Page 18 of Spike (Iron Thunder MC 5)
“Burgers and beers for breakfast?” I asked, shocked. Spike was still grinning.
“What’s wrong with that? Who said you have to eat pancakes for breakfast every day?”
“But beer?” I exclaimed.
“I’ll need something to wash down the burgers,” he replied casually.
I was staring at him and he stared back as though he was challenging me to say more. But I had no more to say. I had never experienced anything like this. One thing was clear to me now—Spike did what he wanted to do.
So I just started laughing.Sophie returned with burgers and beers and plonked them on the table between us. Spike had been busy talking to people who walked past our table. It seemed as if everyone knew him and they were all happy to see him. It sounded like they hadn’t seen him in a while. Was this about the injury the other man was talking about?
Was Spike injured recently? What happened? Was he in pain now?
Why did I care?
I’d pulled out my phone to scroll through my screen, just to keep myself distracted and my mind off thinking about Spike. I was face-to-face with a side of his world that I was completely unfamiliar with. This was where he hung out. Which, in comparison to the Parisian cafés I was hanging out in a few days ago, were two different worlds.
Then I saw Sophie again, and the way she stood with her hips jutting out, exposed between her top and skirt. She was confident in what she wore, didn’t care about who was looking. She was definitely the kind of girl who wasn’t shy about herself or her body.
I glanced at Spike and the way he was speaking to her. He looked more at ease with her than with me, more relaxed. Whatever walls he built up around himself when he spoke to me, were now pulled down.
I felt a pang of jealousy and bitterness. So, this was the kind of girl he liked? This was the reason why he didn’t make any moves on me? I wasn’t his type. I was far from his type. But why did I feel that attraction toward him? Why did I convince myself we had a connection? A physical connection.
This felt like a repeat of Brett. Just like I had fooled myself into thinking he was going to help me change my life.
My cheeks were burning red. I picked up a beer and drank it hurriedly. It burned my throat and made me cough. I had to put the bottle down, cover my mouth with the back of my hand.
“You okay there, hon?” Sophie asked. I saw they were both looking at me. Was it concern I saw on Spike’s face?
No. I was fooling myself again. He wasn’t concerned about me. He was just doing his job.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just hungry,” I said and grabbed one of the burgers.
I had to admit, it smelled good. I bit into one and smiled at Sophie and nodded.
“This is great, thanks!” The smile on my face was forced and fake. I didn’t want either of them noticing what I was feeling. Embarrassment, jealousy, frustration.
“Okay, I’ll leave you folks to it,” Sophie said and walked away, smiling and shaking her head lightly. I was worried she had figured me out.
Spike sat there watching me as I took another bite of the burger. He popped open his bottle of beer and drank from it.
“You alright?” he asked. He wasn’t convinced by my fake smile. I had to try a different distraction.
“Are you injured?” I asked.7Spike“Yeah, I was involved in an incident,” I replied to her. Sabrina’s eyes grew wide and she looked me over, as if she was trying to figure out where I was hurt.
I decided to show her. She needed to see exactly what being in my world involved.
I lifted up my shirt without warning and her eyes were glued to the bandaged area around the side of my torso. She couldn’t see a scar or anything gory, but at least she would know how serious the wound was. Maybe that way, she would take my job more seriously.
When I pulled my shirt back down, Sabrina looked up to meet my eyes. She looked a little afraid.
“How…what happened?”
“You don’t need to know the details.”
“But I want to know,” she insisted.
“I was looking for someone and when I found him, he did his best to get away. It shouldn’t have happened. I should have been doing a better job, but he tried to kill me and he got away.”
She was staring at me with her big dark eyes. They took up half her face. She gulped as if her throat was dry.
“Are you in pain?”
“No,” I replied.
“You had to have been in pain before when you got hurt. When did this happen?”
“About a week ago.”
“What are you doing here? With me? On this job?” She spoke with her voice raised a little. Was she genuinely concerned? It was a little hard for me to believe.
