for a few minutes.

Crash took a hit off his beer.

Cole smoked his cigarette.

“Angel seems like a sweet kid,” Crash commented.

Cole looked at him, and shook his head. “Where you
goin’ with this, Crash?”

“Nowhere. I’m just sayin’. I see the attraction.”

Cole gave him a warning look.

Crash held his hands up. “Okay, brother. Okay.”

Cole looked away, and took a hit off his beer.

“She stickin’ around?” Crash asked.

“Not your business.”

“Brother, I’ve been ridin’ with you for what? How
long’s it been? Ten, twelve years, now?”

“Something like that,” Cole replied.

“We’ve known each other since High School.”

“Your point?”

“My point is, I’ve never seen you act this way
around a piece of ass.”

“Don’t go there, Crash.” Cole got in his face.

“Alright, brother. Alright.” Crash held his hands
up, and stepped back.

Cole turned away, and took another hit off his
cigarette.

“Hey, we’ve got nothin’ goin’ for the next few days.
Maybe you should take off for a few days. Take a ride. Clear your head.”

“Clear my head?” Cole asked him, flippantly.

“I’m just saying, ya know, get away from here for
awhile.”

“Yeah. Maybe I will.” Cole tossed his cigarette into
the night, and turned, and went back inside. He grabbed another beer, and
headed back to his room.

Angel was still sleeping.

He sat in the desk chair, and drank the beer, and
watched her. She had flipped some kind of switch in him. He could admit it to
himself, if not the others. Women had come and gone through his life. He’d
taken what they’d offered, and cut them loose when he was through. And yet, he
thought, God help me, I can’t let this one go.

But she didn’t fit in his world, and he didn’t fit
in hers. It would be like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Didn’t
matter how bad you wanted to make it work.

If this was only going to last a few days, he was
going to make the best of them. He walked over, flipped his stereo on low, got
undressed, and crawled into bed with her.

Chapter Seven

Dawn was just breaking, when Cole decided to wake
Angel up. She was
laying
on her side, and he had his
arms wrapped around her from behind. He pressed soft kisses along her neck,
working his way up to her ear. He whispered, “Wake up, baby doll.”

She stretched like a cat, and rolled to her back.

He leaned over her, and continued nuzzling her neck.

Her hands slid up his warm back, and she moaned.

He rose up, and smiled down at her. “Mornin’, babe.”

“Good morning.” She squinted her eyes. “What time is
it?”

He glanced at the bedside clock radio. “Six.”

She groaned. “It’s so early. Do you have to leave
again?”

“Why?” he asked.

“I just thought maybe we could spend some time
together.”

“Maybe we can.”

“Maybe?”

He smiled devilishly. “Convince me.”

She ran her hands over his chest, and leaned up to
kiss his neck. “Like this?”

“You’ll have to do better than that, babe.”

“Is that a challenge?” she whispered in his ear.

“Maybe.” He grinned.

She smiled, pushed him over on his back, and
straddled him. He tried to reach for her, but she grabbed his hands, and pushed
them down on the pillow, next to his head, pinning him there.

He grinned, playing along. “I’m all yours, baby. Now
what?”

She smiled, and lowered her head, and kissed his
mouth. Her lips moved down his neck, his chest. She slid down, and his eyes
slid closed.

It was a long time before either one of them thought
about getting out of bed.

Hours later they lay wrapped in each other’s arms.
Cole was on his
back,
Angel was draped across his
chest. He was kissing her, over and over, his mouth gentle on hers.

“Hmm,” she moaned. “Your kisses are sweet as candy,
and very addictive.”

Cole grinned. “Hooked yet?”

“Oh, yeah. Big time.”

“Good, because I don’t plan on you going through
withdrawal anytime soon.”

She grinned back.

“Come on, babe. Time to get up. Let’s go,” Cole
said, reaching down, and playfully slapping Angel’s ass.

“Ow. Go where?” she asked, sitting up.

Cole stood up, and pulled on his jeans. Then he
reached back, and pulled her to her feet. “Breakfast to start. Then we’ll see.
Maybe drive down the coast for a few days. Would you like that?”

She smiled. “Really? Just us?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“You can go?”

“Yeah. Come on.” He tossed her a paper bag. “Throw a
change of clothes in there, and I’ll stuff it in my saddlebag.”

“Nice luggage.”

He grinned. “Smart ass.”

Twenty minutes later they were pulling into a diner
for breakfast. They got off the bike, and walked in. Angel noticed people turn
to stare. There were two cops sitting at the counter. They also turned to
stare.

Cole steered her to a booth by the window. A
waitress came over with two mugs in her hand and a thermal carafe.

“Coffee?” she offered.

“Thanks, darlin’,” Cole replied, smiling up at her.

She returned his smile.

Angel noticed the way the young redhead looked at
him.

She poured their coffee, and left the carafe on the
table. “The usual, Cole?”

“Give us a minute, Mona.”

She glanced over at Angel. “Sure thing, sweetie.”
She walked off.

Cole turned his head, and watched her walk off.

“I’m sitting right here,” Angel reminded him.

He turned back to her, and scoffed, “What?”

Her eyebrows rose.

“Come on. She’s Red Dog’s kid sister.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, she’s off limits. Besides, I’ve got my hands
full with you, baby doll,” he purred.

“So what are you checking her out for, then?” she
teased.

“No harm in lookin’, is there?” Cole grinned,
sipping his coffee. He took two plastic coated menus from behind the condiment
holder next to the window, and slid one across to her. “I recommend the
blueberry pancakes.”

Angel opened the menu, and studied it.

“Aw, shit,” she heard Cole whisper. She looked up at
him, and realized he was looking behind her.

She turned.

The two cops were walking toward them.

They stopped at the table. “Morning,” the first one
said.

“Morning,” Cole replied, leaning back, and laying
his arm across the back of his seat.

The cop looked them both over. He leaned down on the
table, and looked at Cole. “This isn’t your side of town, is it?”

“Just havin’ breakfast, Officer.” Cole stared back
at him.

The cop nodded, then he looked down at Angel. He ran
a finger over her wrist. “Those are some bad bruises, ma’am.”

She pulled her hand away.

“Did he do that?” he asked, nodding toward Cole.

She looked at Cole. His body language said he was
relaxed, unconcerned, but his eyes said something altogether different. She
could tell he was trying to hold his temper. “No. He didn’t,” she snapped.

“What caused them?”

“Police handcuffs,” she replied flippantly.

“You want something?” Cole asked, diverting the
officer’s attention from Angel. He didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

The cop turned to him. “When you’re done with your
breakfast, you should get back to your side of town.”

Cole stared him down.

The cop straightened up, and they both walked off,
heading for the door.

Angel turned to watch them leave. When they were
gone, she turned back to Cole.

He took a sip of coffee. “Assholes.”

“Does that happen often?” she asked.

“Once in a while,” he admitted.

Mona came back to the table. She looked out the
window at the cruiser pulling out. “Jerks.”

Cole smiled at her. “It’s no big deal, Mona.”

“You ready to order, Cole?”

“Blueberry pancakes, darlin’,” he replied with a
smile.

She turned to Angel. “You, honey?”

“Same.”

After she walked off, Angel drank her coffee, and
studied Cole over the rim of the mug. He was looking out of the window. He must
have felt her eyes on him, for he turned, and looked back at her.

“Did you grow up around here?” Angel asked him.

“Yep.” He reached for the carafe, and topped off
both their mugs.

“How old were you when you joined the club?”

“About your age,” he replied, setting the carafe down.

“Why did you join?”

“Is this twenty questions?”

She looked down at her mug, and stopped talking.

Cole was immediately sorry he’d snapped at her. He
shrugged. “My dad was a trucker. Long haul. Wasn’t around much when I was
growing up. To make up for it he got me a dirt bike for my twelfth birthday.
When I turned sixteen, and most of my buddies were saving up for muscle cars, I
wanted a bike. Started hanging around with other guys that liked to ride. Met
some club members when I was old enough to hit the bars. I liked their
lifestyle, the brotherhood. One of them agreed to sponsor me. Did my time as a
prospect, and a year later, I was in.”

Angel studied him for a moment, wondering if he
wanted to talk about it. “Is it everything you expected?” she asked.

He looked at her, and then looked out the window.
“Yeah. Pretty much.”

She nodded. “And you’re happy?”

“Sure,” he said, looking at her.

She looked out the window.

“What about you?” he raised his chin toward her.
“What’s your story?”

“My story? I don’t really have one.” She looked
down, running her finger around the rim of the mug.

“Sure you do. How’d you end up in California?”

She looked out the window, and sighed. “I don’t
know. I guess I’m too old to call it running away. Escaping, maybe.”

“Escaping?” he scoffed. “From what?”

She shrugged. “A domineering father. A stepmother I
can’t stand, and who can’t stand me.”

Cole watched her face change. A wall came up. Her
smile disappeared. “Sorry,” he said. “I guess we all have family issues.”

She shrugged again. “It’s no big deal.”

“Any brothers or sisters?” he asked.

“No. Just me.”

“And your mom?”

“Died when I was little.”

“Sorry. That’s got to be rough.”

She looked down. “It’s okay. I’m fine now.”

He nodded. “Sure. I can see that.”

Angel looked up at him, hearing the sarcasm in his
voice. He stared back at her. She couldn’t hold his gaze, and so she looked
away, and drank her coffee.

“Why did you pick California?” Cole asked.

She shrugged again. “I don’t know. The ocean, I
guess.
Something different from the desert.

He nodded.

“Ever been there?” She looked up at him.

“Where? The desert?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head.

“You’d like it. Phoenix is on the edge of the
mountains. It’s really rugged and beautiful. Kind of makes you feel like you’re
in a movie set for a western.”