I wasn’t sure how long she had been crying, but when her tears finally dried, I laid us down on the floor. I was much too spent to carry us anywhere, but she didn’t protest as we laid there on my kitchen floor. I gazed into her glorious blue eyes and tucked a strand of that luxurious blonde hair behind her ear.
And it wasn’t until her hair shifted that I caught a glimpse of the purple beneath it.
“Your favorite color,” I murmured as I fingered a strand of the dyed hair.
She giggled softly. “So, I can look professional at work, but still be the life of the party.”
I grinned. “You always were the life of any party we went to.”
I wanted to stay like that forever. I wanted to lay there with her until we both regained our strength, then I wanted to carry her upstairs to my room and make love to her for the rest of the night. I wanted to wake up with her in my arms before we packed up our things, left town, and drove until we couldn’t drive any longer.
A fresh start was what we both needed.
But, all too soon, reality broke through as my phone started ringing in my pocket.
“You need to get that?” Lexi asked.
I groaned as I jammed my hand into my pocket. “Unfortunately. Give me a second.”
I opened the text I got from Stone and rolled my eyes. Of course, he was calling church. Why wouldn’t he call church? It wasn’t as if we didn’t have four fucking meetings a day just to go over the same bullshit every single time.
“What?” Lexi asked as I sat up. “What is it?”
I pushed myself to my feet. “I have to go.”
“Wait, what?”
She scrambled so quickly that she almost fell. I caught her in my arms and helped her plant herself, but she refused to let me go. Her hands fisted my shirt, as if she were about to punch my lights out or something, and the desperation behind her eyes shattered my heart all over again.
I’ve traumatized this woman.
“Where are you going? Why are you going?” she asked.
I massaged her wrists until she released me. “Club business. Our President is calling a meeting. I’m required to be there.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You mean, your bike gang actually has a hierarchy?”
I chuckled. “Yes, we do.”
“So, he calls, and you jump? Is that how that works?”
I settled her hands at her sides. “This isn’t me leaving. This is me working. I promise you that.”
She searched my eyes for a while before she nodded. “I shouldn't trust you; you know.”
“I know.”
“But I do need to be getting home anyway. I’ve got things of my own that I need to do.”
Panic gripped my heart. “You can’t go home. Not right now.”
She blinked. “I don’t really have a choice in the matter, Dean. I need to get home in the next few minutes.”
I sat up onto my elbows. “Well, how about you just stay here, then? That way, I can--.”
She shot up like a bat out of hell. “No. I’ve already told you what I need. So, you can either take me back to my car, or I can grab a cab.”
“What in the world is so important at your place that you wouldn’t have here?”
