ANNA

 

What the hell am I doing?

The Grindhouse wasn’t much different from most MC clubhouses. It wasn’t as rowdy as a place like Finn’s but it was no place for a single woman to be heading out to tonight.

Things were different for me though. I had experience. At one point, The Grindhouse was like a second home to me.

As I stood in front of it, I felt all of the memories wash over me. A strange feeling swirled around in my stomach. The bikers just outside the entrance smoking their cigs didn’t bother me. The sound of the drunken conversation inside wasn’t getting to me either.

It was one man that was making me more nervous than anything else.

I shouldn’t have been there. I should’ve just spent more time at the shelter then headed back home to get settled in. Yet here I was, a few days after arriving back in Ivory.

It was inevitable that I was going to run into him. It was like ripping off a band-aid. I might as well get it over with now.

It was a typical night in The Grindhouse. It had been more than five years but things hadn’t changed. The patrons kept to themselves but the conversations were still loud and boisterous. The music made the scene livelier than it already was. It was still early in the evening, so the alcohol was only going to amplify everything else.

I walked up to the bar and ordered myself a beer. The bartender gave me a smirk as he poured me a mug. I took a gulp as soon as he put it in front of me.

I guess I could’ve been confused with all of the groupies in the place. There was always some woman just dying to get into the pants of a club member. Even though I was dressed more modestly than the girls with the skimpy tops and micro skirts, just being alone was enough to attract the wrong kind of attention.

But the attention I drew wasn’t from some rough and tumble biker. The woman I saw standing right next to me was more threatening than any biker in the building.

Her eyes narrowed at me.

“Hey, Michelle…”

I smiled politely at her but that wasn’t nearly enough to get rid of her icy cold glare.

Michelle was with the president of the Black Reapers. If there was any old lady you had to respect, it was her. Dark hair. Tan skin. Brown eyes. She wasn’t the typical groupie you saw in a place like this. No, she carried herself with the maturity you would respect from a woman who was sleeping with the club president.

“Anna,” she said, a smirk forming on her lips. “It’s really you.”

“It’s really me.”

“I didn’t know you were back in Ivory.”

“I just got back a few days ago. Still settling in.”

“You just visiting?”

“No… Actually…”

I shook my head, failing at hiding the smile on my face.

“…I’m back.”

Michelle had been around the club before I even knew it existed. She knew all of the details, so there was no point in trying to hide anything from her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she said.

“I just thought I’d stop by and say hello. That’s it.”

“Say hello—”

“Look, Michelle. That was a long time ago. I didn’t leave Ivory on bad terms. If I’m not welcome here, I’ll leave. But I don’t see the harm in me stopping by to say hello.”

Even though Michelle was my senior, I wasn’t about to back down from her. I stared at her and stood my ground, nonchalantly sipping on my beer. Michelle looked down her nose at me and observed me like she was trying to figure me out.

“He’s here,” she said. “Do you want me to go get him?”

“No,” I said. “I’m sure he’s busy. I know how club business is. I’ll see him when I see him.”

“Right…”

She leaned in close to me and whispered into my ear.

“Don’t mess this up.”

She was still smirking at me but I knew she meant it. She grabbed her drink and left me alone. I sighed a deep breath as soon as she was gone.

The anxiety I felt in my stomach just from seeing her was enough to make me take another big gulp of beer. I could already feel the tension just from the thought of seeing him.

Most of the other patrons in the club gave me my space. There were some bikers eyeballing me with obvious intentions but nobody walked up to me to say anything. It would be inevitable as the night went on. For now, they let me enjoy my beer in peace.

I was staring at the bar in front of me when I suddenly heard a loud voice next to me.

“I told you,” the man said. “When I’m playing for real, nobody can beat me.”

“You mean when you’re lucky nobody can beat you.”

“A good player knows when to make his own luck. You wanna talk about luck, you know about luck. Me? That’s pure skill.”

I turned to the side and saw three men. One of them was Blake cackling. They called him Needle. Fitting with his personality. No doubt he was talking about some card game that he just managed to screw the other two bikers out of.

I didn’t recognize the younger man next to him. But Blake had his arm around another man I never thought I would see again. The man that stood out even in a sea of people.

It was him.

Jon.

Just a glance at him and all of the memories came flooding back to me.

The tattoos along his muscular arms. The leather vest that smelled like asphalt and oil. The boots. The way he slicked his brown hair back. His thick, groomed beard. The muscled physique I knew was underneath his kutte. And there were his eyes. Shimmering green. Hypnotizing enough to make you forget about everything else.

I stared at him in disbelief. I noticed them before they noticed me.

“I’m telling you,” Blake started. “You guys can’t beat me. I’m just—”

He cut himself off as soon as he spotted me. The other two men next to him stopped in their tracks. But I was only focused on Jon.

His eyes widened, unblinking as he looked right at me.

“Oh… Shit…” Blake muttered.

Blake pulled his arm away from Jon, who slowly stepped toward me.

“What’s going on?” the third man said in confusion.

Jon didn’t pay any attention to him as he kept creeping forward.

“Anna?” he said, his eyes narrowed. “Anna, is it really you?”

“Jon,” I said with a smile. “It’s good to see you again.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, a smile formed on his mouth. I held back a sigh of relief seeing the pearly whites behind his lips.

“Ghost here has a past,” Blake started. “This girl Anna here has a history. Long before you were ever here, Sully. The thing is—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Jon said to Blake.

“All right, all right. Come on, Sully. Get some drinks and we’ll play a few more hands. I know you’re still hiding money from me.”

The other two bikers grabbed their drinks from the bar but I hardly noticed they were there. Jon stood in front of me, just staring at me with disbelief. As soon as they were gone, he reached forward and wrapped his arms around me.

Oh, God…

The way he hugged me brought back memories. His muscles pressing up against me. His masculine scent filling my nose. He had to crouch down a bit to hug me because he was about six-foot four, but it was still so comfortable. More comfortable than I was ever going to admit.

He pulled away from me and beamed at me. I smiled softly, putting my hand up to his head.

“You cut your hair,” I said.

“It comes and goes with the season. Change is good sometimes.”

“Yeah…”

“What are you doing here?”

“I just got back in town a few days ago.”

“Got back in town? You on vacation?”

I gave him a tight-lipped smile and shook my head.

“I got a job at the shelter,” I said.

“Wait… You mean you’re staying here.”

“That’s the plan. For now.”

“Wow…”

Jon looked the same as I remembered him. Five years didn’t change him much. He was still as handsome as ever. If anything, the maturity seemed to make him more attractive.

Calm down, Anna…

I had to remind myself that I was just stopping by to say hello. Jon and I had something a long time ago. Had something. A long time ago.

“I just came to say hello,” I said. “I figured I was going to run into you eventually. Might as well stop by and see some old friends.”

“Right… I get it…”

“It’s good to see that everything is still in order. The place is in great shape. How’s the club?”

“The club is perfect. Can’t complain.”

“It looks like you got a new patch.”

“That’s right. As long as Ivory is standing, the Reapers will be riding.”

“BRIC. As synonymous with Ivory as anything else.”

Jon ordered himself a beer. He kept his eyes locked on me as I looked around the club. Just from the way he stared at me was enough to make my cheeks blush. I felt like I was a damn schoolgirl again and I was completely embarrassed about it.

“What brings you back to Ivory?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I left because I wanted to see what was out there.”

“Then you realized there’s nothing as good as Ivory.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said with a laugh. “But I will admit that there isn’t a place like Ivory. There’s just something about this town that makes it special.”

“It’s home.”

There was a kind smile on his face. Jon was always intense. I knew how he was because I’d been around him so many times. But with me, he was able to smile. I saw the real Jon, the genuine Jon I knew was inside of him, not the Ghost that everybody knew him as.

“We should talk,” he said. “You got any plans?”

“I don’t have any plans. I just got back in town.”

“I have a room in the back of the clubhouse—”

“Whoa, hold on.”

I put my hand up and chuckled nervously.

“I just got back in town,” I said. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I really did just come by to say hello. I…”

I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t want him to just pull my jeans down and bend me over. No matter where I went, they didn’t make ‘em as rugged as Jon.

But I wasn’t about to do something like that. Not on the first night, anyway.

“…I just wanted to see how you’re doing. From the looks of things, you’re doing well.”

He took a step back from me and nodded.

“That’s cool,” he said. “I get it. I’m glad you’re back.”

“It’s nice to be back.”

“How about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Have dinner with me.”

“I don’t know if I should—”

“You said you were working at the shelter.”

“That’s right. What about it?”

“The club and I were just talking about setting up some donations. The Reapers do a lot of charity around here. Maybe we can make some arrangement with the shelter.”

Jon gave me a knowing look. That smile on his face told me everything. But I wasn’t about to refuse him.

“I guess I don’t see anything wrong with that,” I said with a shrug.

“We’ll talk business. We can catch up, too.”

He put his hands up.

“That’s it,” he said.

I giggled softly to myself.

“What’s so funny?” he said.

“Just because it’s been five years doesn’t mean I haven’t already figured you out. People can change but not a lot. I know you, Jon. You’re up to something.”

“All right,” he said with a laugh. “But I really do wanna talk business with you. What do you say?”

I sighed knowing that I wasn’t about to refuse him. Those green eyes of his were enough to make any woman forget about what they were thinking.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s have dinner.”

He picked his beer up and clinked his glass against mine.

“A toast,” he said. “Welcome back to Ivory.”

I took a big gulp of beer and looked out into the crowd of the clubhouse before I responded.

“It’s good to be back.”