Chapter 5
Chapter five
Riley
On the day before Christmas Eve, I could have sworn that I’d died and gone to heaven. A dozen yapping, wiggling puppies surrounded me in the Juniper Creek Humane Society’s dog yard.
I volunteered to help with their holiday open house, talking to guests who were interested in adopting a pet, answering any questions they might have, assisting with adoption form paperwork.
And playing with the pets who were up for adoption, to make them look as friendly and lovable as possible.
Nitro stood outside of the fence in the snow, arms crossed, feet planted wide. Watching from a distance as always. I gestured to him.
“Come meet the puppies!” I called.
He shook his head.
“I don’t do pets.”
I picked up a floppy beagle puppy with brown freckles on her nose and a plump pink belly. Holding her up, I pouted.
“How can you resist a face like this?” I demanded.
He cleared his throat and a muscle ticked in his jaw. His eyes were shielded by sunglasses, so I couldn’t see his expression. But if I had to take a guess, I was wearing him down, little by little.
“Easily,” he said. “I’m resisting right now, aren’t I?”
The puppy wiggled in my arms and licked my face with a whimper.
“I know, baby. He’s just a mean, old sourpuss, isn’t he?” I crooned. “I bet you would make the best Christmas present ever. You’d chew up all of my slippers and I wouldn’t even be mad at you.”
“You’re supposed to be helping other people adopt a pet, Riley,” Nitro pointed out. “Not staking your claim on the dog you want for yourself.”
I feigned an offended gasp and covered the puppy’s ears. She thumped her tail against my side enthusiastically, gnawing on my wrist with her stubby little teeth.
“Don't say that! The baby might hear you. Isn’t she the cutest thing you ever laid eyes on?” I demanded, squishing her wrinkly face in my hands.
The puppy grinned, tongue lolling, eyes sparkling at all the attention. The tag on her collar read, Noel.
“Didn’t you ever dream of getting a puppy under your Christmas tree?” I asked Nitro.
“No,” he replied in a flat voice. “I can confidently say I did not.”
“Then what did you want?” I challenged.
He said nothing for several seconds, turning his head away as he scanned the crowded parking lot.
“A dirt bike,” he admitted.
Noel let out an ear-splitting yip. I placed her on the ground and she bounded off to play with the other puppies. I moved closer to the fence where Nitro was standing.
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “You mentioned you were a biker.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“I did?”
“At dinner the other night. Remember?”
He cast around for the memory. When he found it, understanding dawned on his face. He swore under his breath softly.
“Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me,” I admitted. “It matches that tough guy vibe you’ve got going on. So,” I added, gesturing for him to continue. “Did you get the dirt bike or not?”
“No,” Nitro replied. “My parents didn’t approve.”
I studied him for a heartbeat of silence.
“You went out and bought one for yourself, didn’t you?”
The corner of his mouth twitched with a half smile.
“I bought a motorcycle instead. My parents were not thrilled, to say the least.”
My gaze panned down his body as I tried to envision him seated on a Harley-Davidson with a roaring engine. Was it a sexy jet black? Or an eye-catching fire engine red? Or maybe a sleek, gleaming silver?
“Will you take me for a ride sometime?” I asked.
Nitro turned to look at me. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but he did visibly shift toward me.
“That would qualify as putting you in more danger,” he replied. “Which is the opposite of my job description. Those things are a death trap.”
I grinned at him and caught the hem of his jacket sleeve with a tug.
“Come on. Just a quick spin around the block wouldn’t hurt.”
Nitro remained silent, unrelenting. So I went in for the jugular with the killing blow. I wasn’t the type to play dirty like this, but something about Nitro made me feel safe enough to act a little bratty.
“Chett was too chicken shit to get a bike. But I’ve always wanted to ride one.”
Nitro removed his sunglasses and stepped closer until he towered over me and I could feel his body heat. I bit the inside of my cheek, thrilled to be pinned under his attention like this.
“Are you baiting me right now, twinkletoes?”
My grin grew even bigger.
“That depends. Is it working?”
He growled, a low, deep rumble in his chest.
Then a warbling howl at our feet interrupted us. Nitro and I glanced down to see Noel gazing up at us with eager brown eyes. She stuck her paw through the chain link fence, scratching at the shoelaces on Nitro’s boots.
“She likes you,” I said.
“I can see that,” he replied drily.
“You should take her home.”
“Riley,” he warned.
I bounced on my toes, eager to continue this banter. It was fun to poke his buttons, especially knowing that he would never lift a finger to hurt me. Unlike my ex, he wasn’t ruled by his temper.
Just when I took a breath to speak, a family approached the playpen with a baby wrapped in the woman’s arms.
“Morning, Elaine, Wingman,” Nitro said.
“Nitro! I didn’t expect you to show up at an event like this,” Wingman replied. He gestured between the two of us. “Are you…together?”
“I’m working a protection detail,” Nitro said.
“Ah,” Wingman replied. He nodded to me. “You’re in good hands then. Nothing and no one gets through Nitro.”
“It sounds like you know each other pretty well,” I said.
“We spent a short run together in the Reckless Order MC. I didn’t pass muster as a Prospect, but Nitro here went on to become a full-fledged member.”
My gaze flicked to Nitro. He wasn’t just a biker. He belonged to a club. Why didn’t he mention it before?
“How are the kids?” Nitro asked Wingman, deftly directing the conversation to another topic.
“They’re good,” Wingman replied, with an obvious note of pride in his voice.
“Mikey is at a friend’s house. We’re surprising him with a puppy for Christmas.
Now that little Sarah joined the family, Elaine and I thought Mikey should have a friend to play with, instead of being burdened with big brother duties all the time. ”
Nitro gestured to me.
“You should talk to Riley. She’s good with the puppies.”
Thirty minutes later, I had convinced Elaine and Wingman to sign adoption papers for a mild-mannered, chubby black lab.
“Let me run inside and get that paperwork for you,” I said. “He has a few basics to take home with you—his favorite toy, a leash, and a doggie bag of Christmas treats. Don’t go anywhere, be right back!”
I ducked into the humane society, hurrying through the crowded hallways of visitors. Just as the main office came into sight, a hand clamped on my arm with a bruising grip. I inhaled a breath to scream.
“Say one word,” Chett hissed in my ear. “And I’ll snap your arm like a goddamn toothpick.”
I bit my lip to stifle a whimper. With so many people around, I could cause a scene and escape.
“We’re going to continue our private conversation now,” he said through his teeth. “Alone. Don’t even think about bringing Sasquatch into this.”
I tried to wrench out of his grasp.
“Let go of me—”
I gasped as he tightened his grip. Pain jolted through my body. My fingers went tingly numb.
“Enough of this bullshit, Riley,” Chett spat. “I’m the best you will ever get. It’s about time you started appreciating everything I’ve done for you—”
He lurched forward as Nitro bodychecked him against the concrete wall. Chett struggled to free himself, but Nitro kept him pinned in place.
“I made myself very clear,” he said, low and quiet. “Do not come anywhere near her. Do not touch her. Now it’s time to meet the consequences of your own actions.”
Nitro grabbed Chett by the back of his coat and dragged him out the back door.
There were too many people around, too many witnesses.
So he kept moving, into a patch of scraggly woods.
The heels of Chett’s boots left haphazard tracks through the snow as he flailed, desperate to get out of Nitro’s iron grip.
I didn’t follow. My feet were rooted to the spot.
What felt like a lifetime later, Nitro finally returned. His fist was clenched at his side and his knuckles were split, bloodied.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a hoarse, raw voice.
I didn’t know how to answer that. So I simply shifted in place, chewing my lower lip. Nitro frowned and cupped my cheek in his palm.
“Riley,” he said, firm but gentle. “I need to hear you say yes or no.”
I hesitated. This was the part where I needed to be brave, to continue living my life so Chett no longer controlled me. But I didn’t feel brave.
At last, I shook my head.
“I want to go home.”
Without a word, he wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me to his car. The ride back to my house was silent. I couldn’t stop staring at Nitro’s blood-stained knuckles.
How long would this continue? Why couldn’t Chett just let me go? I huddled in my coat, fiddling with my gloves, chewing the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.
When Nitro parked outside my house, he circled around to the passenger side and took my head. Keeping me close, he led me inside.
“Take a bath,” he said softly. “It will help with the shock.”
I nodded, feeling as wobbly as a newborn fawn.
I barely took two steps before Nitro was there, guiding me into my bathroom.
He turned on the water, testing the temperature as the tub filled.
My teeth started to chatter as the adrenaline wore off and I rubbed my aching arm where Chett had grabbed me.
Finally, I managed to ask the question I didn’t have the courage for earlier.
“Is he…?”
“Dead?” Nitro finished for me. “No. Unfortunately. Believe me, if I thought I could get away with it, I would.”
I covered my face in my hands. God, how did it get this bad? I hated Chett’s guts. But I didn’t want him killed.
Nitro stood behind me to strip off my coat. Then he brushed a kiss to the back of my neck—the faintest butterfly pressure of his lips. So light. So delicate. But searing hot. Burning. Scorching.
“I’ll be outside if you need me,” he said.
Then he was gone. I shed my clothes and slid into the heavenly warm water, hugging my knees to my chest.