Sweet Perdition (6 page)

She thought about saying something, but decided against it.

He smiled at her ruefully. “Unfortunately, I missed the lesson on grocery shopping. All I have is beer and a frozen pizza in my fridge, but Perdition is fully stocked and I feel the need for some bacon and buttermilk biscuits.”

She scrounged her dress from the floor, feeling more than a little conspicuous, particularly because he had ripped the back of it. She didn’t want to go back to the bar, wearing her clothes from last night. “Oh, I can easily grab a coffee somewhere.”

“
No arguments, Pinky. I’m going to feed you.” He slapped her bottom. “But, you can’t wear the dress. I might have some clothes that would fit you.”

He rummaged through a drawer and came up with a Queen tank top. It had been cut with pinking shears to further lower the neckline, which left a little saw-toothed design. He also held a pair of nearly threadbare women’s jeans.

What a choice. She glanced at the pink nightmare in her grasp and then at the obviously skanky girl’s cast-offs. She quickly decided anything would be better than putting on the stupid dress, so she held out a hand for the clothes.

“
These belong to an ex-girlfriend?” she asked, fishing for information. He said he didn’t bring girls from the bar home, but maybe he’d had a relationship sometime in his past?

“
Yeah, I don’t do girlfriends,” he muttered. “Those belong to my mother.”

She stared at him, open-mouthed.
His mother wore these?!

“
Get a move on,” he said. “I’m starving!”

***

Yep, I’m hanging out at a biker bar. Again.
The last twenty-four hours hadn’t been exactly normal. Ryker had pulled out a stool for her while he and Fetch, the bartender from last night, went to the kitchen to make some “man food”.

Thank God for coffee.

He’d had left her with a Texas-sized mug loaded down with sugar and cream and a pot full of freshly brewed coffee for when supplies ran low. She drank it down gratefully. While not exactly hung over, she did feel a bit tired.

She couldn’t help but smile about, make that
deliciously
tired.

Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her painted on jeans and she barely managed to slide it out. Dipshit calling. Well, texting.

Carl:
Are you busy or something
?

She hit delete.
Find a new hobby, Carl.
Then, she updated his contact name to Dipshit. Petty? Sure, but it made her laugh.

He’d been weird at the wedding last night. She hadn’t seen him in months and suddenly he wanted to talk. He had even followed her around the reception, moving with her from table to table and then eventually asked her to dance. At one point, she thought he wanted to kiss her. She’d mumbled some lame excuses and tried her best to avoid him the rest of the night.

Maybe it had been the bridesmaid dress?

The neckline had been way too low, not as showy as Lisa’s but
still
, very provocative. She had been worried her breasts would accidently bounce out of it when she promenaded up the aisle. Or maybe he had a case of wedding jitters and wanted the familiarity of his old girlfriend? Whatever the case, it had been a crappy night.

She took another sip of her coffee and watched as another biker walked in. Like Ryker, he had the same leather vest, patched with the club logo. He rocked a pair of impossibly tight blue jeans and a red shirt. He poured himself a cup of coffee, then eyed her over the rim of his mug. The biker had scruffy appearance, a very pronounced five o’clock shadow on the lean planes of his face and dark hair fell below his ears, which barely peeked out beneath his ten gallon hat. He wore a pair of cactus cowboy boots to complete the look and she placed him in his early thirties.

He winked at her. “Mornin’, honey. Ain’t seen you here before.”

She blinked, startled out of staring at him by his voice. She hadn’t even realized she’d been giving him the once over. She placed her cup on the counter. “Well, I’m new.”

“I thought so,” he said, getting closer and nudging her shoulder playfully with his elbow. “You’re up early. You a new hellion?” He cocked his head to the side. “Yes, indeed. All bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.” His voice got lower as he said the last bit.

She narrowed her eyes at him, not sure exactly what to do in this situation. “I’m not sure what a hellion is, but somehow I can safely say no.”

To make matters worse, the cute blond biker from last night strolled in, the one who’d been videoing her playing pool.
What was his name? Oh, yeah, Shepherd.
He stopped to stare at the man seated beside her. “Watch yourself, Cowboy, she’s spoken for. Ryker got his panties in a bunch when I just tried to talk to her last night.”

Cowboy exploded off the stool like he’d been hit by a cattle prod. “Holy shit!” he bit out. “Sorry, honey. Didn’t know you belonged to anyone. No hard feelings?”

Ryker had warned the other men off her last night? It’s not like they were dating or something. Odd. But she didn’t see the point in correcting his assumption because it served her purpose. She could play along. For now. “Um, sure.” He took his coffee to the far side of the room.

Shepherd grabbed a Coke from the industrial steel fridge behind the bar and nodded in her direction. “Hey there, sweetheart.”

“Morning,” she replied.

Shepherd leaned over the bar and winked at her. “I haven’t seen Cowboy haul ass like that since the brothers stole his horse as a prank.” She placed him be in his late twenties. He had a rangy build and instead of the leather vest, and he wore a hoodie with
Think on Your Sins
on the front like the bar mural.

She smiled in reply.

“I got to congratulate you on your victory last night. Very nice work, sweetheart. My brothers and I all watched the video. Do you remember me or were you too drunk?”

“I remember,” she murmured.

“Anytime you want a beer, it’s on me. In fact, all the brothers will buy you one. Ryker’s been fleecing us for years.” He took a sip of his soda. “Good to see him eat it for a change.”

She grinned. Always nice to have her pool skills admired. “Thanks.”

He studied her a minute. “Gotta say, I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Why is that?”

“You seem like a nice girl and you gave us all a good laugh at Ryker’s expense last night. So let me give you a little advice. Ryker doesn't date nice girls. Ryker doesn’t ‘date’ at all. Save yourself some pain and don’t get attached.”

She had already assumed that once she left the bar, she’d never see him again, despite his assurances this morning he wanted more than a one night stand. He didn’t strike her as the boyfriend type and they lived in two very different worlds. It’s not like he would hold hands with her at the Annual Red Bud festival this week, win her a teddy bear and share some cotton candy or something.

Leaving him shouldn’t have caused a little pain, but somehow it did. She hardly knew him, had only spent a few hours with him, but she liked him.

She forced herself to speak. “Got it.”

“It’s not you, it’s him,” Shepherd assured her, lips tugging into a wry smile. “You might say he’s got no staying power when it comes to the ladies.”

Yet, he had seemed so warm last night, so giving when she’d been having a serious meltdown and he’d sat with her, talked her out of a deep funk. Maybe that’s why she felt close to him. They had bonded superficially, over a very difficult situation.

She could feel herself flushing. She really didn’t want to discuss her sex life with a stranger. She raised her chin a notch. “Seriously. You don’t have to give me the brush off for him. I’m not attached or anything. Your message has been received.”

“Oh, he didn’t send me, sweetheart. This is what I do,” Shepherd assured her. “And don’t take it personal. You’re not the first girl to hear this song.” He looked her dead in the eye. “You won’t be the last either.”

“How kind,” she said, with only a trace of bitterness. She took a sip of her coffee and decided to ignore the blond biker.

The sooner she got out of this place, the better off she’d be.

***

“Breakfast is served!” Ryker threw open the double doors to the kitchen, neatly balancing two big plates in his hands. But he nearly flipped his lid when he saw Elizabeth talking to Shepherd.

“Something I can help you with, brother?” He thought he’d made it perfectly clear she was strictly a no bone. Shepherd flipped him off, then made his way out the door. Cowboy scooped up his coffee mug and followed Shep without so much a glance in his direction.

Good riddance.

Shit.
He hadn’t expected anybody to hassle her while he’d been cooking or he wouldn’t have left her alone. Most of the guys were still sleeping off booze at this hour.

“Did he give you any shit?” he asked, setting a plate down in front of her.

“Nope. Actually, I found it to be an, uh, illuminating talk.”

Yeah, I bet it was.

He sat down beside her. The room had gotten decidedly chilly since he left. Spending time at the club had its hazards. His family and friends had a way of blowing right past any boundaries you set, particularly Shepherd. As VP, the guy vetted all prospects and old ladies. He also had some serious sixth sense mojo when it came to reading people, which came in handy at times, but it could be irritating as hell when he put his nose smack dab in the center of your business.

She ignored him and tucked into her food.

He let her eat. Maybe getting some food in her would raise her blood sugar and put her in a better frame of mind?

He dug in, too. At least the breakfast tasted pretty damn good, even if he did say so himself. He’d made the eggs over easy, piping hot biscuits from scratch, and added a pile of home fries to their plates, along with several slices of bacon.

She took a couple of bites and seemed to perk up a bit. “I’ve always been a scone and iced coffee kind of a girl in the morning, but this is really good. And I’m starving.” She put a couple slices of bacon on her biscuit, making her own breakfast sandwich. “I only managed to choke down a bite or two of the dried out chicken at the wedding reception last night.”

He suddenly had trouble concentrating on his own plate, more interested in devouring her than the food. He’d had her last night and again this morning, but apparently, he still hadn’t gotten his fill of her and he knew why too. That ass would be his. And soon.

But in order to get some ass, he needed a plan.

It’s not like she’d show up for another beer and a quick fuck in the back, hellion style, so if he wanted to keep having sex with her and he seriously did, he’d have to make his move.

“So are you seein’ anyone else?” He kept his tone real casual.

She drained her coffee cup. “Not at the moment, no. And honestly? I don’t date much, not since Carl, er, Dipshit.”

“You two were together a while?

“Yes. I met him my first semester of grad school and dated him for a year.” She smiled faintly. “We lived in the same dorm and we used to hang out. You know how it goes. We had dinner together in the cafeteria, or we’d order pizza and binge watch series on Netflix or something. Sort of like we blew past dating and fell into a relationship.”

“Have you dated anyone else since?

She shook her head. “I’m a little shy, kinda nerdy. In fact… growing up? Some of my best friends were books.” She bit her lip. “It’s probably why I became a librarian.”

That
made his cock twitch. “Holy shit. I forgot to ask you what you do. You are seriously a librarian? You aren’t fucking with me?”

She made a face. “Yes, I’m really a librarian, MLS degree and all.”

“Hot damn.” He pictured her behind a desk, dressed all prim and proper; her hair bound up in a little bun, black-framed glasses perched on her nose. “Remind me later to have you dress up and ask me about my overdue books. “

She frowned at him. “Later?”

“Yeah, later. I’ve got some club business to take care of today, but I’d like to see you tonight.”

“You would?” Her eyes lit up, like a kid’s on Christmas morning and his heart lurched in his chest once again. Evidently, she had developed a bit of a thing for him as well. “I’d like that.”

He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror behind the bar. He had a stupid smile on his face, but he needed to get some clarity on a situation first.

“Speaking of dating, I need to know somethin’. You were pretty strung out last night, crying and drinking.” The thought of her pining away for that dick while he fucked her, bothered the hell out of him. He wouldn’t have her pretending that he was someone else. “You still love him or what?”