Steel 5: Blackthorne MC#5 (4 page)

“Where exactly are you going?” I asked him.

“To a place fifty miles from here. The owner has given us trouble in the past, and we’re not expecting him to pay up easily, so we have to be…
persuasive
.”
 

Nick shrugged and held out his hand for me to take. When I grabbed it, he pulled me up from the bed and wrapped his arms around me.
 

I could smell the leather of his jacket and the sharp citrus scent of the shower gel he had just used. I really didn’t want him to go without me, but it didn’t look like I had much choice.

“Come on,” he said, stroking my hair. “Let’s go and get some breakfast before I head off.”

As we left the bedroom, Nick shot me a look. “I’m not exactly pleased to be leaving you with Jackson. But he volunteered to stay here.”
 

I felt the full weight of Nick’s assessing stare, and I couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking. Did he suspect I had some kind of crush on Jackson? Or that something was going on between us?

But I didn’t see how he could possibly think that, not after everything that had happened. He had to trust me.

“Are you worried about leaving Jackson and I alone?”
 

Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Should I be?”

I shook my head quickly. “Of course not. But you’re looking at me funny.”

“Funny?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know. It’s like you are trying to figure something out, almost as if you don’t trust me around Jackson.”

“It’s Jackson I don’t trust,” Nick said with a scowl. He reached for my hand again and gently squeezed my fingers. “I do trust you, Ella.”

There was a separate room beside the bar where they served breakfast. The tables were set out in long lines, making it feel almost like a canteen. I screwed up my nose at the smell of burnt bacon and sour coffee.

The others were already there and they looked up as we joined them at the table. Chad and Tom both had huge plates in front of them, piled high with bacon and eggs.

“Morning,” they grunted, barely looking up from their breakfasts.

Jackson smiled at me. “Can I get you some coffee? It’s not exactly the finest blend, but at least it’s hot.”

He pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down beside him, while Nick sat down between Chad and Tom.

“Thank you,” I said as Jackson poured both of us a cup of coffee.

“So it looks as if I will have the pleasure of your company today, Ella,” Jackson said and winked at me.
 

I knew
that
wouldn’t escape Nick’s attention, and sure enough, when I glanced over at him, his eyes were burning into Jackson, trying to communicate some silent warning.
 

But Jackson ignored him.

“What would you like to do today, Ella?” Jackson asked.

I took a sip of my coffee and then set it back down on the table. “Do? I don’t suppose there’s much to do around here, is there?”

“There’s a small town about five miles from here. There’s not much there — a diner and a couple of shops.” Jackson shrugged. “If you’d rather just stay here…”

The chance to visit a real-life town and interact with normal people, not just bikers, was irresistibly appealing.

“No, that sounds great. I’d love to go.”

I smiled, thinking that this day might not turn out as badly as I’d expected. But when I looked up, I saw Nick frowning at me.

I avoided his gaze. What was wrong with visiting a town? It was Nick who wanted me to stay with Jackson, so why was he so pissed at me now?

I placed an order for pancakes with one of the waitresses, and Nick started to talk to Chad and Tom about strategies for their upcoming collection.
 

I wasn’t really listening.
 

I gazed around at the faded décor, and then caught the eye of the girl who’d been behind the bar yesterday and had let me use her cell phone. I smiled at her and nodded.
 

She hesitated before returning my smile, and I wondered what it was like living out here all the time. Did she ever dream of getting away, or moving to a big city and doing something different?

One of the other waitresses set a large pile of pancakes in front of me, and I covered them in syrup. I dug in, wondering about the lives of the people who worked in the bar as I ate.

Jackson’s voice brought me back to the present from my daydreams. “I’ll meet you out front in half an hour?”
 

He pushed his chair back from the table.

I nodded and smiled at him. “Okay, great.”

After Jackson left the table, Nick leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and said, “Don’t trust him, Ella.” He spoke in a low whisper so that Chad and Tom didn’t hear him.

I frowned. Nick was the one who was practically forcing me to spend the day with Jackson, so why was he telling me not to trust him?
 

I sighed and pushed my plate away, scooting my chair back from the table at the same time.

“I’m sure you’ve got a lot to talk about,” I said, nodding to Chad and Tom. “I’ll leave you to organize your plan for today. See you later.”

When I went to walk away from the table, Nick grabbed my wrist. He stood up quickly, placing one hand behind the crook of my neck, and pulled me into him, delivering a deep, possessive kiss.
 

I should have pulled away. It was another attempt to brand me as his own. But the sensation of his sweet lips on mine, and the way his tongue caressed my mouth, meant pulling away was the last thing I wanted to do.

When he finally did break the kiss, Nick stared down at me, his eyes dark and hot. He leaned forward so his breath tickled my cheek. “I’ll see you tonight, Ella.”

Not trusting myself to speak after being kissed like that, I just nodded and then quickly hurried away to get ready for my trip with Jackson.

As arranged, I met Jackson in the parking lot. He was already sitting on his bike. His blonde hair and tanned skin contrasted with the dark leather. He was definitely a good-looking guy, and he knew it.

I felt a little uneasy climbing onto the bike. Riding behind someone on a bike seemed such an intimate thing to do.
 

With my legs wide and leaning against his muscular body, I blushed at how close we were.
 

Jackson was taller than Nick, although not quite so broad. I hesitated at first not quite knowing where to put my hands. In the end, I decided gripping his leather jacket was the safest thing to do.
 

Jackson turned around and grinned. Then he grabbed both of my hands, pulling me forward and wrapping my arms tightly around his torso.

“I wouldn’t want you to fall off, Ella.”

The fact that my breasts were now squashed against his hard back, and my pelvis was pressed against him made me blush furiously.
 

Just because I had strong feelings for Nick, didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate a fine male specimen, and Jackson was certainly fine.

I tried to shuffle backwards a little to leave at least some distance between us, but it was impossible.

“Ready?”

I nodded, and as he pulled away quickly, I clutched him tightly. I had a feeling that was exactly what he intended.

After a few minutes, I relaxed and began to enjoy the ride. This was the first time I’d left the clutches of the Blackthorne men to do something for fun. I knew I still had Jackson as a babysitter, but at least we were doing something unrelated to bikers, and I couldn’t wait.

It didn’t take long to get to the small town, and I grinned as Jackson slowly rode through it. There were quite a few shops that looked like they held interesting knickknacks. There was a place called Terry’s coffee shop and even a dress shop.

If anyone had told me I would be so excited to visit a town with a grand total of ten shops a few months ago, I would have thought they were crazy, but now I couldn’t have been happier.

When Jackson pulled to a stop, I spotted another shop across the street. The sign had me bouncing up and down with glee as I removed the motorcycle helmet.

Jackson looked at me, puzzled. “What?” His gaze followed mine across the street and then he nodded. “You like books I take it?”

“Yes,” I said, running across the road so that Jackson had to walk quickly to catch up with me.

The second-hand bookstore was called
Brilliant Books
. The bell above the door chimed as I pushed open the door, and the smell of old paper and leather bound books surrounded me.
 

Oh my
. There were row upon row of old books. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Jackson watched me with amusement as I walked around the shelves, inspecting each book in turn.

“I’m probably going to be a while,” I warned him, “So if you’re bored, you could go to the diner, and I could meet you there later,”

“Nice try, Ella. But I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

He weaved his way through the tables, which held piles of books, to stand beside me.
 

I wished he wouldn’t stand so close. The heat from his body and the intense way he was looking at me was very distracting, and I wanted to concentrate on the books.

I let out a squeal of happiness as my fingertips closed around a battered old copy of
Wuthering Heights
.

“Have you read it before?” Jackson asked.

Only about fifty times
.
 

“It’s one of my favorites,” I said.

“Do you want it?”

My face fell. I didn’t have any money. My purse had never turned up, and it wasn’t as if the Blackthorne crew were about to let me use my cards out here anyway, so I doubted I’d ever get my purse or wallet back.

I shrugged and went to put the book back on the shelf, but Jackson’s fingers closed around mine, making me pause, and I turned to look at him in surprise.

“I’ll get it for you. A gift.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t. But I want to.”

He plucked the book from my grasp and flicked through the pages. “I’ll pay for it while you carry on looking.”
 

He left me to go in search of the owner as I continued to peruse the shelves.

I was in the store for almost an hour, and to Jackson’s credit he didn’t moan once. For the last fifteen minutes or so, he sat on a chair by the door. I guessed I’d reached the limit of how many books he wanted to look at.

When I was finally finished, I walked over to him and smiled shyly. It was really decent of him to do this. It was his day off too, and I knew this wasn’t the way he’d
choose
to spend it. He was indulging me.

He was stretched out on the chair, his long frame blocking most of the doorway, and his hands were hooked behind his head.

He stood up as I joined him and picked up the book he’d purchased for me. “Ready to go?”

I nodded. “Yes, thanks.”

After we stepped outside the bookstore, Jackson turned to me. “What do you fancy doing next? I don’t know about you, but I could kill for a decent cup of coffee.”

I tucked my new copy of
Wuthering Heights
under my arm and smiled at him happily. “Coffee would be good.”

We made our way over to Terry’s coffee shop.

It was small, with probably only eight tables in total. There was only one other customer in there. An old man, cradling a cup of coffee, who looked up at us curiously as we entered.

A woman stepped out from the back as she heard the door close behind us.
 

“Hi guys, I’m Terry. If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll be right over to…” she said, and her voice trailed away as her eyes fixed on Jackson.
 

I guessed she was a few years older than me, and she obviously found Jackson very appealing. Her cheeks flushed red, and she licked her lips.

But Jackson didn’t notice the effect he had on her, or perhaps he was so used to it that he didn’t pay attention anymore.

We took a table by the window and had a quick look at the menu.

When Terry came over, she held up her order pad, and her hands trembled a little as her eyes locked on Jackson.

“Have you decided what you’d like?” she asked in a flirtatious tone.

“I’ll have coffee, black, and one of those doughnuts up there.” Jackson pointed to the counter where a variety of doughnuts and pastries were on display.

“Of course, coming right up,” she said, beaming at him.
 

She turned, about to leave, before I’d placed my order.
 

“I’ll have the same as him,” I called out after her.

Flustered she turned back to us. “Oh, of course. I’ll get on it straightaway.”

I turned back to Jackson with a wry smile on my face. “Do you always have that effect on waitresses?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”