Page 20 of Bolt (Iron Thunder MC 1)
“Hey, you, watch her!” he yelled at a prospect standing nearby. I glanced at Cassie and saw fear in her eyes. I wanted to reassure her and tell her nothing would happen on my watch. But that would mean crossing a line with her. It wasn’t my job to make her feel safe and warm.
Spike took me aside. “Did you bang her?” he asked.
“No. Nothing happened. I’m trying to keep this professional. She’s Chip’s sister.”
“Yeah, the sister of a guy who fuckin’ sold us out!” he growled.
“We run this Club with integrity, remember?”
Spike rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, fuck that, whatever, we need to figure out what we’re doing with her. Chip is being handled. She needs to be handled too.”
“We don’t need to put her through anything. She’s already scared,” I replied.
“And you know this because she’s opened herself up to you?” Skip asked.
“What is she still doing here? Why haven’t you dealt with her yet?” It was Flash. He interrupted us now. I ran a hand frustratedly through my hair.
“Okay, the two of you need to back the fuck off, okay? I got the green light from Drax. He’s given me full authority on dealing with her. This is the way I want to do it.”
“By holding her hand every step of the way? I mean, I can see she’s sexy as fuck, but what’s gotten into you? She’s just a chick.” Flash sounded angry now. So was I.
“What I need from the two of you is some level of trust here. Can I have that, or not?” I growled. They were driving me up the wall. I knew my dealing with Cassie was a little unconventional. Maybe I was giving her too many liberties. Maybe I needed to be harsher with her, but I couldn’t do it. Not when she looked at me the way she did.
Flash and Spike exchanged looks.
“Fine, fuck it. Do what you need to do, but cut it short. We have a war to wage with the Silver Knights. Don’t forget about that,” Flash said.
“Bring her car to the cafe in town. I’ll get her to write the address down,” I said and walked away from them.
Even before I got anywhere close to them, I could sense the prospect chatting her up. Cassie was snappy with him too, but the guy was relentless. I grabbed her elbow and yanked her to me.
“We’re going,” I growled.
“About time,” she murmured under her breath.
“Someone will bring your car into town.”
“So how will we get to my cafe?” she asked. We were leaving the Clubhouse now. I had a firm hand on her, wasn’t taking any chances.
My bike was parked outside, and she saw it. “On your bike?” she shrieked.
“How else?”
“But I’ve never ridden on one before. Chip never let me touch his.”
“Well, you can touch this one,” I said.
For a moment, a smile crossed Cassie’s face. Did I hit the jackpot? Was I able to make her happy for a second by offering to give her a ride on my bike?
I got on my bike and then gave her my hand to help her up. I felt her settle down behind me.
“You’ll have to hold me if you don’t want to fall off,” I said. Slowly, I felt her arms wind around me, her hands knotted around my stomach. She was holding me gently.
“Tighter,” I said.
She did as she was told. I felt her inch closer to me when I kicked the bike start. I could feel her body against mine. Her breath was soft and sweet as it fell on my shoulder. I could smell her, feel her warmth—the way I had at night when she’d snuggled up to me.
I rode the bike out of the parking lot and a slow gasp released from Cassie. This was her first bike ride, the wind in her hair. Was this exciting for her? I could still remember the first time I’d ridden a bike and how thrilling that had been for me.
I had that moment again—where I imagined what it would be like to always have her on my bike. Always have her arms tightly wound around me.
What was wrong with me? Why did I keep thinking of this girl like that? What was so different about her from every other chick I’d ever met? Why was Cassie messing me up?
Neither of us spoke as we rode into town. I had the address of her cafe where I was taking her directly. For some reason, I couldn’t wait to see her at work, couldn’t wait to see what a normal life with her might look like.8CassieWhen we got to the cafe, it was too early to open up for business.
“I have a change of clothes upstairs. There’s a small apartment I keep some of my stuff in. I’ll be back in fifteen,” I said, trying to make a smooth exit. Bolt caught my arm before I could go anywhere.
