CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (33 page)

They
stopped along the way for breakfast and then later, for lunch. Shannon was
having the time of her life. Anywhere she wanted to stop, Crash did so. When
she pointed at a deserted stretch of beach along Highway 1, Crash pulled over,
and they hiked down to the beach. When she saw the wharf down in Santa Cruz,
Crash pulled over, and they walked around. When Shannon said she wished she had
her cell phone, so she could take some pictures, Crash bought her a pocket
camera at one of the shops.
 
They watched
the sunset over the ocean, and then Crash headed them in the direction of home.

Or
at least that’s where Shannon thought they were headed.

They
ended up at a cookout at Cole and Angel’s place.

Shannon
had been in the kitchen helping the women with food until Angel had shooed her
out onto the back deck where the men were overseeing the kids playing on the
big wooden play set that Angel had informed her Crash had helped Cole to build
for the twins third birthday several years ago.

Shannon
walked past the sunken living room where Mack, Red Dog, Wolf, Green and Cajun
were sprawled around the giant sofa pit group watching a game on the big screen
TV. She strolled outside where Crash, Cole and another man were sitting on the
back deck. Looking off to the play set, she saw Red Dog’s son, Billy and Cole’s
kids, TJ and Melissa were all playing on it.

Shannon
took a seat next to Crash.

He
reached over and took her hand, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss. “You okay,
Princess?”

“I’m
fine.”

He
nodded toward the other man and introduced Shannon. “Shannon, this is Rusty.
He’s a member of the War Dogs,” he grinned over at Rusty and added, “but we
don’t hold that against him.”

Shannon
looked over at the man. He was young, maybe ten years younger than Crash. He
had his hair cut in a short military style, a pair of cool shades over his eyes
and a tiny infant cradled to his shoulder. “Hi, nice to meet you.”

He
nodded, “Pleasure’s all mine.”

“How
old is your baby?” Shannon asked, nodding to the child.

He
twisted his neck to brush the baby’s head with a kiss. “Little Katie is three
months. Aren’t you, punkin’?”

The
baby sneezed in response.

Shannon
laughed, then asked, “So, what are the War Dogs?”

Rusty
replied, “We’re a riding club of ex-military guys.”

“You
were in the military?”

“Yes,
ma’am. Marines. Still in the Reserves.”

She
nodded and turned to Crash. “Maybe Jake and Shane should meet Rusty.”

Crash
laughed. “You tryin’ to run off our recruits, woman?”

She
rolled her eyes.

He
reached over and kissed her hand again, then smiled and winked at her as he
drained the last of the beer from his bottle.

“Can
I get you another one?” she offered.

“I
can get it,” he replied.

She
snatched the bottle out of his hand, getting up. “I’ve got it.”

He
grabbed her empty hand again and gave it another kiss as she moved past. “Thanks,
babe.”

Cole’s
eyes tracked her movements as she went back inside, little Brayden squirming in
his lap. Then he turned to Crash, chuckling. “Guess I owe you a hundred bucks.
You got her waiting on you. Never thought I’d see this day.”

Crash
frowned, shaking his head. “It’s not like that. That was a stupid bet. One I
never should have made. One you better never tell her about.” His eyes narrowed
at Cole.

Cole
nodded, coming to realize just how deep his brother’s feelings were beginning
to run for this girl. “She won’t hear it from me.”

Brayden
started to fuss in Cole’s arms, twisting and thrashing and trying to get down
to go play with his big brother and sister. Cole bounced him in an attempt to
pacify him. “You’re too little for that, buddy. Maybe next year.”

“Daddy!
TJ and Billy won’t let me play with them!” Melissa called to her father.

“Dad,
she’s got cooties! Girls aren’t allowed in me and Billy’s fort! Make her leave
us alone!” TJ argued.

“Daddy!
TJ just threw a frog at me!” Melissa yelled, really mad now.

Cole
looked over at the play set as he held his screaming youngest son and grumbled,
“This parenthood thing doesn’t look like it did in the brochures.”

Crash
chuckled.

Rusty
pulled his daughter away from his shoulder and looked at the spit up all over
his shirt. “Yeah. I think my recruiter lied to me.”

“Yeah—they kind of lose that new car smell after a while,” Cole replied,
sniffing his son’s diaper.

Crash
laughed. “You’re both so full of shit. You love it, and you know it.”

“Okay,
Uncle
Crash. You can pitch in
anytime,” Cole replied.

Crash
got to his feet and walked over toward the play set.

Shannon
walked back out on the deck with a bottle of beer and took her seat, watching
Crash with the kids. With a sudden impulse, she set his beer down next to his
chair and pulled out the pocket camera she still had with her.

Crash
scooped up Melissa and tossed her in the air. She squealed, and he did it
again. “How’s my best girl?” he asked, cuddling her in his arms.

Melissa
looked up at him with big serious eyes. “TJ and Billy won’t let me play with them
in their stupid fort,” she said loud enough for the boys to hear.

“Our
fort’s not stupid. You are!” TJ yelled.

“You
are!” Melissa yelled back.

Crash
pulled Melissa close in his arms and whispered in her ear, “Darlin’, let me let
you in on a little secret.”

She
looked at him wide-eyed. “What’s the secret, Uncle Crash?”

“In
about ten years, things are going to change. And then, Billy over there is
going to be dying to spend time with
you
.”

“Really,
Uncle Crash?”

“Absolutely,
sweet pea.”

“Promise?”

“I
swear.”

“Pinky
swear?” she asked, holding her little finger up.

Crash
grinned and hooked her pinkie with his. “Pinky swear.”

“But
that’s forever from now,” she whined.

“It’ll
be here before you know it, honey. Besides, you have your castle side of the
play set. And everybody knows that castles are way better than any old fort.”

Melissa
kissed him on the cheek with a big smacking sound and hugged him around his
neck. “I love you, Uncle Crash.”

“Love
you, too, sweet pea.” He hugged her tight, and then set her down. She ran off
to play, giggling. Crash turned around smiling, and his eyes connected with
Shannon’s as she barely had time to snatch the camera down and out of sight.
She smiled back at him, knowing that shot was going to be precious.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Tuesday
night, just as Angel had promised, she and Crystal came over for girls night. Shannon
was sitting at the island. Crash was on the kitchen side, leaning forward,
resting his folded arms on the granite when the intercom went off. Angel’s
voice came over the speaker. “Hey, Crash. Let us in.”

Crash
grinned at Shannon. “Your girls are here.”

“So,
it would seem. Are you going to let them in?” she asked with a smirk when he
continued to just lean there, staring at her.

“You
gonna be okay if I leave?”

“I’ll
be fine.”

“I
checked the rooftop. Not sure how they got it down, but they’d gotten the fire
escape ladder down. That’s how your visitors got up to the roof the other night.
I took care of that. They won’t be able to get it down again.” He grinned at
her. “Only Spiderman’s getting up here now.”

“Thank
you.”

“You’ll
call me when you want me to come back?”

The
intercom went off again. “Crash! Open up!”

Shannon
grinned. “I’ll call you. Are you going to let them in?”

“After
you come over here, and kiss me goodbye.”

She
slid off the barstool and walked around the island. Crash’s cell phone, which
was sitting on the island next to his elbow, went off. He glanced at the
readout. “Your girls are impatient.”

As
Shannon reached him, he straightened from the counter and pulled her to him,
his hands on her hips. Her hands slid up his chest, over the cool smooth
leather of his cut to his broad shoulders. He gazed down at her and waited, not
dipping his head to hers, wanting her to come the rest of the way to him.

And
then she did.

Her
hands moved to cup his jaw, and she went up on her toes, her soft mouth
pressing against his. His hands slid from her hips, around to the small of her
back and pulled her closer. He tilted his head to better angle his mouth to
hers, as her mouth opened under his.

His
cell rang again, and he broke off, lifting his head an inch. Then he went back
for another light brush of his mouth against her. And then he stepped back,
grabbed his phone and moved to the elevator.

They
stared at each other as he descended.

Five
minutes later, Angel and Crystal piled out of the elevator.

Crystal
was manning the blender, mixing up frozen margaritas. Angel was at the
microwave heating up some queso dip and Shannon was digging through the
cabinets looking for margarita glasses. She’d spotted some giant goblets up on
the top shelf of one of the cabinets that she thought they could use, and she
was up on her tip-toes stretching to reach them when she heard Angel screech,
“What is that?”

Shannon
almost dropped a glass twisting to look at her. “What?”

“That!”
Angel was pointing to Shannon’s stomach. “You have a tattoo. Let’s see.”

Shit,
Shannon thought as she dropped back off her toes, setting the glasses down. Now
she was going to have to tell them about it. “Umm…”

“Come
on, let’s see it,” Angel insisted.

Crystal
had stopped blending, turning to look.

Shannon
rolled her eyes and lifted her loose flowing shirt. She had on her yoga pants,
with the waistband pulled down low so as not to brush on the tattoo which was still
in its early days of healing.

“Wow,
that’s beautiful,” Angel said, bending to see it.

Crystal
moved closer, peering over Angel’s shoulder, and then whistled low. “Damn,
girl.”

“You
didn’t have that the other day when I came over to help you dress for the
party,” Angel said in an accusatory voice.

“No.
Crash did it Saturday.”

“
Crash
inked you?” Crystal asked, her
brows lifted.

“Well,
um, yeah.”

Crystal
grabbed the pitcher of margaritas and headed around the island toward the roof.
“Come on girls, I can’t wait to hear
this
story.”

Angel
snatched up the chips and queso, and Shannon followed with the glasses.

When
they were all settled in chairs on the rooftop, Crystal poured them each a
drink, and then leaned back and instructed Shannon, “Okay, shoot. And don’t
leave anything out.”

Shannon
proceeded to tell them how a rainy day had led to a game of Truth or Dare,
which in turn had led to a game of pool. Then she explained about the wager.

“And
you lost?”

“I’d
say she won,” Crystal commented with a sly smile. “Crash is an artist. That ink
is beautiful. I sure wouldn’t mind a man wanting to put that kind of symbolism
on me.”

“It
is
kind of romantic. You being the
rose, him all wrapped around you, protecting you,” Angel admitted.

“It’s
cool as shit,” Crystal exclaimed. “No, scratch that. It’s
hot
as shit!”

“What
do you think it means?” Shannon asked.

“I
think it means he likes you,” Angel replied.

“Oh,
he likes you all right.” Crystal turned to Angel. “You should have seen him
when she walked in the club Friday night. His jaw hit the floor. He didn’t
leave her side the whole night.”

Angel
turned, grinning at Shannon.

Crystal
kept on. “I knew that outfit would do the trick.”

Angel
looked at Shannon. “Have you, you know…”

“Have
we what?” Shannon asked.

Crystal
grinned, not afraid to be blunt. “Has he fucked you yet?”

“Crystal!”
Angel reprimanded her.

“What?
It’s what we all want to know, isn’t it?”

“You
don’t have to be so crude about it.”

Crystal
rolled her eyes. “Fine. Has that beautiful God of a man made sweet love to you
yet?” She turned to Angel. “Is that better?”

Angel
smiled. “Yes.”

They
both turned to Shannon and said simultaneously, “Well, has he?”

“No,
not yet.”

“Has
he tried?” Angel asked. “Have you kissed or anything?”

“We’ve
kissed and…some other stuff.”

“Ooo…other
stuff can be yummy,” Crystal commented with an eyebrow waggle.

“And
well he kind of asked me…”

“What?
Asked you what?” Angel prodded.

“He
showed me that cage thing.”

“Oh,
yeah, the cage fighting. What about it?”

Crystal
turned to Angel. “This is like pulling teeth for God’s sake.”

They
both turned to Shannon and said, “Just tell us!”

“Okay,
okay. He, umm…he said a woman like me didn’t just give it away, that a guy had
to earn it.”

“Ooo,
that’s so romantic.”

“He’s
scoring major points in my book for that,” Crystal noted.

“He
asked me if he won the fight next weekend, would I bestow a prize on him. When
I asked what kind of a prize, he said he wanted me to spend one night with
him.”

“Oh
my God! I can’t believe you’re not already all over that boy. You two looked so
hot for each other Friday night,” Crystal remarked.

“How
do you feel about him?” Angel asked.

Shannon
looked down, running her finger around the rim of her glass. “I…I’m really
starting to like him. He takes care of me. Makes me feel safe and protected.”

“Besides
that,” Angel pressed.

She
shrugged. “He won’t take my crap. He calls me on it. No one has ever done that
before. And he makes me laugh.”

“I
think it’s sweet that he’s waiting,” Angel told Shannon. “Don’t you?”

“Yes.
It’s sweet, but...”

“But
what?”

“What if he breaks my heart?”

“What if he doesn’t?”

Shannon shrugged.

“Are you attracted to him?”

Shannon got a shy smile and blushed.

“You
want to jump his bones,” Crystal observed with a grin.

“He’s
making it difficult
not
to want him,”
Shannon admitted.

“Hmm,
maybe you need to make it just as difficult for him. Turn it up a little.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
think this calls for a run to the mall for some major lingerie shopping,” Angel
suggested.

“Oh,
no…I don’t think I need to tempt the tiger anymore.”

“What
about when he wins the fight?”

“What
do you mean?”

“Do
you have something special to wear? At least some sexy underwear for when he
peels those clothes off? I mean, the boys gonna
fight
for you. He deserves for you to make it a
little
special, don’t you think?”
Crystal asked.

“I
guess that
would
be nice.”

Angel
got up. “I’m going to go get some more queso. We’re going to finish this
pitcher, then we’re heading to the mall.”

Crystal
and Shannon watched her walk back inside.

While
they had a moment alone Shannon thought it a good time to bring up what
happened at the clubhouse party Friday night. “So, you and Wolf. Was Cole angry?”

“No,
he was cool. I thought he was going to blame me for the trouble. I should have
known better. Cole’s not like that. He was more concerned for me than anything
else. I think he
did
have words with
Wolf, though.”

“So,
you and Wolf?”

“Yeah,
me and Wolf.” Crystal looked down. “Please don’t tell Angel. I’ll never hear
the end of it.”

“Of
course not.” Shannon wasn’t sure what else to say, so she kept quiet.

Crystal
continued in a soft voice, “Cole’s right. I can’t keep letting him use me like
that.”

“Was
that how it was? Is that all you think he was doing? Why would he be jealous if
all he was doing was using you? Why would he care? Because obviously he does
care...at least on some level.”

“Maybe
we were using each other.”

“Maybe
you were needing each other.”

Crystal
shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I
admit I don’t know these men very well, but…”

“What?”

“Wolf
didn’t strike me as the type to purposely hurt you like that.”

“I
know he’s not, I just wish he’d stop jerking me around like this. If I’m not
what he really wants, then he should just leave me alone.”

“Then
maybe Cole’s right. All or nothing. If it can’t be all, then it has to be
nothing, because clearly friends with benefits is not working. For either of
you.”

Crystal
nodded, and then changed the subject, putting on a bright face. “So, tell me
about this new guy, Shane.”

Shannon
grinned. “Shane, hmm?”

Crystal
shrugged, “Seems like he’s going to be sticking around.”