Theo frowns, drops her arms and lets them dangle at her sides. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.” I chuckle. “The Wulven Kings is one of the oldest MCs in Colorado and we’ve owned Sabine Woods and the surrounding areas since the late sixties. A new club that might be gunning for the territory is bound to attack someone like me, like my club, in order to assert dominance. If it wasn’t the Kings, it would have been the Pythons or someone else, and since we’re allies it would have started shit no matter what.”
“But—“
“No buts, Blondie. It was bound to happen whether you were at that bar or not.”
Theo drops her forehead to my chest right over my thundering heart. “So now what? Do I have to go into witness protection or some shit?”
Jesus.
This woman.
“No, honey. My club is going to take care of you.”
Just as I decide to wrap my arms around her and get a feel for what it’s like to actually hold Theo, her head pops up, cracks me in the chin and she stumbles backward and almost goes down on the floor.
“So, you aren’t actually here because you want to be?”
I blink. “What?”
She nods and rubs the top of her head. “You’re here out of obligation, because you’d feel guilty if something bad happened to me.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not here because—“
“Well, I don’t need a bodyguard.” Theo crosses her arms against her chest and narrows her eyes. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to uproot your life just to protect my stupid ass, I’m sure your many girlfriends will miss you too much. I can just buy a gun or something, but I will be fine. I don’t need you or your club.”
The thought of Theo wielding a gun is both erotic as hell and just as terrifying. With her accident prone nature, she’d probably end up shooting herself within minutes of owning it. She’d still look sexy as fuck with one though.
Wait.
“Mymany girlfriends?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not stupid, Zak. Look at you. You’re fucking perfect and gorgeous and I’m sure you’ve lived your life similarly to Jackal. I’m not that naive.”
“Ok, first of all, don’t ever compare my life to Jackal’s again. I may have indulged in my younger years but I’m nothing like that asshole when it comes to women or anything else. And secondly, do not make assumptions about anyone just because they roll differently from you. Not all MCs are like the way they’re portrayed on TV.”
Theo scoffs. “Right. I’m sure there aren’t tons of ready and willing participants to meet every one of your heart's desires.”
“Just because we have house mice and sweet butts doesn’t mean I have some harem of women following me around just waiting to suck me off.”
“Gross.” Her adorable nose wrinkles. “You really expect me to believe you don’t have women falling all over themselves for a chance to be with you when you look like that and obviously have a heart of gold?”
“What the fuck are you even talking about?”
Theo does this crazy up and down motion with her flapping hands. “Look at you!”
“I have and I ain’t fucking pretty!”
“Right! You’re beautiful.”
“I’m a mangled fucking mess!” I whip my cap off and push my hair back, this entire thing going too far and yet not far enough. “I have no idea why you haven’t asked me about this shit, why you haven’t recoiled or flinched once since getting a good look at my face, but I’m starting to think you’re even more blind than I am!”
Theo marches over to the dining room, snatches her glasses from the table and shoves them on her nose. Then she stomps back over, gets chest to fucking chest with me by standing on her coffee table and smashes her nose against mine.
“You. Are. Beautiful,” she almost growls. “I haven’t asked because it’s not my place and I don’t flinch or recoil because that’s fucking stupid. Anyone who treats you differently because they can’t look past your scars to see how gorgeous you are isn’t worth a damn. The scars don’t make the man and this man,” she pokes me in the left pec, “is kind and caring. This man,” another poke, “is fearless and brave. This man is good and strong and hot as fuck!” Three more pokes and a shove.
And while hearing Theo say those things about me makes my chest fill with pride, she’s wrong. “I’m a fucking felon, Theo. I’m not a good man and I’ve lived a real shitty life. I’ve done horrible things and I’ve had horrible things done to me. I’m not even good enough to share your air, let alone accept your words as truth.”
