CHAPTER 10

The door to Reading Grounds flew open in what could have been described as slow motion while a wind machine blew everyone’s hair in that perfect dramatic wave. A change in the air could be felt through the place as Molly’s six-foot, day-old-scruff, long-haired, leather-clad past of rolling muscles blew in.

Dane Sharp.

Dane was a first-class loser dead beat and one hundred percent bad boy. Once upon a time, she thought he was the one, but time revealed he was just the one who liked living in her trailer for free where he entertained anything with tits while Molly worked three jobs. He was an asshole.

Molly thought she loved Dane, but she really just loved the idea of him. Loved the idea of having someone. Someone like Seth was proving to be, she thought. Seth was the kind of guy who gave as much or more than he received. He was kind, compassionate, genuine…someone you could love and love easily.

Dane had her attention when he pulled her into a tight, awkward embrace, planting a kiss right on her lips.

“Missed you, Kitten…” he said in that all too familiar timbre.

“Missed me? You mean you missed my free food, free phone, the free roof over your head. Did Candy kick you out? Is that why you’re here?” she fired back.

He tossed his head back, amused by her obvious crossness. “C’mon, you’re not still mad about that little bump in the road, are ya? I already told ya, I just missed you so much, you were always working…”

“Ha! You missed me?” She pushed his hands from her shoulders and took a step back. “Missed the free ride is more like it. What about that box of trophy panties I found when I put your crap on the lawn. You must’ve missed me a lot!”

An annoyed sigh fell from his lips. He took a step closer, returning to the suave he was trying to charm her with. “C’mon, Kitten. You were always gone, and I was in that trailer…alone.”

“Stop calling me that! I’ve always hated it, and you know it!” Molly said. “And you’re right, it’s my fault you cheated!”

“I heard you were doing real well up here.” He took a slow look around, letting out a dragging, high-pitched whistle, taking in all there was to see in her thriving business. “Looks like I heard right. This is a nice set up you have here, honey.”

Molly glared. “Don’t call me that either.”

“Don’t play so hard to get, Kitten!” he said in a smug tone, grabbing her by the waist again.

She pushed him away with little success, locked in his brash and smarmy embrace. “Are you working, Dane? I’m guessing no…”

“I’m…in between gigs,” he chided.

“I thought so. Get out. Now,” Molly seethed, trying to release herself from his sordid brutish grip unsuccessfully.

“Hey! Everything okay here?” A familiar booming voice came from the front of the shop, causing Dane to stiffen and allowing Molly to breathe a little easier when she finally got out of Dane’s grips. “Thought I heard the lady say let her go and leave, friend.”

Marcas O’Reilly was Libby’s on again, off again love interest, which also made him Molly’s friend by proxy — a real big brother type. He had a menacing tone that implored, do what I say, and a presence that said, or I’ll kick your ass. Marcas had several bakery boxes in hand, indicating to Molly he was Libby’s delivery guy for the day. Praise God for that and good timing, she thought.

Dane paused, taking in the tall, broody man who largely filled out the expensive suit that didn’t sway the intimidating vibe he exuded in the least. Marcas O’Reilly was a class act, but carried an Irish bad boy swagger that commanded attention. He stepped between Molly and Dane, providing a buffer between them, which forced Dane several steps backward.

Dane scanned back and forth between the two, assessing the situation and who they possibly were to each other. “Oh, I see what’s going on here. You’ve got a new friend.”

Marcas dropped a grin full of mischief and machismo. “Something like that. Door’s that way, friend.” He nodded toward the front of the store.

Without much choice in the matter, Dane puffed out his chest in a final alpha attempt, pacing backward toward the door, not ready to turn his back on the enemy in such close proximity. “I’ll be back. We need to talk this out…” he finished, swinging his arm between himself and Molly, indicating they were this. And then he was gone.

Marcas turned to Molly, giving her his charming wink and smile. “Libby asked me to drop these by.”

“I’ll have to remember to thank her for sending you when she did!” Molly said with a forced chuckle.

“You might want to mention that guy to Jasper — looks like trouble. He almost forced my hand and ruined these pastries!” Marcas said. “Then I would have had to face Libby. Better yet, I’d turn Libby on that guy. Nobody ruins her pastries and gets away with it.”

“Blasphemy!” Molly laughed. “Flattened pastries would be worth a mention to the sheriff, but we’ll spare everyone the wrath of Libby. Dane is all bark, no bite.”

“He seemed pretty determined to me…I don’t like how the asshole just rolls off him,” Marcas added.

“I can handle him. When there is no money and no place to stay, he’ll leave…but thank you. I do appreciate you helping me.” Molly gave Marcas a quick thankful hug, valuing her friends and their big, beefy men that much more.

“Okay. Call if you need anything, kid,” Marcas said with a mega watt smile and matching wink.

Molly appreciated Marc’s concern, but Dane was harmless and would likely be gone by the end of the day. She hoped. For now, she was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the man she didn’t mind hanging around and invading her personal space. Seth. They had a night of sleuthing to plan.

Seth was pissed. While getting ready for his meeting with his partner in crime, Seth decided to take a quick look at Facebook to see what they were up against — if anything — today. To his surprise, and disenchantment, he found a new photo posted with a flippant caption that assaulted his heart, causing it to sink the darkest of depths, leaving it tattered amongst his chilly flood of emotions.

When you have a type, you have a type… Who is this tall, dark, and handsome Pine Valley stranger?

Below the abstruse caption was a picture of Molly wrapped in the arms of some motorcycle thug, looking quite cozy, given the lip lock. His stomach turned at the sight of them. Molly and Seth were nothing more than friends, technically, but it still made his skin crawl, nonetheless. They had spent time together, intimate time in an emotional sense, and he had thought perhaps they were moving in some sort of direction together. Plus…he really liked her.

His one-sided assumption that they were engaged in some kind of unspoken relationship, given their time spent together, just slapped him square in the face. He thought the attraction between them was a given, the chemistry awe-inspiring, and the undeniable compatibility absolutely earth-quaking. He was wrong. According to Evelyn Shirley and #RumorHasIt.

Seth sat in the fire station kitchen, lost in thought, staring at that picture. He was torturing himself, comparing and stacking himself up against the thug. Seth should be at Reading Grounds, meeting with his object of affection to plot their next expedition in the anti-Evelyn campaign, but instead, he would sit and wallow in his own misery. He lost the girl before he even had her.

Molly took a break from Reading Grounds and made her way to the fire station to check on Seth. It wasn’t like him to not show up without a call or text. Seth was finishing his shift earlier that day, but should have been long since done unless he was on a call. He never missed their afternoon spy ninja meetings, so naturally, Molly’s mind went a million ways, wondering what happened to him. Seth’s job was one full of risk, and Molly’s heart hurt to think that was what kept him.

Those thoughts provoked emotions she didn’t realize she had where he was concerned. Sure, her feelings for Seth were becoming more than those of friendship, but somewhere along the line, she missed the transition to where they stood now…wherever that was. She cared for him, deeply — everything about him.

Molly turned the corner and faced the fire station head on. Her jaw dropped at the wide-open doors and all the half-naked firefighters standing around. Holy hell, this must be what heaven looks like, she thought. The photographer and random animals surrounding brightly colored fire hydrants and extinguisher props tuned her in to what was going on — the annual fire house calendar. Molly was interrupting their shoot and didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for doing so. Hello handsomes — as in plural — she thought.

One man in particular leaning with arms crossed against the largest of the fire engines had her attention immediately. Seth stood barefoot in his turn outs and suspenders, sans shirt and sexy as hell. Molly recalled his rippling bare chest the night he slept over in her chair, but that memory didn’t do justice to what stood before her — smoldering hot sex on a stick. Seth’s ability to make her sweat, go weak in the knees, and command her most personal parts without a word was a dangerous and exciting realization. He. Was. Hot!

Molly blushed when she noticed him watching her. The effect he had on her was as exhilarating as it was frightening. The wave of relief that Seth was indeed okay, so okay he was standing there looking like that, flooded her core. She had to squeeze her legs together just a bit tighter.

Seth approached her expressionless. His apparent mood left Molly a bit unsettled since it was something she hadn’t witnessed before. She stood on her tiptoes, reached around his neck, and gave him a sweet hug. She was both glad he was okay and happy to see him in all his half-naked glory. When the hug wasn’t returned, she slowly dropped her arms, confused by the awkward encounter.

“You didn’t come by the shop today. I was worried,” Molly said, full of insecurity, trying to gauge his demeanor.

“Were you?” Seth mocked.

“Well, yeah. I thought something might have happened. You usually text or call if something comes up,” she defended.

Seth snorted. “Thought you might be busy.”

“Busy? The shop is usually busy, but that’s not a problem. I always make time for—” She was cut off before she could finish her thought by a fiery tone she hadn’t heard from Seth before. Molly had clearly missed something. This wasn’t like Seth at all, and it left her uneasy.

He shook his head, looked her in the eye, and declared, “I didn’t want to interrupt your company.”

“Company?” she questioned, sincerely perplexed by his behavior. “I mean, I guess customers are like company, but…”

“I saw it, Molly,” Seth said, his eyes full of what looked like hurt. “The whole damn town did. Evelyn posted you kissing some leatherhead,” he chided.

“Dane?” Molly began to laugh.

“Oh, so it’s funny?” Seth questioned.

“No! No! I can’t believe Evelyn managed to capture that!” Molly shrugged with a deep sigh.

“I bet…” He left his statement open ended for her to take in any way she so chose.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Molly was genuinely shocked by what he was implying. “Are you being serious right now?”

“It means…I guess it’s just better to find out sooner than later that I was reading our relationship different,” he admitted.

“Wait, there is nothing going on with Dane. He is my uninvited and unwelcome free loading ex! Marcas O’Reilly had to get rid of him for me!” Molly pleaded, not sure it was even worth defending.

Seth felt like an ass, realizing he very well could have read the entire situation completely wrong. His source was Evelyn, after all. But now, what did he do? Did he believe her, or have any reason not to believe her? The troubled look on Molly’s face told him it may not matter. He had hurt her…deeply. He watched tears well just shy of spilling over Molly’s long lashes when his conscience finally got ahold of him. Seth was a fucking asshole.

“I really can’t believe you thought…” Molly briefly choked on her words, pausing to collect herself. She would not let this man affect her with his implications. “Of all people to believe…you believed I would...”

Molly shook her head and backed away, offering her last words on the topic before she turned and walked away. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Guilt felt like a knife to Seth’s heart, and he was the one who stuck it there. Had he really just done that? Accused Molly of something based on a picture from public enemy number one? Seth wasn’t sure how or why he had let that image take his mind where it had or why he would accuse her of anything. It was Molly, sweet Molly.

It was time to eat crow and fix what he had wronged. Seth could reconcile all the feelings that led him here later. Molly waved him off without even a look his way when he called out her name, trying to stop her, even ran part way down the station lot to the sidewalk to catch up, but Molly didn’t want to be caught.

The sound of a honking horn stopped him in his tracks when a car full of young girls hollered and whistled out the window, reminding him of his attire, or lack thereof, and bare feet. The last thing Seth needed was for Evelyn to capture this and run with it. He would fix this. He didn’t know how, but he would.

“Dick move, man,” Hunter deadpanned.

Just what he needed — not only his boss, Hunter, but Hunter’s brothers, Forest and Sheriff Jasper, to witness his jealous tirade and the humiliation that followed. If that wasn’t enough, Marcas O’Reilly was with them. The O’Bannon brothers were tight, and all worked as some of Pine Valley’s finest in the hero department. Real badasses — and they had an O’Reilly with them. Fan-fucking-tastic. They all liked Molly. Her four best friends happened to be these guys’ women. This wasn’t going to end well for Seth.

“Looks like you blew it, Spangler,” Jasper accused. “I knew you were an idiot…but that? That was all kinds of asshole!”

Seth leaned forward, hands braced against the fire truck, trying to collect himself while he sucked in a deep breath. “Might have. Damn Evelyn fucking Shirley.”

“Evelyn Shirley?” Hunter questioned.

“It’s her fault. She’s been posting shit about Molly and me for weeks…months, actually. Evelyn is a ruthless old broad and has it out for Molly,” Seth shared, getting the guys up to speed. “She caught some scene at Molly’s store with a guy. Made it something it obviously wasn’t, and I fucking fell for it! What the hell was I thinking?”

“I was actually heading that way in a bit. Marcas mentioned there was trouble over at Molly’s shop with some wannabe biker guy,” Sheriff Jasper offered, although Seth was sure smartass Jasper would pop up any moment. “Wanted to make sure she was all good.”

“Sounds like you’re jealous. Got a little butt hurt over a picture…you’re such a pussy.” Forest cut the bullshit and said what everyone including Seth was thinking. “You should have hauled your ass over there and asked the dickhead with long Barbie hair what the fuck he was doing with his hands on your girl…but that’s just me. That’s what a man would do.”

Seth felt defeated, evident by his lack of rebuttal of any kind. He stood there and took the insults because he deserved them, and because the guys were right. Seth was a jealous jerk, and he may have just ruined everything.

“Well, I have a little situation with Barbie hair guy — Biker Barbie…whatever we’re calling him…” Marcas informed the group. “He’s staying at my hotel…as Hyrum Kavecky. That’s why I’m here actually,” he said, looking to the sheriff.

“Hyrum Kavecky?” Forest blurted out in a boisterous laugh. “That doesn’t sound like much of a badass. Shouldn’t his name be like Tank or Knuckles?”

“One, you’re stereotyping. And two…I’m pretty sure he isn’t Doctor Hyrum Kavecky from Sausalito,” Marcas said. “I was going to have the sheriff here come down and deal with him since he isn’t a sixty something doc, and to keep him out of Molly’s hair. But I wonder if there isn’t an opportunity for redemption for the kid here,” Marcas said, looking at Seth. And man did he have Seth’s attention — he would do anything to right his wrong, and it started with getting rid of Biker Barbie.

“Hmmm, you might be on to something, O’Reilly. Two birds, one stone. I like how you think,” Jasper replied before giving Seth a once over. “Go get your fucking clothes on, Spangler. You’re getting a second chance here.”

The group of men took off down the street to Marcas’s hotel, the Pine Valley Grand, which sat only a few blocks down Main Street. Five big beautiful men full of badass alpha swagger on a mission to deal with Mr. Kavecky, help Molly, and win the girl back. Seth may get a lot of shit from these guys, but today, they were there to help him inflict it.