Page 7 of Archer (Dirty Misfits MC 3)
I grabbed the spray and walked back into Josie’s room and was shocked to see her on her feet.
“Ready?” I asked as I held up the spray.
She nodded and slid her shirt up, to which I bent down and opened up the bottle. She had her eyes squeezed closed and her hands trembled. The sight broke my heart. The girl was so fucking scared even though she tried to put up a front, and I wished with all my might that I had the magical combination to calm her down.
But I settled for the sigh of relief as the numbing spray quickly took over.
“Oh, that’s the stuff right there,” she groaned.
I chuckled as I stood. “You want to eat up here or downstairs?”
Josie turned toward the view. “You didn’t say this bedroom had its own balcony.”
I smiled. “I’ll bring some up to you, then. But only if you promise to eat as much as you can.”
She giggled. “Trust me, that isn’t an issue anymore.”
The word “anymore” made me curious, but I decided against pressing the subject. Instead, I offered my hand to her and led her out onto the private guest balcony. I eased her down into a comfy lounge chair I’d gotten from an auction down the street. One of the houses had been abandoned, and I had snagged a great deal of the shit in my own house from that thing for pennies on the damn dollar.
The lounge chair alone was a two-thousand-dollar chair.
That I got for five hundred bucks.
“I’m still shocked that someone like you lives in a place like this,” she said.
I let go of her hand. “Well, I figured living near a bunch of surfers would’ve been easier than living near the rest of the guys.”
She looked up at me. “Smart man. Can’t put a price on that nowadays.”
I winked down at her. “That’s usually how I feel about girls with good heads on their shoulders.”
Her eyes held mine for a beat longer than I would have figured, electricity slowly sizzling through my veins. She had this aura about her that threatened to pull me closer. Deeper. Until my body was nestled against hers.
“What?” Josie asked.
I cleared my throat and turned away from her. “I’ll be up in a bit with your food. Water to drink?”
“Do I have a choice?”
I peered over my shoulder. “You always have a choice, Josie.”
She nodded slowly as her eyes gazed out over the water. “Water is good, thank you.”
As much as I wanted to hit on her—as much as I wanted to feel her beautiful body pressed against mine—she was in no condition to take part in any kind of activities of that sort. So, I made my way downstairs and stuck my hand down my pants to shift my growing cock around.
Before I washed my hands and dished up the food.
I set her food on a tray and grabbed a big bottle of water out of the fridge. However, I didn’t even make it halfway up the stairs before my phone vibrated. I ignored it until I got Josie’s tray set in her lap, but by the time I left Josie to her own devices, whoever the hell called had hung up and called back three separate times.
Which told me exactly who was trying to get in touch with me.
“Hello Astrid,” I said as I picked up my cell phone.
She paused. “I’m calling from Porter’s phone.”
I chuckled. “No one in my life calls me as much as you just did. And before you ask, she’s just fine. She’s upright, eating, and comfortable out on her balcony.”
She paused. “She’s got her own balcony.”
I walked down the stairs. “That overlooks the ocean.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
I chuckled. “What can I do for you?”
Her voice sounded a bit nervous. “Could I talk to Josie, please?”
I turned and went right back up the stairs. “Did you try calling her phone?”
“I did. She didn’t pick up.”
I eased Josie’s door open. “All right, I’ll see if she wants to talk.”
“She always wants to talk to me.”
“And I’ll see if she’s up for the routine. But if she isn’t, you’ll have to wait. Okay? This isn’t about any of us. This is about her.”
Josie called out. “That Astrid?”
I put my phone to my shoulder as I walked back over to the balcony doors. “She said she tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. You up for talking? She sounds worried.”
And all Josie did was hold up her hand.
When I dropped my cell phone into her palm, I decided to give the two of them some privacy. I went back downstairs and dished up some food for myself and set it on a tray, deciding to ask if Josie wanted any sort of company. While some people wanted to be alone during shit like this, she really didn’t strike me as the kind of girl that wanted that for herself.
