"Photographers."
"Female ones? Alone? At night? She probably doesn't even weigh more than a hundred pounds. Maybe a buck fifteen, tops. And she's gonna defend herself?" I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, so she's naïve, and she took a risky chance." Then he grinned. "But she's cute as hell, isn't she?"
I shrugged like it didn't matter. "Lots of cute chicks in the world, my friend. More than enough to go around."
"I don't think Frankie agrees with you. He's sure standing close to her right now."
I whirled around, ready to tell Frankie to keep his fucking hands to himself. Of course, there was no Frankie. Just Erica and Brett. I couldn't even look at Axel.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I was seeing things." He walked over to the bar, shaking his head. I turned away. Damn smartass.
By three that morning, everyone was more or less ready to call it a night. The girls cleaned up the mess of bottles and glasses and ashtrays while my guys stumbled upstairs to claim an empty bed.
"Where's Erica?" I realized I hadn't seen her for at least two hours. My blood pressure shot up immediately. Did she sneak out when I wasn't looking?
I walked into the office, where she was asleep on the floor. I didn't know when she crawled off, but she was definitely out cold. I nudged her with my toe.
"Hey. Hey, Erica. Get up."
She grumbled, pushing my foot away.
"I mean it. I can't let you sleep on the floor all night."
No response.
I looked down at her, and something about the way she looked as she slept stirred something in me. It was like I had never seen anything so beautiful before, and I didn't know what to do with how I felt. It was like a tightening in my chest. I wanted to have her, to take her and make her mine. But I wanted to hold her and protect her and keep her safe from the world. She was so brave, and beautiful, and smart. And weak and fragile and naïve, like Axel said. She would keep walking into dangerous situations if I wasn't there to warn her first.
I got down on one knee, sliding one arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees. When I lifted, it felt like I was carrying a feather.
She was right there, her face right below mine. I wouldn't have to lean far to kiss her. Just a little bit. Her mouth was pouty, begging to be kissed and sucked on.
But I wasn't that guy. Not while she was passed out.
"You are too fucking tempting," I muttered.
She mumbled something I couldn't make out.
Instead of kissing her, I left the office with her in my arms. Brett was coming out of the poker room, and I saw a lot of things go across her face. Finally, she smiled.
"Taking her upstairs?" she asked.
I nodded. "Help me with her?" I asked. "I don't think she'll wanna wear this stuff tomorrow if she slept in it. There has to be something in my room she can wear."
"Your room?" I heard the question under the question, and I nodded.
"Yeah. I'll sleep somewhere else. Maybe down here." I pretended not to see how relieved Brett looked. I would have to do something about that, about the way she felt. I didn't have it in me at the moment.
I climbed the stairs with Erica and laid her across my bed. She was still out cold. I took off her shoes, and took a look under her sweatshirt to see whether she was wearing anything underneath. I saw a t-shirt, so I sat her up and helped her out of the hoodie. She looked much smaller without it.
Brett came in, and I stood. "She's all yours," I said. I took one more look at the girl on the bed and wished I was spending the night with her. Maybe if she hadn't gotten bombed, it would have happened. Or maybe not. She might have slapped the shit out of me if I tried to touch her.
"Good night," I said, prepared to go downstairs to sleep on the couch. Brett's voice stopped me.
"Why don't you go down the hall to my room? You can bunk with me tonight."
Fuck. I hadn't considered that. She was putting me on the spot. I turned to look at her.
"Don't worry. I don't expect anything," she said. "I promise. I hate to think of you sleeping on the couch is all." She turned her back. "I'll be finished in a little while. I hope you're there when I get there."
I closed the door behind me to give them a little privacy, and looked down the hall. What the hell? I thought. Even if something did happen, it wasn't like I was attached to anyone else.
I deserved a little relief after the week I'd had.
Chapter Nine
Erica
I woke up the next morning with a fuzzy head and a furry tongue. What the hell had I drunk? It could only be a hangover.
Wait-where the hell was I?
I sat straight up in the bed, and immediately regretted it as soon as it felt like my head was about to fall off. I winced, holding it in my hands for fear of it rolling across the floor.
What happened? Where was I?
I looked around the room. It was a bedroom, for sure, but one for a man. I couldn't have explained exactly how I knew, but I did. This was a man's room.
But the bed was empty, except for me. The other pillow hadn't been slept on. I thanked God for that. The last thing I needed was to drunkenly hook up with …
… oh, sweet Jesus. A member of a biker gang.
Where was Vince? How had I ended up in this bed? Was I still in the clubhouse?
I swung my legs out of bed ever so carefully. I was afraid the slightest jar would shatter me in a million pieces. The sun was too bright, stabbing my brain. I felt dizzy. Was my drink spiked? No. I just drank way too much was all. I remembered Brett pouring me drink after drink at the bar.
But then what happened? I hadn't gotten the camera open. I must have passed out. Terrific. Talk about asking for trouble. Passing out in the middle of a biker gang's clubhouse.
I remembered what the girls said the night before, about Vince protecting me. Maybe he had protected me again.
I stepped into the hallway. There were rows of closed doors on either side. I must have been the first one awake, I guessed. I went to the bathroom, surprisingly clean considering where I was, and took the dangerous walk down the stairs. My head throbbed dangerously with every step. I would have to find some aspirin. Or maybe a sledgehammer to knock myself out until it was all over.
I heard noises coming from the office. Vince? My heartbeat quickened, and I asked myself why.
It wasn't Vince, I discovered as I entered the room. It was Onyx.
"Good morning." I felt embarrassed. The sight of his face was still a shock to me.
"Hey," he said. Did he look guilty? I didn't see why. It was his office, or practically. He then looked me up and down, and I realized I was only in an oversized t-shirt. It came down to my knees, so it covered more than some dresses, but it was fairly sheer. And I was braless.
He had the good manners to avert his eyes. "You tied one on pretty good last night. My buddy was worried about you."
"Vince?"
"Who else?" He snickered. "He took you upstairs. I guess he didn't sleep with you, though, or else you wouldn't sound so surprised."
"I was alone," I said.
He snickered again. "That's my boy. Mr. Nice Guy." I couldn't decide if he admired Vince for being a nice guy, or if he was making fun in a way. His tone was cryptic, as were his words. I was starting to think that was the sort of person he was. Hard to crack. Like his scars had scarred his heart, too. He had a very thick, protective layer around himself. No one could come in. Except for his best friend.
"It's so quiet here," I said. "So different from last night."
"Yeah, you'll see a lot of unhappy people around here this morning. That's usually how it works. They party hard and regret it in the morning. Maybe not the best idea right now."
"Do you guys go on lockdown often?"
He shook his head. "No, but it was bound to happen after the shit that went down last week. When we lost three of our men."
I nodded gently, still cautious of my aching head. "I heard a little bit about that. Just that you lost members. I'm sorry to hear that."
He nodded in response. "It's been a rough week. Vince has a lot on his mind right now." His words were so heavy, they nearly broke my back. He was telling me to stay away from Vince. As though there was anything happening between us. I wanted to protest and defend myself, but decided against it. That would make it look like he was right. Best to let it go, I thought.
"I understand," I said, quiet.
"I hope you do." He glanced at me again, for the first time since noticing my state of undress.
I decided it would be best to get the hell back upstairs and put some clothes on before the rest of the guys woke up and ogled me. I didn't think they'd all have the class Onyx did.