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SIRENS SOUNDED IN THE distance causing panic to bubble up inside of me. We hadn’t come this far to be caught over something this ridiculous. My father wouldn’t have any trouble finding me if I ended up in jail.
“Shade,” I warned just as he thrust a full-face helmet into my hands.
“Get on,” he said, pulling his own helmet over his face before climbing astrid the matte black machine. I did without hesitation. “Hold on tight, darlin’.”
When I wrapped my arms around him, he pulled me close to him until we were all but welded together.
I had never been on a motorcycle before but I had always been curious. At the diner in Wyoming we would get the occasional biker. They always seemed to live for the ride. Something told me I was either going to love it or hard it and there would be no in between.
A gunshot rang out just as a police car came skidding to a halt a few yards away. I hunched down, letting Shade’s bulk cover me. Shade clicked the bike into first and we shot off like a rocket. Bullets whizzed by as Shade maneuvered us through traffic with all the grace of an experienced rider.
Although the circumstances were terrifying, and we were literally in a life and death situation,and I was absolutely freezing, I couldn’t help but realize that I loved the motorcycle. Adrenaline rushed through me, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the chase or the ride. Once we were safely away from here, I would demand Shade take me for another ride just to see.
Shade took a sudden left turn, his hand whipping out to fire at the approaching police cruiser. The cruiser’s tire flattened causing the vehicle to swerve. The cruiser behind it returned fire and bullets peppered the air around us.
I let out a shriek, hunching down as if to make myself as small as possible. My grip on Shade turned to steel. With one hand he released the handle bars and wrapped it around one of mine as if to reassure me that everything would be okay. He gave my hand one last pat, returning his hand and gunning it.
Risking a peek behind me, I could see our pursuers losing distance. Their outdated cruisers didn’t stand a chance against this beast of a machine. Only when I could no longer see the flashing lights in the distance did I release the breath I had been holding. But I didn’t relax until the shack came into view.
The danger was behind us, I thought as we dismounted the motorcycle. When Shade turned hard eyes on me, I realized the danger was in front of me now, but I wouldn’t back down. I stepped around him and headed into the shack. If we were going to get into this, then I was at least going to be warm.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I murmured, when I turned to face him once we were inside. “I just wanted to wash our clothes. There wasn’t any need for you to throw more money away when our clothes were perfectly fine.”
The hard look in his eyes never wavered as he stared down at me.
“Do you have any idea what went through my head when I woke up to you gone?” His face gave nothing away. Not one little crease, but his eyes, the worry was there, burning deep.
“You should have known I was fine. I mean, if someone had taken me you would have been too dead to care,” I said, matter-of-factly.
“I told you I would go. Why do you always have to do everything I tell you not to do?”
“Because you’re not my boss nor my father. If I wanted someone to tell me what to do or treat me like a dog, I would have just stayed in Vegas. I don’t see what the big deal is! I wasn’t in any danger. I was just doing laundry for christsakes.”
“Thank Christ for that. You’re too busy focusing on me telling you what to do you don’t even realize that you’re being reckless with your life. Or do you not care anymore? Is that it? Is that why you keep running off and doing whatever you like? Because you don’t care what happens to you anymore?”
My mouth dropped open in outrage.
“Are you implying that I’m suicidal?” I blanched. The thought of it was ridiculous.
“If the shoe fits, darlin’.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, staring down at me.
Those green eyes were mesmerizing. If you weren’t careful, they would suck you in and make you stupid. But lucky for me I was all but immune.
“That is just ridiculous. How could you think that?”
“How? Well, I’m doing my level best to keep you safe and out of your father’s reach. You seemed to do everything you can to make it harder than it already is. Hell, at this point I'm not sure I can trust you to help me take down your father. You’re reckless. It’s going to get you killed, and that’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”
Now I know he’s crazy. Completely lost his mind.
“I am not reckless! You can’t do this without me. I’m the only chance you have,” I said, crossing my arms too.
“I’ll find another way,” he growled.
“Why do you care so much? Hmm? Why do you care if I’m reckless or suicidal? You have one job. That’s taking down my father and his operation. I’m neither of those things. I’m just your way in.”
“You are a fool,” he snarled, turning his back on me to stalk toward the kitchen.
He hadn’t bothered to answer my questions and I didn’t bother repeating them. What did I care? When this was over I was going my own way. Somewhere far away from bossy mountain men. I was starting to miss the beach more and more.
Turning on my heel, I stomped toward the bed. I shot a nasty look at the dresser, grumbling about not having any clothes. The t-shirt on my back was the only thing I had to wear. Every piece of clothing we’d had was left in the laundromat. I flung myself across the bed, burying my face into my pillow. Letting out a muffled scream.
When I felt better, I rolled to my side and hugged Shade’s pillow to my chest. The weight of being up all night was setting in. My eyes felt too heavy to stay open. I knew sleep was pulling at me, but I wasn’t ready to sleep yet. I still wanted to have words with Shade. We weren’t close to being finished talking, especially if he thought he could just cut me out of his plans.
My limbs felt like lead. I couldn’t muster the energy to get myself off the bed. Had it always felt so comfortable? Right now it felt like I was lying on a cloud. Everything around me went black. I tried to force my eyelids backup but it was no use. It was like they were no glued down.
“I want to live,” I muttered to the darkness.
* * *
WHEN I WOKE THE NEXT evening, Shade was gone. No doubt he had left to get the clothes for us to wear. The space from him was nice at first. It gave me time to think about what was happening between us, but then the longer he stayed gone the more pissed I became.
First with him, then with myself.
I was mad because I knew he was messing with my head. Sometimes I wasn’t sure he cared about me at all, then other times like what happened in town I could tell he carried more than he let on. I knew he didn’t want me to get hurt but I couldn’t figure out how deep those feelings ran and that was why I was so mad at myself. It shouldn’t have mattered to me how he felt, but it did. It mattered so much that it was driving me insane.
On top of everything, Shade was taking his freaking time coming back.
It was almost a full day before I heard a vehicle approaching and it wasn’t the motorcycle Shade had left on. I grabbed my handgun from the table where I had left it and ran to the window. Peeking through the curtain, I watched and waited as an old pickup truck pulled to a stop in front of the shack. Only when Shade stepped out did I relax.
Gun still in hand, I opened the door and stepped out.
“It’s about time,” I called as he started unloading multiple bags from the back of the truck.
“Come help,” he called in reply.
Sitting the gun on the steps, I headed to the truck. As I got closer, some of the bigger contents in the bed of the truck came into view. I stopped in my tracks, my eyes widened in surprise.
He had a brand new washer strapped down in the bed.
“We don’t really have the room for it so I didn’t get a dryer, but I figured with it being warm inside you could hang the clothes on a small rack.” He stepped around me, arms loaded down with bags.
From what I could see, it looked like a mix of clothes, household items, and food. There was enough stuff to last us a few weeks or more. I was at a loss and couldn’t seem to move myself from my spot.
“Are you going to just stand there all day?” The sound of Shade’s voice startled me out of my stupor.
I turned to look at him. His arms were empty now as he walked toward me from the shack.
“You got me a washer,” I said.
“Obviously,” he deadpanned, moving around me.
“But why?”
He turned back to me, moving to stand in front of me.
“So you can wash your clothes,” he said, smartly.
“You know what I mean.” My eyes left his beautiful mountain man face, to look back at the machine in the truck.
“Because darlin’,” he started, drawing my attention back to him. “I didn’t enjoy waking up to you gone over something as stupid as laundry. If buying you a washing machine keeps you from running off in the middle of the night then so be it. Speaking of running off, we really need to talk about that.”
The look in his eyes made me nervous. I looked away unable to hold his gaze.
“What about it?”
“It seems to be a thing with you. I get that it’s what you know. When things get rocky or don’t go your way, you run. But here’s the thing, you’re with me now. There is no running. If you haven’t noticed things tend to go to shit when you run off.”
I wanted to disagree, but he was right. Running was all I had known for the last two years. It was what seemed to solve all of my problems. And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right about it turning to shit when I ran. Well, the last two times at least.
No, there wouldn’t be any more running.
“You’re right,” I said, causing him to raise his eyebrows. “There is no more running. It solves nothing. We also need to talk about you telling me what to do all the time. You can’t just buy me stuff to get me to do whatever you want. I appreciate that you bought it for me but I do not appreciate that you only bought it for me because you don’t want me to leave.”
“No, I don’t want you to leave,” he said.
“That’s too bad. You can’t keep me locked away.”
He stared down at me for a long moment. I could see him struggling internally. Communication wasn’t either of our strong suits. It would be a lot of work and until this was all over, it was the only way we would be able to work together.
He gave me one last hard look, then turned on his heel to stalk back to the truck without another word. I let out a long sigh and followed after him. When I reached him, he loaded my arms down with multiple bags before walking away. Dread nestled itself in the pit of my stomach as I headed for the shack.