Chapter Twelve
AFTER A QUICK call to Penny, Finlay packed up the doggy treats she’d made at the crack of dawn Sunday morning and followed the directions on the GPS down a long, windy rural road not far from Whiskey Bro’s to a narrow driveway. Long, unkempt grass gave the property an abandoned feel. An old, dilapidated red barn came into focus, and the overgrown meadows disappeared, as if swallowed up by gorgeous rock gardens interspersed with trees and lush bushes, fall flowers, and greenery. The gardens, though beautiful, contrasted with the disrepair of the chipped and weathered red barn. A peaked metal roof hung over the edge of the building, as if it belonged to a larger structure and had been mistakenly put on this one. A newish double window was centered above two rustic garage doors, framed with unpainted wood. The garage doors were the old type, like she’d seen in Western movies, comprised of vertical weathered wood planks. Two planks formed an X on each door, giving them an off-limits aura. Beside the right garage door was what appeared to be a scuffed and marred front door, above which was a lower-pitched roof that slanted toward the ground, ending at the same height as the door. A single lightbulb hung from a black iron fixture beside the door.
Finlay put her Suburban in park and looked down at the GPS, wondering if Penny had given her the wrong address. The deep woof of a dog sent her heart into her throat. She gasped, and the phone tumbled to the floor. Clinging to the steering wheel, she peered out her windows. This is definitely the right house. Thank goodness she sat up high in the van. She did not want to be eye-to-eye with the rottweiler pacing beside the driver’s door. Finlay had forgotten how big Bullet’s dog was, though Dixie had since told her Tinkerbell was only a puppy. Liar. Cujo had a head the size of a watermelon and beady dark eyes.
She fished around at her feet for her phone as she reprimanded herself. “It’s just a dog. Bullet’s dog.” She felt the phone between her fingertips. “He sleeps with her, for goodness’ sakes. How vicious can she be?”
“Woof!”
She shrieked, sending the phone flying again, and pressed her forehead to the steering wheel, fighting the urge to flee. The sound of motorcycles roared up the driveway, and she shot a look in her rearview mirror, catching sight of two motorcycles.
Flipping perfect.
UNABLE TO SLEEP past sunrise, which had always been pretty much the norm for Bullet, he was dicking around with one of his bikes in the garage when he heard motorcycles approaching. Tinkerbell woofed again. Bullet wiped his hands on a rag, raised the garage door, and stopped cold at the sight of Finlay’s pink chick mobile in the driveway. His brothers’ bikes sped up the driveway behind her. It was the perfect day for a ride, and he itched to feel the raw power between his legs, the gust of the world rushing by, and the exhilaration of his entire being on high alert in a numbing combination of anxiety and thrill. The only thing that had ever come close to mirroring that all-consuming pleasure was last night when he was buried deep inside Finlay.
He strode across the driveway toward her van, and her gorgeous, panicked face came into focus. A single sharp whistle and hand motion sent Tinkerbell down on her belly, panting excitedly about a new person to play with.
Fat chance, girl.
As Bear and Bones climbed off their bikes and whipped off their helmets, their cocky smiles eased the knot that had formed in his chest as he’d paced the floor for hours last night, keeping him and Tinkerbell awake.
Bear helped Crystal off the back of his bike and said, “You look like hell,” to Bullet before dropping to his knees and loving up Tinkerbell.
Bullet gritted his teeth against the memory of how much it had sucked to leave Finlay last night and tried to calm the crazy shit going on in his stomach as he approached the van. Finlay white-knuckled the steering wheel with both hands, her eyes as wide as saucers.
“Hey, babe. How about you roll down the window?”
Her eyes shot to Tinkerbell, who was lying on her back with her feet up in the air while Bear scratched her belly. Finlay rolled the window down an inch as Crystal came to Bullet’s side. He put an arm around Crystal and said, “How’re you feeling, sweetheart?”
“Better. My stomach’s been quirky for the last week or so, but I’m good.” She smiled at Finlay. “How’s it going, Fin? Are you going to stay in that big spoon of Pepto-Bismol all day, or come out and say hi?”
“How about you give us a minute,” Bullet said, releasing Crystal.
“Hey, bro.” Bones slapped Bullet on the shoulder as he walked by on his way to join the others.
Bullet grabbed the door handle, and renewed panic filled Finlay’s eyes. He opened the door and blocked the opening with his body. “Hey, sweet girl. What are you doing here?”
“I was thinking, you came to see me after that accident when you said everything inside you told you to walk away. That was hard for you, so I pulled up my big-girl panties and thought if I could get to know Cuj—Tinkerbell, that maybe we could spend more time together.”
His heart swelled to near bursting.
She leaned closer and whispered, “But I didn’t know you had plans, and I might have overshot my abilities. I’m not sure I can go anywhere near her.”
“I know one way to help you get past that fear.” He leaned into the van, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her. He felt the tension drain from her body and continued kissing her, until her hands left the steering wheel to embrace him. And then he deepened the kiss, because nothing—nothing—was better than this.
“Better?” He pressed a softer kiss to her lips.
“Now I’m turned on and scared.”
He chuckled. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded.
“I know a thing or two about overcoming fears. Can you give me a few minutes? Promise me you won’t take off?”
“If you guys have plans, I can come back.” She glanced at Bear and Crystal, both crouched beside Tinkerbell. Bones had his back to the van, his phone pressed to his ear.
“We don’t. Give me a sec.” He closed the door, relief pushing through him like a gale-force wind as he headed into the barn, returning with one of Tinkerbell’s leashes.
As he hooked it on her collar, Bear said, “What’s up with Finlay?”
“She’s afraid of dogs.”
Crystal went to the van and said, “Tinkerbell’s really sweet. She just looks mean. Like Bullet.”
Christ.
Finlay made a pleading face.
“She won’t hurt you,” Crystal urged.
Finlay rolled down the window a little further and said, “I’m sure she won’t, but I’m still scared of dogs. Any dogs. Chihuahuas scare me, which I know is silly. But I’m trying, because…” She glanced at Bullet again, and his gut went funky again.
“We came by to see if you were sure you didn’t want to join us on our ride,” Bear explained. “Finlay can come along. Make a day of it?”
“She doesn’t ride,” Bullet said.
“You don’t ride?” Crystal asked Finlay.
Finlay shook her head with an apologetic expression.
“Neither did I when I met Bear,” Crystal said. “Maybe after you conquer Tink you can learn to ride.”
“That would be a big if, and I don’t know if I can handle two things at once. First let me get through this,” Finlay said.
Bullet handed the leash to Bear. “Fin was attacked by a dog when she was younger. Think you can stick around long enough for me to get her out of the van?”
“Whatever you need.” Bear took the leash. He crouched with an arm around Tinkerbell again and said, “You need to be sweet, Tink.” Then to Crystal he said, “Come here, sugar. Let’s give Bullet some room to work his magic.”
Magic. If only he had one-tenth as much as Finlay did.
Bullet opened the door to the van and turned Finlay so she was facing him. Holy hell, where did his girl shop? Turnonyourman.com? She wore a flimsy, short pink dress and brown leather boots that laced up to her knees, beneath which were some sort of frilly socks that went halfway up her thighs. Her outfit was completed with a wrist full of bracelets and a flowery ring on her right hand.
“Sweet baby Jesus, lollipop. Did you dress to make me want to lay you down in the back of the van on purpose?”
“What?” She gasped and looked down at her outfit. “No! I wore tall boots so Tink couldn’t get at my legs, and this is one of my favorite dresses. I figured I should be as comfortable as possible.”
“Well,” he said as he adjusted himself. “At least one of us will be.”
She giggled. “Sorry.”
He put his hands on her hips and tugged her against him, trying not to think about what type of panties she had on under that slinky little dress. Fuck. Now that was all he could think about.
“What’s going on?” Bones asked, jerking Bullet’s mind back into submission.
“Fin’s afraid of dogs,” Bear explained.
As his brothers talked, Bullet gazed into Finlay’s eyes and said, “Tink will listen to everything I say, but she’s a puppy. She’s going to get excited, and she might bark or wiggle around because she’s straining not to jump up and kiss your face, okay?”
She gulped and nodded. Her eyes shifted in Tinkerbell’s direction. Tinkerbell was licking Bear’s face. “Has she ever bitten anyone?”
“Never. And she isn’t trained to attack. She’s trained to behave, babe. She’s my girl. I’d never put her in danger, any more than I’d put you in danger, and she knows it.”
Finlay’s gaze softened, and a genuine smile appeared. “I love how much you love her.”
“I take care of the things I love.” And I want to take care of you. “She’s docile enough to let Lincoln crawl all over her and Kennedy hug her up. But before I bring you over to meet her, I want you to know how much it means to me that you’re here. I don’t know big enough words to say it, but thank you.”
“I take care of the things I care about, too,” she said softly.