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Willow motioned Timber toward her. She hurried over to the hallway of the diner. After securing the job and working the last three days, she respected the boss's wife—old lady, woman, whatever Willow called her relationship with Onyx.
"We have all the spare rooms booked starting tonight." Willow motioned her into the breakroom. "Have you been able to find somewhere to stay?"
Since hiring her, Willow had let her stay in one of the motel rooms with the understanding that it was temporary. The accommodations were more than she expected with the job. Between getting trained this week and working longer hours than she was hired for, she ended up crashing in bed every night. She'd planned on looking for a place to live on her first day off.
"I'll figure something out." She smiled, not wanting Willow to worry about losing an employee.
She had enough money from her tips to stay in a different motel for a couple of nights. But in conversations with the other waitresses, the nearest motel was on the other side of the interstate, about five miles away. Too far for her to walk after working eight hours on her feet.
"Tell me the truth." Willow stayed in front of her, forcing her to look at her. "Do you have somewhere you can go?"
"I...sure." She smiled bigger and lied through her teeth. "There's that place down the road. I'll go there."
Willow sighed. "There's no place down the road."
"I'll be—"
"I know, you'll be fine." Willow patted her arms before letting go. "I've been in your shoes. Let me see what I can do, okay?"
Unable to tell Willow not to worry about her, she nodded. "I need to go back to work. I still have twenty minutes on the clock."
"Go ahead. I need to figure out what to do, and then I'll wait for you outside."
She returned to the main room. Taking care of her tables and making sure not to leave any cleanup for Hayley, who came on shift after her, she hurried out the back door and found Willow talking with Onyx.
Giving them privacy, she leaned against the building and let her head fall back against the siding. It was already dark. Her shift hadn't started until three o'clock. It was eleven o'clock. She should've secured somewhere to stay during her shift. Having nowhere to go was her fault. She had no excuses.
Willow had warned her the lodgings at the motel were a temporary solution.
She hated asking for help. All her life, she'd depended on herself. Used to changes, she tried not to worry about what would happen in the next hour, much less tomorrow or next week.
Now that she was on her own, away from everything familiar, it would be harder. She would have to make sure she had housing and food.
If she couldn't find somewhere safe to sleep tonight, she'd ask the truckers tomorrow while she worked where she could stay. They might even let her stay in one of their trucks if they roomed at the motel.
It couldn't be worse than sleeping in the passenger seat while hitchhiking across Washington with Clyde and Melinda. She had to put up with the moans and groans of the trucker and his wife in the sleeping area of the cab, but at least she'd escaped Seattle.
"Timber?"
She straightened and walked to Willow, hopeful the circumstances had changed, and she could have the motel room for one more night.
"Would you mind staying with one of the bikers? Most of them live away from the clubhouse and would have an extra room. Of course, you'd need to pay rent, but Onyx will ensure you're safe and have somewhere to stay," said Willow.
"That's fine. I only need somewhere to sleep. I plan on working all the hours I can get at the diner." Some of the tiredness hanging onto her went away. "I really appreciate you doing this for me."
"We can walk over to the clubhouse."
"Let me grab everything out of the room first." She pointed to the motel. "I'll hurry."
"No need. I had Vega gather your bag. Onyx already had one of the men take it to the clubhouse."
"Well, look at you two." Timber laughed. "When you help, you run the show, don't you?"
Willow smiled, not taking any offense. "If I didn't, the place would fall apart."
It was refreshing not to have someone judge her. Used to saying the wrong thing, acting the wrong way, or looking the wrong direction, she preferred to keep her mouth shut. It was easier that way.
From the start, Willow made her comfortable. But, she couldn't get used to working at the diner and having Killere Motorcycle Club helping her. Any day, her dad could ride in, and she'd need to leave—whether she wanted to go or not.
Inside the clubhouse, Timber stopped and looked up at the overhead ceiling. The room was huge and high, like a church but without the pews. The bikers were loud and moving in all directions. The number of men in one area overwhelmed her. If she hadn't seen most of them come through the diner at one time or another over the last several days, she would've tried to make an excuse and get out of there.
Willow nudged her arm. "You might want to cover your ears."
She glanced at Willow when Onyx whistled, having no time to take the warning. Silence came over the room. Impressed at the level of obedience the president of Killere Motorcycle Club drew from his men, Timber stood straighter as if something big was going to happen.
"We have a new waitress at the diner, and Timber needs a room to stay in for a while until we have room at the motel. She'll pay rent. So, if you have a spare room or a couch to help her out, I'd appreciate it." Onyx looked around the room. "Treat her with respect. She's not someone to play with and then throw away."
All eyes landed on her. She forced herself to breathe. Each man appraised her as if Onyx would break out auctioning her off to the highest bidder.
"She's Dice's daughter, which means she belongs to the Killere family. When she's around, she is your sister," emphasized Onyx.
No one had ever treated her as untouchable before or demanded respect. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react.
Having moved around her whole life, she never grew close to others or had the opportunity to become involved in large groups like Killere.
"She can stay at my place, and I'll crash on the couch." A biker she remembered others calling Slim stepped forward. "Hell, I'm not home most of the time. She'll be able to rest when she's not working."
Slim walked toward her. Ten feet away from her, someone in the back of the crowd said, "She ain't going with you."
Unable to see around or over Slim, she could only go off the goosebumps covering her arms that the angry, deep voice came from the man who'd refused to help her when Clyde kicked her out of the truck.
"Jesus, Romeo." Slim turned. "You already have enough women falling at your feet. Are you trying to set a record by getting them all?"
"That's enough," barked Onyx. "Romeo, you're responsible for taking Timber to your place and getting her back when she's on the schedule to work."
Timber vibrated. She wanted to argue against going home with him. He was rude.
And what had Onyx called him? Romeo? She could only imagine how he got that name.
"Romeo's a good guy. You'll be safe with him." Willow put her hand on Timber's back. "If you need anything, you have my number. I can always have one of the members bring you what you need."
"Safe?" She leaned closer. "Is there a reason why I wouldn't be safe?"
All the warnings her parents gave her growing up came to the forefront. Maybe she'd taken on too much, too fast. She was trying to gain her independence, not end up dead from living with a serial killer or one of the bad men roaming around looking for her.
There was a flash of something flickering in Willow's gaze before she caught herself and shook her head. "No, of course not."
She was used to danger. There were hidden risks around each corner. Her parents had moved her from one end of town to the other, zigzagging through all the neighborhoods, staying ahead of danger. They believed strangers were out to get her.
Despite their overcautious tendencies, they left her alone to raise herself. Once she hit her teenage years, she believed that most of the problems her parents created were in their heads.
Romeo approached her and grabbed her elbow, leading her away before she could voice her reasons for not wanting to go with him. At the door, she stopped.
The rush of moving her out of the motel room and into Romeo's house left her flustered. She couldn't think.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"My bag?" She turned around and found Onyx holding everything she owned out to her.
She grabbed the handle and nodded her thanks. It was hard enough to deal with Onyx with Willow in the room, but to have so many members of Killere watching and judging her made her self-conscious.
The president of Killere dipped his chin. She left the clubhouse, unsure of how things had happened so fast.
At least away from the clubhouse, if her dad showed up, he wouldn't find her and make her go back to Seattle.
"Have you ever ridden on the back of Dice's motorcycle?" Romeo stopped beside his bike.
Her mom always called her dad Jeff when she complained about him. It was hard to think of her dad as someone who went by the name Dice. She looked down at her skirt and shook her head. Biting her lips, she smoothed the denim, trying to stretch it,but it only went to the top of her thighs.
She had no idea about the logistics of riding a motorcycle, but she was positive the short material wouldn't allow her to spread her legs wide enough to straddle the seat, much less his body when she sat behind him.
Romeo took her bag and, using a Bungee cord, attached it to the back of the motorcycle. "It's a warm night. You should be fine with what you're wearing. We're not going far."
She gazed up at the sky, focusing on the blackness beyond the lights of the truck stop. Stars littered the night, reminding her that tonight was like any other night.
Except, it wasn't. Not by a long shot.
"Once I'm on the Harley, step on this foot peg and get on behind me. There's another peg on the other side. Keep your feet on them. When I start the engine, wrap your arms around my waist." He got on the bike. "It'll feel like we're tipping to the side around corners, but that's normal. Lean with me, and don't panic. I'm not going to crash."
Her heart raced. She stared at him.
"Come on, Dice must've taken you for a ride before," muttered Romeo.
She hated talking about her dad. Her childhood was anything but normal.
"Timber, you're going to have to talk to me. Do you know what I'm saying?"
"Don't panic, right?" she whispered.
She put her foot on the peg, but she could already see she'd never get her leg up and over the seat, while wearing her skirt.
"Hitch the skirt up, doll. No one will see anything," he said.
She stilled, standing on the peg with her bare knee on the back of the seat. The skirt wasn't made to go up any higher. She might as well take it off. Except, without access to a laundry facility at the motel, she was running low on outfits. Today, she'd gone naked under the skirt because no matter how desperate she was, she would never wear a pair of panties two days in a row.
"Maybe I can go inside and change outfits." She was sure there was a clean pair of jeans in her bag.
"Nah, you're fine. Hitch it up and scoot close. Nobody is going to see anything." He turned and faced forward.
Without him looking, she exhaled and hurriedly pulled her skirt up and got on the bike awkwardly. Wrapping her arms around him, she was surprised to find that he was right. Nobody could see between her legs because Romeo filled the space.
Her chest and neck warmed. To make matters worse, she'd shaved her pussy last night. The vibrations of the bike. The roughness of Romeo's jeans. The intimacy. It all made her lightheaded.
The motorcycle moved. She held on tighter. Instead of leaving, Romeo looped around the diner, then the motel, leaning the Harley this way and that way until she started to get car...bike sick.
Then, he rode away from Killere Truck Stop and entered traffic. It was a much smoother ride out on the road, even though they were going faster. Now she could see the laps he'd made around the buildings were for her to get used to riding on the back of the seat.
She took back her opinion that Romeo was looking out for her when he entered the interstate and the pavement blurred underneath the motorcycle. Burying her face into the back of his vest, she closed her eyes and held on tighter with her arms and legs.
They were going to die.
Her hair whipped around her. Afraid the strands would wrap around Romeo and blind him but too scared to reach up and gather her hair in her hand, she could do nothing but hold on and hope they wouldn't crash.
It would be an awful way to go.
The pavement.
Her bare legs.
Her skirt around her waist, flashing the world her vagina.
As soon as the thought came, she could feel the motorcycle slow. She raised her head, and a streetlight flashed in the distance. They'd left the interstate.
Her heart continued to race. Shacking up with Romeo wasn't her idea of a good thing. When Willow asked about her renting a room from one of the bikers, she imagined one of the younger bikers needed help paying the rent. Or even better, one of the senior men who had a grandma-type wife at home who wouldn't mind renting out a spare room.
She never imagined a sexy, older man voluntarily helping her out.
He had to be fifteen or twenty years older than her. Maybe more. He looked like he was around her dad's age, but how he looked at her made him appear younger. He still seemed interested in women—well, that was to say, he looked at anyone with breasts and an ass.
After a few more turns, she was completely lost on how to get back to the interstate. She was unfamiliar with Spokane, having grown up mostly on the west side of the state near Seattle. Only recently, during her adventure hitchhiking, had she seen the vast differences in the landscape of the state.
She'd gone from ocean and green trees to mountain zones and treeless plains and back to a beautiful area with mountains in the distance and pine trees dotting the land.
Finally, venturing off on her own, she sought cheaper rent and more freedom. She wanted to explore and experience new things. Most of all, she wanted to put her past behind her and live for herself.
All her life, her mom had dragged her from one apartment to another, sometimes taking a break and living in a rental house and even a boathouse. Then, her dad would show up, her mom would leave, and soon she was on her own again.
Romeo pulled in front of a large, two-story house. She looked up and down the street. There was a home on every lot, mostly older style construction as if they'd seen a war or two. Each one had a porch with steps leading to a driveway.
Parked between two automobiles, Romeo undid her clasped hands from his stomach. "You can get off."
She leaned far to the side, her bare ass squeaking on the leather seat. Quickly sliding off, she pulled the denim skirt over her butt. Lifting her gaze, she caught Romeo eyeing her. She straightened, daring him to comment. He was the one who told her riding on the back was possible with a skirt.
Instead, he got off the Harley and removed her bag without saying anything about her choice of clothes for riding. Maybe he understood she'd come from working at the diner. Maybe he just didn't care.
Behind her, shouting broke through the night. She looked over her shoulder, trying to find where the noise came from.
"Never mind them." Romeo appeared at her side. "Just pretend there's no one here."
She hurried to keep up with him. Others lived here?
Noises from inside greeted them halfway to the door. It sounded like a party. A mix of excitement and grumbles.
She stepped up onto the porch.
"There'll be seven of us here." He shifted her bag to his other hand. "As long as you follow the rules, we'll get along fine."
He hadn't explained the rules to her. She swallowed hard. "Rules?"
"No sex under my roof," he murmured before opening the door.
She grabbed Romeo's arm, stopping him from going inside. "Why did you volunteer to let me rent a room when you have so many living in the house?"
Visions of a wife, teenage sons, maybe a daughter or two, and an elderly father or mother-in-law residing in the house were too normal for her. She'd never fit in with her background.
All she needed was a private bedroom. She did her best alone.
"Because if I hadn't volunteered to take care of you, Slim would've had you on your back with his cock in your pussy before midnight. I know your dad. I couldn't let that happen to his daughter." He motioned for her to go inside.
She had no time to wonder about his statement because total chaos greeted her.
Two grown men passed a beer can across the living room in a game of catch. Going from the speed at which the beer traveled, it was a full, unopened can. Not knowing where to look first, she found another man lounging on the couch with his attention on the television on the far wall.
"Turner, you fucker. There's mold in the chow Mein. I thought you bought this yesterday," shouted a male from somewhere else in the house.
She stayed beside Romeo, unsure of how to navigate through the house. There were boots and sneakers littering the floor and several stacks of magazines at the end of the couch that depicted half-dressed women on the covers.
An earthy scent tinging on sweet filled her nostrils.
A bare-chested man in boxers walked down the stairs to her left. "What time is it?"
"Almost midnight." The man with a full beard caught the beer and tapped the top with his finger. "Your boss called while you were sleeping and wants you to hit the garage before meeting the others."
The barely awake man picked up a shirt off the back of a recliner, smelled the material, and pulled it over his head. She bit her bottom lip, watching his muscles ripple across his stomach. These were the type of men she'd meet if she walked into a gym a week before a bodybuilding contest.
"Everybody, listen up," shouted Romeo.
Timber's spine snapped to attention, and all eyes landed on her. The musty scent of testosterone floated in the air, making her queasy and, in some strange way, aggressive...prickly.
"This is Timber. She'll be staying at the house." Romeo put his hand on her back. "Don't touch her."
"Can we look?" Amusement flashed in the dark blue eyes of the closest man, and a dimple on his cheek winked at her, knocking the fight out of her.
"Don't start, Axel." Romeo growled and escorted her to the stairs, removing her from the room.
All she could do was go with him. Not much shocked her but coming into a house filled with men—gorgeous men, who all seemed similar to Romeo made her an outsider.
An outsider who couldn't hide and become invisible.
She stopped outside a bedroom door and looked into Romeo's blue eyes. He kept his beard shaped into a long goatee, leaving his cheeks bare. Cheeks that sported dimples even when he frowned.
"Are they your brothers?" she whispered.
He opened the door. "Yep."
"All four of them?"
He raised his arm and gripped the back of his neck as if a headache had hit him out of the blue. "I have five brothers. Caleb doesn't get home until two o'clock in the morning. You probably won't see him much because of the hours he works."
Five?
Her chest compressed as she walked into the room. It wasn't a guest room. The unmade bed, scattered clothes, and enough leather to cover a half a dozen men told her exactly who lived in the room.
She gulped and turned back to ask him where he'd be sleeping, and Romeo was gone.