When are you gonna tell the prez?
I glanced at my watch. It was almost two in the morning. As long as Maren was safe, it could wait a few more hours.
Me
After I get Maren settled at the clubhouse. No reason to wake anyone right now.
Wizard
Put a sock on the door.
Me
Fuck you.
Wizard
I have an old lady for that, brother.
I pocketed my phone without responding and glanced back toward the counter just as Maren bent over to grab something under the register. Her shirt rode up enough to flash a hint of bare skin. I clenched my fists at my sides, the mix of lust and fury simmering hotter than ever.
I stood slowly, feeling the burn in my spine as my pulse thundered in my ears.
Maren didn’t know it yet, but her world was about to change.
She belonged to me now.
And anyone who tried to take her was already fucking dead.
5
MAREN
When my shift finally ended, I clocked out with a soft yawn. As I grabbed my purse from my locker, all I could think about was getting home, kicking off my shoes, and collapsing into bed.
I slung the strap over my shoulder and headed toward the front door, already fishing in my bag for my car keys. I pushed open the swinging door that led into the dining room, and my breath caught as soon as I looked up and saw Kevlar standing by the entrance.
He’d always left shortly before the end of my shift. So even though he’d told that guy he was going to see me home, I figured that was just to get him to back off, and he’d be gone when I came back out. Discovering I was wrong was enough to perk me back up again.
I stopped a few steps short of him, butterflies swarming in my belly. “You stayed.”
He nodded and held out his hand. “Come with me.”
It didn’t sound like a question, but I answered anyway. “O-okay.”
My feet moved toward him on instinct, something inside me responding to that quiet command without hesitation. His fingers wrapped around my wrist, and he tugged me toward the door.
When we stepped outside, I fumbled my keys in my other hand. “What about my car?”
“Give those to me, baby,” He tugged the keys from my fingers. “I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”
I didn’t even think about arguing, just trusted him to do exactly as he said and let him guide me down the sidewalk with his hand still wrapped around my wrist. He walked closer to the street, like he was deliberately positioning himself between me and everything else.
We stopped beside a black motorcycle, and I froze. “Oh. Um. I’ve never been on one of these.”
I didn’t understand why heat flared in his eyes as he reached for the helmet hanging from the handlebars. “Let’s get this on you.”
His fingers brushed my jaw as he buckled the strap, and my breath hitched.
