Chapter Two
Crow was staying until the New Year. Now, from time to time, he came for a few days and left. This was for a month.
Kelley didn’t know what to do to gain the attention she would like. Crow didn’t know this, but from the moment she had met him, away from all the violence and general chaos, she had fallen for him. At first, it was clearly just infatuation. He’d been her hero and she loved him. Simple as that.
Only, it wasn’t quite as simple as that. It wasn’t simple at all.
She expected to get over her little crush.
It hadn’t gone anywhere. No, little by little, the crush had built, and the best times of the year were the ones when Crow was coming to visit.
She always tried to play it cool. That was her jam.
The truth was, she wanted him so badly. But she didn’t want to just be another in a long line of women.
She was in love with Crow.
He didn’t feel anything for her.
Putting the last of the chocolate chips on the shelf, she looked at the baking section and knew it wouldn’t be long before it was a mess again.
She took great pride in her work. The shelves always looked great, and when she could, she’d straighten things out, giving everyone the best shopping experience of their lives.
That was what she kept telling herself. Only, she knew it was to distract herself from what she really wanted.
Crow had never made any promises to her.
In fact, he had told her she would never see him again.
Every Christmas and birthday, he came and stayed with her.
Like now, he was staying in the spare bedroom.
It was a small house, with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a sitting room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and even a small pantry.
She loved it and called this home. She wouldn’t give it up for anything.
There was only one thing missing—Crow.
Dating was not an option. A couple of customers who cam into the store regularly had asked her out on dates, and she declined. She was not going to give them the wrong impression. She was not interested, even a little bit.
There was only one man she wanted—Crow.
She was not going to try with anyone else. To her, that was cruel. If Crow didn’t want her, then she would be just as happy to be his friend. At least she kept telling herself that.
She was just nearing the end of her shift and was near the refrigerator section, when the man she couldn’t stop dreaming about entered.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
Okay, her heart started to race. She knew his sweet words didn’t mean anything to him, but they meant a great deal to her.
“Hey,” she said, trying to play it cool, although it was the last thing she felt.
“So, I was thinking I’d take you to the diner for dinner tonight. Save you from cooking.”
“Oh, okay, yeah, that, like, totally works.” She forced a smile to her lips.
“You good with that?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m happy with that.”
“Aren’t you finished soon?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, in about ten minutes.”
“I’ll wait.” He winked at her, and Kelley realized she was going to have to actually work with him watching.
That was easy. This was what she did every day. Only, her heart wasn’t racing, and she never felt nervous before, but she could do this. She tried to ignore Crow, but it was like her body and brain were betraying her, as she just drank him all in. Every single particle of him.
He was taller than her, about six feet, maybe taller.
He looked like a beast of a man, but sexy.
His hair was short, and he had ink that came to his neck.
From seeing him shirtless, she knew his arms and chest were covered in ink as well.
His legs were bare of any ink. His back was also covered.
He was strong and muscular. When he took on those two men five years ago, he didn’t even break a sweat.
She wondered what it would be like for him to hold her. To touch her. Those large hands that she knew were rough from hard work ... how would they feel on her body, giving her pleasure?
She dropped the trays of yogurt into the bottom of the refrigerator. “Crap.” She quickly picked them up, thankful none of them had opened. There was nothing spilled. It was all fine.
She offered him a smile and tried not to panic.
“I’ll wait outside. Those ten minutes are nearly up.”
Did his voice change? Did it go a little deeper? Before she could say anything, Crow turned and left, and she had no choice but to watch him. Damn it. She had to get her head in the game. There was no way he was going to look twice at a bumbling idiot. All he had done was stand there.
He must think of her as a childish fool.
****
Kelley was in a damn uniform, and it wasn’t even revealing. It was just a simple shirt, with long sleeves, a collar, and a pair of black pants. She could have quite easily been naked as he drank her the fuck in.
Crow couldn’t take his eyes off her. In fact, he couldn’t stop fucking thinking about her.
Even last night, when she insisted they share a hot chocolate together.
When did festive pajamas become sexy? They were never sexy in his book.
Yet, they looked so damn sexy, and the way they seemed to show the smoothness of her neck, dipping down temptingly toward her cleavage.
There was no fucking way he was fantasizing about this woman.
Kelley was no longer a girl. She was all woman.
Her hair had been pulled back into a clip, and all he could think about was taking that clip out, running his fingers through her hair, and pulling her in close.
Fuck, this was a nightmare. He needed to go and find some pussy.
Only, that repulsed him. He didn’t want to go fuck some other woman; to him, it felt wrong.
Sitting on the seat of his bike, he knew it would only be a matter of time before she came out.
Why couldn’t he focus? This was Kelley, the girl he’d protected.
The girl people wanted to exploit. He didn’t know much of anything else about her other than the fact that her mother wanted nothing to do with her.
That was what Kelley told him. He figured there was history there, but he didn’t ask her what happened.
He was no shrink, and he had no way of handling whatever drama she had.
If she wanted therapy, he’d pay for it, but so far, she hadn’t asked for any.
It was like thinking about her made her magically appear. There she was, coming out of the store. She’d pulled on a small jacket, and she had a backpack which she’d slid her thumbs through.
“You ready?” she asked.
He couldn’t help but notice the slight flush to her cheeks.
“Sure. You want to climb on?” he asked.
Even though he offered to give her driving lessons, Kelley didn’t want a car. She was not interested in learning to drive.
He straddled his machine and waited as Kelley climbed onto the back. He never had a helmet, and whenever he had Kelley, he always made sure to take it easy. He was not willing to risk her falling off and hurting herself.
They rode into town, which wasn’t too far away.
There had already been a fresh snowfall on the ground, but the roads had been treated, so were not too terrible to ride on.
The town was busy, like it was every holiday season.
He parked up outside of the diner, helped Kelley off, and then put a hand to the base of her back as they entered the diner.
The locals had gotten used to there being random bikers, as no one even gave him a second look. Kelley grabbed his hand, and they took the only small available booth, and she slid inside.
“I’m starving,” she said.
He noticed her hands shook a little as she picked up the menu.
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
“Nah, I’m not nervous. I love riding at the back of you.” She offered him that smile, and he knew it was genuine.
If she was upset about something, she’d tell him. Kelley didn’t keep secrets, and she never had any complaints when it came to riding a bike.
He glanced down at the menu but was distracted as Kelley took off her jacket.
She slid it right down her arms, and he couldn’t help but watch her.
She had pulled her clip out and ran fingers through her hair.
She looked so sexy, and her eyes closed as she did this.
He couldn’t help but look at her neck, and he licked his lips. She was so damn tempting.
He had never felt this way about anyone. He’d never craved a woman, never taken time to think about one. All he wanted to do was fuck her. And he knew that was not going to happen.
“Do you know what you want?” she asked.
You.
“Burger and fries for me.”
“That sounds good. I’ll have the same.”
He signaled the waitress, who was wearing reindeer ears, and they looked so cute. He ordered for the two of them, getting extra fries and lots of cheese sauce.
“So, do you have any plans while you stay?” Kelley asked.
“Not really. With the weather, there’s no way I’m heading on the road. It’s far too dangerous.”
Snow and ice were forecast for the foreseeable future. He was not going anywhere.
“Are you staying here or going back to the clubhouse?” she asked.
“I figured I’d stay with you. Help you put up some of those decorations you seem to love so much.”
Kelley laughed. “Do you still hate Christmas?”
“Not as much as I used to.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why?”
“It just always sucked.”
“Mine did as well. Trust me, when your mother sells you because you’re a virgin a couple of weeks before Christmas, I know it can make you hate Christmas, but you know what—”
“What?” Crow asked.
“What, what?” she asked, frowning.
“Did I hear right, your mother sold you because you were a virgin?”
“Fun little fact, I still am a virgin, and yeah, she sold me to them for money and a fur coat. At least that was what she was wearing when I saw her last.” She frowned.
Now he was pissed. “I thought you were taken?”
“No, no, I mean, technically I was taken, because I didn’t want to go, but they paid my mom. I don’t know how much.”
“And she sold you?”
“Yeah.”
He figured her mother was just a bitch, and it was one of those kinds of relationships between mother and daughter. He had no idea the bitch had sold her.