Page 16 of The Biker's Forbidden Craving

“Shit. I’m sorry. I blew right past it. I pulled on the door, and it was open. So… I can head out and stop in later. I wanted to—”

“There’s a lot of people that come into this town, Hank. Some of them are looking for a fresh start and others have family that tell them how nice the mountains are. Most though, are looking for the same thing… peace and quiet. I do what I can to make sure that peace and quiet stays intact.” He brushes his wrinkled, tattooed hand down over his beard. “Do you catch my drift? Whatever it is you’re doing up there is none of my business until it affects my mountain and the people living on it. Then,” his gaze meets mine, “I’ll make sure you never set foot in this town again. Understood?”

Fuck. I’ve heard people talk about this guy, and he’s still got it, even at his age.

“Understood,” I say, hearing Duke’s voice reverberate in my head.This isn’t lying low.In fact, it’s the opposite. I nod toward the old mountain man in front of me, suddenly realizing what I’ve done. “I think I’ll pass on the ink. Have a good day.”

Chapter Seven

Abby

It’s nearly eleven when Nicole walks in with two cups of coffee and a box of donuts from the bakery.

“Oh… it’s a donut day! What’s the occasion?”

A wide, friendly smile lifts her cheeks. “I forgot your birthday yesterday, so I figured you deserved a ‘please forgive me’ treat!” She hands me a cup and sets the box on the counter. “How was your night? Do anything fun?”

“I had dinner with Maci last night. You hear from her this morning? I tried texting, but she hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”

“No. We don’t really text, though. She’s a little high-strung for me.” Nicole laughs and pulls a donut from the box. “I say that, but I spent all morning researching bow and arrows.”

“You want to be a hunter?”

“I want to shoot arrows.”

“At what?”

“Targets,” she laughs. “I don’t know… just sounds fun. I need to mix things up, ya know? I mean, I’m twenty-seven this year, and what do I have to show for it?”

I glance around the shop she opened not that long ago. “You own this record store. I mean, that’s a pretty big one.”

She shrugs. “It’s cool, but I don’t know. Lately… I want to do something wilder, like have sex hanging off a mountain side,or I don’t know, something that doesn’t involve being in bed by eight o’clock and teaching my cat how to sit.”

“Your cat can sit?”

“Yeah. He can lay too.”

My brows narrow. “I didn’t realize you could teach tricks to cats.”

“They’re really smart, but you have to work on their timetable. Mr. Mellow doesn’t have the best attention span. Anyway,” she huffs, “what else did you do last night?”

I want to tell her about Maci’s disappearance, but I can’t cause alarm, so I divert the story to the one about my night with Hank.

“Oh nothing… I just hunk out with this biker guy I know.” The words come out in a sing-song pattern.

“The biker?Your brother’s best friend… the biker? Did you… oh God, this is exactly the type of excitement I’m talking about. A big, rough, bad boy who’s desperate to teach me a lesson.” She moans as she bites into her donut. “Yes. That’s what I need. Where do I get one?”

“Still having trouble with Aaron?” Her boyfriend is a complete idiot. I still don’t understand why they’re together.

She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of coffee. “I don’t know what his deal is. He’s totally distracted by his phone twenty-four hours a day, and when I try to initiate any type of love at all, he acts preoccupied and weird. Then, when I say I’m going to leave, he all the sudden acts like the best guy ever for a month. I’m completely confused about who he is and what he wants. It sucks because he was great at first, and part of me wonders if maybe he’s just going through something, but I don’t know any more what he wants.”

“What doyouwant?”

She sighs. “I want to not think about dating ever again. I want a big, giant man to show me a good time. We can leave it at that. One night of fun. Maybe two.”

“Maybe I know a guy.” I grin, thinking about Ghost and the chakra healing he’s in need of.

Hey, maybe I’m the new clubhouse matchmaker. Lord, no wonder Duke is always mad at me.

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