“I just unlocked it two seconds ago, relax.”
He opens the door for me and gestures for me to go inside, then walks behind me into the kitchen. I never realized how small he makes my kitchen look until right now. He’s such a tall, broad-shouldered man, and my kitchen is kind of small and dainty-looking.
“I’m not hungry now; I can wait until dinner. Unless you want something? I can make you something,” I offer. He’s obviously used to women cooking for him, which, if I’m being honest, kind of annoys me. I don’t know how the men are treated in the clubhouse, and don’t get me wrong, I have no problem spoiling my man, but I don’t know what he’s going to expect. Going by his actions so far, I don’t think I have anything to worry about, but you never know these days.
“Only hungry for one thing right now, babe,” he says, licking his lips. “Never thought I’d find a cop uniform so fuckin’ sexy, but you surprise me at every turn.”
Feeling playful, I grin and start running to my room. He chases after me, grabbing me by my waist and throwing me in the air and over his shoulder.
“Do not even think about slapping my ass,” I growl at him, making him laugh.
“I didn’t even spank you hard, and it happened like twice. Didn’t take you for the dramatic type.”
“I have a sensitive butt.” I pout. “And I’ve never been spanked before, so excuse me for being a little dramatic about it.”
He throws me on the bed. “Did you like it though? Because you were wet.” He pauses. “Really wet. But if you say you don’t like it, then I’ll never do it again.”
He waits, watching me, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
I say nothing.
He throws his head back and laughs. “You shy all of a sudden, Jo? You’ve sat on my face but this you’re shy about?”
I purse my lips. “I’m not shy, I just don’t want to encourage you. Who knows what you’ll come up with next.”
“You’ll love it. Admit it or I’m not going to go down on you right now.”
My eyes widen. “You using sex as a weapon, Ranger?”
He laughs harder, falling onto the bed. “Yeah, I am. You don’t tell me if you liked it or not, I’m going to take this huge dick away from you, teach you a lesson.”
“I deserve that dick,” I announce, huffing. “And you like fucking me too much, so it’s an empty threat.”
“Someone is cocky today,” he says, resting his arms back behind his head, eyes dancing with amusement. “But you’re right, I do love fucking you. In fact I seem to like everything about you.”
The humor of the situation fades into something else, something much scarier. Deeper.
Something real.
Something worth fighting for.
I lick my lips, the tension between us building, the air thickening.
“Ranger?”
“Yeah?” he asks, his heavy-lidded gaze pinning me in my place. “Do you have something you want to say to me?”
“Nope.”
“You’re stubborn,” he states, lip twitching.
“You not strong enough to handle me, biker?” I tease, starting to undress. His eyes lower to my fingers as he watches me pop each button.
“Oh, I can handle you,” he says with easy confidence. “I’m here right now, aren’t I?”
I smirk, shaking my head at him. “We haven’t even had our first real fight yet. We’ll see how you so-called handle me then.”
“You’ll probably go all silent and withdrawn, and try to walk away. I’ll chase you down and drag you home like a caveman, and then we’ll talk it out until everything is right in your world again, followed by the best makeup sex. What do you say? I’m kind of looking forward to it now,” he says, winking at me.
He makes light of everything, but I like that about him. Before I met Ranger, I was treading water, gasping for air. Just looking at him stirs something inside of me, something I never thought was in the cards for me. Such a surprise, a wonderful one. One I don’t really know how to take. One that I’m scared will disappear the second I look away.
I know we have obstacles and nothing will be perfect. My cousin might hate me. Ranger may even hurt me in the end, but it’s a gamble I’m willing to take. If I’m guarded all the time, if I don’t take a chance, then nothing in my life will change. I’ll continue to live for others and not for myself, and I will never be happy. I’ll never have anyone who loves me, a connection, an understanding, and I crave all these things just like the next person. It’s hard to find someone to trust these days—it’s like everyone is replaceable to everyone, and I can’t stand that, so I kept to myself.
No one ever caught my eye, and to be honest, no man ever made the effort to break through my wall and to get to know me. I wasn’t easy, so I wasn’t worth pursuing. Ranger saw me and wanted me right away. He took everything I threw at him without so much as a blink and pushed through my guards. But what happens now that he’s in?
“Well, keep annoying me and I’m sure it will happen,” I say, sliding my shirt off, exposing a black lace bra. I had no sexy lingerie while we were away looking for my cousin, and he didn’t seem to mind, but now that I’m home I can put in a little more effort. It’s not just for him: I feel sexier, and it’s a powerful feeling.
I remove the rest of my clothes and stand there naked, bold and confident in front of him, while he still lies there, hands behind his head, eyes darker than I’ve ever seen him.
“Come here,” he demands.
And this time, I don’t argue.
TWENTY-FIVE
Ranger
“SO you fixed locks on her windows yesterday, and today she texted you again asking you to come over?” Faye asks, throwing a knife into the target. “Are you going to go? If she’s really scared, why don’t you ask her to come and stay in the clubhouse? It’s not like the old days where we had heaps of shit to hide. We could bring her in for a while.”
“I can ask her,” I say, shrugging. “Maybe she’ll go for it.”
“And then you can spend more time with Jo.”
I don’t know how Faye ends up figuring everything out—it’s like she has a tracker on everyone. Nothing escapes her.
“I feel like a bastard because that’s exactly what I want to do,” I admit, picking up a knife from the grass and giving it a try. I hit the target, but not the bull’s-eye like she did. She sends a smirk in my direction and my eyes narrow. I don’t like to lose. I’ve never trained in knife throwing before, but it looks like I’m going to have to do a little practicing. I can’t let a woman have one up on me, although I’m smart enough to not admit that out loud, especially in the presence of the woman next to me.
“You’re in that new stage,” Faye says, pushing her hair out of her face. “All you want to do is be with that person.”
“When does that stage end?” I ask, curious.