“Mind tellin’ me why you brought her along for this particular shit storm of an assignment.”
“I didn’t bring her. She was my nurse at St. Mary’s. Bitch is good at keepin’ stupid fuckers alive.” Jerking his chin at Ace, the other man nodded his agreement. Ryder watched his brothers’ eyes crawl over both of them, knowing full well they were riddled with holes.
Darkness spoke first. “Well, I say that’s a mighty fine quality to have in a wife. Ain’t nobody here has their gun out, so I’m thinkin’ you two bitch-slapped some sense into each other.”
Frowning, Ryder replied flatly, “A lifetime of friendship does not give you the right to say disrespectful shit to my face. Don’t think for a goddamn minute that three bullet holes will keep me from beating your fuckin’ ass.”
Darkness laughed. “Just checkin’ to make sure my best friend was still in there somewhere. Hate to see you so whipped right out of the gate.”
The moment his eyes slid to Tiffany, Ryder nailed him with a fist to the face.
Ace shook his head. “I already told you that you can’t keep people from looking at her, Ryder.”
“I can fuckin’ try.”
Tiffany spoke up. “He’s just overprotective. I think relationships are new for him, so don’t hurt him.”
Suddenly, everyone was laughing.
“Calm your pretty little ass down. We ain’t gonna do nothin’ to hurt him. He’s our brother.”
“Your woman is a bossy little bitch. Might want to see to that, brother.”
“You’d probably be surprised how hard it is to train a woman who’s smarter than you are, since you only seem interested in the really stupid whores.”
“Ain’t no need to get belligerent. Get her in a property cut. She’s damn sexy standing there at your back taking up for you against us scary bikers. Loyalty like that’s something a man can’t buy in this world. You’re one lucky bastard.”
“Can’t say I’m all that thrilled about you takin’ such an interest in my nurse. Care to shut the fuck up and get Ace outta here,” Ryder instructed.
“Too bad it had to come down to this.”
“Just take him home and lock his ass up. No fun and games. Feed him and keep him with honor. Just because his brother wronged us does not make him our enemy.”
“You got three bullet holes that say otherwise.”
“We worked that shit out, and we’ll talk the rest out in church.”
“Whatever you say, brother.”
“Thanks for bringin’ my bike. We’re gonna ride back on our own.”
“No problem. Make a little romantic trip of it, but get back in one piece.”
Once everyone left, there was only one bike left. Ryder’s eyes slid lovingly over the huge Harley. It was a real beauty, loaded with shiny chrome and distressed leather.
“You have a beautiful bike, baby.”
Looking up, he caught the admiring look on Tiffany’s face. She’d called him baby. His dick was instantly hard. “Wanna go for a short ride?”
“Are you safe to drive?”
Running his hand reverently over the chrome bumper, he whispered, “Always.”
Wrapping her arms around the sexy biker, Tiffany realized she was growing way too attached to him in a very short period of time. Leaning her cheek against his back, she enjoyed his masculine scent as the breeze blew though her hair. Riding on the back of Ryder’s bike felt very right to her. Righter than anything in her life ever had. Could she give that up? Yes. Did she want to? No.
Tiffany struggled to figure out one compelling reason not to follow him back to South Dakota. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d started over. But this time would be easier. She’d have someone to love, someone to protect her from danger. Did wanting that make her weak? It didn’t make her feel weak. It felt like a win-win situation to her.
They rode for almost an hour before he pulled back up to the cabin. Jumping off the back of his bike, Tiffany knew better than to try to help him off. He wouldn’t appreciate behavior out of a woman that he saw as coddling. He did fine anyway, and she forgot why she was even worried.