Losing Control (9 page)

His attitude was not only beginning to piss her off, but it was starting to hurt her feelings. Part of her bravado fell as did her smile. Instead of letting the tears come to her eyes, she stomped her foot. “No, I’m not going to. I owe you money, and I’m going to fulfill my part of the obligation.”

“Then just give me the money, forget about the dinner. You don’t owe me anything besides the $225 left on the repairs to your car.”

That stung. This time she couldn’t stop the tears that pooled but did not fall. “Did I do something to piss you off or make you mad at me?”

It was the tone of her voice that got to him. He sighed, letting his asshole façade fade. “No, I’m just not myself right now.”

“I’m trying to help you be yourself. Trying to get you back into your routine,” she explained.

“Okay, let’s try this again.” He took a deep breath, grinning slightly. “Thank you for bringing me lunch today.”

“You are very welcome. I do have to admit though,” she reached down to run her fingers along his cheek, “I don’t like that bruise on your face. It’s too pretty to be bruised.”

“It’s the only thing besides my tattoos that make me look tough. Give me at least that.”

She set the food down in front of her. “Hate to break it ya, pretty boy, but even your tattoos don’t make you look tough. That’s not saying that you don’t have a dangerous edge to you, because you do, but it’s not your looks. It’s your attitude.”

The honesty they had with each other surprised him sometimes, but he loved it. He watched as she set out some white Styrofoam boxes. “What did you bring me?”

“Like you, I’ve watched you a lot. I know that you like sushi and Japanese cuisine. So I got you some sushi rolls, and I got me teriyaki steak.”

“Very impressive. Let’s see if you got the rolls I like.” He opened the box and his mouth watered. “You are a very good study, Ms. Hawks.”

“Only as good as you are, Mr. Stone,” she returned the compliment.

“Do you not like sushi?” he asked.

She watched as he opened his chopsticks and soy sauce and wasabi. His long fingers wrapped around his chopsticks, and he set them down against the hard surface of the TV table she’d scooted over next to him. He grabbed a drop of the wasabi and put it in his soy sauce and stirred it up before expertly grabbing a piece of his roll, dipping it, and shoving it into his mouth.

“Not a huge fan,” she finally answered, swallowing hard. These moments between them were beginning to build. They truly were having a relationship no matter what she wanted to call it.

“You’re so missing out, but to each their own, I guess.”

“Exactly. Different strokes for different folks,” she added.

A twinkle appeared in his eye, and he licked his lips of the soy sauce that lingered there. “I’d like to know how you stroke,” he whispered.

Her cheeks bloomed a bright red with embarrassment. His flirting was so different from the blatant flirting she was used to. He flirted by turning her own words around on her. It was much more effective than just grabbing her ass, but it also left her speechless.

“So,” she changed the subject, clearing her throat. “I got an ‘A’ on that paper I was working so hard on.”

“Seriously? Great job.” His voice held an edge of pride.

“Yeah,” she nodded, almost preening under his praise. “Meredith helped me the night you were in the hospital, and without her I probably wouldn’t have done as well, but it worked out.”

“I’m glad she could help you. She’s super smart.”

“I know. I see now why she and Tyler are together. They are both extremely intelligent and extremely attractive. Usually it’s one or the other. When you luck out with the combination, you have to keep that contained.”

He chuckled, holding his ribs. “Don’t make me laugh, and don’t give Tyler a bigger head than he already has.”

“Sorry, I forgot about your ribs.”

“That’s one thing I haven’t been able to forget. They are achy like a motherfucker, and I get tired really easily – although today it’s been better.”

“On that note, I should probably go.” She glanced at the time on her cell phone and realized they’d been lazing over that lunch for a few hours.

“Don’t go on my account.”

She stood and shook her head. “No, I have to get ready for work.”

He nodded, wishing he could go with her. “You be safe while I’m not there.”

“I am, but I like it better when you
are
there.”

He held out his hand for her, and she clasped it. With all the strength he could muster, he pulled her down to his level and kissed her. Really kissed her for the first time. He was just trying to decide if he wanted to coax her tongue into the mix when she pulled away.

“I really do have to go.”

Reluctantly, he let her. “Thanks for getting me out of my own head,” he told her as she walked towards the door.

“I have no doubt that you’d do the same for me. This time when I text you, Jagger Stone, you better answer.”

He held up his phone. “I’ll be waiting, baby.”

“You better be.”

When she left, the room was cold and lonely. Finally, Jagger was tired of his own company.

Chapter Twelve

I
forgot to give you your money. If you feel up to it, get somebody to drive ya over here.

Jagger looked at the text he’d just received from Bianca. He’d purposely not reminded her of the money as she had left. He was hoping to see her again as soon as possible. Getting up gingerly out of his chair, he wandered to the living area of the clubhouse to see who all was around.

“Layne! Just the man I want to see.”

He and Layne had prospected together, but Jagger had moved up in the club faster. “Hey, how you doin’? Ribs okay?” Layne asked.

“Dude, they hurt like a motherfucker, and I can’t ride my bike. That’s what I was coming to ask you, by the way. Can I get a ride over to
Wet Wanda’s
?”

“I am
always
down for going over there. Sure.”

Layne’s giving me a ride over. See you soon.

Bianca grinned as she read the text message from Jagger and then stuck the phone in her pocket.

“What’s got you so happy?” Jasmine asked, as she saw the smile on Bianca’s face.

“Jagger’s coming by.”

Even as she said it, her heart fluttered. She had never had someone affect her like this. No one in her life had ever had the power to make her day better or make her feel better about herself and it was scary.

“I’ve never seen you excited about someone visiting you at work before,” Jasmine commented, eyebrows raised.

“I know, and don’t give me any shit about it.”

Jasmine put her hand on Bianca’s shoulders. “Girls like us, we don’t get excited when men tell us they are coming to see us. That’s not who we are.”

Bianca knew that her friend spoke at least a partial truth. No one looked at either of them and saw forever kind of girls, especially in this setting. They took one look at them and saw “get your rocks off” kind of girls. She decided to ignore that little voice in her head this time; she wanted to take this as far as she could.

“Whatever, just because your daughter’s father left you doesn’t mean all men are like that. And I’m not even talking about that here. We are just having a good time.”

“That’s how it always starts out.”

Jasmine was bringing her down, so Bianca was excited to see someone seated at one of her tables. “I gotta go get this.” She pointed to the group and walked confidently over to them.

“Hey, I’m Bianca, I’ll be your waitress tonight. What can I get for you guys?”

She noticed that while the two men sitting at the table gave off a relaxed air, they were still glancing around the room. Their eyes darted back and forth from her to the door.

“We need a few minutes,” one of the guys said, winking at her.

That made her feel uneasy, and she wasn’t sure why. When he leaned closer over his menu, the jacket he wore lifted off his arm, and she saw the beginnings of a tattoo. One she had seen a few times. These men were members of the Bosnian motorcycle club in town, the Vojnik.

“Yeah, just let me know when you need somethin’.”

She hurried back over to where Jasmine stood. “We gotta get those guys out of here now. Jagger and them are on their way.”

“Why?”

“They’re members of a rival motorcycle club. I have no idea what the fuck they’re doing here, but it’s not gonna be good when Heaven Hill gets here. This is their turf.”

At that moment a group entered the club, and Bianca knew by the jolt of electricity that traveled through her body that Jagger was with them. “Shit.”

“What the fuck are they doing here?” Layne asked, pointing over at the intruders sitting at the booth in Bianca’s section.

Jagger glanced over to where he pointed and rage went through his body. This was no coincidence. “Call Liam and Tyler.”

His eyes caught Bianca’s, and he gingerly walked over to her. When he reached her, he put his hand on her waist and leaned over, giving her a kiss on the temple. “How long have they been here?”

“Just got here,” she answered as she put her hand on his chest. “Please don’t start anything.”

“
They
started it by even setting foot in that front door.”

His eyes were hard, and this was the attitude that she had talked about earlier in the day.
This
was what made him dangerous. He didn’t seem to be scared of anything. Ever.

“I promise not to start anything. If they start it, I promise you though, I’m gonna finish it.”

That was all she could ask.

“Liam and Tyler are on their way. Liam seems to think this is them trying to figure out who we are now that William’s no longer president. They should be here in a few. They weren’t too far away.”

One of the guys at the table lifted his finger up, motioning Bianca back over. She grabbed her notepad and began to walk when Jagger caught her by the hand. His eyes never leaving the men at the table, he lifted her wrist and placed a kiss over the pulse point there, showing that she was his. The glow of his eyes warned these men not to mess with her.

Bianca took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before making her way back to the table. “You guys ready?”