Chapter Seven
Haizley
A few days after getting my piercing, on my kitchen table don’t forget, I was feeling pretty good. I knew it would take time to heal, but it wasn’t as painful. Just a few twinges here and there.
It was a rare warm day.
By warm, I meant it was in the lower fifties as opposed to the lower twenties. For Nebraska in winter, that was warm.
I had decided I needed some new books and, being the person I was, I didn’t order them online.
I supported our local bookstore.
Our resident author Ellie Thomas, aka Rayne Perry, ran the bookstore now that her husband Ryder had joined the MC. I enjoyed going to the bookstore and talking with Ellie and the girls.
Chrissy and Tabby were adorable. I often thought of Missy when I saw them. I knew Tabby didn’t speak and the closest child therapist was two hours away.
If I could convince Missy to move here, maybe she could help the quiet little girl.
As I walked in, the bell over the door signaled my arrival and Ellie called out, “Be right with you.”
“Take your time. I’m just looking around.”
I walked through the stacks of books, running my fingers over the spines. I loved books. There weren’t enough hours in the day to read all the books I wanted to read.
It wasn’t just dirty romance books, either. I mean don’t get me wrong, I loved those, but I also loved history and self-help books. I had dozens of cookbooks. Not that I used them much.
I would never get anything done if I worked at a bookstore. I would spend all my time just staring at the books, imagining all the information contained in them.
Love stories, murders and mysteries, true life stories of people overcoming adversaries. Fiction or non-fiction, there was so much you could learn from a book.
“Good morning, Haizley.” Ellie floated through the store, landing behind the counter that held the register. Her little baby bump was showing more and more each time I saw her.
“Morning, Ellie.”
“Have you finished all those books already?” she asked, leaning her elbows against the counter.
I bit my lip, and tipping my chin down, I looked at her through my lashes. “Not exactly.”
She released an enthusiastic laugh at my shyness.
“No shame here. I have dozens of books upstairs that I haven’t read yet, and every time we get a shipment in, I grab at least five more.”
“Finally, someone who understands me.”
“Definitely. Looking for anything specific?”
“I was hoping you had the new L.M. Terry book.”
“That should be in today’s shipment. I am so excited to read it. You want me to put one aside for you?”
“I would love that, thank you. For now, I’ll just take these.”
I placed my books on the counter for her to ring up, and the bell jingled, signaling a new customer.
“Hello, beautiful.”
Or not.
Ryder hurried around the counter. His arm went around Ellie’s waist, and he turned her around, planting the hungriest kiss I had ever seen in real life. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he just came home from being away for months.
“Ryder, stop. We have a customer.”
“Don’t mind me. I love to see couples in happy, healthy relationships.”
Ok, so maybe I was a little uncomfortable with the way he was gazing at her. Like he wanted to eat her alive.
I sighed.
I wanted that.
“Morning, Haiz.”
“Morning, Ryder.”
“I heard you had a little run-in with Gunner.”
His smile told me he knew exactly what happened and found it amusing.
“Um, yeah, we didn’t exactly see eye to eye.”
“Not hard considering the man’s a giant. But what happened?” Ellie asked, looking at her husband.
“Haizley here threw a drink in his face at the bar.”
I closed my eyes.
It wasn’t my finest moment, but he deserved it.
“It didn’t exactly reach his face,” I muttered.
Ryder threw his head back and laughed. Ellie held her hand over her mouth, trying to hold back.
“He deserved it. I was only trying to reach out to Cash. He looked so lonely and sad.”
Ryder’s laughter ended abruptly, and Ellie stiffened.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, it’s ok. He’s having a rough time. We all are,” Ellie said, placing her arm around her husband, who was now staring out the window.
“If you need to talk, I’m here,” I offered, gathering my books.
“Thank you, Haizley. I think a few stubborn ass men could benefit from talking to you.”
“I gotta go, baby. I just stopped in to say hi.” Ryder kissed his wife again and my eyes followed as he dashed out the door.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking back at Ellie, her sad eyes staring at the door her husband just walked through.
“No, it isn’t your fault. Things are a little tense at the clubhouse. Rachel’s passing has left us with a lot of questions and no answers.”
“I meant what I said. I’m here if anyone wants to talk.”
“Thank you.”
Lost in thought, I walked down Main Street toward my car after leaving the store. I had a few more errands to run but wanted to drop the books off instead of carrying them around.
“Haizley, wait up!”
Oh God, not again. Brian Caster was driving me crazy. When would he get it?
“Sorry, Brian, I don’t have time,” I called out behind me, hoping once again that he would take the hint.
Picking up my pace, I tried to get away.
I knew it was futile, though. This town wasn’t big enough to get lost in a crowd.
“Come on, Haizley, stop. Don’t be a bitch.”
That stopped me in my tracks. No one got to call me a bitch. Sure, I could be a bitch, but only when I needed to be.
I turned around and glared at Brian.
“What did you call me?” I growled.
“Haizley, I’m sorry, but come on. Just have dinner with me. You need someone to take care of you,” the weasel reasoned.
“Brian, I have been taking care of myself for the last twelve years. I don’t need you or anyone else to take care of me,” I declared, poking him in the chest with my finger.
“Haiz,” he said, grabbing my finger, trying to pull me closer.
“Haizley!” a deep voice yelled out.
I turned my head and there he was.
Sitting on his bike, looking sexier than any man had a right to.
Gunner.
He was tall, like pro basketball tall. Though I doubt he ever played. Maybe he did in high school, but then I wondered if he ever went to high school. Maybe he was just born a six-foot-eight God.
His long legs stretched out on either side of his bike, and his hand raised up so he could crook his finger at me.
“Haizley, babe. Come here, now,” he commanded, and my body obeyed without conscious thought.
He knew my name.
Brian let go at the command of the biker, and I walked to him. Standing at the side of his bike, I stared into his emerald eyes.
His hand went to my hip, and he pulled me closer.
Leaning close, he whispered in my ear, “Is he bothering you? Do I need to kick his ass?”
The low timbre of his voice caught me so off guard that I couldn’t say a word. I just continued to stare. His words rolled over me like hot coffee on a cold Nebraska winter day.
“Babe,” he whispered again.
I could hear his words, but I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying to me. Up to this point, our interactions had been caustic at best.
He stood up, swinging his leg over the bike, and I instinctively took a step back. I watched him walk over to where Brian still foolishly stood on the sidewalk.
Gunner towered over Brian, who maxed out at five foot ten. He stared up at Gunner, and I could see the fear billowing off him in waves.
The Silver Shadows were not bad guys. They didn’t terrorize the town like the stereotypes suggested. Quite the opposite, in fact. They enhanced the town. They opened businesses and invested in the ones already here.
Gunner himself, I now knew owned the tattoo shop.
His deep voice caught my attention.
“You touched my woman,” he said.
The way he looked at Brian, I thought for sure he would pierce him in two.
Wait.
Did he say his woman?
“I-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know she was...” Brian gulped “...yours.”
“Now you do. Stay the fuck away from her.”
“Ye-yes, sir,” Brian stammered out and inched his way around the big biker who took up half of the sidewalk.
Gunner turned around and walked back to his bike.
As he passed by me, I heard him say, “You’re welcome.”
“Wait, what the hell was that?” I asked, looking between him and the empty walkway where Brian once stood.
“I said you’re welcome,” he repeated.
I gaped at him, my mouth hanging open.
I was still standing close enough to his bike that his large, and I mean very large hand reached up and with his thick finger under my chin, he lifted my mouth closed.
Yea, I was thinking about that finger, and how it would feel inside me, so sue me.
“Not that. That!” I said, pointing at the sidewalk. “What the hell was that? I don’t need you to fight my battles for me. Now he is going to tell everyone in town that you and I are together,” I whined.
Gunner just looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language he didn’t understand.
“How will I ever get another date if every guy in Diamond Creek thinks I’m with you?”
“You won’t.” He smiled and turned the key, firing up his bike.
The sound of the pipes drowned out anything else I might have wanted to say, or any questions I needed to ask.
He crab-walked his bike backwards out of the spot and, after giving me a wink, drove off.
What. The. Fuck.
I stood there alone, watching as he drove through town, toward I assumed the clubhouse.
Gunner may as well have put a property cut on my back, because by the end of the evening, everyone in Diamond Creek would think I belonged to him.
Only I didn’t.
Yes, he was sexy.
Yes, I wanted to climb that man like a tree.
Yes, I would let him split me in half given the smallest opportunity. But he wouldn’t own me. I wasn’t property for anyone, least of all a man. Who did he think he was?
You can’t just walk up and tell a guy a woman is yours, without at least asking the woman if she wanted to be owned.
No woman wanted to be owned.
Ok, so a few women wanted to be owned.
I could think of four off the top of my head.
There was Beck. She wore a property cut with Blade’s name on it. Blade was Micah. They both went to school with me, though they were a couple of years behind me. Then we thought Micah died in a car accident. Turned out his family was in witness protection and they had to move them. He came back with the MC five years ago, but they only recently got together. I didn’t know the entire story, only the rumors going around.
Then there was Sam. She used to work in the diner. She was sweet, funny. Apparently, if the rumors were true, Sam and Jack hooked up five years ago in Arkansas, where the club originated from, and had a child. They also only reconnected recently.
Ellie, of course. She came to town recently to do a book signing at the bookstore, and Ryder snatched her up quick. They had a bit of a rocky start. Ryder got shot, and again I didn’t know the whole story, only the rumors. But she also wore a cut like Sam and Beck, now that Ryder had joined the club. She seemed happy though.
Then there was Rachel. She was friends with Blade, Ryder, and Beck. The four of them were always together growing up. She’d had an extreme makeover while I was away at college. I almost didn’t recognize her when I came home. She wore Cash’s cut. They seemed like they loved each other, but the Rachel I knew when we were kids was not the Rachel who snagged herself a biker.
I wasn’t sure what changed while I was gone. I knew her mom passed away and that could have a major impact on someone.
Now I would never have the opportunity to find out. She was gone.
Wait.
Thinking about these women and their stories, I had to wonder why I was doing online therapy. Coming home, I didn’t think there would be enough people around to support myself with counseling, so I did it online.
However, I realized now that there was a lot of dysfunction in this town. Maybe I should look into getting an office. Or I could create an office in my home.
I walked down the street toward my car, thinking about the possibilities. My mind pushing all thoughts of the sexy biker the town would soon believe claimed me out of my mind.
Who was I kidding?
Thoughts of Gunner were always front and center in my brain. No matter how hard I tried, I hadn’t stopped thinking about him since I moved home and saw him for the first time.
I had no real reason to be mad that I now wouldn’t be able to get a date, because any dates I had, I compared to him. And believe me when I say this.
No one compared to Gunner.