Sexy Bastards Anthology: Bad Boy, Biker, Alpha, Motorcycle Club, Contemporary Romance Collection (37 page)

Chapter 14

Taylor

“You can leave if you want to,” said Lauren, as I held her in my arms. We’d just gotten done taking a shower together and were lying in her bed.

“Do you
wan
t me to leave?” I murmured.

“No. But, I know this isn’t usually your thing. Spending the night with your dates.”

“This wasn’t exactly a date.”

“No, but… you know what I mean.”

Sighing, I brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes. “I’d like to stay, if that’s okay?”

Lauren smiled. “Yes. I should warn you, however –”

“You fart in your sleep?”

She giggled. “No. I’ve been told that I talk sometimes, though.”

“You do, huh?”

“Yes. But not usually. If you do hear me say anything, though, wake me up.”

“Why? Are you worried that you might spill the beans about me being the best lover you’ve ever had?”

“Actually, I don’t have to tell you that in my sleep,” she answered, staring up into my eyes. “The truth is, you
are
the best I’ve ever had.”

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Let me guess, you haven’t had many?”

“Was it that obvious?” she asked, her smile fading.

“Not in the way you mean. I just figured since you said you don’t sleep around very much, that there weren’t a lot of guys before me.”

She was silent for a few seconds and then admitted that I was her third.

“You’ve only had sex with two other guys?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes, and to be honest,” she said, staring ahead, “you were the first guy to ever make me have an orgasm.”

“Then those last two guys were either too stupid or too selfish,” I said, rubbing her arm.

She smiled grimly. “You have no idea.”

Just then, Lauren’s phone began to buzz, startling us both.

“Now who in the heck is that?” she muttered, reaching for her cell.

“What is it? A text?”

Nodding, she swiped her finger across the phone and began reading it. I watched as her expression turned from irritation to horror.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning.

She looked at me but didn’t say anything.

“Lauren, what is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Laughing coldly, she dropped her cell phone onto the nightstand. “That would probably be less creepy.”

I grabbed her phone and scrolled into her texts.

“Taylor!” she protested, trying to get the phone back from me.

I kept her at arm’s length as I read the last message she’d received. It was from someone not listed in her contacts.

I saw you.

You filthy little slut.

But, you haven’t seen the last of me.

Not by a long shot.

“
Who in the fuck is this?” I asked angrily.

“I think it’s a guy that I used to date,” she answered, sinking back into the bed. She closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. “He’s crazy.”

“I’ll show him crazy,” I muttered, hitting the Call button.

She opened her eyes. “What are you doing?” 

I held my hand up as the guy answered the phone.

“Listen here, dickhead, if you ever send messages to my girl again, I’ll find you and beat the living fuck out of you. You got that?”

The man on the other end hung up.

“
What did he say?” she asked looking frightened.

“Nothing. Hopefully he got the message and will leave you alone now,” I said, hanging up the phone. “You need to block this number.”

“Yeah, I know,” she answered, getting out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

Lauren pulled on her robe and then walked over to the window. “He said he saw me,” she said, peeking through the blinds. “What if he’s out there, spying on us right now?”

I stood up and walked over to her. “Are you really that frightened of this piece of shit?”

“He’s the reason I moved back to Jensen. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Apparently, he’s still bent on harassing me.”

“Babe,” I said, sliding my arms around her waist. I pulled her against me. “If he’s harassing you, I can take care of that.”

She frowned. “How?”

“I’ll have a heart-to-heart with the asshole and make sure he sees the error of his ways.”

“He’s cuckoo. I doubt it’s going to do anything but piss him off further.”

“Then he’ll have to deal with me again. Whatever the case may be, he needs to quit doing this.” 

“I just don’t want to stir up any trouble.”

“He’s the one stirring it up.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“So, let me handle him.”

Lauren studied my face. “Why?”

“What do you mean ‘
why
’?”

“Why do you want to get involved with this? I mean, we’re not together and you don’t owe me anything.”

“We’re together right now,” I said softly.

“You know what I mean.”

I let out a weary sigh. “I want to help you because I care about you, Lauren. You’re a nice person and don’t deserve this shit.”

Her phone began to vibrate again.

Lauren stiffened up. “Dammit.”

I stormed over to the nightstand and picked up the phone. There was another text.

I don’t scare easily.

Grunting, I sent him a message back that told him it was because he’d never met the likes of me.

We’ve already met and you don’t scare me, Tail…

“Who is this fucking guy?” I asked, turning around.

“His name is Mark. What did he type this time?”

“Just more bullshit. He said he’d already met me though. Is that possible?”

“No. I don’t think so… although,” she sighed. “I guess I should tell you…”

“Tell me what?”

“God, you’re going to think I’m… pathetic,” she said with a brittle smile.

“No, I would never think that about you,” I said firmly. “Hell, you’re one of the only women I truly respect.”

“Then you’re going to be disappointed,” she mumbled.

“Talk to me,” I answered, walking back over to her.  

Lauren let out a ragged breath and then began to tell me about her relationship with Mark. When she was finished, I wanted to hang him by his nut-sack.

“Let me get this right – he loaned you money and expected you to sleep with him?”

“Yes, but that wasn’t what I’d signed up for in the first place. When I missed the first payment, he backed me into a corner and I was afraid of losing everything. My house. My job.” She began to cry. “I know it sounds shallow, but I’d worked so hard for those things and didn’t want to lose them.”

“Quit being so hard on yourself.  He’s the one responsible for making you a victim and should be punished.”

She wiped the tears from under her eyes. “Um, there’s something else I need to tell you. I should have said something earlier, but I didn’t want anyone to find out about my relationship with him.”

“What is it?”

Lauren told me about Mark stealing one of our cuts and made my blood boil.

“Are you sure it was one of ours?”

“Yes. I saw the patches.”

“Was there a name on the cut?”

“No.”

As far as I knew, nobody was missing theirs.

“When did he steal it?”

“Around the time of Carter and Barbara’s wedding.”

“Wait a second,” I said, thinking back. “Tank said there’s been a break-in at the clubhouse that night.”

“I’m sure it was him.”

The thought of that asshole wearing one of our cuts made me want to shoot the fucker. “That piece of shit is dead. Nobody breaks into our clubhouse, steals something like that, and lives to tell about it.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re going to kill him?”

“Don’t you go worrying about Mark,” I said, calling him back again. “Like I said, I’ll deal with him. Hello? Yeah, it’s me, motherfucker. Wait, don’t hang up. I know who you are and I know you have something of ours.”

“And you have something of mine,” the man said coldly.

I looked at Lauren. “You never owned Lauren. You blackmailed her, and for that, you’re going to pay.”

The phone line went dead.

“Pussy,” I mumbled, throwing the phone down on the bed. “I’m surprised he had the balls to do everything he did.”

“You’re not really going to murder him, are you?”

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to Mark. One thing that was understood between the brotherhood, however, was that we never discussed club business with our chicks or anyone else.

“Taylor?”

“All I can say is that whatever happens to Mark in the future, doesn’t concern you,” I said, forcing a smile. “So, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

“I hate him. He’s a bastard. But, you can’t justify murdering anyone, especially because of something so petty.”

“Stealing from my club is not petty. There has to be consequences.”

“Taylor, I don’t want you going to jail because of me,” she said, sounding desperate.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the bed. “I’m not. Come on, let’s go back to bed.”

“But…”

“You need your sleep. Shit, we both do.”

“Yeah, but what if he’s out there somewhere?”  

“If you’re that worried, I’ll stay up and keep an eye out.”

Lauren sighed. “I hate this.”

“I know. I’m going to handle this, though. Trust me.”

She didn’t respond.

We got into bed and I held her as she fell asleep. After the sun came up, I slipped out of bed and went outside to see if the asshole really was around. When I walked around the house and saw my bike, my head felt like it was going to explode.

Someone had slashed both tires.

Mark was a dead man.

Chapter 15

Lauren

I woke up around ten and found that Taylor had taken off. He left a note on the nightstand stating he’d call me later.

Sighing, I went into the kitchen, made myself some coffee, and glanced outside. The sun was shining and it looked like a beautiful today. Unfortunately, it couldn’t penetrate the cloud of doom that seemed to be hovering over me. I couldn’t believe Mark was stalking me, here in Jensen. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, however. He’d stalked me the night of Barbara’s wedding and had broken into Taylor’s clubhouse. The man was deranged.

I had a bagel with my coffee and then took a shower. As I was getting dressed, my phone buzzed. When I saw who was texting me, I gritted my teeth.

Mark.

You tell your boyfriend that if he tries anything foolish, I’ll go to the police.

Leave me alone
, I texted back.
Or I’ll contact your wife.

She left me. I don’t care what you do.

Quit harassing me or I will be the one going to the police,
I texted.

He didn’t respond back.

Feeling a little nauseous, I spent the next several minutes logging into my cell phone account and placing a block on Mark’s number, knowing it was only a temporary fix. This was the third time I’d blocked him and it wouldn’t be long before he got another phone to harass me with.

My phone began to ring and this time, I noticed it was my sister.

“Hi. Did you find out about your car yet?” she asked when I answered.

“No. Not yet.”

“That’s too bad. Look, if you need any money to get it fixed, I can loan you some.”

I sighed in relief. I’d wanted to ask her but my pride had kept me from it. “Thank you. I’ll pay you back. As soon as I get a job.”

“I know. How is that coming along, by the way?”

“I’ve had some interviews but there doesn’t seem to be much available in Jensen right now.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Small towns. Have you tried applying for cashier jobs? I know they don’t pay much, but it would be something.”

“I might have to.”

“You’re going to have to swallow your pride and do something.”

“I know. So, what was the big announcement last night?” I asked, hoping she was pregnant.

“Carter and I are buying a second home in Florida. “

“Oh. How nice,” I said, trying to sound happy for her.

“It’s going to be our vacation home and we’re going to rent it out, which will help pay the mortgage. Isn’t that brilliant?”

I agreed.

“You know, you’re welcome to use it, too.”

“Will you give me a discount?” I asked wryly.

She laughed. “No, silly. You would obviously stay for free. It would just have to be during the off-season.”

“Thanks. Now, if I can find a job that permits me some vacation time.”

“I know, right?”

“Right. So that was the news, huh?”

“I’m sorry. I guess it’s not that exciting for you.”

“No offense, but I was hoping that you were pregnant.”

“No. Not yet. We’re trying, though.”

“I’ll cross my fingers for you.”

“Thanks. So, how have you been?”

“Okay,” I replied.

“You still feeling dizzy in the mornings?”

“Once in a while. I’m sure it’s because I haven’t been eating enough lately,” I said.

“If you need money for food…”

“No. Lack of food isn’t the problem. I’ve just been so stressed out with trying to find a job, I’ve lost my appetite.”

“And now you have car problems.”

“Exactly.”

She grunted. “When it rains it pours.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Speaking of trouble, I wanted to talk to you about Taylor Adams.”

“What about him?”

“You mentioned that he was helping you with your car?”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t slept with him, have you?”

Leave it to Barbara to be direct. “Why are you asking?”

“You have. I can hear it in your voice,” she said, sounding displeased.

I sighed. I could never keep anything from her. “Fine. I did. You’re not going to ask me to compare notes are you?”

She snorted. “No. Of course not. I had a feeling you two were going to end up in bed together. He’s hard to resist, especially when he wants something, and you two were all over each other at my wedding.”

“I had too much to drink,” I admitted. “By the way, I’m sorry for making a fool out of myself.”

“You were fine. You just looked like you were having a lot of fun to me.”

“I hate to say this but I must have been wasted because I couldn’t remember anything after leaving the dance floor.”

“Really?” she asked, sounding surprised. “You were just drinking champagne, weren’t you?”

“Yes. I guess I just can’t handle my liquor.”

“Hmm… has anything like this ever happened to you before?”

“Honestly, never.”

“I wonder if someone slipped something into your drink?” she muttered. “Carter has a lot of friends and I don’t know… some of them are creepy.”

The thought had never occurred to me. “Oh, my God, do you think it’s possible?” There’d been so many people at the reception and I’d left my glass on a lot of different tables between dances.  It would have been easy for someone to drug it.

“I hope not. You didn’t wake up in someone else’s bed and not tell me about it, did you?” she asked and then chuckled. “Obviously, you would have told me about it by now.”

“No, I woke up in my hotel room,” I replied, keeping Taylor out of the equation.

“At least you weren’t raped.”

“Exactly.”

“I guess we’ll never know.”

“I guess not, but one thing’s for certain – I’m never leaving my drinks unattended again.”

“It’s suicide these days. Anyway, back to Taylor – don’t expect to hear from him again. Once the man has you, you’re just another faceless sex partner that he could give two flying fucks about.”

“Actually, he’s supposed to call me later today,” I said. “But, that’s about my car.”

“At least he’s still willing to help you with that. Oh, listen. I’ve got to go. Carter is on the other line.”

“Okay.”

“Call me when you find out about your car.”

“I will,” I said. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

I hung up and was about to plug my phone into the charger when my stomach rolled and I was hit with a wave of nausea. I quickly ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet.

“Oh, God,” I moaned, wiping my mouth with a wad of toilet paper. “Wouldn’t it be just my luck to find out that I was pregnant?”

  I was on the pill, though, and only had sex twice in the last two months. Ironically, both times with Taylor Adams. I’d also gotten my period the month before, although it
had
been pretty light.

Relax, you’re not pregnant.

Flushing the toilet, I cleaned myself up and went into the kitchen. I pulled out a box of crackers and began eating them. After a few minutes, my stomach settled and I felt like my old self again.