Page 11 of Stone
As if reading her mind, he reached out and set his hand on hers. “Yes, we’re a motorcycle club, but we’re not like what you might be thinking.” He paused, then tried to fight a smile and failed. “And now your mind is probably seesawing between feeling guilty for judging my friends and pointing out that’s what someone from one of those kinds of clubs would say.”
She made a face. “Maybe?”
He laughed. “I get it, I do. How about I give you some information, then you can decide.” Slowly, she nodded. She liked data—the more she had, the better. “Okay, here goes,” he said. “You know Mantis is dating Charley Warwick, right?” She nodded again. Charley Warwick was the granddaughter of William Warwick, the president whose name graced the library where Juliana worked. She’d even met both Charley and her twin sister, Joey, at a few library events.
“One of Charley’s brothers works for the best private security company in the US, probably the world,” Simon continued. “So does her cousin Chad and Chad’s wife, Sabina. Her sister, Joey, is also dating someone who works for the company, and she has another cousin married to another employee. In addition to that,anotherone of her cousins—because that family is nothing if not fertile—is the chief of police. Another cousin-in-law is ex-CIA, and one of her sisters-in-law is a mega movie star with her own security team.”
“So you’re telling me the Falcon’s Rest club has been given the green light by the Warwick family?” she said more than asked. He nodded. It was an odd way of reassuring her, but it worked. The notoriously tight-knit family wouldn’t welcome Mantis if they had concerns about his activities. She also doubted Charley would bring someone into the Warwick fold who posed a threat.
“Okay, thank you,” she said. “I probably seemed judgy?—”
“Not judgy, smart,” he corrected. “We don’t know each other that well, and motorcycle clubs have the reputation they have for a reason. Most are groups of law-abiding people who share a love of riding, but the ones who aren’t like to make a name for themselves.”
He paused and glanced around. When he met her gaze again, a shadow lurked there.
“What?” she asked.
He cocked his head.
“You’re looking at me like you’re debating whether to say something,” she said.
He exhaled on a huff. “That phone call was Viper, one of my brothers. He followed ‘Kevin’ to the hotel on the north side of town. We have someone watching him, and we’re already trying to identify him, but I don’t like how fast they found you. That’swhy I want to take you to the clubhouse. To keep you safe…but not just for the day.”
There was a lot to unpack in that sentence. The fact that Simon’s friends were already tailingKevinand that they’d already started investigating him was one thing. Where she’d stay and for how long, yet another. That she wasn’t just tiptoeing into Simon’s life anymore, but rather landing like a bomb, was one more.
“You’re saying I should pack for a few days?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “I don’t want to tell you what to do…”
She snorted. “You do want to tell me what to do, but you’ll force yourself to give me a choice.”
“Maybe,” he responded with a lopsided smile.
Her gaze traced his lips, then she sighed. One thing at a time, and right now, that one thing was preparing to stay somewhere other than her home. “You’re not telling me what to do,” she said. “I didn’t sleep well last night and had already been contemplating a hotel for tonight. I’ll pack some stuff. But can I decide where I stay later?”
“One thing at a time?” he said.
She gave him a wan smile. “It works for me when I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
He reached out and brushed his fingertips along her cheek. “It works for most people when they’re overwhelmed, but most people don’t make it easy on themselves. Why don’t you go pack and I’ll make a few calls. We can decide everything else once we get to the clubhouse.”
She rose, then on a whim, leaned forward and kissed his cheek again. Okay, not on a whim; she liked the feel of his stubble against her lips, the faint smell of his aftershave, and the heat of his body when she was near him.
He took a swift deep breath but didn’t otherwise move. She hesitated. A sudden urge to lean in again and run her lips along his jaw and down his neck swelled inside her, leaving her feeling oddly unstable. Unsure. A tidal wave of self-doubt hovered at the edges of her mind. Would he welcome it if she did? Was he really attracted to her in the same way she was to him? And what would it be like if they ever reached the point of taking their clothes off? Her body was closer to the beauty standards of the Renaissance era than the modern era, and more than one man she’d been with—not that there’d been a ton because she wasn’t a masochist—hadn’t been shy about telling her. Would Simon be the same? That thought had her pulling back. It wasn’t a fair assumption, but her past experiences made her cautious.
“It shouldn’t take me more than fifteen minutes,” she said.
“Take your time,” he said, his voice little more than a gravelly mumble.
She glanced at him once more. His dark brown eyes held hers. Then with a nod, she turned and, careful of her toe, jogged up the stairs.
7
Stone’s eyes stayed glued to Juliana as she jogged up the stairs. He liked the view. And hoped that one day (soon), he’d have a chance to explore it with more than his eyes. She seemed into him—after all, she’d given him two kisses. Cheek kisses, but he wouldn’t soon forget the feel of her soft skin against his, the gentle brush of her lips, or the slight scent of her perfume—earthy and fresh, but not floral.
When she disappeared around the corner, he exhaled, relieved she’d agreed to head to the clubhouse. Staying there overnight made sense, too, but maybe he’d suggest his place. His truck was registered with one of the businesses the Falcons owned and wouldn’t be tied to his home address. Even ifKevinran his plates, they wouldn’t find him. It would be a sweet kind of torture having her there, but it would also give them time together in a way they hadn’t been able to manage in the past few months. Sure, she’d be in hiding from two potential killers, so not an ideal situation, but a not-so-small part of him puffed up at being the one she turned to for help. Depending on how the rest of the day went, he’d propose it if it seemed right.
He gritted his teeth at that last thought. There was nothingrightabout this situation. Thankfully, he and his brothers could fix that. They weren’t like Charley’s family with the full strength of a powerful company behind them, but they had years of spec ops training that would enable them to protect her, investigative skills that could help them make sense of what she’d heard, and they had contacts—lots of contacts.
