Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Mary Jay

Why was I doing this? I should have told Hail no and ran up my stairs.

But, no. Instead, I agreed, and now I was sitting on a wonky barstool while the bartender poured me a Coke.

"Where do you work?" Hail asked.

"Cranston Produce in the warehouse. Second shift." Four to midnight Sunday through Thursday, I worked my butt off and then walked through the doors of Dive Inn like clockwork every night.

"You like it?"

The bartender set my soda in front of me and a fresh beer in front of Hail. "Well, it pays my bills, so I guess I like it." I didn't know anyone who actually loved their job. I didn't have a problem working at the warehouse, but if there was a way for me to make money and not have to work there, you can bet your butt I would do it as long as it was legal.

Hail nodded and took a sip of his beer. "What else do you like to do?" he asked.

"Is this an interview?" I laughed.

"Getting to know each other, babe."

"With only you asking the questions?" Didn't seem very fair. "And why would you want to get to know me?"

"Well, I think that was you asking two questions right in a row."

I rolled my eyes. "Are you going to answer them?"

"Three questions," he muttered.

I flattened my lips and turned slightly toward him.

"The first question you asked doesn't apply since you asked me questions."

"Fair enough," I mumbled.

"And I want to get to know you because there is something about you."

"Something about me?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure yet. Once I do, I will let you know." He leaned back in his chair and maneuvered it to plant his feet on either side of mine on the rung of my barstool. "Now tell me about what you like to do for fun when you're not working."

"Hang out with Tommy."

"He your boyfriend?"

I chuckled. "No, though he's claimed me as his human."

"Dog?"

I shook my head. "Thought about it, but having to go up and down those stairs whenever they need to go to the bathroom squashed that idea quickly."

"I hope it's a cat or a rabbit. Please don't be a reptile."

I wrinkled my nose. "Cat. No way in heck I would ever own a reptile. I would have the luck of the thing getting out of his cage and trying to eat me while I slept." Though I'm sure if I were ever late feeding Tommy, he would try to eat me alive. He was loyal to me, but he was also ruled by his stomach.

"You named your cat Tommy?"

I nodded. "Yup. It sounds less pathetic when I say I'm spending time with Tommy rather than Tinker Bell or something weird." I nodded to him. "You thought he was my boyfriend, didn't you?"

He took a swig of his beer. "You got me there, babe."

"And speaking of Tommy, I really need to get up to my apartment. If he could use the phone, I'm sure he would have sent out an amber alert for me."

"I'm sure he'll understand. I'm just trying to spend some time with his human."

I shook my head and smiled. "And have you figured out why that is yet?"

Hail shook his head. "Not yet. A game of pool might help me figure it out."

"Is that so?"

Hail shifted then leaned forward and rested his elbows on the bar. "Or we can stay here. I don't really care what we are doing as long as you're close."

"This doesn't seem odd to you?" I asked.

"This what?"

"You and I. Whatever the heck it is, we are doing."

He shrugged. "I don't tend to question things that feel right. It's served me well for the past twenty-nine years. It helped me land joining the Lost Mavericks and is a big reason why I climbed the ranks to prez at such a young age."

"It just felt right?"

He nodded. "Yup. The club felt like the right fit, so I joined. I went from prospect to prez in ten years. Wanna know why?"

I tipped my head to the side and smiled. "Because it felt right?"

A sly smile spread across his lips. "Damn straight, babe. If something feels right, I don't let it go. It becomes mine. Forever."

There was so much more to what Hail was saying.

So much more that should scare me and make me want to run for the hills. But I wasn't.

"Tell me what you are thinking, babe," he asked softly.

I took a sip of my soda and really looked at Hail.

With every word he spoke, I saw more of him.

He wasn't trying to spin some web of bullshit.

Sure, he couldn't tell me what it was that drew me to him, but I felt it, too. Obviously, in the five years I had lived upstairs, I could have sat down with a different guy every night, but I never did.

Hail was different.

"I barely know anything about you, but something is gluing my butt to this chair so I can find out more."

He drained the last of his beer and smirked. "Same, babe. Fucking same. Been watching you for two months, hoping whatever it is about you that keeps me coming back goes away. Trying to figure out what it is that you're doing, I can't live without."

"I'm not doing anything," I insisted.

"I know," he grunted. "Ever since I joined the Lost Mavericks, I've been knee-deep in pussy. Women throwing themselves at me because of the cut on my back, willing to do anything to spend a little time with me."

"Knee-deep in pussy, huh?" I giggled.

"Babe," he drawled in an amused tone. "Is that the only thing you heard?"

I heard him. I knew what he was saying. He had his pick of women, and he was sitting here with me. "I heard you. I should be lucky the hot biker is willingly spending his time with me."

"You think I'm hot?"

I rolled my eyes. "Is that the only thing you heard?" I mimicked.

A sexy smile spread across his lips. "Heard you loud and clear, but you're not the lucky one, I am. I know I'm going to sound like a douche when I say this next thing, but it's the damn truth."

"Now I'm intrigued."

"In twenty-nine years, I have never had to chase anything."

"Just had to crook your finger, and whatever you wanted came running?" I surmised.

"Something like that."

"Then why didn't you talk to me two months ago?" Hail took what he wanted whenever he wanted, and no one ever argued with him about it. Yet he waited two months to even talk to me. Why?

"You're different from anyone I've ever laid eyes on. You have this air about you. You're fine on your own and don't need anyone to mess that up."

"You got that from me just walking from the front door to the stairs?" He wasn't wrong, though. I had been through a lot over the past few years, and I was finally at a place in my life where I was fixing my problems and could see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if that light was two years away. "I think I need to work on my poker face."

"Nah, it helps keep the losers away. You did say you've never had any problem walking through this bar every night."

"Until last night," I laughed. "Does that make Jim the loser, and you saved me?"

"Thank god you came to that conclusion and not the one where I'm the loser."

"The air you give off is anything but loser, Hail."

His gaze held mine, and the air around us charged. "I'm an idiot for waiting two months to talk to you, Mary Jay."

"Idiot is the last thing I would ever call you, Hail."

"What would you call me?"

Mine.

I blinked slowly and stopped the word from shooting out of my mouth. "Nice."

He tipped his head to the side. "Nice. I don't think I have ever had someone call me that before."

"I've never had nice before." I shrugged. I caught a glimpse of the clock over the bar and frowned. "And I really won't when I get up to my apartment. Tommy is going to be mad that his dinner is late." I slipped off my stool and bumped into Hail. His arm slipped around my waist, and my hand pressed against his chest.

"I finally got you, and I don't want to let you go, Mary Jay. Stay for one more drink," he pleaded.

It was tempting. "Not tonight."

"Then, at least let me walk you to your door," he reasoned.

"You sure you can handle the twenty feet to the stairs?"

He slipped off his stool, and I stepped back. His arm stayed around my waist, and he held me against him. "I got you, babe." He threaded his fingers through mine and led me through the crowd to the stairs in the back.

He didn't stop there, though.

He climbed the steps with me trailing behind him, my hand in his, and we stopped on the landing in front of my door.

"Please tell me you at least have a deadbolt on your door."

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door handle and then the deadbolt. "I also have a chain on the other side I use when I'm home."

"Thank god for that, babe. One of the reasons I stuck around until closing time was to make sure no drunk idiot decided to see what was at the top of the stairs."

"I have a question. I asked it before, but you didn't really answer it."

He grabbed my hand again and stroked my palm with his thumb. "Hit me with it, babe."

"Why did you wait so long? Why not talk to me sooner?" I asked. Hail had told me he was the type of man who knew what he wanted, and he wasn't afraid to go after it. Not chase it, per se, but take it.

"I'm not good enough for you, babe. I know you deserve a hell of a lot more than I can give you, but I'm a selfish bastard. I tried to let you be, but I couldn't do it anymore."

"I live above a bar with my cat and work in a warehouse, Hail. I'm not some princess locked away in her castle." I had never thought I was better than anyone in my life.

"I'm a biker."

"Okay," I laughed.

He tugged me close until the toes of my boots bumped his, and I splayed my hands on his chest to keep from tumbling over. "All I have to offer is a place on my bike and half of my bed, babe. My job is being the prez of the Lost Mavericks, and every day looks different."

"Okay," I whispered.

He reached up and trailed his fingers down my cheek. "You deserve a whole hell of a lot more than that."

"Don't you think I should be the one to decide that?"

"For two months, I did." His eyes dropped to my lips. "But that all changed yesterday."

"So what about today?" I whispered.

"Today, I'm a selfish bastard."

My heart raced, and the electricity in the air hung heavily.

Time stopped, and there was only Hail and me.

Less than an hour I had spent with this man, and yet it felt like I had known him my whole life.

"I've been waiting two months for this moment, babe," he whispered. "Tried to let you go every day, but every night, I was back wanting just a glimpse of you." He inched close, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies floating around my stomach. "I can't wait any longer."

Our lips met in a searing, electrifying kiss.

His arms pulled me tight against him, and his hands traveled over my body.

I held onto him as if he was the only thing grounding me to the earth.

I didn't want to let him go.

His lips moved over mine, and he pressed me against the door. My heart raced, and it felt like time stood still.

I couldn't wrap my head around how this had happened or how I got so lucky, but I wasn't going to question it too much.

"Hail," I gasped when we finally came up for air.

"I can't resist you any longer, Mary Jay."

"Okay," I whispered.

He chuckled low and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "Go inside and lock your door."

"Huh? I kind of like it out here." That kiss was just a taste, and I wanted more. A whole lot more. We had just been kissing, and now I was just supposed to go inside. Without him?

"I waited two months for this; I can wait a little bit longer until I truly make you mine."

My eyes widened, and a gasp escaped my lips.

"I wasn't joking last night when I said I was going to call you mine, Mary Jay." He reached down and twisted open the door.

I stumbled backward and looked up at him, dazed.

"I'll see you tonight, Mary Jay." He reached for the door and shut it in my face. I listened to his footsteps fade down the steps and laid my hand against the door.

Well, that was not at all how I expected my night to go, but I didn't know what I was going to do if they all didn't end that way from now on.

Hail had kissed me.

Kissed. Me.

I wanted more. So much more.