“I think you two would get along like peas and carrots. After she threatened you not to do me dirty.”
They ate some more when Monster piped up. “What happened when he turned eighteen? Did she go back and kick his ass? Please tell me she did, and you have pictures.”
“No, she never got the chance. A few weeks before that, he cornered me in their kitchen. He caged me against the refrigerator and groped me. I wasn’t going to tell Mom because I knew she was serious, and she wouldn’t have waited. But Mom always knew me, and she coaxed it out of me. The next day, James was in the hospital with two partially severed fingers and one missing the tip entirely. He had this classic car he loved, never shut up about. Anyway, it had those old-school door handles that lift up, and someone superglued razor blades under the driver’s side.” Carys took another bite.
“When he went to open his door …” Carys clicked her tongue. “Mom never copped to it. Instead, she acted shocked and sent him a get-well card at the hospital. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt it was her.”
Monster’s laugh was booming and contagious. His face lit up in unexpected ways. His eyes even shimmered with tears of mirth.
“She is definitely my type of woman. Of course, I knew she was exceptional the minute I met her feisty daughter. Oh, don’t tell Ghoul that story, he’ll fucking marry her.”
Carys stared at him in awe as he took a long pull from his beer. There was something mesmerizing about watching his Adam's apple bob up and down in his neck as he swallowed. She crossed her legs in an attempt to stop the reaction she was starting to feel there.
Damn, she scolded herself, get a grip, you horn ball. It’s a neck, not a dick.
“Shit, I can’t wait to meet her,” Monster proclaimed.
That did it. That was the bucket of ice water right to the clit she needed.
Reality came crashing down around her. She was already thinking of Monster like a boyfriend or some shit, and that was the furthest thing from the truth. Not only did he have NO REPEAT RIDES written all over him in permanent marker. He didn’t react to her as he would to a mate.
Plus, he literally had a patch about loyalty on his vest, or cut, as she’d learned it was called.
Either way, there was a shelf life to whatever want that it was. A night or three at most. Monster would hate her once he found out who she was. No matter how it all played out, her dad had already ruined the best thing that never happened to her, and he’d only been in her life a few months.
“You gonna finish that?” Monster pointed to the second untouched piece of pizza on her plate, and she shook her head. He reached his masculine, ringed hand over and grabbed the slice, folding it as he brought it to his lips.
It was such a weird thing to do on a first date. It was more the thing between a couple who’d been together a long time. It set off that longing that she’d tried to keep suppressed. Carys had always dreamed of that kind of connection with someone. Now she was getting a taste of what she’d longed for, but it was a lie. They were not a couple and never could be.
It hit like a wave washing over her and tossing her under the water. No matter what her dad did or didn’t do, how Monster felt about her, how drawn to him she was, her mother was dying. No amount of research or money or elevated care was going to save her. Her only hope was to follow through with her dad’s plan as best she could so he would give her the cure that the Domino pack had developed.
Carys looked up at Monster, who was smiling at her while pulling bills from his wallet.
“What do you say we move this date to my bed?” He slapped some bills on the table. “Besides, I owe you an orgasm, remember?”
At the low, rumbling quality of his voice, a shiver coursed through her.
This was it.
She was pushing everything else out of her mind, if only for the night. She didn’t have a vindictive father, a dying mother, or none of that. She was just Carys. A woman with a healthy sexual appetite and a hot as sin biker who was willing to satisfy it. The end. Roll credits. Finito.
Once that was out of her mind, she took a deep breath and gave him what she hoped was a sexy smile in return.
“I’ve been waiting all night for you to ask.”
Monster stood and extended a hand. She took it and they exited the restaurant. Once at her car, he kissed her deeply, biting her lip before pulling back. “Follow me, Pixie.”
Eagerly, she got into her car and strapped in. Doing what she was told.
To her relief, he took her to their clubhouse and not the place he shared with Kansas. If she had been there, her father would see it as a failure if she didn’t find something. A clubhouse would have everything locked away from prying eyes, giving her the perfect reason why she has nothing to offer him.
Instead of driving through the gate behind Monster, she quickly backed her car up so that it was facing the opposite side of the street and climbed out. She walked through the gate before Monster realized what she was about, and the gate was already closing.
If she had her car inside, her father would access her dash cam and spy. She didn’t want that. Besides, if she needed to leave, she wanted to be sure she could.
“What the hell? I said follow me.” He sounded more annoyed that she had disobeyed than why she’d done so. Good.
Finally, she explained it the best she could. “You know how I want to drive myself everywhere? Well, it’s a control thing. And my car being locked in is out of my control.” It wasn’t a lie. Her ex had locked her car, phone, and every connection she had to the outside world away before he locked her in the house.
