Ridin' Dirty: An Outlaw Author Anthology (OAMC Book 1) (66 page)

I wonder if she even knows what she wants anymore, she’s so lost to this impossible image she has created for herself. Adjusting her satchel, Marlee held her head high as she strolled up to the kissing booth.

“What are you doing here?” Kenna asked wrinkling her nose.

“Liza got called away and asked me to stand in for her,” Marlee replied.

Kenna rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She turned back to the eager looking teen standing in front of her with a dollar. “How old are you?” Kenna asked narrowing her eyes.

“Old enough,” the red head replied. His freckles stood out on his pale face, and his blue eyes were as round as saucers.

“Right.” Kenna tapped her cheek.

He leaned forward and pecked her lip, tossing the dollar onto the stand in front of her and rushing off like a wounded animal.

Marlee snorted. If anything, this was going to be an entertaining day. She walked around back of the booth, ignoring the eyes trained on her. She’d flossed, brushed, and gargled until her mouth felt like the Swiss Alps in there, so cool and minty. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her palms grew sweaty. She flipped the sign from closed to open and waited.

A few people got out of line. Then the first man came up. In his late twenties with gauged ears and a Mohawk…he was mouth-watering. He gave her a wink and a sly grin. “How’d they rope you into this?” he asked.

“What, I don’t seem the type?”

“Your eyes say, I’m counting the minutes until I escape,” he replied.

She chuckled. “You got me. I’m filling in for a friend of mine. She got a once in a lifetime chance.” Marlee shrugged.

“Good friend,” he observed.

“I try.” Their repartee put her at ease.

He handed over a dollar. “Let’s do this super cheesy. Pucker up.”

Giggling, she pursed her lips, and they had an over exaggerated smack exchange. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

He stepped back. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”

“Stranger things have happened,” she said. He walked away, and she settled back on her stool. The line beside her continued to move as she got a few stragglers.

***

Ren

“Isn’t that your girl?” John asked.

Ren glanced across the fairgrounds and froze. What the fuck is she doing? The thought of Marlee Hurst sitting at the kissing booth was a foreign concept. It wasn’t her style. “I think so,” he answered scowling.

They’d been off and on since she turned twenty-one, despite the fact that he was way too old for her. Forty-five to her twenty-five. Also, with his rap sheet as long as his arm, and a reputation that proceeded him, they never should’ve mixed. There was something compelling in the depths of her brown gaze that got to him. He could never give her the committed relationship she deserved, so they kept things on the down low between them. Small towns were harsh and unforgiving. She would be talked about and treated like she’d become lower class. He didn’t want that for her. They were on a definite off period right now. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck. The pops gave tiny seconds of relief.

If he saw another motherfucker laying lips on her, he might just rip their heart out. I’m forty-five I ain’t getting no younger. His refusal to label them had nothing to do with sowing his wild oats, and everything to do with the man his father had been. He couldn’t trust himself not to ruin her. He inherited the anger and the attitude from his old man. It felt like tempting fate to take on a serious girlfriend, or God forbid…a wife. The things his father did to his mother until he was old enough to step in, still haunted him.

“Okay dude, I’ll see you later,” John said as he walked away.

Yeah, John already knew his intent. He would get Marlee back with him and no one in their right mind better get in his way.

A preppy blond with a polo and a slick grin walked up to the booth.

Fuck it. He strolled up to stand just behind the blond. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk away right now,” Ren warned.

“Wait your turn, dude,” the blond shot back.

Marlee gasped.

“You might want to look at me and re-think that response.”

The blond polo kid turned. His face immediately drained of color, and his blue eyes grew comically round. He took a step back and held up his hands. “Hey, man. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Then leave and don’t look back,” he said staring him down.

He nodded and rushed off.

Smart boy.

Marlee blinked. “What the hell are you doing?”

“This.” He leaned over the booth, tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her to his lips. The minute their mouths met, his dick swelled. Her lips parted as she yielded to him. Blood rushed to his head. His heart thumped against his chest. He tilted his head, spearing his tongue between her lips, exploring her mouth like it was the first time, and staking his claim in front of everyone. They broke the lip lock, surfacing for air. He watched her lift her lids and blink slowly. He reached into his pocket and dug out the wads of cash he had in his pocket. He peeled off a few hundreds, and set them on the counter in front of her.

“You son of a bitch,” she spat the words out like they were something rotten.

His face exploded with pain. The sound of a hand meeting his flesh echoed in his ears. He turned his head back to face her and grinned. “You’re done here little girl. You can pack your shit up and leave peacefully, or I can do it for you.”

She lifted her hand.

He grabbed her wrist. “Once is all you get.”

“I’m not some whore you get to pay off.”

“You want me to throw you over my shoulder and smack your ass before I carry you off in front of the entire town?” He liked her spunk, but he would only let her take it so far.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she whispered.

He laughed. “You forget who I am?”

“I’ve been trying.”

“Bullshit.”

“You were the one who didn’t want more, Ren, Not me.”

“Now, I do. “

“No.” She shook her head. “You just don’t like the thought of anyone else playing with your toy.”

“Marlee…now.”

She disappeared below the booth and shot back up a second later with her purse slung across her body. Her eyes shot invisible fire as she flipped the open sign to close.

He watched her ass in those tight jeans as she stalked over to her sister’s booth slapped down the money down and returned to him.

The shock on her sister’s face said everything about the town’s reaction.

“Hey, you okay?” a burly redheaded guy asked her.

Ren balled his fists, itching to burn off some of his irritation with a good knockdown, drag out.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Marlee said, never sparing him a glance as she hurried by him in power-walk mode.

Ren stalked behind her amused. At six foot four, his stride was damn near four steps of hers.

His boys hung back amused by the blowout they’d all been predicting for years. They all came from nothing and met in the pen. You get to know one another when you run in the same circles. It was their love for bikes and cars that saved them. When John got out and started up the shop that became their livelihood, he’d given them all something to focus on. They stuck together, forming their own family. It’d been a bunch of wild years, but now that they were getting long in the tooth, shit was changing. Bobby had gotten himself hitched and had a baby girl a few years back. Then Shaun had followed in his footstep a year ago, taking a long term girlfriend and buying a house.

He and John were the last ones holding down the single life. We used to be. There was no doubt in his mind what his next move would be. “Where you going, Marlee? You know the only way you’re leaving here is on the back of my bike.”

“And what about my car?” she asked, placing her hands on her curvy hips.

“One of the boys from the shop will get it,” he said.

She shut her mouth. Her jaw ticked.

He loved that fire she had deep inside. It was something she hid well until it boiled over and singed him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his side. “Much better. We don’t want people thinking we’re not together.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“You knew that from the beginning. You said it was what you liked about me most. That I didn’t care what anyone else thought.”

“I was a child.”

“You were twenty-one and persistent. I remember because I tried to leave you alone. You remember what I told you then?”

“You were no good for me, and once we started, it’d be hard to stop.”

“That’s right. I knew then you weren’t the type I could fuck and walk away from.”

“Funny. You did it plenty of times before.”

“No, we took breaks, we never parted ways.”

“Yes, we did. You just seem to have forgotten,” she said.

“You told me you couldn’t stay if things remained the same, so I’m here changing them.”

“No, you’re posturing.”

The sadness in her voice cut him deep. He’d done this, made her doubt herself, and what they had. So, it was his job to fix it. There was no one else he wanted long term with other than Marlee. She knew him, accepted his rough edges, and never bitched when he needed his space. The only thing she asked him for was a commitment. Funny, how that shit was crystal clear now. Three months ago, it felt ridiculous and stifling. There’s something to the saying, ‘You never know what you have until it’s gone.’ I’m going to get her back and keep her by my side where she belongs. “You know me well enough to know I’d never put this much time and effort into something I wasn’t one hundred percent about.”

“No, Ren, I don’t know that. Not anymore.”

He guided her to his bike and paused. “You’re pissed at me right now. I get that. But you were asking for something I wasn’t prepared to give. So…I thought on it.”

“No, a few weeks, maybe a month is thinking about it. Three months is giving the firm answer of no. If you hadn’t been here tonight, I doubt we’d even be talking.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“Right.”

“When did you get so damn cynical?”

“I learned from the best,” she replied.

“Oh, your sister.”

She gasped.

“You want to throw stones? I’m going to chuck them back, babe. I’m not the sit and take it type. I’ve always been up front with you about everything. It’d have been crueler for me to dangle the relationship carrot when I wasn’t sure. I have a lot of things I want to say, but right now ain’t the time or place.” He climbed onto his bike and handed her a helmet.

She placed it on her head, fastened the strap and climbed behind him.

When she mounted his bike, the feeling of rightness damn near took his breath away. For the past months, nothing had felt right. He’d missed her. She had a gentle way about her that soothed him. A sense of humor that made him laugh when shit got overwhelming, and an openness that allowed him to trust her in a way he’d never done with another woman. He started up the bike, and she wrapped her arms around him pressing close. The feel of her full breasts against this back and her warm breath on his neck filled in a missing puzzle piece.

He pulled out of the parking lot, thinking of the things he would say once they reached her house.

Twenty minutes later, they walked inside her one-bedroom apartment, and he inhaled the scent of apples and cinnamon. “You been baking pies?” he asked.

“Yeah, I had a bunch of apples I donated for the Pie Walk, and I couldn’t help but make a few apple tarts for myself since I had a surplus of Granny Smiths.”

His mouth watered at the thought of flaky crust, tangy, sweet apples with a light glaze.

“You want one?” she asked.

She acted so polite it irritated him. “Please.” Two can play this game.

“Take a seat at the table, and I’ll bring one over.”

He nodded and did as he was asked. His boys would never believe him being so domestic. He glanced around the house, searching for signs of another male in her life. Maybe she moved on. His muscles tensed, and he ground his teeth.

Marlee returned and set a tall glass and a tart in front of him. Her phone rang. “And it’s already starting,” she whispered with a sigh.

“Is that so bad?”

“Yes.”

“Why? I thought this was what you wanted.”

“For the right reasons, when I was sure it would stick. The last thing I need is the entire town seeing me fall flat on my face and fail. I’m going to catch hell for this as it is. We both know it.”

“What happened to the girl who didn’t care about wagging tongues and harsh opinions?”

“She grew up, got lonely and tired of not having what she wanted.”

“And now I’m here to give it to you, babe.”

“Hmmm.”

“You don’t believe me?” he asked.

“I had four years of getting my hopes up Ren. Don’t act shocked that I’m not about to make the same mistake again.”

“I deserve that. You should’ve gotten better than that from me. All I’m asking is that you allow me to fix that.”

“How, Ren?”

“By being the man you should’ve had this entire time.”

“And it’s that easy?” She snapped her fingers. “Your commitment phobia just disappeared?”

“No, but my missing you didn’t.” He opened his mouth and choked on the words that wanted to come out. He shoved the tart in to keep his past from spilling from his lips. He’d never gone into detail or explained why relationships made him twitchy. Logically, he knew telling her would make this whole process easier. But his pride kept him silent.

“You’re not going to let this go until I agree, are you?”

“Uh-uh,” he hummed shaking his head.

“Fine, we’ll try this your way. But when I decide I’m done...”

He nodded his head, letting her think she had the upper hand. It might be his job to show her he was serious, but she could end it when she got enough. The past four years had been about him. It was time he changed that. He finished his tart while taking her in. She lost weight over the past three months. We’ll have to fix that too. He liked her curvy and soft.

She sank into the chair and sat sideways.

“What’s been going on?” he asked between bites of pastry.

“Same old, work, hanging out with Eliza and thrifting.”

“How the hell did Eliza get you to stand in for her?”

She laughed.

The musical sound enchanted him.

“Oh, that? She had a shot at a lead story out of town. I couldn’t tell her no. It’s a breakthrough for her.”

He nodded. Eliza was important to her, but there were times he wanted to strangle the girl for getting Marlee into messes. He grunted.

“What?” Marlee said.

“Did you miss me?”

She pursed her lip. “I tried not to think of you at all.”

He popped the rest of the tart in his mouth and licked his finger clean. “That’s not what I asked you. Did. You. Miss. Me?”

“Does it matter if I did?” she asked, crossing her arms beneath her chest.