Page 6 of Blade

Why am I so nervous? I’ve met good-looking men before. I’ve dated, had boyfriends, and none of them made me feel this gooey, warm gushiness inside my belly like I do with Blade. It’s completely ludicrous! I don’t even know the guy. For all I know, he could be a two-timing rat who uses women and kicks puppies. I really hope he’s not, though. He can’t be. What guy stops in the middle of the night to help a damsel in distress if he’s not a good guy?

“I can see you have a lot going on in that head of yours, honey. Want to talk about it?” he asks, reaching out and pulling back a stray tendril of my hair and gently tucking it behind my ear.

“You finished my car,” I blurt out.

“I’m done with the tire. Giving it a once-over before I give it back to you. You need a reliable car on the road,” he says, but all the while, he’s looking at my mouth. I think he wants to kiss me. God, I hope he wants to kiss me. He bends his head down, his lips just inches away from my own, when the door bursts open.

“Yo, Blade, we’re celebrating, and it doesn’t work without the guest of honor,” a very large, burly man yells out, his deep voice echoing around the bay.

I jump back when I hear the man, and Blade looks annoyed. “Be right there.” He waits for the door to slam shut before turning back to me. “Sorry about that. Orion seems scary, but he’s a really cool guy.”

“I shouldn’t keep you from your, uh, celebration,” I say, looking around for the closest exit.

“It’s a very important moment for me. I became a full member of the Pride today,” he says with a huge grin, then adds, “You’re welcome to come along, if you want.”

“No, no. I don’t want to intrude.” I’d love to spend more time with Blade, but being around all his buddies is just a little too much.

Blade closes the space between us. “I’d like to take you out for dinner.” My heart does a little happy dance. I feel my lips curving into a huge grin. “Tomorrow. I’ll drop your car off at your place, then we can head out.”

“I’d like that,” I whisper. His lips land on my cheek.

“I don’t trust myself to kiss you,” he says, and I look at him in confusion. He explains, “When I kiss you the first time, I want to take my time. Right now, I can guarantee that the door is going to fly open again any second, and someone else is going to interrupt us.”

“Okay,” I reply breathlessly. He takes me by the hand and leads me out of the shop into the bright sunshine.

“Be good, Emmy,” he says, kissing my fingers before letting me go and heading back to his friends.

As I’m walking down the street, I glance at Millie’s Diner. She’s looking right at me from the big glass window, waving. I wave back, thinking, Thank goodness for pie, and for Millie.

Four

Shutterbug

Emryn

In my cute little cottage-like home, I revel in the wonderful feeling of knowing that I’ll be seeing Blade tomorrow night. I’m not exactly a girly girl, but, like every other woman, I like to look good and work at taking care of myself. My mother has drilled the importance of good skincare into my brain from the time I turned twelve. It’s one of the few pieces of advice that’s served me well.

Since I’m new to town, I haven’t had the time to make my house into a home yet. I still have boxes to unpack, and I’m still waiting for my stuff to arrive from the storage unit. I’m hoping it all arrives this week, but in the meantime, I’m managing with a sleeping bag for my bed, and after a quick run to the local Walmart, I have the essentials for cooking.

I miss my cozy sofa, where I can sink into the cushions, nuzzle under a blanket, and watch an old movie on television. Thanks to my laptop, I get to stream my favorite shows. Tonight, I decide to pamper myself. I’ve got on a face mask, and I’m painting my nails. I want to look nice for Blade tomorrow night. I would be agonizing over what to wear, but I purged a lot of my stuff, getting rid of what I didn’t need when I left my last place, and only brought with me what I needed. I saw a store in town that I’m going to explore. I’m looking for something cute and sassy that matches my black leather ankle boots with silver buckles.

Blade’s probably having a great time with his friends. I’m happy he’s become a member of his club. I saw how proud and happy he was when he told me he had finally become a patched member. I’ve heard that MC parties can get wild. I’ve also heard there are a ton of biker bunnies wanting to hook up with the bikers.

I shake the negative thoughts out of my head. Blade has the right to do as he pleases. After all, we haven’t even gone out together yet. But I really hope he’s thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about him.

Blade

While the rest of the club is partying, I decide to slip away into the quiet of the night. A celebratory barbecue turned into a Satan’s Pride party. I love my brothers, and the celebration is phenomenal, but as I make my way to the side exit, I look around the room to see the crew laughing, dancing, and drinking.

Most of the brothers have a woman in their lives. Many are married, and the others are living together, but most are happily hooked up with the woman of their dreams. I’m thrilled as hell for them. I never thought about getting married, but then again, I’ve been more concerned about learning everything I can about being a mechanic and the business end of things from War so I can start my own shop. It’s not that I don’t have my share of women. Being in the Pride automatically has the bees flocking to honey. Even when I was a prospect, there were plenty of women who just loved the biker boy vibes, the mystery, and the danger associated with the MC life.

I’ve enjoyed the company of plenty of women, but from the start, I knew it would be a wild sex-filled weekend or a casual fuck-buddy relationship, and they did too. All the women I’ve been with knew from the beginning that I wasn’t into a serious relationship. Some tried to change my mind, and that was when I ended things. Others were in it for a good time, and after, if we met on the street or in a bar, we’re friendly and aware that our relationship fizzled out.

But all night long, my mind wanders to the adorable, brown-eyed beauty who came to bring me pie. Emryn has a sweetness about her, and from what I can tell, she has a plan for her life. She wants to be a professional photographer and is going for it.

I almost make it out the door when I hear my name and find Demon near me.

“Where are you going?” Demon throws open his arms, “This is all for you,” he exclaims with a grin.

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