Page 18 of Archer (Dirty Misfits MC 3)
Cole stood to his feet. “Are the files electronic?”
She nodded. “They are.”
Tanner stood beside Cole. “We got this, then. Give us an hour and we’ll have it nice and doctored up. What usually gets a strip—I mean, dancer, demoted like that?”
Josie grinned. “A bit of touching around on clients when we’re not supposed to usually does the trick.”
Brooks shook his head. “That might not work in this particular situation. What else?”
Josie shrugged. “Cursing out the bosses would do it. Put in there that I cussed out the prior owners and they fired me, but I’m willing to come back at half the cost and a knock-down to second tier. That’ll make me seem vulnerable already to them, and it might give me more access that way.”
Cole and Tanner nodded in unison before speaking. “Done.”
“I just have one thing to ask,” I said.
The room groaned as Josie turned to face me. “What is it?”
“I want to teach you how to protect yourself. You know, shooting a firearm, if you don’t already know. Some self-defense moves. Shit like that. It’s the only way I’m going to truly be okay with this.”
And without hesitation, Josie took my hand. “No time like the present. Guys, we’ll be outside if anyone needs us!”
Eight
Josie
I kind of liked how protective Archer was being of me, even if he impeded on things I didn’t like. I didn’t enjoy people assuming they could make decisions for me or tell me what to do. I didn’t like how he insinuated that he knew how I felt in all of this. The last thing I needed was to be cooped up and doing nothing with my life. No, if there was a chance that I could help in bringing the motherfuckers down, then I wanted to be part of it.
Whether or not Archer was on board with the plan.
“All right,” he said as we made our way onto a grassy knoll beside the clubhouse, “the first thing I want to know is how much you understand about defense.”
I nodded slowly. “You mean, like defending myself against an attacker.”
His face fell. “Yeah. That.”
I shrugged. “I could show you what I know. But it’s probably all beginner stuff.”
He put up his fists. “Fine by me. Show me what you’ve got and we’ll go from there.”
“You sure about this?”
He nodded. “Perfectly sure. See if you can take me down.”
Let’s see how your ego does with this.
Archer was pompous, and while I thought that was incredibly attractive in a man, I got off on bringing them down a peg or two. I put up my fists and slowly approached him, painfully aware of the fact that people stared out windows to watch us. I lunged at him a bit, trying to gauge his sensitivity to movement, but he didn’t once flinch.
“Come on,” he said with a grin, “I can take it.”
I clicked my tongue. “Suit yourself.”
And as I rushed him, letting loose an ear-piercing screech, I cocked my leg back as his arms soared through the air.
Before kicking him between his legs.
“Holy—fuck,” he choked out.
He fell to his knees as I dusted off my hands. “I know that move.”
He wheezed for air. “The fuck—is wrong—with you?”
I grinned. “Don’t ever underestimate me again or assume that you can make decisions on my behalf. Got it?”
He slowly looked up at me with tears in his eyes. “You wanna know what’s terrible about this position?”
My eyes widened. “Don’t you dare.”
He shook his head, his voice slowly clearing. “They won’t have mercy on you, and neither will I after a move like that. Come here.”
“No!”
He scrambled for my legs as I tried stepping back, but the pain of my bruises slowed me down. He wrapped his hands around my ankles and took me to the grass, quickly climbing on top of me. He pinned my wrists down and I flailed my legs, trying my hardest to get out of the hold.
And as I panicked, Archer’s lips pressed against my ear as he bent over. “It’s just me. I need you to breathe. You’ll have to learn to breathe through the panic.”
I drew in short breaths through my nose. “Get off. I need you off.”
“They won’t get off, Josie. Understand that.”
I bucked against him. “Get off!”
He quickly scrambled off me and offered me his hand, but I knocked it away. I leapt to my feet and charged him, slamming my shoulder against his stomach. I tried to pick him up over my shoulder, but my body hurt too much, and he was way too big. However, that gave him enough wiggle room to wrap his arms around me, flip me upside down with my legs over his shoulder, and he lifted me into the air as if he were about to drop me.
“No!” I shrieked.
He paused before he flipped me back over and settled me onto my feet. “Get the picture now?”
