Naiya laughed. “And you’re trying to set me up with a ruthless outlaw biker hell-bent on revenge who’s been tortured for God knows how long and was going to just dump me off until he realized he needed my help. I have a boyfriend, thanks.”
“Maurice is a nice guy,” Ally said. “But, and I say this with all due respect to Maurice since he’s Doug’s friend, he’s kinda dull. Certainly not as exciting as an outlaw biker on the run. You’ve spent years doing dull, and it hasn’t worked out for you. Maybe you should try the wild side.”
“I lived the wild side, Ally.” Her chest tightened with the memory of the first time she’d gone to a party at the Black Jacks’ clubhouse. “That didn’t work out so well for me either.”
“That was a one-off with the biggest, meanest, vilest piece of crap on the planet.” Ally’s voice sharpened. “You can’t let it stop you from spreading your wings a little bit.”
Naiya perched on the edge of the bed, reluctant to touch any more of the bedspread than necessary. All the travel blogs she followed warned about contaminated bedspreads and how the first thing you were supposed to do in a hotel room was remove them. “I’m happy with Maurice. He’s comfortable. He doesn’t push.”
“You’re like an old married couple,” Ally said. “The other day you said his kisses were soft and mushy and tasted like milk.”
“That’s ’cause he drinks a lot of milk. He’s not into drugs or alcohol, or mind-altering substances.”
Ally heaved a sigh. “You are in serious need of a mind-altering substance if you’re planning on spending the night with a bad-ass biker and not taking advantage of the situation.”
Naiya stood and pulled the orange plaid bedspread off the bed with one hand, tossing it over a nearby chair. “He’s injured. I’m not about to whip off his clothes and … you know. He probably doesn’t even like me. I got nervous around him and let my geek side show.”
“So that’s what you want?” Ally said as Naiya kicked off her shoes and settled back on the cool, white sheets. “A boring life with milquetoast Maurice? You need to have some fun before you settle ’cause that’s my only regret in life. I love Doug to bits, but we got married too young and we never got to go out and do crazy things like go on the run from a psychopathic biker with a strange tortured biker in tow.”
“Life isn’t supposed to be fun,” Naiya said quickly. “It’s supposed to be hard work. If you want to have a good life, a decent and stable life, you have to be disciplined and focused. You have to have a goal and a plan and work hard to achieve them so you don’t wind up as a forty-five-year-old meth-addicted biker club whore who hasn’t spoken to her daughter in seven years and overdoses in a biker president’s bed.”
“Oh honey.” Ally was instantly contrite. “I’m so sorry about your mom.”
But Naiya was a on a roll, trying to justify her decision to stay with Maurice despite the very concerns Ally had just raised that had been in her mind over the last year. “Maurice shares my philosophy and my dislike of the freewheeling, irresponsible, criminal biker lifestyle. This year he took a second job at night so he could increase his savings. And he keeps me on track. When he sees me reading those travel blogs, he reminds me how much money we’ll need for a deposit if we want to buy a nice house in a nice area of town. And when I wanted to go to a motorcycle show, he calculated the depreciation of a motorcycle over ten years, then pulled up the statistics of motorcycle deaths on Montana’s highways.”
“He’s a real catch, that one,” Ally said dryly. “I am seriously wondering what I was thinking when I introduced you two.”
“You knew he’d be perfect for me.”
“So why haven’t you called him yet?” Ally said softly. “Why isn’t Maurice, the white knight, already in his white Volvo and driving out to rescue you?”
A good question. And not one for which she had an answer. Once Maurice arrived, it would be all over. Good-bye Holt and his tickling fingers, his searching eyes, his jealousy over a man who was not even remotely attractive. Good-bye heart-thumping escapes and breath-stealing motorcycle rides. But really. What was she thinking? Maurice would be worried sick when she didn’t answer her phone. He would probably swing by her apartment and call the police when he realized she was missing.
“Maybe you should call him,” Naiya said. “I don’t have his number. It was in my phone.”
“You sure?”
No, she wasn’t sure, but calling Maurice was the right thing to do. “Yes, of course. He’ll be worried about me.”
Never one to give up without a fight, Ally said, “I’ll take my time. Just in case you want to get some biker lovin’ before we get there. What’s there to lose? You’re not having sex with Maurice, so technically it’s not cheating. No ties. No heartbreak.”