Ride Everlasting (Demon Riders MC Book 3) (4 page)

CHAPTER SIX

The drive back to Elyse’s house is filled with the sound of the radio. Neither she nor Suzi seem to be much in the mood for talking.  It’s only when Suzi pulls onto Elyse’s driveway that she turns to look at her expectantly.

“What?”  Elyse shifts uncomfortably in her seat, looking longingly at her front door while mentally preparing for the grilling she’s about to receive.

“You told him you thought that you guys have
too much
sex?”  Suzi’s eyes widen as if it were the most ridiculous thing that she’s ever heard.  Elyse is starting to wonder if she isn’t right.  “I mean, who does that?”

Elyse sighs deeply, knowing that she’s not going to get out of this without Suzi getting the answers she so clearly wants.  “I guess I do.” 

“I guess you do.”  Suzi nods in agreement.  “It’s the ‘why’ that’s completely beyond me!”  Elyse keeps quiet, knowing that Suzi hasn’t finished yet.  “You know, I thought we’d solved whatever’s with you two already, but things are just as screwed up now as they were before! I told you before, I can’t take any more of him being all ‘woe is me’ and shit.”  Suzi shakes her head, as if the mere thought of it tires her out.

Elyse spreads her hands out in front of her.  “Suzi, I don’t know what you want me to say.  Things are…complicated between Dane and me.  That’s all I know for sure.”

Suzi gives her an ‘Are you serious?’ look.  “That’s
all
you know?”  There’s no mistaking the challenge in her voice.  When Elyse shrugs, it’s like a red rag to a bull.  “Well, let me tell you a few things that
I
know.”  Suzi begins to tick them off on her fingers.  “You like Dane; Dane likes you.  You two have been all over each other since the get go, sparks a-flying, you name it.  You fight; you make up. You fight; you make up.  And neither one of you has told the other person how you really feel, so it all just keeps going round and round in circles.  Meanwhile, you’re making everyone else’s life miserable!  If Jen is half as fed up with you as I am with Dane, then you owe that woman more than a drink.  Trust me, it’s exhausting.”

“Well, damn, Suzi. I’m guessing in high school you weren’t voted
Most Sympathetic
.”  Elyse mutters the words, but Suzi’s raised eyebrow tells her that the woman has ears like a bat.  “What do you want me to do about it?  He left before I could talk to him, and I can’t go running around town looking for him. I’ve got to be somewhere; it’s important.”

Suzi gives her an appraising look.  “Is that what’s got you all edgy, looking at the door like you think I might be about to lock you in the car and drag you to all the joints where Dane hangs so you two can sort things out?”

Elyse gives her a frank look.  “The thought had crossed my mind.”  She gives the platinum blonde in the seat next to her a wry smile.  “But I’m already going to be late as it is, and I can’t cancel on my mom again.”

“Your mom?”  Suzi looks at her as if she had spoken a foreign language.

“Yeah, my mom, as in the woman who gave birth to me, brought me up, and gave me this.”  Elyse holds up some strands of her auburn hair. 

Suzi gets a faraway look in her eyes.  “Sorry, it’s just that I can’t really imagine actually wanting to spend any time with my mother.  Guess that tells you all you need to know about my family!”  She huffs a mirthless chuckle, but Elyse’s face remains serious.

“Not really, but I’m hoping that one day you’ll trust me enough to tell me.”  She places a hand over Suzi’s, noticing how the other woman just manages to stifle the way she jumps when she’s touched. 

“Sorry. Occupational hazard.” She shrugs and gives a sad little smile.

Elyse nods in understanding and withdraws her hand, not wanting to make Suzi any more uncomfortable.  Working in a strip club would probably make anyone jumpy at being touched; Suzie was apparently no exception.

“So, does your mom know about Dane?”  Suzi clears her throat, but Elyse can still hear the emotion in her voice.

Elyse shakes her head.  “She knows that I’ve been seeing someone, but nothing specific.  Dane had said he wanted to meet her.  I’d sort of hoped that would be tonight, but I guess it’s not to be.  I’m meeting her new boyfriend, and I figured it would be nice for her to meet mine, sort of like a weird double date.”  Elyse rolls her eyes at how Pollyanna that thought was.  “What an idiot, right?”

Suzi considers her for a moment.  “Actually, I think it’s nice.”  She turns the key in the ignition.  “I guess you better get moving if you’re not going to be late.”

Elyse blinks at the abruptness of Suzi’s words, but she’s moved past the point of being surprised by anything that Suzi does.  She tends to do exactly the opposite of what you expect.  “Sure, well, thanks for the ride.”

“No problem.”  Suzi waves her out of the car and before Elyse closes the passenger side door she overhears Suzi talking to herself.  “
Too much
sex.  I mean, seriously, is everyone crazy apart from me?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

As expected, Elyse arrives late to the restaurant, and her mom and the smart man beside her are already seated at their table.

“You must be Elyse!”  The new boyfriend stands up and gives her a warm smile as he reaches out to shake her hand.  “Joyce said that you were beautiful, but I don’t think she did you justice.” 

Elyse blushes at the compliment and grasps his hand in a firm shake.  “You shouldn’t believe everything she tells you; she’s prone to gushing.”  She throws a smile at her mother who’s looking at them both and beaming.  “Good to meet you, Nick.”  Elyse reaches over the table and kisses her mother on the cheek.  “Hi, Mom.”  Her mother presses her to her warmly.

“I’ll let you two catch up; I just need to pop my head into the kitchen.”  He smiles at them both and squeezes Elyse’s mother’s hand before he heads off towards the back of the restaurant like a man on a mission. 

Elyse raises an eyebrow at her mother.  “Please tell me he’s not like the guy that insisted in checking with the chef personally that there wasn’t any parsley in his food.”

Joyce takes a sip of her wine, almost spurting it out at her daughter’s words.  “Lord, no!  He owns the place.”

Elyse’s jaw drops, and she has to make a point of picking it up from the floor.  This was one of the swankiest restaurants in Portland.  Jen had been more than a little jealous when she’d found out that’s where Elyse was headed for dinner. Apparently, it was nearly impossible to get a reservation. 
Well, that’s one mystery solved
, Elyse thinks.

She nods approvingly.  “At least I know you won’t go hungry for as long as you two are dating.”  Elyse takes a sip of her white wine that the waiter has just poured, letting the warmth of the liquid settle her nerves that have been pretty fraught over the past few days.

“Are you alright, dear?”  Joyce gives her a concerned look, peering closer to her face.  “You seem a little…off.” 

Elyse gulps. She had no intention of going into everything that had been going on with her over the past couple of weeks.  Not tonight, tonight was about her mom and her mom’s new man—that was all that was important.

“I’m fine, just a little tired I guess.  I’ve been pretty busy.”  Elyse shrugs helplessly.  “But I’m not here to talk about me; I’m here for you to dish the dirt on the new man in your life!”

Joyce gets that goofy smile on her face that Elyse has only ever seen on her own—when she’s thinking about Dane.  If there had been any doubt before, there wasn’t anymore.  Her mom really liked this Nick guy.  “Oh, Elyse, he’s so great.  I don’t want to jinx it, but I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like this before.  But what do you think?  It’s so important to me for you to like him.”  The earnestness in her mother’s voice makes Elyse reach over and grab her hand in reassurance.

“Well, we’ve only exchanged about one sentence so far.”  Joyce blushes at Elyse’s words.  “But, he definitely gets points for the suit, points for politeness, and he’s not exactly hard to look at.”  Elyse gives her mother a pointed look, and Joyce erupts in peals of giggles.  Elyse looks at her mother in shock; she doesn’t think that she’s ever heard that sound come out of her mouth, but she likes it.

“I know, he’s kind of a catch, isn’t he?”  Joyce smiles, looking pleased with herself.

“You’re the catch, Mom.”  Elyse looks at her seriously.  “He’s lucky to be out with you tonight, just remember that.”

“She’s right you know, Joyce.”  Nick appears back at the table as if from nowhere, and Elyse cringes at her own lack of tact. 

“Sorry, Nick, I didn’t mean—”

Nick waves away her concern.  “There’s no need to apologize, Elyse.  You’re completely right.”  He looks at Elyse’s mother, and there’s so much emotion in his eyes that Elyse feels as if she’s intruding.  “I am the lucky one sitting at this table tonight; I’m lucky every day that Joyce decides to spend with me.”  He squeezes her hand on the table and smiles at her without any hint of insincerity. Then, he switches his attention back to Elyse.  “I know you’re protective of your mother and that’s to your credit.  But I hope that you’ll see how very deeply I care for her and that you don’t have to worry about her with me.”

Elyse swallows hard around the ball of emotion in her throat.  She had been waiting years for someone to say those words about her mother and here they were.  Elyse looks between her mother—who is smiling at Nick as if there were no tomorrow—and the kindness in Nick’s face, and it leaves no doubt as to the honesty behind his words.

“Thank you.”  Elyse’s voice is quiet.  “It’s nice to know that someone else thinks she’s as special as I do.”

Joyce’s free hand clasps over Elyse’s and the three of them sit there, quietly, taking in the moment.  Elyse feels tears prick at the back of her eyes, seeing her mother this happy wasn’t something that she had prepared for, and without even searching in her miniscule bag, she knows that she is all out of Kleenex.

“I’m just going to run to the Ladies.  I’ll be right back.”  A waiter whips her chair away from the table before she’s had time to do it herself and virtually escorts her to the restroom.  She looks in the mirror and dabs at her eyes to stop her mascara from running. 
Go Mama Powell
, she thinks and smiles.

When she makes her way back to the table, she stops a few feet away, frozen to the spot as she takes in the person who’s now occupying her seat.

“Elyse, why didn’t you tell us that your new beau was joining us?”  Joyce gives her daughter a mock-admonishing look, as Dane swivels around in his chair and takes in Elyse.

Elyse mouth works, but no words come out.  Dane smiles and winks at her, taking in the fitted little black dress and skyscraper heels that she’d decided were probably the only suitable things she had in her wardrobe for a restaurant this swanky.  It’s clear from the look in his eyes that he likes what he sees.  He stands up, vacating her chair and gesturing for her to take it.

“That’s my fault, Mrs. Powell.  I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it, and Elyse didn’t want to say anything just in case.”  Dane swoops in to save the day when it becomes clear that Elyse has lost the ability to form coherent sentences or even any words at all.  “I hope it isn’t any trouble.”

Nick waves away Dane’s concern.  “Nonsense, the more the merrier. We’ll just get you another seat.”  Before the words are out of his mouth, a bevy of waiters swoop in and rearrange the table, creating another place setting for Dane and holding out the chair for him.  It looks like there were more than just a few perks of owning the place.

“’Lyse.”  Dane’s voice is low in his throat, as he looks at her, sounding husky in a way that makes all her nerve endings tingle. 

She takes in his nod to the formality of the place—he’s left his leather jacket at the door. Other than that, he’s in black jeans and a black t-shirt along with black biker boots.  But somehow he manages not to look out of place at all.  In fact, to Elyse, he looks absolutely perfect.

Elyse doesn’t trust her voice to say anything, so instead she shakes herself out of her stupor and goes to her seat.  She’s aware of Dane shaking his head at one of the servers as he tries to pull out her chair.  Dane does it for her, and she’s left speechless yet again as he pushes the chair towards the table, acting the perfect gentleman before taking his own seat and smiling easily at Joyce and Nick.  He looks for all the world as if he eats in places like this all the time.

“So, Dane, tell me about yourself.  My daughter has been pretty tight-lipped about you. I was almost starting to wonder if you really existed.”  Elyse’s mother leans forward eagerly, settling in for Dane’s life story.

“Joyce, at least give the guy a drink before you start grilling him!”  Nick laughs good-naturedly.  “What can we get you, Dane?  Wine?”

“A beer would be great, actually.”  Dane smiles his thanks at Nick and, as if by magic a frosty glass appears at Dane’s elbow.  “And, I don’t mind the grilling, Mrs. Powell.  Ask me whatever you like.”  Dane holds open his arms as if to show that he has nothing to hide.

“Please, call me Joyce.  Mrs Powell makes me feel like an old woman.”  Her mother smiles easily, taking another sip of her wine and openly admiring the man that Elyse has brought home.

“Great, Joyce.”  Dane nods, smiling easily at the older woman.

Elyse still hasn’t said anything, and it’s only at this moment that her mother seems to have noticed her silence.  “Lysey, are you alright?  I don’t think I’ve ever known you to be so quiet.”

Elyse shakes herself slightly, as she realizes that everyone is staring at her.  “Yes, I’m fine.  Sorry, I guess I was just…surprised to see you here.”  She looks at Dane with her eyebrow lifted, her question implied.

“Good surprised or bad surprised?”  Dane’s voice is low, his tone playful. However, his eyes are serious, and Elyse knows that this is more than just a flirtatious question.

Elyse doesn’t even have to think about her response; she’d known the minute her brain had processed the fact that he was here, meeting her mother because he knew how important it was for her.  “Good surprised.”  She reaches out and wraps her hand around his on top of the table, and she watches as his shoulders relax a touch.

“Well, that’s a relief.”  Dane jokes, but Joyce’s mother with her maternal radar seems to see that something had just gone on that she didn’t quite understand.

“So how did the two of you meet?”  Joyce looks between them expectantly.

Elyse weighs up whether to lie about Dane’s involvement in a biker gang with the knowledge that it’s too important for him to keep quiet about, but her mother will no doubt worry.  But Dane steps in before she has time to reach a decision.

“Well, I guess it’s not the best story.”  Dane looks a little sheepish.  “But we met in a bar. Elyse walked in, and it was pretty hard to look anywhere else.”

Joyce lets out a contented sigh, as if she’d just heard the most romantic thing ever.

Nick leans over towards Dane, conspiratorially.  “Hey, tone it down. You’re making me look bad.” 

It lightens the mood and gives Elyse time to get her brain jumpstarted again. She feels like her heart had all but stopped at Dane’s words.  It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him; it was more that she wasn’t used to seeing this romantic side of him, the side that actually talks about how he feels.

“And then what happened?”  Joyce looks at Elyse this time for an answer, probing her with her all-knowing motherly eyes.

“Mom, tonight was supposed to be about me getting to know Nick better, not you giving us the third degree.”  She smiles at her mother, trying to communicate with her eyes for her to back off a touch.

“There’s time for both.”  Joyce doesn’t even pause, her gaze shifting between Elyse and Dane, like she’s trying to figure out what it is that she’s missing.

“How about we order, and then we get to interrogate each other?”  Elyse keeps her tone light, slipping her hand out of Dane’s and concentrating on the menu.

“Sounds like a plan to me; I’m starved.”  Nick seems to sense the tension between the two women and dives straight into his menu despite the fact that he probably already has it memorized.

“Me too.  It’s been a long day at work.”  Dane takes his cue from Nick and looks at the menu, not even wincing once at the eye-watering prices.

“What sort of work are you in, Dane?”  Joyce jumps on the opening, and Elyse rolls her eyes at her mother’s inability to let anything go.

“I work in a body shop.”  He doesn’t elaborate, and Elyse feels compelled to.

“Actually he works in
the
body shop.  The place is known worldwide. If you’re into cars or bikes, then you’ve heard of it.”  Elyse doesn’t try to hide the pride in her voice, and she sees Dane’s surprise out of the corner of her eye.  What, he didn’t think that she was impressed by what he did?

“We do alright.”  Dane shrugs, coming across as endearing and modest at the same time.

“He’s fixing up Dolly. She’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks.”  Elyse frowns at Dane, wondering why he’s holding back so much.  She knows how proud he is of The Shop.