In the next instant, soft skin brushed against LJ’s palm. Holly stepped closer and slipped her hand into his. Her entire right side pressed against his left as she let her weight rest on him.
“No, Deputy Schwartz, I have not been harmed, or threatened, or scared in any way. It was my choice to come here tonight. As it is my choice to stay now.”
Immediately the grip of panic began to abate, and LJ became able to engage his brain enough to employ a technique his therapist had taught him. He absorbed the feeling of Holly’s smaller hand. Drew in the scent of vanilla and sugar that always seemed to hover around her in a cloud of sweetness, and he leaned slightly into the pressure from her body. All things real and tangible he used to ground him in reality. To keep his mind from running off into the past and losing his grip on the world.
“Holly, you can’t be serious right now. Your father—”
“Has no say in who I hang out with or what I do in my spare time, Rick. I’m an adult. I can pick my own friends. And I’ll stick around until you clear the club because it’s laughable that you think they’re hiding hidden money from a casino robbery.” She gave LJ’s hand a squeeze, and the pinch of her grip further helped lessen the anxiety. How the fuck did she manage with one touch what he’d been fighting for years to accomplish on his own?
A few murmurs of appreciation came from his brothers while all the ol’ ladies smiled at Holly. She’d stood up for LJ, for his family even though she had to have questions. And even though he’d been an ass to her. There was no way Holly could be fully comfortable with the club, not after what she’d admitted about her family’s past. Something warm fired low in LJ’s gut.
She was a good woman.
And a sexy woman.
LJ freed his hand then circled his arm around her shoulders, anchoring her to his side. The increased contact chased away the final tingles of anxiety. He was back in the game.
“Go on, Dicky,” he said before he dropped a kiss on the top of Holly’s head. The scent of vanilla surrounded him. “Do whatcha gotta do. Finish wasting taxpayer money while we watch you make a fool of yourself and come up empty handed.”
Schwartz sent a pleading look Holly’s way, but she stood firm at LJ’s side. In fact, she even wrapped her arm around his waist. Or as much around his much larger form as she could reach. God, he didn’t deserve her touch after the way he’d doubted her motivations and actions. But he was going to take it, revel in it, and beg for more as soon as Dicky got his fucking mug out of their faces.
The cops spent nearly ninety minutes fucking up the clubhouse. With big shitty grins on their faces they dumped desk drawers, ransacked bedrooms, and made a general mess all in the name of search and seizure, which, yes, they had a fucking warrant for. Lord knows who sucked a judge’s dick for that bogus warrant.
In the end, of course, they found nothing, but they’d done a bang-up job of ruining everyone’s weekend. Sunday would be spent cleaning until their backs ached. By the time the cops had wrapped up their search, the only people who remained were the few members of the MC who’d planned to spend the night in the clubhouse. Copper asked everyone to return bright and early for clean-up duty. A few of his brothers snagged Honeys before retiring to their disorderly rooms, but in general, the mood had been killed.
The very second the last officer disappeared through the exit, Holly turned to LJ with a stricken expression. “LJ, I swear—”
He slid both hands into her hair and silenced her with a hard kiss. For long moments he ignored the whoops and whistles of one of his brothers—probably fucking Maverick—as LJ held her where he wanted her and plundered her mouth.
When he finally drew back, Holly’s eyes were glazed and her lips wet and swollen. “I was an asshole. I’m fucking sorry,” he said.
“Don’t do it again,” she whispered, giving him a lopsided grin.
He chuckled. “Hate to say it, sugar, but if we’re gonna start something here, you need to know I’m probably gonna fuck up again before too long.”
Her gaze met his, serious and heated. “We’re starting something?” she asked.
As he lowered his mouth back to hers, he whispered, “I fucking hope so.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
TUESDAY FOUND HOLLY sipping wine and planning items for the diner’s menu with Toni and Jazz from a very plush couch in Toni’s home.
“I think we’ve got a stellar plan, ladies.” Toni wore a huge grin as she did a little wiggle dance from the cushion next to Holly.