Chapter Eight
Veronica
Looking out the window, I take in the tiny town of Cotton Plains. I swear, if I blink my eyes, I’ll miss it. It’s a one-stoplight kind of town, the Indiana version of Pleasantville. It has a gas station, a Piggly Wiggly, and a dive restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch only. That’s it. But with Indy just forty minutes away, that’s all that is needed.
“Nothing’s changed,” I say, more to myself than the other occupants of the car.
Brass looks over his shoulder to see me sitting in the back seat. “When’s the last time you were here?”
“I was like seven or eight.” I shrug, not quite sure.
I try not to think back on the last time I visited Dad at Cotton Plains. That memory is not a good one. Kendra made my life a living hell. She always had, but that summer, she was especially brutal. When it was time for me to go back to Mom and Timothy’s, I wanted nothing more than never to see Kendra again. Thankfully, I haven’t.
“You okay back there, sweet thing? You’ve been pretty quiet,” Brass says, still looking over his shoulder.
A smile spreads across my face as I look his way and respond. “I don’t know. Maybe you should crawl back here and check for yourself.”
Van grumbles under his breath as Brass chuckles. He shoots me a wink and turns around. The look in his eyes lets me know he has figured out my game. I’m flirting with him as a way to deflect Van’s attention, hoping he won’t see what is probably written all over my face. No way do I want Van to realize what I felt the moment I laid eyes on him.
I can’t stop myself from looking at Van, taking in all the beauty that is him. He was a cute boy when he was a teenager. I remember having a little girl crush on him, even before I knew what a crush was, but that crush turned into full-blown attraction when I saw him again.
He’s not what I would call tall but definitely not short. I would guess he’s closing in on six feet. He’s muscular but not overly so, just built in a way that lets me know he can take care of himself. His arms are covered in ink. Unlike the colorful art on my body, all his tattoos are varying shades of black and gray. They’re intricate and beautiful, making me long to run my tongue over every line.
His deep auburn hair is streaked with multiple shades of gold, reminding me of the colors of fall. It’s thick and hangs nearly to his shoulders, with visible waves here and there. My fingers itch to reach out and touch it, to run through the silky strands. Not trusting myself, I push them between my thighs and the seat, trapping them under me.
“We need to have a talk. I planned on doing it when we got home, but I don’t think we’re gonna have time,” Van says, drawing me out of my daydream of touching him.
“Okay,” I mumble, wondering what is going to come out of his mouth.
“My daughter, Cline, is going to be at the house in a little bit. When she gets there, I expect you to treat her right. I know my mom put you through hell, but don’t take that out on my kid. If you do, promise to your dad or not, I’ll put your ass out.”
Fury ricochets through my body as his words work their way through my brain. I’m pissed as fuck that he would even say such a thing to me. On the other hand, I understand his need to protect his child. As wonderful as my dad is, as wonderful as he has always been, I still wish he would have had the same type of discussion with Kendra.
“I’m not a fucking thing like your mother. That woman is part of my past that I try my best to forget,” I explain, unable to keep the anger out of my voice. “Even if I was still holding a grudge, I wouldn’t take it out on a little girl.”
“Fair enough,” he mumbles, looking at me in the rear-view mirror. “Another thing, you need to watch that fucking tank you call a dog. Even if he isn’t mean, being his size, he could easily hurt her.”
My knee-jerk reaction is to defend my dog, say Denver would never hurt anyone, but I can’t do that. Denver is massive, and he sometimes has trouble controlling his bulk. It’s even worse when he gets excited. He would never mean to hurt the little girl, but if he jumped on her, he would hurt her.
“I’ll keep a close eye on him when she’s around. If I even think he is going to hurt her, I’ll keep him in his kennel or my room until I leave,” I promise, even though I hate the thought of Denver not having room to play.
“If he causes too much trouble, you and the dog can bunk at my place,” Brass says, looking back at me with a huge smile on his face.
I smile back at Brass, knowing he is enjoying our game. “We might just do that.”
“You can take the dog, but Ronni isn’t going any fucking where,” Van pipes in, his voice hard and cold.
My and Brass’s flirting seems to be getting to him, and I have to admit that I love it. I don’t know if Van’s attitude is because of the fact that my dad told him to protect me, or if there’s some other reason why he doesn’t want me near his best friend. I’m hoping it’s something more, something that leads to the two of us sharing a bed at least once.
Brass and I share a glance, trying to keep our humor hidden. For the first time, he has my total attention. Being struck by Van’s smile the moment I saw him, I never even took the time to really look at Brass. Staring at him right now, I realize that he is absolutely gorgeous. If my attention wasn’t taken by Van, I’d probably be tossing my panties at him.
“I’m going to have to introduce you to my friend, Erin. She would love you,” I say with a naughty smile. “Well, she would love you until she got what she wanted. Then, she’d forget you, but you would have a hell of a time anyway.”
“Sounds like my kind of woman,” he says, nodding his head.
A minute or two passes before Van slows the truck down and turns off the main road, onto a road that, if I remember correctly, leads to the clubhouse. A mile or two later, he turns again, this time taking a gravel road. As soon as we top the hill, I see a two-story colonial style house with four white columns lining the front.
The house is nice, but it needs a lot of work. It has what Dad would call good bones. As Van brings the car to a stop, I see the house appears to have new windows and a new door. Unless I’m wrong, the dark shingled roof is new, too. It needs a fresh coat of paint to take it from nice to beautiful.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” I say as I push the car door open. “I don’t know what I was expecting but not this.”
“It’s probably not what you’re used to, but it’s home sweet home for the next month,” Van says with a sneer, not bothering to hide the contempt from his voice. “After that, you can head back to your mansion.”
I blink in surprise, not expecting his scorn. It’s clear that he doesn’t know me that well. My mom and stepdad may have lived in a mansion, but I definitely didn’t. At least, not since I was a child. I’d be happy as hell if I never had to walk into another one again.
“Shit, this is a mansion compared to where I live,” I say, wanting to clear up things. “My two best friends and I share a two-bedroom house that’s not much bigger than a cracker box. Still, it’s double the size of the apartment we shared before we moved.”
Not waiting for him to respond, I climb out of the car and shut the door. Looking around, I take in the huge yard, seeing toys scattered everywhere. His daughter has everything a little girl could ever want, including one of the miniature motorcycles that runs off a battery. I can’t wait to see her ride it.
I’ve been eager to meet Cline for years, ever since Dad told me about her. He thinks of the little girl as his grandchild, even though he constantly reminds me that he is too damn young to be a grandfather. He loves the kid, talks about her constantly, and is always sending me pictures of her. I feel like I know her, even though I have never laid eyes on her.
When Brass climbs out of the car, I look over at him and smile. “Denver is going to love this yard. He’s never had this much space to run before.”
Brass starts to reply, but Van beats him to it. “Cline used to have a dog, so I put in a wireless dog fence that blocks off about an acre around the house. He died last year, but as far as I know, it still works. We’ll have to go get him a collar because the one I have is too small. After he has one, he can run all he wants, and you won’t have to worry.”
I nearly ask what happened to her dog but stop when I hear Denver barking. Rushing up the steps, I look back at Van. His lips tip up as he walks to me. Not saying a word, he unlocks the door and flings it open. A second later, Denver’s barking gets louder, and he comes running toward me. Bracing myself, I wait for the huge hunk of fur that is about to be in my face.
He jumps on me. His front feet hit me square in the chest, knocking me flat on my ass. If I hadn’t missed the big lug so much, it probably would’ve hurt. His tongue finds my cheek, leaving it covered with doggy slobber as he barks out his excitement. Laughing, I pet him while pushing him off me at the same time.
“I know, Denver. Mommy missed you, too, you big lug,” I say, trying to maneuver myself out from under him.
His answer is another big lick on my cheek, followed by a few more loud barks. I keep petting him as Van reaches out and pulls him off me. I look up at him, expecting him to be pissed after what he said it the car. Instead, he has a smile on his face. I smile back as Brass helps me to my feet.
“I think I’m gonna like having you here,” Brass says as he pulls me to his side and throws his arm over my shoulders.
Looking up at him, I ask, “Are you here a lot?”
“I live in an airstream that I keep parked in Van’s backyard, so you’ll be seeing me all the time,” he explains, his smile turning flirty.
“Really?” I ask, feeling excitement running through my veins.
On my twenty-first birthday, Dad took me to Dayton. Dad and I stayed at a hotel, but some of the other bikers were staying in airstreams. I thought they were cool as hell. I wanted to go inside one, just to see what they looked like. My dad wasn’t too keen on the idea. He was fine with me getting drunk and partying with bikers, but there was no fucking way he was letting me go into one of their campers.
“I’ve always wanted to see inside of an airstream,” I tell him, shooting him a flirty smile. “You’ll have to give me a tour.”
Van walks over, grabs my hand, and pulls me away from Brass. “That’s not gonna happen, so don’t even be thinking about it. If you want to see the inside of that tin can, I’ll be the one giving you a tour.”
Taking in Van’s handsome face, I’m momentarily frozen by its rugged beauty. He has blue eyes that are so light they remind me of the Caribbean Sea. I swear, I could get lost in those eyes if I’m not careful. The rest of his face is just as amazing. It’s not what most women would call handsome; it’s too rugged for that, full of harsh angles.
His thick lips are surrounded by a neatly trimmed horseshoe mustache, with snake bite piercings that make them stand out even more. His nose has been broken a time or two, leaving a bump behind, giving him an edge that causes a tingle to shoot straight to my nipples. Simply put, he’s perfect. At least, he’s my idea of perfect.
“That would be fine with me.” I smile up at him, realizing I would rather have a tour of his bedroom than an airstream.