The Outlaw Stakes His Claim (8 page)

“You need to
talk,
you know
we got your back. Obviously you are going through some shit.”

Dallas nodded but didn’t respond, because he didn’t
know what to say.

“Good. Okay, let’s call it a night, boys.” Jagger
turned and mounted his bike, and the rest of the crew did the same, all
except
Diesel. The VP waved off the rest of the MC, and then
it was just him and
Dallas,
and the silence stretched
out between them.

“How you holding on, man?” Diesel asked with genuine
concern in his voice.

“I thought I had a handle on it all, but clearly I
don’t, and the MC obviously has been aware of how unstable I have been.”

Diesel nodded. “Yeah, they know
somethin
’
is up, but I didn’t tell anyone what you told me.”

Dallas nodded. “Yeah, I know, and I appreciate it.”
Another moment of silence passed between them. “It isn’t that I don’t trust the
MC—because I do, with my life—it’s just that I’ve been trying to get a handle
on this, and clearly it is beyond my reach.”

“I understand.”

Dallas didn’t see how Diesel could. He was happy
with Maggie. That much was clear by this lightness that surrounded the VP.

“I meant I understand that you didn’t want to bring it
to the club, not that I could possibly understand what you went through,
brother.” Diesel clapped him on the back.

The sound of a few guys arguing broke up some of the
thickness that surrounded them about talking about this depressing stuff.

“But you have to tell the club at some point, and
get it off of your chest. You can’t really move forward until that, right?”

Yeah, Dallas knew. It had been several months
already, and instead of getting better he had been getting worse.

“Get some rest, man.” Diesel clapped him on the back
once more and got on his bike.

Dallas stood there and watched his taillight fade
off. He got on his Harley and found himself pulling out his cell and looking at
the screen. It didn’t show any missed calls, and before Dallas knew what he was
doing he was pulling up Hope’s number and hitting DIAL. With the phone now to
his ear and the sound of it ringing, he realized that going through with this
could very well ruin Hope with his toxicity, and he really didn’t need to
fucking break any more lives.

Chapter Six

Hope sat at the little retro diner that was in the
heart of Steel Corner. Trudy’s had red vinyl booths, stainless steel accents,
and a brightly lit neon jukebox in the corner that belted out music from the
fifties. The waitresses were dressed in pink and black poodle skirts, had
cardigan sets on, and red scarves tied around their necks. Hope eased back in
the booth and glanced at the front door once more. Dallas had called her last
night—to her utter surprise—and had invited her to lunch. When she had asked to
take him to dinner and they had exchanged numbers, she honestly hadn’t expected
him to call, or at the very least make up some kind of excuse as to why he
couldn’t go with her when she finally did ask
him
.

She had been constantly tapping her foot and running
the tips of her fingers along the hem of her shirt because her nerves were
running rampant inside of her. The temperature had dropped quite a bit
overnight, and was starting to feel more like fall. Looking at her phone once
again, she realized she was getting more nervous with each passing minute, and
she couldn’t understand why.

You know why.
You want him in a way you’ve never wanted another man before. You’ve never felt
something like this.
What she felt for Dallas was
instant and powerful, and honestly made no sense. Maybe it was because he had
stepped up in her defense, or maybe because he had stayed and made sure she was
okay that night? Either way her feelings were very turbulent and real inside of
her.
 
Her phone vibrated, and her
thoughts were so jumbled and had consumed her these last couple days that she
hadn’t bothered looking at the screen before she accepted the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

She closed her eyes and silently groaned when she
heard Parker’s voice. Their breakup hadn’t even been anything traumatic, and in
fact he had seemed like he hadn’t cared much that they parted ways. Well, he
hadn’t cared until he found out she was leaving for good.
“Parker.”
The waitress came by and set a milkshake in front of her. Hope eyed it, felt
that twinge of her own worries and self-image issues, but pushed them away. She
reached for the milkshake and took a long drink. Of course it tasted wonderful,
and the little burst of pleasure she got with it always had the shadow of doubt
and disgust filling her.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since you
left. I wanted to make sure you got there okay.”

“I did. I’ve been busy.” That was a lie, because she
hadn’t really been busy, and aside from the situation at the bar, had been keeping
to herself. If she was smart she would have told him to go screw himself when
he tried to rekindle something with her. He had hurt her all those years ago,
and although she was a stronger woman now, she still had weaknesses. But Hope
wanted to move on and put everything negative in her past behind her. That was
the only way she could focus on herself and finally have a meaningful future.
That meant she needed to cut ties with Parker and his manipulating ways. No way
would she let him sweet talk her. She had fallen for it back then, but she
wouldn’t do it now.

“I miss you already.”

Covering her eyes with her hand, she shook her head
even though he couldn’t see her. “Parker, I’m not sure what you’re doing, but
it needs to stop.”

“What do you mean?”

She breathed out as her annoyance grew, but she held
onto her strength. “You know what I’m talking about.
Ever
since you found out I was leaving you’ve been acting like you didn’t hurt me,
Parker.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “You’ve been acting like we
didn’t break up last year.”

There was a long, drawn-out sigh from the other end.
“I didn’t act like you didn’t exist after we broke up.”

Hope didn’t bother pointing out that
yes,
he had in fact done just that, and had also been
screwing any woman that had shown him the slightest amount of attention. He’d
flaunted that fact even. When she had gone out with Parker she had been at a
low point of her life, had thought pretty shitty about herself. She had clung
to him like a lifeline because he had made her feel special and told her
exactly what she wanted to hear. He had shown her the attention she had yearned
for, but with time she had realized that he wasn’t really what she needed or
what he seemed, and his actions had also cemented that fact. “Listen, I hate to
do this right now and over the phone, but it needs to be done.”

“What are you talking about?” He sounded confused,
but she knew enough about him to know that he wasn’t genuine.

“I moved away to start my life and put all the
negative things behind me.” There was a moment of silence, but he didn’t
respond. “Parker, you are one of those negative things in my life.”

“And you didn’t say this before because why?” He
sounded annoyed now, but good, because that was how she felt.

“I don’t know, and honestly it doesn’t matter. I’ve
said it now, Parker.” The sound of the bell above the door chiming that someone
entered the restaurant had her looking up toward the front of the diner.

There he was, decked out in his faded blue jeans,
dark long sleeved t-shirt, and leather cut. He had a silver chain that hung
from his pocket, and his dark, worn looking boots were big and matched the rest
of his ruggedly handsome appearance. He had on the same pair of dark sunglasses
he had worn yesterday when she saw him. He scanned the diner from wall to wall,
and then he stopped and looked at her, and she swore she could feel the heat in
his gaze even though he wore those sunglasses.

“This is bullshit, Hope. We have been through a
lot.”

That had her anger rising, and her strength to
finally put all of this to rest cemented inside of her.

“Yes, this is bullshit, but it isn’t because of what
I just said.” She shifted so her side was to Dallas and lowered her voice. “And
we
have not been through a lot.
I
have been through a lot, but it has
always been about you.” Closing her eyes and breathing out, there was a moment
of liberation as she said the words. She didn’t know what had happened since
coming to River Run, but she was finally ready to put it all to rest. “You were
never any good for me, Parker, and it took me too long to realize that and actually
accept it.” The truth was his affection, as false as it had been, was the only
thing she had been able to focus on. Not anymore.

“Hope—”

She ended the call before he could finish speaking, thus
ending Parker from trying to drag her back under, and ended everything they
once had. She set the cell on the table and saw Dallas making his way toward
her. Hope didn’t miss how some of the people moved out of his way, while the
others turned their attention to anything but him. He dominated the small
interior of the restaurant and seemed to command this power no matter where he
was. The closer he got the more she really
saw
him. He had nasty bruising on one side of his face, and on the side of his neck
it looked like he had a cut, or more accurately … claw marks. He stopped when
he reached the edge of her table, and she stood. Smiling, but not knowing
exactly what to say, she glanced around the diner as more of a nervous action.

“Hope, sit down. There isn’t anything to be nervous
about.”

She looked at Dallas again and felt her cheeks heat,
but she did sit down. Dallas did the same, across from her, and the waitress
came to their table a moment later. She seemed a bit unsure as she looked
between Hope and Dallas.

“What can I get for you?” The waitress was younger,
with big boobs.

Hope might be a human, but she sure as hell knew
when a woman was interested in a man, and the unease in this waitress slowly
faded and turned into arousal as she continued to stare at Dallas. But Hope
couldn’t blame her. Dallas was the epitome of male prowess and danger. What
woman wouldn’t be drawn to that? Hope was about to place her order, because
this long stretch of silence was starting to get a little awkward, but the
waitress started talking.

“What can I get you two?” Although the waitress was
addressing both of them now, she still stared at Dallas with this growing smile
on her face. Her ponytail was pulled high on her head, and her bubblegum pink
colored lips were stretched wide over her almost neon white teeth.

But Dallas was staring at Hope the entire time as he
rattled off his order. When the waitress wasn’t getting the desired effect she
had been going for, she turned and looked at Hope. She ordered the same thing
Dallas had: a burger and fries. The waitress left and then it was just the two
of them. The silence stretched between them, but it wasn’t the uncomfortable
kind. He still wore his sunglasses, but as if she said that aloud he lifted his
big hand and removed them. The bruising had been evident with the glasses on,
but now that they were removed she saw he had a wound under his eye. It was red,
about an inch long length, but already closed. The black and purple coloring
around his eye stood out even against his tanned flesh.

“God, are you okay?”

He leaned back in his seat, shrugged, but didn’t
respond.

“You got into a fight?” That was clear, but she
still phrased it like a question.

“I’m fine.” Those two words were gruff and glossed
over, and it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Okay.” She smiled, hoping to ease this weirdness that
had suddenly sprung up between them, but he just stared at her and showed no
emotion. Hope cleared her throat and glanced down at the table. “Listen, if
this is a bad time we can do it another day, or not at all.” She looked at him
again.

He ran a hand over the back of his head, but still
stayed quiet.

It was clear he didn’t want to be here. “You’re the
one that called me, Dallas.”

He sighed out, leaned forward, and rested his
forearms on the table. “I’m sorry. I’m just in a fucked up mood.” He sure
didn’t mince his words, but his coarseness didn’t bother her. He obviously had
issues, ones that he tried to keep inside. “I’m an asshole.”

That had her smiling. He leaned back in his seat and
narrowed his eyes, but there was this lift of the corner of his mouth. She gave
him a full blown smile, but this serious expression covered his face right
away.

“What?” Her smile faded, too.

“Nothing.
You just look really nice smiling. I haven’t seen a genuine smile in a really
long time, not aside from the few members of my crew, that is.” He was quiet as
he watched her. “But your smile is a lot different.” He said those last words so
softly that she knew they were only meant for her to hear, or maybe he hadn’t
meant to say that out loud at all.