CHAPTER 11

Marcas let the men into Dane’s room with his master key. Being the owner had its perks. Sure, it was probably illegal on many counts, but having the sheriff with them made that less of an issue. The room was tidy with champagne on ice as well as several silver domed platters sitting on a long buffet at the opposite end of the room.

Barbie guy was planning something of a ruse to win someone back it seemed. A romantic evening was his ploy. It was time to rid Marcas of his freeloading identity thief, let Seth defend his woman’s honor, and rid Pine Valley of the garbage that blew in earlier that day.

Dane entered the main living area of the hotel room, fresh out of the shower, to find five oversized men crowding the space, eating from the platters of food he had ordered from room service. Dane took a large step back, equally shocked by the strangers crowding the space and how they were eating his shrimp cocktail, chocolate covered strawberries, and stuffed mushrooms. He distanced himself while he tried to piece together what was going on.

“What the fuck?” Dane shouted, still baffled by the scene before him.

“Hi, Hyrum — thanks for the snack!” Jasper chimed in, mouth full of food while pointing to the badge fixed to the left side of his shirt.

Seth jumped in, mouth full of baguette and artichoke spread. “Hear you’re an unwelcome friend of Molly’s…”

“I certainly hope you are enjoying the accommodations, Mr. Kavecky,” Marcas added with a nod while tipping his glass of champagne in Dane’s direction. “Your satisfaction is our top priority.”

“Oh my God, the food is great…” Forest complimented as he ate his fair share. “My compliments to the chef, O’Reilly!”

Marcas nodded in thanks while moaning through the plate of large shrimp cocktail sitting in front of him. “Only the best at the Pine Valley Grand. I can eat this shit for days…”

“Well, I wouldn’t know since you guys are eating all of my fucking food,” Dane chided.

Seth set his plate down while sliding to the edge of his seat, arms crossed and propped on his knees, with a serious scowl centered on Barbie guy. “Looks like you are expecting company. Hope we aren’t…imposing.”

“Well, yeah, maybe…” Dane began, until Seth rose to his feet, shoulders back and chest puffed, cutting him off.

“Molly won’t be joining you…Dane,” Seth said with emphasis on his real name.

Dane let out a nervous laugh, as if Seth wasn’t a threat and his four friends were nothing but cheerleaders. “I think she can decide that for herself.”

Marcas stood, taking his round with the jackass. “She did. I was there, remember?”

Remembering who Marcas was struck Dane like a brick wall, his expression giving away the awareness that flooded him. Dane tossed Marcas a distinct glare as if his presence earlier that day was a fresh annoyance.

“Here’s how this is going to work, Dane. You’re going to grab your shit and leave town,” Seth said, taking a step in Dane’s direction. “You’re going to forget about Molly and forget how to get here. You follow me?”

“Fuck you!” Dane retorted.

The rest of the men stood ready to intercept when Seth lunged forward, narrowing the space between himself and Dane.

“Who the hell are you guys to her, anyway? And what business is she of yours?” Dane asked before a sudden distorted epiphany full of disgusting innuendo unleashed. “Oh, I get it. She’s doing all of you? Kinky, but okay.”

As if the planets aligned, the heavens opened, and all five men had the same idea cross their minds in the same moment. The four men holding Seth back let him go in unison, and he unleashed his fury on Barbie Biker guy with the good hair. A few good punches to the gut, then a nice uppercut to the jaw, and the four men pulled him back again, as if it was some common order and Seth reached his maximum punching privileges.

“She’s my fucking business, asshole.” Seth launched one last shot to the gut before putting his hands in the air, letting the guys know he was done.

“All right, big guy. You got a few in. You’re good. He needs to be able to ride that piece of shit bike out of here,” Hunter said, a heavy hand on Seth’s shoulder, offering support and warning.

“Are you really just going to stand there, Sheriff? I want to press charges. This asshole hit me, and you all saw it!” Dane said to the group, one arm wrapped around his waist and the other holding his already swelling jaw.

“I didn’t see anything. You guys see anything?” Sheriff Jasper asked the men around him, not taking his pointed stare off Dane while he delivered his final threat. “Hey, Marc, you want to press charges against this asshole for using a stolen credit card? I can nail him with identity theft too — that’s a can of worms that will land him with hard time.”

“Do it, Marc. He can find a new girlfriend in prison,” Forest said, getting in on the threats. He was an asshole like that.

“Be someone’s girlfriend, you mean. He’s a real pussy, treating women the way he does,” Seth threw in like salt on an already gaping wound. “He can be someone’s good time.”

Fear raced through Dane, and he began to sweat as his knees shook in weakness. He may have acted like a royal badass, but at the end of the day, it was all a cheap gimmick. Dane wasn’t more than a two-bit loser. Prison wasn’t his end game or part of his plan.

“F-F-Fine, I’ll go.” He shrugged away from the huddle the men held him in and made his final say on the matter. “I just need my bag and helmet.”

Marcas called security to haul Dane out of the hotel. Their mission was to escort him out of town by way of following him until he was several towns away and still going, ensuring his departure was legitimate and Dane wouldn’t be a problem again.

Seth sat down, running his hands through his hair and letting out a deep sigh. “Now what?”

“Get your girl back, asshole!” Hunter said.

“How? I was a jerk!” Seth admitted.

“No…you were an asshole!” Forest corrected in a less than flattering offer of support.

“That says something coming from Forest,” Jasper confirmed. “He knows asshole!”

“Okay, fine…I was an asshole,” Seth admitted. “Now what?”

It was a well-known fact that Hunter was a bit of a ladies’ man — a real playboy prior to finding the one. He took on the pep talk like a real mentor, offering his words of wisdom like he wrote the book on women. “You grovel. Tell her you’re an ass and apologize until she can’t stand the sound of your voice anymore and forgives you!”

“You guys sound like you know from experience.” Seth chuckled, sullen mood hanging over him.

The men chuckled as they each recalled the not so graceful journey to love. If they had learned anything, it was that men liked to learn the hard way where their women were concerned. And they were never really in charge of this fate thing. In a pay-it-forward fashion, they each made a silent pact when they all walked over to the Pine Valley Grand Hotel to help their younger friend avoid some of their mistakes and get him back on the love train.

“Why don’t you stay here?” Marcas said, looking around the room that was ready to be used. “The champagne is already iced — well, what’s left of it. I’ll send up another bottle. I’ll have the kitchen send up more food too, maybe a few candles. Women like that.” Marcas presented as a solid date night plan.

“Oh! Have them do those rose petals and bubbly things for the bath too!” Forest excitedly offered. That earned him a sideways glance from his brother, the ex-military behemoth. It was as if Forest broke some sort of macho guy code for knowing about rose petals and bath bombs. “What? Chicks love that!”

Seth shook his head and chuckled at the direction their conversation had wandered. “That’s awesome, man, but how do I even get her here? I’m probably the last person she’ll talk to right now.”

Marcas smiled and tilted his head, as if it were the least of their worries. He had a plan, a good one. “I’ll have Libby and Cady take up that task. I’ll give them a key. They can be pretty…persuasive.”

Less than an hour had passed, and Seth had candles lit, several large domed platters had just arrived from room service, Biker Barbie was confirmed to be headed back to wherever he came from, and Seth was fucking nervous. This was a lot of food to eat by himself if Molly didn’t show up, he thought to himself before hearing the mechanical lock of the door engage. Molly.

Seth stood as she entered the room, peering around with a look of confusion, unsure what to make of the scene. Molly’s eyes landed back on Seth, her sweet grin quickly replaced with a scowl, forgetting the setting they were in and remembering he wasn’t her favorite person at the moment. Her arms crossed, and she raised an eyebrow, not willing to give an inch, waiting for Seth to explain what she was doing there…as if it wasn’t obvious.

He sheepishly said, “Hello.”

Molly didn’t say a word, just scanned the room once more, identifying the details he had planned. Champagne, candles, fancy foods, but it was mostly his nervousness that her attention lagged on. Molly knew what this was about and what it was he was trying to do. Clever, she thought, that he recruited Cady and Libby to get her there. She wouldn’t have come otherwise.

He felt awful, that was apparent, and she wanted to forgive him because that was just Molly. But he wasn’t getting off that easy, though his attempt was sweet and chivalrous. Seth had hurt her. And Molly was going to make sure he remembered this so he never did it again. He could feel like crap just a little longer.

With her arms still crossed, Molly cocked her hip, plastering on her best I’m still pissed but I’m listening, especially since I see tiramisu over there face.

Seth opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His words were as they always were when she was around: lost. “I’m sorry.” Simple and to the point, it had to count for something.

“Really? Why?” Molly asked, prompting him to grovel a bit more.

“I overreacted. I should have asked — then listened.” Seth carefully tiptoed around the issue, trying to take responsibility for his actions without reminding Molly of just how much of a jerk he had been.

“Ya think?” Molly laid on the guilt. Seth’s wallowing was a good indication of just how much he did care about her and how much there was to save.

“Marcas told me — actually, Jasper did. Marcas went to him after he saw you, and—”

“So, you’ll believe Jasper, you’ll believe Marcas — hell, you’ll even believe Evelyn Shirley, but not me! Good to know, Seth.” Molly turned to walk away, that forgiveness she had been holding onto just revoked. Admitting it took the brothers and an O’Reilly to convince him she was being honest, and her word clearly meant shit, was almost worse than the rejection he’d already doled out.

“Molly, wait! Please don’t go!” Seth pleaded. “I’m just screwing this up all over the place.”

Molly stopped where she stood, but didn’t turn to face him, afraid to show just how much his words were breaking her heart.

“Seems to be a pattern today, Seth,” Molly continued to walk toward the door.

Seth quickened his pace to reach her, placing his hands on Molly’s shoulders to stop her before she could leave. If she made it out that door, he knew there was little chance of fixing what he had broken. That wasn’t an option. Molly had become too important to him. He needed her.

Seth turned her around, never losing contact as he pulled Molly closer. Eyes locked, Seth held Molly’s gaze for what felt like an eternity, waiting for her to remember who he really was and not that guy he’d been earlier. He felt her shoulders relax and her body soften before he finally finished what he set out to do. Win back the girl.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t even have a good excuse,” Seth admitted. “I was jealous. So incredibly jealous and acted like an ass.”

“Jealous?” she questioned, a little glint of pleasure dancing in her eyes, pleased to know he was indeed jealous. Jealous only happened when there was something to be jealous of — that meant they had something.

“I guess that’s what that was. My girl in that guy’s arms,” Seth began. “I don’t know how else to explain how it made me feel to see—”

Molly kissed him. She kissed Seth sweetly for his apology, long for what they were building, and hard for what they had missed. Molly didn’t care what else he had to say. He was jealous — upset because another man had his girl. She was his girl.

Molly finally broke their kiss and rested her forehead on Seth’s chest. “Next time, just ask. Not that I anticipate a next time like that, but I’m sure there will be other situations at some point that don’t make sense at first glance. You know me, Seth, better than anyone. You know Evelyn is—”

It was his turn to kiss her. Seth did know Molly, knew her better than he knew himself in fact, and she was letting him off the hook when he didn’t deserve it. Molly was his dream girl, and she was giving him a second chance to be what she needed Seth to be. He wouldn’t fail twice.

Seth pulled away for a moment. “I know. I hope you’ll forgive me for acting like…like…”

“A man?” Molly giggled.

“Yes, a caveman,” he replied. A little more self-loathing wouldn’t hurt his case at all, he thought.

“I do forgive you,” Molly admitted. “Dane is nothing more than a parasite. He may be hard to get rid of, but he’ll eventually leave. I’m not at all interested in him. You have to know that.”

Seth smiled. “He’s gone.”

“He’s gone? How do you know — he’s never really gone,” Molly snickered

“Ohhh, this time I think he is…gone,” Seth said with a knowing wink and Cheshire cat smile.

“Seth? What did you do?” Molly’s mischievous grin faltered when she noticed his hands squeeze to fists and saw the fresh bruises.

“He just saw things my way — I may have had Marcas and the O’Bannon brothers here as encouragement.” A snicker fell from Seth’s lips as he recalled the scene that unraveled and the pleasure he took in kicking that guy out of town for good. “It was leave or face a few consequences. He was staying here as Hyrum Kavecky and didn’t feel like explaining that to the sheriff.”

“Hyrum Kavecky? Oh my…” Molly laughed.

Seth was tired of hearing that guy’s name roll off Molly’s lips, so he kissed her again, long and hard, the kind of kiss that made you weak in the knees and took your breath away. He was going to leave her speechless for a change.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Seth asked shyly, anxious for her to answer, but afraid it was too little too late. “I’ve been waiting months to ask you that.”

“A date? When?” Molly asked, tossing him a forced puzzled look.

“Now…” Seth smiled as he guided her to the other side of the room where the evening’s plan had been laid out for them.

The couple sat by candle light and enjoyed the expansive gourmet spread. They talked, they drank champagne, and they laughed at absolutely nothing. They ate their fill, skipping dessert, moving right on to snacking — on each other. A memorable romantic evening had started and would finish sometime the next morning given their proximity and the heat they were generating.

Seth stood, grabbing Molly’s hands so she would follow him to the bathroom, where he began to draw a warm bath full of rose petals and the bubbling spheres that were recommended by his more than macho friend. The smile that crossed Molly’s face, and sheer pleasure his genuine care gave her, pleased him. Simple kindness, a bath, made her happy. He would do anything for this woman.

Seth held her head in his hands and pulled her in for a sweet kiss before turning to leave the room. He drew the bath for her, but Molly had better ideas about how to use that bath and grabbed Seth’s arm to stop him.

Molly looked at Seth with parted lips, dark, hooded eyes flooded with desire, and asked, “Join me?”