“The old farmhouse on Turkey Ridge?”
A farmhouse? I’m still shaking my head as I pull out on the street. Ms. Annie has hit me like a motherfucking thunderbolt. I’m screwed.
Chapter 2
Annie
When your father is a minister, you can go wild or stay safe. When your father is also a monster, you pick safe. Still, I’ve always wondered what life was like on the wild side.
Every warning my father ever drummed in my head is replaying. Every beating I ever took by his belt flashes in my memory. You might think those memories would disappear since I am now twenty-six years old. They don’t. They are always there…heavy in my chest and lying like a weight holding me down. Still, when this big (and I mean huge) man stands in front of me wearing faded jeans, a white t-shirt, a black leather vest, dirty-blond hair, sunglasses, and tattoos…everywhere…my first instinct isn’t to run. No, my first instinct is to lick him from head to toe. I obviously don’t, but the more he looks at me like he wants to eat me up, the more I’m tempted. I briefly think of my favorite bedtime story as a kid, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. No wonder Little Red ended up being eaten by the wolf. If the wolf were anywhere near as potent as the man in front of me, I would have, too.
Temptation. That’s it, really. He is a temptation, and I really should walk away. How many times has it been drummed into my head that temptation comes before the fall? This man has danger written all over him. There’s no way I could survive any type of a fall if he’s involved. He’s not safe. He’s not for me. That’s the mantra I keep replaying in my mind as he drives me home. I try to ignore the scent of him I catch on the wind, or how my arms feel wrapped around him. I try. I’m not sure I succeed.
When we pull into my faded, blacktop driveway, I breathe a sigh of relief that this is over. Now, I can steer away from him and ignore the feeling of sadness that gives me. It takes me two tries to get off his bike, I guess that’s an improvement from getting on. I hold my hand on Sabre’s shoulder to steady myself. I almost fall trying to stand on the small point of my six-inch heels. Sabre’s large, muscular hand grabs my hip and steadies me. I stare at him and wish his sunglasses were gone.
“Careful there, Annie,” his husky voice tells me and chills of awareness slide up my spine. There’s a heat where his hand covers my hip. It warms in intensity and spreads slowly over my body. It’s more than just electricity. Can he feel it, too? His fingers flex and again, I grieve the fact I can’t see his eyes. He took off his sunglasses when he crawled under my car, but I didn’t get to see their color. I really want to.
“Thank you for your help,” I tell him, closing my right hand into a fist and letting my fingernails dig into the palm of my hand. I use that small bite of pain to help me concentrate because all I really want to do is touch him.
“I’ll have the boys drop off your ride tonight.”
“Are you sure? It’s late? I don’t want to cause…”
“I’m sure. I have an errand to do for the club, but I’ll check back.”
Okay, so I can admit to myself that I was kind of hoping he would at least try to come inside. It’s crazy but true all the same. I give him a small smile.
“If you have them bring a bill, I’ll pay them. Thank you again, Sabre.”
“Be seeing you soon.”
I walk away and don’t respond to his words.
“Annie?” Sabre yells, just as I make it to my front door.
I turn to look at him, pasting on the smile I give all the customers at the library where I work. “Yes?”
“I said I’ll be seeing you,” he claims again, his voice frank but full of promise.
“I doubt that,” I answer honestly.
“Why’s that?”
“You don’t look like the kind of guy to come in a library. I doubt you’ve ever been in one.”
His bark of laughter follows me into the house.
Chapter 3
Sabre
A smart man would run from trouble unless that trouble has a body that doesn’t quit. Then he grabs it and rides the fuck out of it.