Chapter 2
Chapter two
Nitro
It killed me to watch Riley struggle as she relayed her story. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she looked utterly exhausted. Huddled in multiple layers of baggy clothes to hide from the world.
Which was a damn shame. Underneath her emotional turmoil, there was a faint sparkle in her eye when she smiled. I could only imagine the way she would thrive if she was loved properly.
I started the Iron Forge Security Agency because of women like her. Women who were terrorized and torn down by the men that were supposed to cherish and protect them. My sister endured the same hellish experience that Riley was going through now.
Thank God she found a good man who worships the ground she walks on. They have two energetic little girls now, and her stalker ex was nothing more than a bad memory these days. I hoped Riley would get her own happy ending like that too.
For my first day on the job, I followed Riley to the Sweetie Pie Bakery where she worked as a cake decorator. I parked myself at a table in the corner with my phone, facing the door, with a direct line of sight into the kitchen.
Around lunch time, Riley popped out with a small cake decorated in a winter scene. A crystallized lake of sugar. Snowy mountain peaks. And a snowman, bundled up in a red marzipan scarf, with chocolate button eyes. Curly blue icing read, Happy Holidays.
“On the house,” she said with a shy little smile. “For your help.”
Before I could protest that it wasn’t necessary since I was just doing my job, she slipped back into the kitchen.
Carving into the cake with a fork, I wondered how a sweet woman like her got mixed up with an asshole like her ex. He clearly didn’t deserve her. It never failed to sicken me how many men were determined to crush the women willing to see the good in them.
After Riley got off work, we headed to the town hall.
She served as a volunteer, setting up the gingerbread house display that would span the entire first floor of the building.
Hobby bakers from all over Juniper Creek exhibited their gingerbread masterpieces for the duration of the Christmas season.
I lingered in the background, watching Riley help an elderly woman find a spot for her gingerbread cottage. She looked considerably better than she did during our initial meeting at the coffee shop yesterday, with a bounce in her step, and her glossy hazelnut curls pinned back to frame her face.
My gaze strayed to the generous curve of her hips and thick thighs, clad in blue-and-white snowflake print leggings. Her ex was a fucking moron to bodyshame her the way he did. I would give anything to have those thighs locked around my head with my tongue buried—
I smothered that thought before I could go any further.
Riley is my client. I never mixed business with pleasure, especially when a client was vulnerable like this.
She didn’t need shit to get messy with blurred boundaries.
She needed clarity, personal space. And a man who did not treat her like a fucking piece of meat.
Looking apologetic, Riley sidled up next to me, clasping her hands in front of her.
“So, I don’t mean to be rude, but…you’re kind of…scaring people. Lurking over here in a corner like this.”
I shrugged.
“Good. That’s the point.”
She gave me an exasperated look. I sighed.
“What do you want me to do?”
Riley beamed. My traitorous heart clenched at her joy and the way her smile lit up her whole face. One day, I hoped her ex realized what a treasure he fumbled by cheating on this woman.
She hooked an arm through my elbow, pulling me into the fray.
“Just carry heavy things and put them where I tell you to. It couldn’t hurt to turn that frown upside down while you’re at it,” she added, playfully poking my cheek.
“Don’t push your luck, twinkletoes,” I said.
Riley laughed.
“Twinkletoes! I love that.”
I let her boss me around for the rest of the evening, using her friendly personality to soften my hard edges. People seemed hesitant around me at first, eyeing me warily. I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t exactly give off warm and cuddly vibes.
But when they realized Riley and I were a team, and she wasn’t afraid of me, that put people at ease.
After I carted in two folding tables and set them up along one wall, Riley patted my shoulder for a job well done.
A little spark of pride warmed in my chest. I had no right to it though, and I tamped it down.
Then she froze and her smile vanished. Her eyes darkened with dread. Her entire demeanor dimmed.
I turned to see a husky man enter the town hall on the prowl, wearing a stained gray hoodie, and his lip curled in a snarl. I recognized him from the picture Riley had provided—her ex, Chett Kramer. She inched closer to me instinctively, nearly bumping against my shoulder.
I placed a hand at the small of her back for reassurance. Kramer spoke to someone in the hall briefly then turned around and walked out. Riley released an audible breath of relief, but she still had a tinge of green around the gills.
“I hate this,” she mumbled. “I just want to enjoy Christmas but…”
She trailed off with a vague gesture at the door where Kramer had disappeared. I scrubbed a hand over my mouth, weighing my options. I couldn’t do much to him since he hadn’t approached Riley in any way. But I had other resources and friends who owed me favors that I could call in.
“Try not to think about it,” I said. “He won’t get anywhere near you.”
She nodded, but I noticed that Kramer’s brief appearance had punctured her enthusiasm like a pin jabbed into a balloon.
“Maybe I should stay home until he forgets about me,” she whispered, examining her hands.
“Don’t do that,” I replied. “Keep living your life. It pisses off guys like him. Trust me.”
Riley turned her brown eyes up to me with a tentative gleam of hope. My throat grew thick at that look. Why did I suddenly have the urge to tighten my hold on her? To pull her close and growl in her ear, that fucker will never harm a single hair on your pretty little head, I promise.
It wouldn’t be professional or appropriate.
A woman called for Riley from across the room. I watched her go, fighting some primal urge in my gut that I couldn’t afford to feel—to have her as my wife, to put my baby in her belly, to see her pregnant and glowing.
The way Riley looked at me didn’t help either. I recognized it instantly. I’d given her a glimpse of a future where her ex no longer haunted her. I’d given her a glimpse of someone who actually cared about her safety and happiness.
In this line of work, it wasn’t uncommon for a woman to fall in love with me.
Adrenaline ran high. Prolonged stress tended to generate questionable choices.
And I was the opposite of the men my clients sought refuge from.
I appealed to their instinctive nature to seek out a guardian who shielded them and their family.
I was willing to protect them, to step in front of a bullet if it came to that.
Meanwhile, their men whined and bitched about taking out the trash.
For the first time, my client’s feelings were not one-sided. Riley was different. I wanted her just as much as she wanted me.
But I couldn’t cross that line.
Taking one last glance at Riley to make sure she was okay, I stepped outside briefly for some air. Darkness cloaked the town and fresh fluffy snow swirled down from the sky, glittering in the golden illumination of the street lights.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, fighting to regain my self-control. Falling for my client was not an option. And the longer I had to spend countless hours shadowing Riley’s every move, it would be even harder to resist her.
I needed to get this guy off her tail, sooner rather than later.
Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I made a call. Teddy “Trooper” Gerard and I were Prospects together when we were younger, cutting our teeth on the biker life. We called each other brother now and we rode under the Reckless Order MC colors.
I didn’t advertise my club affiliation when I worked an agency gig though. As far as I was concerned, they were two entirely different aspects of my life.
With a few exceptions. Like what I was facing now.
“I could really use your help, brother,” I said.
“Say the word and I’ll be there,” Trooper replied. “You know that. What’s the problem?”
I sighed and tilted my head back, debating the best way to put it.
“I’ve got a protection detail. It’s…complicated.”
Trooper paused on the other end of the line.
“It’s never complicated with you, Nitro. Your big hulking presence tends to scare people off. And if they bait you into a fight, you knock their lights out. End of story. What’s different with this one?”
I clenched my teeth so hard that my jaw ached.
“Oh,” Trooper said, low and drawn out with understanding. And a hint of mockery, the smug bastard. “Some sweet little creature stole your heart. Finally. You’ve got it bad, don’t you, brother?”
“I didn’t call to gossip,” I replied with a warning edge to my voice.
He just chuckled, impervious to my menacing tone.
That’s the thing about Trooper. He liked a good tussle.
I’d seen him grin like an idiot right before a brawl broke out in our local clubhouse.
He knew where to burn off his pent up energy and when he was given the chance, he let loose.
Especially when it involved defending a brother and a friend.
“I need you to dig up information for me,” I said. “The asshole’s name is Chett Kramer.”
“Sure. I’ll let you know when I find something you can sink your teeth into. And what about you?”
“I can handle myself,” I replied.
“Not what I meant,” Trooper countered. “I was talking about the woman who has you squirming like a worm on a hook. God, I wish I could see your face right now. Are you blushing?”
“Do you want an ass-kicking for Christmas? Because that’s what you’re gonna get if you keep running your mouth off.”
He chuckled.
“Sounds like you’re blowing a lot of smoke, tough guy. It’s about time someone turned you soft.”
For a split second, the image of pregnant Riley flashed in my mind again. Every muscle in my body tensed, as one thought rose, unbidden.
Wife.
Fuck, I was in so much deep shit with this woman, and I had no idea how I would get myself out of it. At thirty-seven, I'd never even considered settling down with anyone before, but it's the only thing that filled my head when it came to Riley.
“I’m not going soft,” I replied with iron in my voice.
Trooper scoffed.
“Whatever you say, brother. But I call dibs on being your best man. Hell, you should probably name your first kid after me, too—”
I hung up on him with a growl, stuffing my phone back into my pocket.