 by Fiona Davenport.jpg)
Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
It didn’t matter that the injured beauty was too young for him. Or that she was his club brother’s little sister. All it took was one look for Blade to know that Elise was meant to be his.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
ELISE
Working on Christmas wasn’t my idea of a good time, but the money was too good to pass up. My brother hadn’t been happy about me spending the day at the bar owned by his motorcycle club, the Iron Rogues, but I finally managed to talk him around. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable celebrating the holiday at the clubhouse with him and his club brothers because I’d only met a few of them since I came to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. Plus, I needed the money to help cover my expenses because I wasn’t comfortable having Gideon pay for more than my tuition. Something we argued about all the time.
My big brother felt guilty about taking off when he turned eighteen, but I didn’t blame him for leaving me behind with our crappy parents. I was just grateful that Gideon had kept in touch over the years, sending money when he could. And that he had stepped in to make sure I could leave for college when I hadn’t thought it was possible.
I didn’t want to take advantage of him, like our parents had tried when they realized he’d done well for himself. They hated that Gideon had become a biker, but that hadn’t stopped them from asking him for money. Which only made me feel worse for accepting his help. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was anything like them.
Pulling into the parking lot of The Midnight Rebel, I shook off my thoughts about my family and focused on the Christmas song playing over my radio. I’d only worked a handful of shifts at the bar owned by the Iron Rogues and spent yesterday with my brother instead of working, so I wasn’t sure what to expect on a holiday. I had assumed it wouldn’t be too busy since drinking at a bar wasn’t really a Christmassy pastime, but I realized how wrong I was when I had to park all the way in the back of the lot because the place was packed.
Since I had gotten there early, I sat in my car and listened to some more Christmas carols to psych myself up for my shift. I had turned off my headlights and wasn’t near a light pole, so it must have seemed as though my vehicle was empty because when I opened my door and climbed out, one of the guys who were standing a couple of spots over from me looked startled by my sudden appearance.
“Shit, man.” The tall, thin man facing me dropped a small baggie of white powder on the ground, his hand shaking as he bent over to pick it up.
I gasped as I realized what I had stumbled across—a drug deal.
The dealer glanced over his shoulder to see what had spooked his customer, his beady eyes narrowing and filling with menace when his gaze landed on me. He clenched the cash the other guy had given him in his fist before shoving it into the back pocket of his grungy jeans and muttering, “Don’t worry about this. I’ll take care of her.”
Not liking the sound of that, I swiveled on my foot and jumped back into the driver’s seat of my car. And not a moment too soon because as I slammed the door shut, the drug dealer was close enough to pound his fist against the window. “Get outta there, bitch! You’re not gonna fuck this up for me!”
No way in heck was I going to step foot out of the car while he was anywhere near, especially when he was screaming at me like that. Jabbing my finger against the ignition button, I thanked my lucky stars that Gideon had insisted on buying me a reliable used car for my high school graduation gift. The engine roared to life, and I quickly put the vehicle into reverse to back out of my parking spot. Slamming his palm against the hood of my car, the dealer yelled for me to stop. That was not going to happen.
Instead, I pressed my foot against the gas pedal while watching in my rearview mirror to make sure I didn’t hit anyone as I reversed all the way to the exit of the parking lot. Then I switched into drive as fast as I could and jerked the wheel to turn left onto the street. I wasn’t very familiar with Old Bridge, but Gideon had driven me from the clubhouse to the bar on the day I’d gotten the job. Luckily, I was good with directions and remembered the route he had taken.