Hart Read online

  Whatever coming did for her, it definitely didn’t calm her down any. “Yeah. I’ll give him the pill the second I see him. Jesus, baby, are you always this uptight?”

  She let out a long breath and fell against the wall for a moment. “Well. I have to be. He’s making stupid decisions and I don’t want to get a call from the hospital telling me to come identify his body.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Getting tangled with the Fury and shooting at Cobras wasn’t the brightest thing he could’ve done. “I’ll watch after him.”

  “Thanks. Are . . . are the men he went to see okay? They won’t hurt him, will they?”

  I shook my head. “They’re my brothers. I texted them to let him into the clubhouse. They’re waiting for me now.”

  I held up my phone so she could see the messages I’d gotten from Cullen, wondering where they hell I’d gone off to. I’d managed, while she was putting on her pants the first time, to tell him I’d be a little late.

  She read the words and sucked in a breath. “You promise you won’t tell Jojo about this?”

  No fucking way. The trust I had with the kid was tentative enough. It wouldn’t last if he knew what I’d just been doing with his sister. That would fuck up everything we’d been trying to do with the Hell’s Fury. “Promise.”

  “And you’ll take care of him? I know I’m crazy, and overbearing, and—what did you say, just a minute ago? Oh, uptight.” She shrugged. “Guilty as charged. But he’s really the only family I have. And he’s a good kid. He’s had it tough, and it’s not his fault.”

  “I’ll guard him like my own brother.” That, I would do. Not just for her. Because if the Fury got their hands on him, I wasn’t sure what would happen.

  “Great.” For about a split second, I thought I saw a smile on her face, but she whirled around so fast to face the living room, I couldn’t be sure.

  She looked at her animals and blew them all kisses. I could peg her for one of those types who dressed their pets in Halloween costumes and let them have their run of her bed. Fuck no. “I’ll be back,” she cooed to them sweetly, the exact opposite of the voice she used with me. “Be good!”

  She let me out the door and closed it. As we walked to the parking spot, her head was down. And I knew exactly what she was thinking.

  When we got to the curb, she spoke, and I was right. “Listen. Hart. What happened in there. Maybe I needed it. But . . . that doesn’t mean it should keep happening. It can’t. For Jojo’s sake . . . and mine.”

  I dug my hands into the pockets of my jeans. Beyond the little tissue-wrapped pill Charlotte had given me, I found my keys. “Yours?”

  She nodded. “Like I said. I have enough on my plate, just trying to keep my brother straight. I don’t need men to complicate my life.”

  I couldn’t say I hadn’t expected that. It was why I’d gone in for that second taste. But, I knew eventually she’d change her mind.

  But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t change her mind back again. “Okay, Charlie.”

  She scowled. Okay, so, giving her two sorely needed orgasms hadn’t bought me any brownie points where that was concerned.

  “Charlotte.” I scoffed.

  “Thank you. Your phone all charged?”

  I lifted it. “Ninety percent.”

  “Good.” She looked at a little piece of shit car that must have been hers, and then awkwardly reached out her hand to shake mine.

  I stared at it. I felt like I’d just sold her a used car, and now we were agreeing to the deal. Had she forgotten I’d just had my tongue up her cunt? She was a funny little mystery.

  It kind of fucking turned me on. So I decided to humor her. I shook it. Her hand was cold, her posture rigid.

  I wondered how many times I’d have to make her come to get her to loosen that hot little body of hers up.

  Whatever that number was? Shit, I was ready. I’d had a taste of her and now, it would never be enough.

  Chapter Twelve

  Charlotte

  When I slid into the driver’s seat of my car, I felt like banging my head against the steering wheel.

  In fact, I almost did, until I realized that my hot, bad, totally-wrong-for-me biker dude was still straddling his bike, looking at me, waiting for me to pull out. What a gentleman.

  So I did, cringing the whole time. When he sailed off toward the harbor, I realized my hands were shaking on the steering wheel.

  I couldn’t believe I fucked him. I’d never fucked a complete stranger like that. Even the guys in the produce department had all been at least known to me.

  Not only that. I’d learned my lesson so well the first time, I let him go down on me and make me come a second time.

  As I pressed on the accelerator, I wasn’t sure that, even with all the doubt and regret swirling in my head, I’d be able to turn him down for a third.

  Holy Mary Mother of God. I had to get control of my overheated ass before I had a car accident.

  I drove toward the office, wondering how I was going to focus on my job. I wrapped my hands around the steering wheel so hard to keep them from shaking that my knuckles turned white. So I concentrated on my breathing.

  Really, what was my problem? I’d dealt with men with massive egos all my life. Of course, none remotely as hot as Hart. I’d never let them get the best of me, especially where Jojo was concerned. He’d always been my top priority. If I saw anyone fucking with him, I gave them hell. So what had started out that way—as me trying to give that fucker hell--somehow wound up getting me lost along the way.

  And I ended up with my legs wrapped around him. My pussy creaming all over him.

  Talk about a wrong turn.

  I glanced at myself in the rearview mirror and growled in disgust at my reflection. Ugh. I looked guilty. Like a spineless sap. I’d always been so proud of the way I handled myself where my little brother was concerned. Like, even if I had to make sacrifices or do something beneath me, at least it was for his own good.

  But what was this?

  This was me, thinking only of me for once. I never did that. But the way he felt inside me? Pounding me. Sliding all that delicious cock inside of me. God he felt good.

  But I couldn’t think about that right now, especially when Jojo needed me most. I needed to concentrate on him. This was a crucial time in his life, and I had to be there for him, even if he didn’t think he wanted me there.

  Really, if he was messed up in this motorcycle club stuff, probably the best thing we could do was move away. Especially now, since I was messed up with them, as well. Well, not them—just one of them, but it was enough. We could go north, to another town that didn’t have bikers to worry about.

  But I’d checked before, and the rent was almost twice what it was for my apartment. We were barely scraping by with my salary. How could we afford that? I’d have to get two jobs and then who would keep an eye on my brother?

  Drumming my fingers on the steering wheel as I sat at a red light, I wondered what we could do. Right now, my savings were dismal—I could barely put away five bucks a week after paying for the necessities. At least I had a savings account, but it had less than a hundred bucks in it, and I’d been saving for months.

  Maybe I could find a job that paid more. There was only one vet in Aveline Bay, but I’d heard of other places, especially rural areas where people had a lot of animals, that might offer more hours and pay better.

  That was what I needed to do. Find something else, somewhere else.

  I made a mental note to scour the jobs online, as soon as I got off work at midnight.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the veterinarian, where only a couple of cars were parked. Tonight would be easy because I wouldn’t have to deal with regular appointments. I’d just work with the animals staying in the kennels overnight, making sure that they were okay and the ones who’d recently had surgeries weren’t having trouble.

  It’d be easy and . . . boring.

  Meaning, plenty of time for
my mind to wander.

  To Hart.

  Which I really didn’t want it to do. But it seemed like whatever I turned my mind to, images of Hart came back. They were always right there, threatening to bubble to the surface.

  What was it that had gotten me so stuck on him? Was it that fuck-you, aloof, don’t-care attitude? I thought I hated that bad-boy shit.

  Apparently not, since Hart had it in spades.

  I took the key out of the ignition and looked at my phone. I had one text, from Jojo. At the clubhouse. Hart told me to text you. Back by midnight.

  I smiled. Good. Hart may have been a bad-boy, but he had kept his promise, and was making Jojo toe the line so he wouldn’t make me insane. At least I had that.

  But as I got out of the car, a feeling of dread washed over me. I usually loved my job, but now I wanted to be home.

  In my bed.

  With Hart on top of me.

  My skin prickled with goosebumps as I thought of the way he’d pretty much owned my body.

  Fuck me. Why was I such a pathetic loser? I was actually jealous of my little brother for getting to spend time with Hart, the same guy I’d been warning him to stay away from. What was wrong with me?

  Head hanging, tail between my legs, I went into the office and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Barb, the other tech working the late shift. She was a forty-something divorced mother of two. She and I actually had a lot in common because Jojo was about the same age as her youngest son. I liked Barb. She wasn’t all about parties and manicures, like some of the younger techs. I said hello to the doctor on call in the back before putting my late-night snack in the break-room refrigerator and setting my purse in my locker.

  Then I went to the little bunny cages to see how Flopsy was doing. The sweet little bunny wasn’t there.

  I looked around, tapping my chin,. Where was the poor bunny with the GI infection? I hoped he hadn’t had any complications. I meandered out front, where we kept the small animals up for adoption.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted him in a new cage. He looked up at me as I reaching in with my finger in to pet the soft spot between his ears.

  I grinned from ear-to-ear when I saw the sticker that said I’M ADOPTED! on his cage. “Barb! Someone adopted him!” I said, clapping my hands.

  Then I looked around and realized Barb had gone into the back.

  We weren’t busy so I played with the bunny, teasing him with my finger so he’d wiggle that cute little pink nose of his. I couldn’t believe people like Hart, who didn’t completely melt when they looked at cute little animals. What the fuck was wrong with him?

  I groaned to myself. And why was I thinking about him again?

  I tried to tuck him in the back of my mind while I turned around to the sound of Barb coming out of the back room.

  “Are you feeling all right?” she asked me.

  I felt my face, which hadn’t really recovered since my little adventure with Hart. It still felt hot and feverish. “Yeah. Why? Do I look funny?”

  That was when I saw the bright aqua case that looked suspiciously like my phone. Where the heck did she get that? I knew I’d taken it out of my purse because I always carried it with me at work, so I wouldn’t miss any texts from Jojo.

  She asked with a smile, “Are you trying to get more cold calls?”

  Confused, I looked down and realized my mistake. I thought I’d put my snacks in the fridge, but actually, I’d actually carried them out with me. And my phone?

  Well, of course, I’d put it in the fridge.

  Duh.

  I grabbed my phone from her. “Sorry. I really probably shouldn’t be trusted tonight,” I said to her with an apologetic shake of the head.

  “We’ve all been there,” she called after me as I went to put my snacks where they belonged.

  Sure, maybe we all had been there. But I was the only dumbass who was there because I’d been fucking around with a man that I needed to run away from, as fast and as far as I could.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hart

  By the time I reached the clubhouse, the kid had been waiting a while. Which wasn’t the best idea considering we were trying to keep our association with him out of the Fury’s eyes. Luckily, some of the guys had shown up and let him in. Cullen, Drake, Zain and Jet were there, shooting pool.

  The first thing I did was give him his pill. I made him wash it down with a full glass of water and a handful of crackers I’d found in one of the cabinets. Then I told him to text his warden and put her mind at ease. He’d been sitting in a chair away from the rest of the guys, trading suspicious glances with them, so he was glad to follow my directions.

  When he finished and had successfully warned off his hot little keeper, I dragged his chair into the fray and took an empty one next to him. “All right. Talk to us. The Fury contact you today?”

  He looked at his lap and gave us a nod.

  Glad to see he was telling the truth. I knew they had, though he didn’t know I knew. I’d called Cullen and reported to him earlier all the calls going to and from Joel’s phone. He’d gotten one from someone whose name wasn’t mentioned, but if he didn’t tell us, I could probably look it up. They’d talked about the Fury finding Slade’s body and how pissed they were. They’d asked him why he was MIA. During the conversation, he hadn’t said anything to give them any impression that he was working with us.

  “And?”

  He shrugged. “They told me they’d found Slade’s body and asked if I thought you guys had anything to do with it. I said I didn’t know.”

  I chewed on my lip. Good. This all checked out.

  “They asked me where the hell I’d been. I told them my sister was having issues and I was dealing with her. That’s all.”

  Cullen looked over at me. I nodded at him to let him know the kid was telling the truth. Cullen asked, “You think they believe you?”

  Joel nodded. “Sure. They don’t have any reason not to.”

  “All right,” I said. “Good job.”

  “Yeah,” Cullen added. “Just keep it up. Keep deflecting whenever you can, and you’ll come out of this all right, kid.”

  Across the table, Jet nodded smugly, like his idea of turning the kid to our side wasn’t the result of all of my hard work. Asshole.

  “So what now?” Zain asked.

  Cullen shrugged. “We just keep doing our thing like we ain’t done nothing wrong and never saw Slade.” He looked at Drake. “Cait and Roxanne okay?”

  Slade’s family. Drake nodded. “Yeah. No one’s come looking around my place for them. But they’re worried that if they ever do show their faces around town, they’ll get the Fury’s wrath. Even if the Fury doesn’t think we’re responsible, they’ll think they are.”

  Cullen took a drag of his cigarette and blew it out. “Which is why I don’t want them leaving your place until this is over.”

  Drake frowned. “They’re restless.”

  Cullen shrugged. “Better restless than dead. Which is what they’ll be if they leave our protection. You tell them that.”

  He nodded.

  “Just a couple more weeks,” Cullen said coolly.

  I doubted that. I didn’t see Slade’s wife and daughter being safe in this town ever again, as long as the Fury existed. He disappeared and so did they. It was easy to make the association. It wasn’t like they’d simply let their president’s murder just slide.

  After that, we all stood. Before I could talk to Joel, Cullen called me over and asked me to talk to him in private for a little bit. We went to a corner of the warehouse and he said, “So really. How’s it going?”

  “Good. Like I said, he’s been in touch with the Fury, but he’s being honest about everything he’s doing.”

  “You think the Fury suspects anything?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I mean, they’ve been keeping an eye on us so we have to be careful.”

  “Yeah. We really shouldn’t have him around here. He could ge
t his ass in trouble. Send him home and keep checking up on him. Okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  I went over to Joel, standing in front of the clubhouse bulletin board. He seemed to salivate over the shit the members posted for sale. An ad for a one of the member’s selling a classic GTO had his attention.

  “You can’t afford it, kid,” I said behind him.

  He gave a pitiful shrug. “I know.”

  We both looked at it for a long time. “Nice car, though,” I said. When he turned to look at me, I pointed to my watch. “You’d better get home for your warden.”

  He sniffed. “Can’t. I got a text from the Fury. They want to meet me.”

  That didn’t sound good. “You think they suspect anything?”

  “Nah. They said they have a job they want me to do.”

  I checked my phone. It was ten-thirty. “Fine. But remember, you’ve got to be home by midnight. I promised your sister you wouldn’t be late.”

  “Yeah. Okay.”

  I walked him to the door. “Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll call you later. But at this point, it’s not safe if you come around here anymore. Considering they’re watching us.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  “All right. Get out of here. And be careful.”

  Joel gave me a wave and walked away. I watched him go outside and hop on his bike, all skinny angles that hadn’t yet filled out. He sailed away, thank Christ, looking a little more competent with the bike than he had before. As he did, I shook my head and chuckled. He was probably the closest I’d ever come to having a little brother. Sure, there was Jet, but Jet had a massive chip on his shoulder and insisted on acting like an ass to make up for his lack of years.

  This kid, Joel? He was crying for the help. Charlotte could only do so much. He needed a man to toughen him up. Show him how the world worked.

  I wondered if I could be that person. In fact, it hadn’t been all that shitty having him around my apartment, like I thought it would be. It was actually pretty cool.

  But yeah, making him go to the clubhouse hadn’t been the smartest thing I’d ever done. If Fury saw him here, they’d want his head on a platter.