Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (7 page)

“So, what did he say?” Danni asked,
yawning.

“Nothing much, just flirty stuff,” I
said. “He said he’d been thinking about me all night long.”

Danni squealed like a little girl. “Of
course he did, how could he not? You are a total babe, Ev.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay, sure I
am.” I grabbed my work uniform and headed toward the bathroom. “Listen, I’m
going to jump in the shower so just get some rest until I get out, okay? I have
a feeling we are going to be slammed at Deuce’s today.”

She sighed and mumbled to herself as she
lay her head back down on the pillow. I walked into my bathroom and turned on
the hot water. As soon as it was ready, I climbed into the shower and let the
warm water soothe me. I could still feel Ryder’s hands on me, his lips as they
captured and consumed mine, the heat of his skin on mine from the dream. Of
course this caused my mind to start wandering I really hadn’t had a free minute
to myself to think over everything that had happened in the past twenty four
hours and it was all crashing down on me like a ton of bricks.

Ryder Matthews showed up in town…for me.
He came here and risked being humiliated because he wanted to see me. It
couldn’t be all about sex with him because he could have that any time he
wanted with women that are ten times more beautiful than I am. Instead he
abstained from having sex ever since we met and had driven all the way to Muncie
just to have a chance at something with me. Even though I had some serious
trust issues, for a man to do all of this for someone like me had to mean he
was different, right? Ryder had asked me last night for just one chance to
prove himself, so despite my fears I decided then to give it to him.

After Danni and I were both dressed and
ready for work, I gathered up my dirty clothes from my hamper and took them to
the laundry room. As I was putting the clothes into the washing machine, I
noticed something fall out of the back pocket of my jeans I had worn yesterday.
I looked down and cursed out loud when I saw the money that I thought I had
given back to Ryder yesterday. I groaned and picked it up, placing it in my
pocket. What did I have to do to get this man to understand I didn’t want his
money?

I put the rest of the clothes in the
washer and started the load. Once I was finished, I kissed my dad on the cheek
and told him goodbye for the day. Danni and I walked to the door and I yelled
goodbye to Trish as we walked outside. Immediately I had to shield my eyes
because reporters were furiously taking pictures with their cameras from about
fifteen feet away. The flash on their cameras was almost blinding. I registered
in my haste to get to my car that I was being led to a black SUV by John. He
must have stayed here all night, and I immediately felt terrible for not
inviting him inside. I thought he might have gone back to the hotel but I guess
he didn’t.

Once Danni and I were in the SUV, John
climbed behind the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Good morning ladies,”
he said in his deep voice. “I hope you slept well.”

“We did, thanks,” I said to him. “Hey,
I’m sorry you had to stay out here all night. I should have invited you guys
in.”

John chuckled and smiled. “No worries
miss. It’s part of my job.”

“Sleeping outside a girl’s house that
your boss happens to want to bang?” Danni asked, laughing. I rolled my eyes and
laughed too.

He laughed. “If that’s what Ryder wants
me to do, then yes.”

“Well, still, I don’t like it. If you
have to be here again tonight you are coming inside and sleeping on the pull
out couch, got it?” I said. “Ryder will just have to be mad at me.”

I saw him smiling in the rearview
mirror. “Got it, miss.”

“Can I at least buy you a cup of coffee
on the way to the diner as a thank you for taking care of us last night?” I
asked.

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” he said.

“Really, it’s my pleasure. Besides,
coffee’s on Ryder this morning,” I said, holding out the money he gave me
yesterday. “Order whatever you want.”

I saw John trying to suppress another
smile. “Yes ma’am. Let me punch in the nearest Starbucks in the GPS-”

“You don’t need to, I’ll tell you where
to go,” I said, and we pulled out of my driveway and onto the road.

After we stopped and got coffee, John
dropped me and Danni off at Deuce’s, telling us he would be back to get us at
two o’clock. There were a few people with cameras there too so he thankfully
escorted us to the door. Once we were inside, Deuce was putting on his apron
and gave Danni and me a smile. “Good morning girls,” he said.

“Morning Deuce,” I said, hanging my bag
on the hook by the door.

“How was your night last night, Miss Everleigh?”
he asked me, smiling.

“Probably not as adventurous as you
might think, big guy,” I said, tying my apron on. “I don’t want to talk about
it anyway. We are probably going to have a busy day today because of all the
damn cameras.”

“You are right about that. Okay
everyone, gather around,” Deuce called out, and me, Danni, and the other
waitresses and cooks came walking out and we joined in a circle. I felt
everyone’s eyes on me and I was beginning to get uncomfortable. “We all know that
today will more than likely be a busy day, given that we have a celebrity in
town that is linked to one of our girls,” he said, giving me a nudge. “However,
this is a good publicity opportunity for the diner and I want you all on your
best behavior, understood? I don’t want anyone talking to Everleigh or Danni
about all of this and I don’t want anyone talking about this band all day long.
It’s nice that they came here, but remember that we are a diner and we need to
focus on our customers, not who one of our waitresses may be dating, you got
it?”

Everyone grumbled in agreement, and as I
looked up I could see Leslie Anderson staring at me. She was one of the
waitresses here and always seemed to be in some imaginary competition with me.
Now that the focus was on me because of Ryder being in town, I could tell she
was seething. I blinked a few times and sighed, ready to start the day.

After a very exhausting shift, it was
finally two o’clock and I was beyond ready to get out of here. Just like I
thought, the diner was packed out today with people wanting to get a glimpse of
Ryder Matthews’ new love interest. Half of the people that came in just wanted to
eat at the diner where a famous rocker had been just a day ago, and the other
half were fans of Bad Blooded Rebel. They either wanted to congratulate me on
snagging one of music’s most eligible bachelors or to silently glare at me with
jealousy. I didn’t let it get to me today because despite it being a hectic
day, I made a small fortune in tips.

As I walked to the back to clock out and
get my things, I was tired and worn out but floating on a cloud knowing I had
made a nice chunk of money to put in the bank. I stepped out back while Danni
was finishing up and pulled out my cell phone. I knew that John was picking us
up but I promised Ryder I’d text him once I was off work. I clicked on the
screen on my phone and there was already a message from Ryder. I couldn’t hide
my smile as I opened it.

R: hope u had a good day…I’m guessing u
were a little busy

E: wow, u must be psychic, how did u
know?

R: look up from ur phone and find out,
gorgeous

At that moment, my head snapped up and I
looked around the corner of the building. My heart skipped a beat when I saw
Ryder pressed up against the side of the black SUV holding a beautiful bouquet
of white calla lilies. He was wearing dark wash faded jeans, a tight white KISS
tee shirt, and he surprisingly had his hair messy and slightly flipped up in
the front instead of his usually faux hawk. He looked mouth watering. I broke
into a smile as he walked toward me with John in tow. “Hey there,” he said, and
once he reached me he leaned in and kissed my cheek. My breath caught…God he
smelled incredible.

“Hey yourself,” I said. I looked at the
flowers and smiled. “It was nice of you buy flowers for John.”

He flashed a sexy smile at me. “Lilies
really aren’t his favorite,” he joked. “For you, gorgeous.”

My cheeks felt hot. “These are
beautiful, Ryder. Thank you,” I said, and I leaned in and kissed his cheek. I
leaned in and inhaled the scent of the flowers and I moaned. “Where did you
find fresh lilies like this?”

“I don’t know how well you know your
town, Everleigh, but there are a few flower shops around here,” he laughed.
“Beau thought you would like roses but I took a chance that you weren’t a rose
girl.”

“You would be correct on that,” I said.
“Roses are beautiful, but I’m a total sucker for calla lilies.”

“Glad I took a chance then,” he said,
smiling.

“So am I,” I replied.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and
pulled me into his body. He was hard and lean and felt so good against me. A
memory from my dream suddenly flashed in my mind and I shivered. “What’s wrong?
Are you cold?” he asked.

“N-no, I was just thinking about
something.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Like
what?”

I sighed. I didn’t want to go into my
dream right now, but I didn’t want to lie to him. I decided to go with the
truth…at least half of it. “I kind of had a dream about you last night.”

Both of his eyebrows shot up. “You did?”
he asked. “Now you have to tell me about it.”

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed
movement and when I turned my head I saw Danni rushing toward us. “Hey guys, we
may want to get a move on. I heard a customer inside say she saw Ryder out here
with you and I’m guessing people will start swarming back here any second with
cell phones in hand.”

Ryder groaned and released me. We all
quickly got into the SUV and John climbed into the driver’s seat. Just as he
started the engine and locked the doors, about twenty people came running toward
the car. Thankfully, John pulled away and out into traffic in plenty of time
before anyone started smacking or rocking the car. I looked at Ryder and he
looked frustrated. “Is it like this all the time?” I asked.

He nodded. “Pretty much. I am used to
it, but I know you aren’t.”

“Ryder, it’s okay. It’s all part of the
life, right?” I asked.

He smiled at me and took my hand. I was
sitting across from him and he pulled my arm and guided me beside him. “Right.
At least there weren’t reporters this time though, those bastards are worse
than excited fans. Okay, enough about camera whores. How was your day at work?”
he said, nuzzling his nose into my hair. I suddenly felt embarrassed…I must
smell like greasy hamburgers.

“Uh, it was good. I made pretty good
tips today,” I said proudly.

“Awesome. What about you Danni?” he
asked, his lips leaving kisses against my hair. I shivered.

Danni smiled at both of us. “It was
good. I made pretty good tips today, but not as good as Everleigh. Everyone just
wanted to get a peek at Ryder’s new girlfriend,” she said.

“Danni, I’m not his girlfriend,” I said,
frustrated. I swear I think I said that phrase a million times today.

“Not yet anyway,” he said, his fingers
running up and down my arm. He moved his mouth from my hair down to my ear and
my breath caught as I felt his hot tongue graze my ear.

Heat flushed my face. He was trying to
pull me into a full on make out session right in front of my friend. Danni
laughed. “Okay, you two, I’m going to put my headphones in and text Beau. I’ll
give you two a minute so you can suck face,” she laughed, and climbed in the
back seat facing the rear window.

As soon as her headphones were in her
ears and the music was blaring, Ryder grabbed my chin gently and turned my face
to his. “You look really fucking hot in that apron, Everleigh,” he said,
smiling.

“Ryder, don’t. I am not making out with
you with my best friend in the car,” I breathed, trying my hardest to be tough.
Feeling his warm, cinnamon breath on my lips was making it very hard to do
that.

“Hey, she’s got her back turned and her
headphones in. We have a few minutes,” he murmured, a sexy grin on his face.

“I don’t know…” I said, my breathing
increasing as he ran his fingers along my jaw line.

“Stop worrying about who might be
watching and just go with it. In this moment, right now, do you want to kiss me?”

I nodded and breathlessly said, “Yes.”

“Good, because I’ve been dying to kiss
these lips since last night,” he said, and before I took another ragged breath
his lips found mine. I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped me as his tongue
slowly slid past my lips and touched mine. I heard him groan into my mouth and
I was suddenly feeling damp in places I had forgotten existed until last night.
Ryder had awakened feelings in me that I thought were long gone.

There was something different about this
kiss. Of all the times we kissed yesterday they all felt either careful, like
he was testing the waters, or hungry and filled with blinding passion. This
kiss, however, had me balling my hands into fists to keep me from climbing on
top of his lap and straddling him. He was slow and torturous with his kisses,
like he was drawing out the experience.
This
was romantic. Every time
our tongues would touch, it felt like we were on the verge of something that I
had never experienced before and it was amazing.