I was only half-lying when I said I needed to eat. The truth was I wasn’t about to leave the safety of my cabin for a while. Not without my crew.

I knew the Iron Godz were surely looking for me…for both of us…by now. I wasn’t naive. I knew I’d have to face them eventually, but for now, until the dust settled, the girl was safer here with me for a while.

The girl…hell, I didn’t even know her name.

“What’s your name?” I asked as we walked into the cabin. Bear raised his head from his bed by the fireplace, a big trail of drool hanging from his droopy lips. I walked over and began throwing logs into the fireplace. He shook his head and I groaned as thick strings of drool flew through the air, landing on the wall and floor.

“Gabby,” she said hesitantly, almost so quietly that I didn’t hear her.

“Gabby,” I said, letting her name settle in my mouth. “I like that. You look like a Gabby. Why don’t you get a couple of beers from the fridge, Gabby? Relax a little, while I get this fire started.”

She stood watching me silently for a second, her eyes raking over my body. I stared back, taking in her curves. She was fuckin’ hot, that’s for sure. Unfortunately, she looked scared as a rat who’d wandered into a snake’s den.

She finally nodded and then turned towards my small kitchen and walked away. I watched her ass sway in her tight jeans, holding my breath until she’d disappeared around the corner. I shook my head, trying to clear away the fogginess. I needed to think more about protecting her than fucking her right now, but the way those jeans hugged her hips made it damned near impossible to achieve that feat.

I finished lighting the fire, warming my hands as it began to grow, the orange and yellow flames flickering and dancing in the dark room. I hadn’t bothered to turn on many lights, which was my usual routine. This was our official clubhouse, but I was the only one who lived here. Unless there was a party or other business to attend to, I had the place to myself. I spent most of my nights staring into the flames with nothing but the sounds of the night and Bear’s incessant snoring as company.

Gabby walked back into the room holding two opened beers in her hands. She handed one to me and sat down on the old, brown leather couch, her eyes glued to Bear warily. I sat down next to her, taking a big swig of the beer, downing half of it quickly.

“He’s harmless,” I said.

“Right,” she whispered, tentatively turning her head to meet my gaze while keeping one eye on Bear.

“And what about you?” she asked.

I laughed. “Guess that depends on who you ask,” I replied, with a wink.

“I’m asking you,” she said, flashing her green eyes at me. My cock swelled, reminding me once again that it was impossible to ignore it when a girl like her was sitting in front of me.

“You’re safe with me, if that’s what you’re asking,” I replied somberly.

“I guess that’s all that matters,” she said with a slight smile. “So you’re a biker. A president? Does that make you some kind of criminal?”

“It’s not really like that sweetheart.”

“No?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Then how is it?”

“I guess you could say we aren’t your usual club… And I’m not your usual MC president. There’s seven of us. We’ve known each other forever, grew up together, went into the service together, basically we’ve gone through hell and back together. We stick together, no matter what.”

“So, you’re not running drugs, money, or girls?”

“No,” I laughed, taking note of her suspicious gaze. “We mostly fix bikes. We have a bike shop in town. That’s how we make our money. But those guys back there? At Otto’s? Those are the kind of guys you’re talking about. The bad guys. But we’re not them.”

“Then why were you there? At Otto’s.”

“I just stopped for a drink. Wasn’t exactly looking for trouble…” I said, my voice trailing off as I took another gulp of my beer.

“What were you looking for?” Gabby asked, her eyes flashing at me curiously.

That was a damned good question. I had a bottle of whiskey in my kitchen, along with a case of beer. It’s not like I needed to stop for a drink because I didn’t have any booze of my own. So why was I there?

Fuck, I hated to even admit it to myself, but I’d found myself feeling a twinge of loneliness lately. And that was something I thought would never say. I thought I’d be happy to be alone forever, ever since I’d started living my life without Maggie.

Maggie’s beautiful face flashed in my head, and I did what I always did when that happened. I closed my eyes and tried to drink in as much of her beauty as I could because I was terrified the day would come when I wouldn’t be able to conjure up her face.

“Are you okay?” Gabby asked next to me.

Shit. I’d done it again. Drifted off into thoughts of her. It’d been over five years and I still couldn’t have a normal conversation.

“Yeah, sorry. Want a shot?” I asked, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

“Sure, I guess,” she replied to my back. I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t let her see the look in my eyes, the last thing I needed was to show her the pain that lingered there no matter what I did to erase it.

I poured the whiskey into two small glasses, hoping like hell I could get through this night without being haunted too much by my past.