Mason:Inked Reapers MC(34)

He grinned. "Always wanted to open a bike shop."





***





When I pulled into the diner parking lot I realized my stomach was in  knots. At the idea of finding her, or not finding her there? As much as I  tried to keep telling myself I was looking out for Lucy because she was  an innocent, because she was mine for the time being, I realized I was a  complete bullshitter.



I looked out for her because that pixie had wormed her way under my  skin, and there was no way I'd be letting her go. Not now, and not ever.



Her car wasn't in the lot, but I parked anyway. Maybe I got lucky and she finally upgraded that bucket of bolts



She wasn't in the diner either, but Lucas was.



He sat in the back of the place, in a booth with a woman. She looked  familiar, someone probably at the Disciple's house. Lucas noticed me and  stood up from the booth. He put his hand out to the woman to keep her  there, and marched over to me.



"We need to talk." He jerked his head to a booth near me.



"I don't have shit to say-"



"You're here lookin for Lucy, right?" he shot at me. I swept my eyes  across the room, and didn't see any other members. I nodded. "Well, she  ran off."



"What the fuck?" I slid into the booth. "What happened?"



"Here or down south?" he asked with a sly grin.



"Both."



"Rumor has it you're looking to exit the MC, is that right?" He drummed his fingertips on the table.



"Maybe." Being non-committal, that was my theme.



"If you are, don't worry about what happened down South. Just focus on finding Lucy



before Jayson does. He's searching all over for her."



"If I'm not?"

"If you're not, which I don't think is the case, then get ready for a  new ruler in town." I wanted to smack his shit-eating grin off his face.  If Lucy didn't tell me how much he ran interference for her with  Jayson, I might have done just that.



"Julio." I nodded.



"For one," he agreed.



"Lucy. Where is she?" I didn't have time for Julio's drama or Marcus's fight. I needed to



find Lucy. If she ran away from Jayson, he wouldn't give up until he found her. "What happened? Why'd she run?"



"Jayson woke up two days ago to an empty bed. She left him a note that  she went out for breakfast, or coffee. When she didn't show by the  afternoon, and didn't answer his calls, he got pissed. He's been turning  the whole town upside down."



"Isn't he preoccupied with the whole Julio-Bernardo mess?" I watched his old lady saunter our way.



"He's is blissfully unaware of the Julio-Bernardo situation." He grinned.



"Do you know where she went?"



"I do," his woman answered as she approached the table. "But first you and I need to chat before I tell you."





CHAPTER THIRTY



LUCY





When I was a kid, I used to think about what the man I ended up with  would be like. I imagined him with dark hair, neatly trimmed and styled.  Wearing a suit and tie to work every day; of course he carried a  briefcase. He wore glasses, because he was super smart and every  ten-year-old knows that's what glasses meant. Never, during all of this  daydreaming, did I picture him with near shoulder length, sandy blond  hair, covered in tattoos and riding a Harley.                       
       
           



       



No matter what I tried, I couldn't shake Mason from my mind. I told  myself over and over again that I wasn't good for him, that he wasn't  good for me, but it didn't work. The more excuses I came up with why my  hiding from him made sense, the more my heart sank into my stomach with  longing. I missed him. Not just the physical side of him, but every  side. The protective way he'd throw his arm around my shoulders if we  were just sitting and talking. I even missed his bossiness. Would I find  those qualities attractive in someone else, or was it just because it  was him that those things made me all weak in the knees-and wet in the  panties?



I'd been hiding in the cabin for three days before I finally decided to  turn on my phone again. When I did, I thought it would dance right off  the table from all of the messages that flooded in. Most were from  Jayson, more threats, a few promises to be lenient if I just came home.  What did that mean, lenient? He'd only punch me half a dozen times  instead of a full dozen?



The other messages were from Mason.



Where are you?!



You better not have done something stupid



You did, didn't you?



Lucy, you've earned an asswhipping.



Why did men think threatening a girl would get her to come out of  hiding? Obviously, staying put would keep me safe from Jayson's crazy  and Mason's punishment.



Another text came through and I swiped the screen to read it.



Last chance to come clean.



My stomach flipped, and a tingle ran through my body. In the distance, I  could hear a motor. I'd heard it most of the morning; Mr. Doyle was  clearing out a spot for another cabin and had been cutting down trees.  Reminding myself that Mason had no idea where I was, I sat back on the  couch. He didn't know. He couldn't know.



The motor grew louder. Closer.



I jumped up from the couch and sprinted to the window, hiding behind the  curtain. Just in case. A motorcycle rounded the curve and headed toward  the cabin. The rider wore sunglasses, helmet, and long sleeves. Without  seeing his face, I knew it was him. Mason had found me.



Not sure if the tingles in my stomach were good or bad, I stood frozen  watching him from behind the curtain. He turned off the bike and  unstrapped the helmet, letting his hair fall from its containment.  Peeling his sunglasses from his eyes, he looked at the cabin. My heart  stopped when our eyes connected. The deep creases around his mouth  appeared as he grinned and shook his head. Leaving his helmet on the  bike, he made his way to the front door of the cabin.



It occurred me that I could run. If I sprinted, I might make it out the  back door. But then what? I'd be stuck in the woods, and I doubted he  would just shrug, accept defeat and get back on his bike. And exactly  what was I running from? I'd been thinking of nothing but him for the  past two days, and there he was. All flesh and bone. Stepping onto the  porch. Raising his fist to pound on the door.



"Lucy, open this door." He dropped his fist to his side, foregoing the  polite knock and going straight for the yelling. I leaned back against  the wall, debating. "Now." I swallowed hard. "You're in enough trouble."



Thrusting my chin up, and rolling my shoulders back, I made my way to  the door. He could sense fear, and it would only play into his hands. I  needed to stay strong.



I opened the door, ready to lay into him about bellowing in the woods,  but seeing him smiling at me, with his eyebrow raised in the way it was,  I faltered. "Hi," I managed.



"Uh-huh." He pulled the screen door open. Any resistance I'd planned to  give melted away when he walked past me, brushing against me as he  entered the cabin.



I watched him as he inspected the open living/dining room. He kept his  eyebrow raised the entire time he looked around. "Mason." I closed the  door and turned to him. "I know-"

"You don't know anything." His smile dropped.



"Look, I'm sorry-"



"Not yet, but you will be." He nodded. "This place isn't half bad." He walked through the kitchen door and back again. "Clean."



"Of course it is." I rolled my eyes, immediately regretting the action when his brow furrowed even deeper.



He plopped down in the rocking chair, which creaked under his weight,  and threw his feet up onto the coffee table. A few clumps of dirt fell  onto the floor. "Now," he folded his hands behind his head, like he had  no worries in the world, "tell me what it was I told you before I left."



"Mason." I took a step toward him, but the chill in his gaze stopped me.  I took a shaky breath. "You told me to hold tight." The image of  Jayson's cock bobbing before me wiped away any remorse I felt and  replaced it with anger. "You left me with Jayson. You left me to suck  his dick, to get fucked by him when he wanted. You just left me there." I  pointed my finger at him. I heard the tremor in my voice, but I kept  going. "You didn't even tell me where you were going, or when you'd be  back. Just hold tight, you said. Well, fuck that!" I picked up a pillow  from the couch and hurled it at him. It hit him in the chest, but he  didn't move. Not at first.                       
       
           



       



I froze, not sure really what to do, what to expect. Then he was almost  on top of me before I got my legs to get going. I dashed under his arm  and down the short hallway to the bedroom. I didn't get any sort of lead  on him though, with his long legs I only had a step on him. I tried to  shut the bedroom door, but his arm blocked it. I yelped, and darted to  the far corner of the room.