Jessi

 

When I came into the shop the next morning, Dad was already hard at work with a welding gun and a bunch of machinery scattered around him. He wasn't working on J.T.'s bike. It was one of the other projects that we had at the moment—a smaller project. I wondered what it meant that he wasn't leaving those other projects to me or Rip, and I swallowed hard.

 

What if he really wouldn't let me work around the shop anymore?

 

“Dad?” I asked hesitantly, when it seemed like he had reached a break in the work that he was doing.

 

“What is it?” Dad asked without looking up.

 

I swallowed hard, feeling tears at the corners of my eyes. It was like he didn't even want to acknowledge my presence there.

 

I wished Rip were there with me. He'd offered to come with me, but I'd told him that I needed to have this conversation with Dad by myself, to try to sort out all of this. I knew that things would be better that way, if I could just face up to my dad about all of this, but at the same time, I could have used Rip's comforting presence at my sidea and his warm hand in mine.

 

“Ellsmith is getting fired,” I said timidly.

 

Dad looked up at that, a sharp look in his eye. “Oh, really?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” I told him. “He, uh ...” I trailed off, not really wanting to admit everything that had happened the night before. “He tried to ...do some things to me. Unsuccessfully.”

 

Dad looked like he might explode at that, and he got to his feet, coming closer to me. “I'm going to kill the bastard!” he snarled, echoing the words that Rip had said when I'd first told him about Gary's advances.

 

I shook my head. “It's okay,” I told him. “Really. Like I said, he was unsuccessful.” I took a deep breath. “That's because Rip's had one of the guys from the Hounds watching over me at all times over the past few weeks, and when they heard Gary and I in his office … they were there to come to the rescue.”

 

I could see a new look of appreciation in Dad's eyes, just as I'd hoped I might. I pressed on. “Rip really saved me last night. I know you think that he's trouble, but he really does care about me and want to keep me safe.”

 

“That's where you were last night,” Dad said flatly. “At the clubhouse.”

 

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Rip took me back to his place after the whole thing with Ellsmith. I was pretty upset, and he was a bit shaken as well, and I didn't want to be all alone to think about all of it. And he was so good to me, Dad. He made me some soup and got me all curled up on the couch with a blanket, and then we just watched a movie and cuddled. It, uh, it really helped me calm down.”

 

Dad blinked at me and then shook his head. “He made you soup?” he asked incredulously.

 

I smiled a little. “Yeah,” I said. “And he made me drink some orange juice. He said he read somewhere that it's supposed to help people who have had panic attacks and he figured it might be a similar sort of thing.”

 

Dad frowned and shook his head. “Jessi, this kind of stuff is exactly the reason that I don't want you getting mixed up in the biker community,” he said. “You're too pretty of a girl to be running around with a bunch of asshole dudes like Ellsmith and-”

 

“Don't you dare call Rip an asshole,” I interrupted, a warning note in my voice. “Dad, he's been nothing but good to me, and you can't deny that he's helped out a lot around the shop. Plus, I know that if he and I weren't ...doing whatever it is that we're doing, you would actually like the guy. You have a lot in common, and ...well, I just don't think he's all that bad.”

 

Dad was silent for a long moment. “What happens with this whole internship that Ellsmith was trying to arrange for you?” he finally asked.

 

I shook my head. “I didn't want that even before all of this stuff went down,” I admitted. “I like the things that I'm learning in my classes. They're interesting to me, and I think they're going to make me a better designer in the long run. But I don't want to work for one of the big corporations. I don't want to machine-build all of my bikes. I like being in your shop here, getting my hands dirty, and sometimes just learning things through trial and error—what works and what doesn't work. I like tracking down all the pieces that I need, like it's some sort of scavenger hunt.”

 

I paused to take a breath, shrugging a little sheepishly. “Dad, I've always wanted to take over the business once you retired,” I told him. “I don't need some fancy internship in a big company in Cleveland to do that. I need to spend more time around here, learning everything that I can from the owner of this little business.”

 

Dad frowned at me. “Jessi, I don't particularly want you-”

 

“I know, I know,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “Dad, there are only so many battles that we can fight today. Can we just agree that Rip and I are allowed to do whatever it is that we want to do, and leave things at that?”

 

“What exactly are the two of you doing?” Dad asked curiously.

 

I blushed. “Sleeping together,” I admitted, since that was the real crux of it. “But also, he’s there for me to talk to, when I need somebody to talk to. And ...” I trailed off, blushing. “I really like him, Dad.”

 

Dad sighed. “He said pretty much the same thing to me,” he admitted.

 

“When?” I asked curiously.

 

“Not too long after you snuck out to sleep with him the first time,” Dad said, narrowing his eyes at me.

 

I blinked at him. “Really?” I asked. Thinking of Rip as just another dumb biker dude, that seemed really out of character. But it also didn't fit the stereotype for him to stop sleeping around once he'd slept with me. The more I got to know Rip, the more I was beginning to realize that he was a really surprising man—soft but with a bit of a dangerous streak. That was what made things interesting and had made me fall half in love with him already.

 

I couldn't help smiling a little to myself.

 

Dad snorted and shook his head. “Fine,” he said, tossing his hands in the air. “But if you ever so much as think of doing something illegal ...”

 

I shook my head. “Dad, Rip isn't going to let me get caught up in any of that kind of stuff, I promise,” I told him.

 

“You should have him over for dinner sometime this week,” Dad said after a moment. “I'd like to get to know him properly outside of work, if he's going to be a big fixture in your life. And I suppose I owe him some thanks after last night.”

 

“Yeah,” I said soberly, thinking back to the previous night. “So do I.”