Nervousness flutters in my lower belly.I don’t know what I’m doing.I left everything and everyone behind.Climbed on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle on a hope and a prayer that wherever he’s going, it has to be better than what I’m running from.He could leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.He could kill me if he so desired.No one would ever find me and yet I trust he won’t hurt me.He’s as rough and tough as far as bikers come, but there’s this softness in his brown eyes when he looks at me.Like his soul and mine recognize one another.
Like we’ve met before.
Perhaps in another life we were connected somehow.
It sounds cliché and a little silly, but that’s the way he makes me feel.Familiar.Safe.Like he’d do whatever it takes to protect me.
Which is as crazy as it sounds.He doesn’t know me and owes me nothing.
He’s protecting me as a favor to Big Daddy, Gwynee’s man.I don’t know why she wanted to help me.Maybe she felt guilty for not warning me fully about the type of guy Thad was.Though he never hit her.Only cheated on her the whole time they were together.I was so damn blind.I thought I was special.
That he’d be different with me.That he’d change for me.
The joke was all on me.
I’m not that special.
Gwynee didn’t owe me anything, but the man I married did.If I’d been her, I would have hated myself.I married the man who cheated on her.I don’t know what I would have done in her shoes, but I’m grateful either way.
I yawn and close my eyes, praying for sleep to claim me and for Thad to stop haunting my dreams.
“Good night, Woods.”
“Night, butterfly.”The endearment comes out gravelly and deep, warming me deep in the center of my belly in ways it shouldn’t.
I’m still married and have no business being attracted to this handsome biker.
If he wasn’t suffering from food poisoning, I know, given the chance, I’d fuck him again.One night with him was better than the months I spent blinded by Thad.
I settle back into the covers and attempt to find a comfortable position.Silence stretches between us, but my thoughts won’t stop racing.
What will Arkansas be like?Where will I stay?What will I do?How long will I have to hide from Thad and the bad men he went into business with to take down Big Daddy?
If I’m lucky, the Kings of Anarchy MC will kill him before he realizes that I’m gone.Would save me the cost of filing for a divorce.It’s terrible to think such thoughts.But Thad would kill me, given the chance to try.I saw the murderous glint in his eyes.He wanted me dead.He never loved me.That evil bastard doesn’t know how to love.All he does is take and destroy.He fooled me.I won’t make that mistake a second time.
I glance back at Woods, who is already snoring and pray whatever is meant for me will find me.
But maybe, just maybe, it already has.
Morning comes far too soon.I groan and stretch, my body aching with each movement from a night of restlessness paired with a lumpy mattress.Not to mention I’m not used to spending hour upon hour riding a motorcycle.Even if that motorcycle comes attached to a good-looking man like Woods.
He exits the bathroom and shoots me an apologetic expression.“I’d wait about ten minutes before goin’ in there.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“I’ve gotta check in with my guys.Be ready to ride out in twenty.”He lights up a cigarette as he goes out the door, leaving a cloud of smoke behind him.I’d normally find the habit nasty.Only I’m discovering when it comes to this man, he makes everything attractive.
I brave the bathroom and wash up as best I can with the meager bar of complimentary soap and threadbare wash cloth.This place is definitely low budget, and I won’t miss it.Though anything is better than being with Thad.
I’m nervous about what’s going to come.I don’t have a dollar to my name.When I ran out of the house to escape Thad, I left with only the clothes on my back.I don’t even have my phone.Big Daddy said he’d ship some of my stuff to me, but I don’t know how high that is on his list of priorities.
I’m at the mercy of Woods.Completely dependent on him until then.I slip my borrowed boots on and fasten my hair into two braids, so my hair isn’t whipping around and getting all knotted up.Outside of the motel room, Woods is pacing at the edge of the parking lot, engaged in what appears to be a heated phone conversation.I hope it’s not something to do with me.
The rest of his crew are standing around their bikes, preparing for the rest of our ride to Arkansas.
“Hey girl.Did my brother keep you up all night with his snoring?”Willow, also known as Low, bumps her shoulder against mine.
“That and his rip roaring farts.”
