Page 15 of Ghost (Iron Thunder MC 4)
Okay, so that was the explanation for it.
I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. This wasn’t about the hot, steamy sex we could potentially have together? I had a flashing image of his muscular, taut body hanging over mine, pounding against me as our bodies moved together. I had to shake that image out of my head so I could focus on the next problem in hand.
“What am I supposed to do for money?” I asked. “Do you want me to start stripping here? Will you give me work? I still need to pay for my grandmother’s medical bills.”
Ghost clenched his jaws. He hadn’t thought about this, had he? I crossed my arms over my chest and saw the way he glanced at my breasts again. I thrust them out in his direction, half on purpose. I liked it when he looked at me like that.
“I’ll pay for it,” he replied and I thought I didn’t hear him correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“I said I’ll pay your grandmother’s medical bills.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t accept your money for nothing in return.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be put to good use as far as treating Crash is concerned,” he said and a half-smirk formed on his face. It had a gut-wrenching effect on me. His smile was handsome. Despite the harshness of his features, the intensity of his smoldering brown eyes, the muscles and tattoos and leather jacket, his smile transformed him into a kindly young boy.
“Agreed?” he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
So I was going to live in his apartment, treat Crash the best I could, and get to help my grandma in return. All medical expenses paid.
This was a deal I couldn’t say no to.
It wasn’t exactly the career I had in mind for myself, but then neither was stripping. Besides, I would finally get to do something I knew I was good at—nursing!
“Okay, yes, agreed,” I said.
What was the appropriate thing to do now? Hug? Shake hands? Sign a contract?
Ghost was waiting for me to continue. Maybe he could sense I had something else on my mind.
“How do I know I can trust you? I mean that you will stick to your end of the deal. The only other MC I’ve worked with before was the Silver Knights and they weren’t exactly a reliable bunch,” I said.
Ghost held my gaze. I got the sense that he wasn’t the type of guy who cared what you thought of him, whether you trusted him or believed him or not. Didn’t he care about my opinion either?
Why would he, I had to remind myself? He’d only just met me. I meant nothing to him.
And yet, he wanted me to live in his apartment with him.
“You will just have to take my word for it,” he said. “You either trust me or you don’t. Either way, you’re stuck here.”
He had a point. I looked away, feeling my cheeks burn.
He made his way to the door but something made him stop in his tracks. He turned to me and drew in a deep breath.
“Look, Mercy, I know you’re new to all this and everything seems bizarre and scary to you…” I wanted to interrupt him and assert that I wasn’t scared. But who was I kidding? It was pretty plain for everyone to see. I wasn’t an expert at this at all. “But you’ll get there. Just stay alert and do your tasks. In time, you will see that we are nothing like the Silver Knights. Neither are we saints. But we treat our women right. We would never harm a kid. Those are our rules.”
He didn’t wait for me to register his words. He’d spoken calmly and now he opened the door just as calmly. And all of a sudden, I wanted to hug him again.
“Are you coming?” he asked. I was confused for a moment. I didn’t know what he was talking about. Did he want to take me to his house now? Right away? What was in store for me there? I felt that familiar pang of excitement again.
“I…”
“You should come down with me and have a look at Crash before it’s too late.”
Oh. Right.
Why did I keep doing this to myself? Every time he looked at me, it was like I was transported to fantasy land. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining having sex with him. Clearly, that wasn’t what he wanted. He wasn’t thinking about it at all. I had to force myself to remember that I now had a job to do.
“Okay, yeah, of course,” I mumbled and finally followed him out of the door. We were walking down the hallway and I thought about how much had changed in the past hour. I couldn’t have been in there with him for longer than that, and already it felt like my whole world had been turned around.
