“S orry, pres, I was just getting more beer. Dust said we were out so I…,” he said gesturing towards the kitchen counter where the six-pack of beer was still waiting. The can he had opened was right next to it. He had set it down before going off to check on the noises he had heard .

“Mmm,” my dad said looking down the hallway towards my room as if he was looking for clues. It seemed as though he was suspicious of why Stone had really been in the house when he knew he wasn’t supposed to be .

“I heard the noises and when she didn’t answer,” Stone said almost sounding as though he was getting pissed off at my dad. And I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did. I was glad Stone had been there. Not that I thought Troy would have really done anything, but it was better this way. If he would have gotten away with it, he would have thought he could sneak in the house whenever he wanted .

My dad slowly walked to my room looking at the walls as he walked. He ran his finger down the door frame as he examined it. I hadn’t noticed before but a big chunk of wood had been broken off near the doorknob and was barely hanging on. The door looked as if it would still close, but it was clearly damaged .

“I’ll pay for the door,” Stone said when my dad looked at him .

“Of course you will — ”

“Dad! He will not,” I said putting my hands on my hips. He’d just saved me… my dad was out of line .

My dad stared at me and my skin started to feel hot. I could see he was thinking something over, but then he smiled and lightly jabbed Stone in the shoulder. “Of course that was just a joke. You don’t have to pay for the door, but you do have to pay for the six-pack you stole from my fridge .”

“Oh God,” I groaned .

My dad looked inside the room and saw the broken lamp laying on the floor. He didn’t look at Stone for an explanation instead he looked at me. He tilted his head and waited as if I was supposed to give him the play-by-play .

“Troy,” I said and snapped my mouth shut. I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Stone. I didn’t want to talk about it to my dad. It was bad enough he knew Troy had somehow gotten inside of the house. Tomorrow there would probably be metals bars on my window, or maybe Troy’s name in the obituary .

I jerked when I felt hands touching my shoulders. I turned around quickly my eyes wide and panicked. Once I realized it was my mom relief washed over me. She was looking at me with eyes filled with concern and worry. I saw her shoot a look at my dad before she ushered me away from both of the men and my room .

I should have thanked Stone. My dad should have stood there listening as I told him how I felt about what he had done for me. But I hadn’t thought of it quick enough, and by the time I realized, I was already in the kitchen with my mom .

“I’ll make you some tea,” my mom said wrapping her arm around my shoulders .

“I’m not going to talk about it,” I said, shivering even though I wasn’t cold .

“You don’t have to… at least not now,” my mom said as she placed me in a chair at the kitchen table. “Unless you think we should call Sheriff Bayley ?”

“No, we don’t need to do that,” I said knowing neither her nor my dad would do that. Calling the police was almost always a last resort .

She made the tea and didn’t say another word about what had happened although I knew she was dying to hear about it from me. But really it didn’t matter because she probably already knew. My parents always seemed to know everything anyway .

I had trouble sleeping that night. Between the pleasant thoughts of Stone and the nightmarish thoughts of Troy I’d wake up frequently. After tossing and turning for most of the night I turned on the TV and watched infomercials until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The white noise from the TV helped keep my mind quiet .

* * *

T he next day when I was sitting in the office all I could think about was how I had to find a way to thank Stone. And maybe even apologize for how my dad had acted, but he probably knew him well enough to know how he was .

If Stone hadn’t been there things could have gotten much worse. I didn’t think Troy had been there to kill me, but he definitely was capable of other things I wouldn’t have wanted to happen either. Troy often commented on how I was his and if he wanted me to do something it was my job to do it .

I didn’t want to think about what Troy would have done if he would have had the opportunity. But I did want to thank Stone for what he did and move on. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I could move on until I thanked him. He didn’t have to do anything, but he did .

I started digging around in the drawers and sifted through the junk inside. The top middle drawer had a pistol and a small black book. I opened the book and found the names and addresses of all of the club members written inside .

It seemed like information my dad should have kept locked up somewhere, like inside the safe. Although, if someone was determined enough, they could probably find out all the club members names and addresses without a little black book .

I was tempted to bring the book to my dad and suggest he lock it up but then I decided against it. He’d probably just forgotten about it, and it was safer in the house that it would be in his office in the clubhouse .

I wrote down Stone’s address on a scrap of paper and tucked it into my purse. Before I could change my mind, not that I would have, I was in my car heading for Stone’s house .

When I spotted the small house, I wasn’t sure if he still lived there. There was a tall, dark haired woman walking down the driveway. She was almost too skinny. I watched as she teetered down the drive on her impossibly high stilettos .

She looked down the road in my direction but then she looked down the other way. It almost seemed as though she was looking for something or someone. She seemed nervous .

I wanted to keep driving. I probably should have kept driving, but I didn’t. My car squeaked as I put the brakes on and pulled up to the curb. The thin girl got into her rickety old Ford and sped down the road .

The girl hadn’t seemed to notice me and even if she did it didn’t seem as though she’d cared about my presence in the least. I walked up to Stone’s front door and watched as she turned the corner .

It didn’t matter to me in the lease who she was. It wasn’t like it was any of my business anyway .

“Ex,” he said, and I jumped at least two inches straight up into the air, or at least it had felt that way. “What are you doing here ?”

It felt weird. He almost sounded perturbed that I was at his place. But then again, maybe he had the right to feel that way since I hadn’t bothered to call first. I did just show up on his property unannounced .

“I’m sorry, I should have called first,” I said shaking my head as I took a step away from him .

“Come on in,” he said pushing his squeaky front door open. I looked around as if I’d see my dad staring at me from across the street, but of course he wasn’t there .

I stepped inside his quaint house and I couldn’t help but look around. He had minimal furniture and a few pictures on the wall but overall it was very plainly decorated. It was obvious that it was the house of a bachelor. Not a feminine touch anywhere inside… not that it mattered .

I couldn’t help but wonder how long ago his ex and him had been together. She was still coming to his house which seemed odd, but it wasn’t really any of my business. If she had lived with him clearly she hadn’t been much for interior decorating .

There were papers scattered all over his kitchen table. In the kitchen there was a box of cereal on the counter and a bowl sitting near the sink .

I wasn’t the least bit surprised by the workout equipment and weights sitting on the floor in the living room next to his small TV. His arms were so muscular and toned that I was sure he spent every free moment building his muscles .

“Have a seat,” he said gesturing towards his couch .

“Sure,” I said resisting the urge to brushing off the cereal crumbs first. “I’m sorry to drop by like this… I hadn’t thought it through. Anyway I just wanted to — ”

“Can I get you something to drink ?”

“No thanks,” I said with a smile. “Anyway, I just wanted to stop by so I could thank you for last night .”

“Ah, it was nothing. You didn’t have to trouble yourself coming out here for that,” he said sitting down next to me. He was so close I could feel the warmth of his body. “Any of the guys would have done the same .”

“I would have said something last night but my dad, well, he was in one of his moods after what happened,” I said folding my hands neatly into my lap .

I couldn’t take my eyes off of Stone. We were so close together I could smell the masculine scent from the soap he’d used in the shower. Which led to me thinking about him in the shower. What was I really doing here ?

Before I could stop myself, I boldly put my hand on his forearm. I could feel his tight, silky skin under my fingers. It was like my mind had been erased, I couldn’t think of what I had wanted to say and instead I bit my lip .

His eyes shifted down to my hand and then back to my eyes. He sighed as if something was wrong. I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could even get a word out, he put his hand behind my neck .

We looked another one another, slowly inching closer and closer. My heart was pounding, and it felt like my breath was caught somewhere in my throat .

When I was inches away, he pulled my lips to his, and it felt like electricity jolted through my body. Stone’s soft, perfectly lips were on mine as if he was hungry and the only thing that could satisfy him, was me .

Our tongues danced perfectly together as if it was what they meant to be doing. I needed him and he needed me. To hell with everything else .

“Mmm,” he said in a low, needy voice. “Shit baby .”

I slid my hand off of his forearm and down to his thigh. It was almost as if my hand had a mind of its own and there wasn’t anything I could do to reel it back in .

He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me on top of his lap. He broke our kiss to watch me as he cupped my breast. I parted my lips as my need for him was practically uncontrollable .

“Oh God, Stone,” I moaned as I pressed myself down against the hardness that I could feel growing inside his jeans. I put my hand down on his stomach and felt the muscles under his T-shirt .

He grabbed, squeezed and stroked my breast as he reached around with his other hand to grab my ass. Stone guided me as I rolled myself around on top of him. I wanted to rip his clothes off. I wanted to feel him inside me .

Stone leaned forward and kissed me, but the kiss slowed. He stopped moving his hands. Everything came to a screeching halt .

I looked at him, my eyebrows pinched together. I didn’t understand what had happened. Had he not been enjoying it as much as I was? What had I done wrong? Deep down I knew coming here was going to be a mistake .

Maybe I should be happy it was stopping. I didn’t want to be involved with a club member. Clearly my brain hadn’t been in charge when it came to Stone. I didn’t know why but at least I hadn’t done something I would regret .

“Hmm… I don’t think this is a good idea, sweetheart,” he said as he carefully eased me off of his lap. I could see exactly by the size of the bulge in his pants that parts of him thought it was an exceptionally great idea. “I respect your dad too much. But more importantly, I value my life .”

I straightened my clothes and stood up. My dad shouldn’t really be involved in decisions when it came to my sex life, or lack thereof, but this was because of him. It didn’t matter that I had let things go too far with someone that I shouldn’t be involved with but the choice should have been mine, and it didn’t feel as though it had been .

I was annoyed, but I tried not to let it show. It wasn’t Stone’s fault my dad was the way he was. If anyone was at fault, it was me for coming here .

“It’s not that I don’t want to sweetheart,” he said grabbing my hand and looking into my eyes. “There is nothing I want more than to put this… mmm,” he said adjusting himself not even the slight bit embarrassed to be handling himself right in front of me the way he was. And unfortunately for me, it only turned me on more than I already was .

“I shouldn’t have come here,” I said shaking my hand free. I could tell my anger was showing by my tone. But I didn’t care. I was embarrassed, frustrated, and I felt stupid for letting things get out of hand. It was almost as if I had broken a rule I had with myself. “Thanks again for helping me last night. I appreciate it .”

“Josie… wait,” he said as I walked to the front door. I pretended not to hear him and let myself out. I wanted to run across the yard and get into my car as fast as I could but I refused to run. It wasn’t like I wanted him to know I was upset. A fast walk would have to do .

I could hear his front door open but I didn’t hear footsteps coming after me. By the time I was inside my car his door was closed and he was presumably back inside .

Good. He got the message. And now I just had to get over my infatuation. He was in the club. I wasn’t interested in him or anyone else that had anything to do with my dad or The Brother’s Rebellion motorcycle club .