Cynthia

D id she find the hot biker who had just walked out of the shop to be sexy as fuck—yes, but when he finally stopped talking, and she wasn’t sure what to say next because she hadn’t heard a word he said, she stood there quietly feeling awkward as hell. Honestly, all she could think about was tattooing the big guy someplace extremely private on his body, and then, she couldn’t stop thinking about him naked. He was big, had a beard, and lots of tattoos. Plus, he was a biker. She liked all those things in a man, but Spade made her girl parts stand up and pay attention, and that hadn’t happened for a damn long time.

She was an idiot for letting herself daydream about getting naked with any man, but for some reason, Spade made her think every dirty thought that she had been holding back for the past year. That was when she left her now ex-boyfriend in town, making the excuse that her parents needed her out in California. Karma stepped in, as she usually does, and boy was she a bitch. As soon as she landed in California, her phone went off like crazy. Her mother had tried to call her during the flight, and of course, she had turned off her phone. She grabbed her overhead luggage and got off the plane, immediately calling her mother. That’s when her hysterical mom told her that her father had fallen and that she needed to hurry.

spent months taking care of her mother and father, and when they were finally better, she decided that running from her problems wasn’t who she wanted to be, so she went home to face her old life and her ex-boyfriend.

She spent weeks trying to work up the nerve to stop by Eric’s place to talk to him, but when she finally did, she was told that he had moved across town with his new wife. She should have been shocked, but a part of her wasn’t. When she was with him, she had a sick feeling that he was cheating on her, but she could never prove it, so she left. knew that she was better off without Eric, but it still hurt.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay in town after hearing the news about her ex, but she ran into Ink, and he asked her to come work for him. The thought of tattooing again made her think that she could make a go of it in her hometown, and she decided to stick around. Dating was another subject altogether, so she vowed not to for at least the first year that she lived in town. She still had six months to go, and no matter how much she wanted to say yes to Spade, she didn’t.

She walked back to Ink’s office after cleaning up her area. She knew that he was going to give her some shit about Spade getting up and walking out, but that wasn’t her fault. He decided to leave, and how was she supposed to stop him?

“I take it that things didn’t go very well with Spade,” Ink said. He was rocking Bethany to sleep, and she knew that getting all hot-headed about Ink razzing her would only wake the baby. Then, they’d both have to take turns with her while they worked on their afternoon clients. Not that she minded. She loved Bethany and even considered the possibility of having a baby herself, after spending so much time with her. Of course, that would be in the future—far, far in the future.

“He asked me out,” she said as though that would explain the very strange morning that she was having.

“Oh, no,” Ink whispered, “how awful for you.”

“Shut up,” she grumbled, “and it was awful.”

“I take it that he’s not your type?” Ink asked. Spade was definitely her type. He was more than perfect for her, but she had sworn off all men for another six months, and she didn’t want to break that promise to herself.

“No, he’s not my type,” she lied, defiantly raising her chin as though challenging him to question her.

Ink chuckled and stood to put Bethany in her crib that he kept in his office. “Okay, if you’re not going to tell me the truth, then forget it.” He walked out of his office and headed to the front of the shop to get ready for his afternoon client.

“Wait,” said, chasing after him. “You’re giving up just like that?”

“Yep, I don’t have time for games. I have a client coming in about fifteen minutes and will need to get ready for him,” Ink said.

“Fine, I’ll tell you the truth,” grumbled. She needed to talk to someone about what she was going through and right now, Ink was her only real friend. She knew that she could confide in him and that he wouldn’t make fun of her—well, not too much.

“I’m all ears,” Ink said, sitting down in his chair.

“Well, I can’t tell you everything while you’re staring at me. Can you turn around?” she asked. Sure, she was acting like a child, but the story of her life over the past year was a bit embarrassing.

“Just tell me,” Ink insisted.

took a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t tell people this but the reason I left town and went to California wasn’t to take care of my parents,” she admitted.

“You didn’t take care of your parents?” Ink asked.

“Well, I did, but that wasn’t the reason why I went to California,” she said.

“Why did you go then? I mean, this town was your home, right?” Ink asked.

“Yes, but I needed a break from my boyfriend—well, now ex-boyfriend,” she admitted. “I thought that he might be cheating on me, and I needed some time and space. So, I made up the lie that my parents needed my help out in California. The crazy thing is, they did end up needing my help. While I was flying out, my mother had tried calling me a dozen or so times. She was hysterical when I finally was able to turn my phone back on and call her. My father fell, and I did need to stay with them for a few months to take care of them both. Karma, right?” she breathed.

“I’d say,” Ink agreed. “I mean, she really came for you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” said. “My father’s fall became my excuse, rather than a lie. Once they got better, I decided to stop being a coward, and come back home to face my ex.”

“You never mentioned a boyfriend. I mean, why don’t you bring him down to the Road Reapers when you come in?” he asked. This was the part that she didn’t want to have to say out loud.

“I don’t bring him into the bar because we aren’t together. Plus, I figured that his wife would be pretty pissed off if we hung out together at the Road Reapers,” she mumbled.

“His wife?” Ink asked. “This story is just getting better and better.”

“Well, I’m glad that you are enjoying it,” griped. “It’s not very fun for me to tell, though, so just let me get this part out.” He nodded and she sat down next to him. “I came back to town and after a few weeks, I got up the nerve to go over to his house. That’s when I found out that he wasn’t living there anymore. He was living across town with his new wife.”

“Shit, so you never got to confront him?” Ink asked.

“Nope, and it took me a while to decide if I even wanted to stay in town or make a fresh start somewhere else,” admitted.

“Why did you decide to stay here?” Ink asked.

“Because I ran into you and you offered me a job,” she said. “I decided to stay, but gave myself a few conditions.”

“Which are?” he asked.

“Well, the biggest one is that I won’t date for one year after moving back here. I still have another six months, so now you know why I turned down Spade. I don’t trust myself to date right now. He seems like a nice guy, and yes, he is my type, but I need this time for me, you know?”

Ink nodded, “Thanks for telling me the truth, ,” he said. “And if you don’t want to date right now, I think that sounds like a good enough reason to turn Spade down. But it might be better if you just tell him what you told me because I know Spade and he won’t give up without a fight. You’re a challenge to him, and the guy seems to love a good challenge.”

“Shit,” grumbled. “I’ll figure something out because if he keeps asking me out, I might just cave, and that is the last thing that I need right now.” She had a light bulb moment and jumped down from the chair. “If there was another guy in the picture, would Spade back down?” she asked.

Ink shrugged, “I guess so, yeah,” he said. “But you just told me that you weren’t going to date anyone for six months.”

“Yeah, but I don’t actually have to go out with a real guy. I’ll just start a rumor that I’m seeing someone, and I’ll make sure to tell the right people, so it gets back to him. It’s a perfect plan, really.”

“Seriously, a fake boyfriend is the perfect plan?” he asked.

She smiled back at him and nodded. “It is,” she said, “you’ll see.” She just needed to get a few of the details sorted about how she and her fake boyfriend got together, but she actually believed that she could do this. A fake boyfriend would get Spade off her tail and would give her the time she needed for herself. What could go wrong besides everything?

Spade (Road Reapers MC Book 3) Universal Link-Coming soon!

Don’t miss out on what’s coming up next by K.L. Ramsey. You won’t be able to put down Phoenix (Royal Harlots MC book 4) Here’s a sneak peek …