10. Tara

10

TARA

Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the walk of shame at a motorcycle club.

I woke up early this morning with Jason's arms and legs wrapped around me. It took some doing, but I was able to free myself, and when I slid from the bed, I stood over him, being as quiet as possible, and just watched him. Last night was perfect. It was everything. I would give anything to stay in the bed next to him, but I know that I need to go.

We didn't talk about a lot last night, and I'm not ready for the morning-after conversation, so I automatically thought I would be able to get out of here without being seen, but apparently that's not the case. When I quietly close his bedroom door, I tiptoe down the hallway and to the front room.

I take three steps and hear a deep chuckle from across the room. My head snaps in that direction, and there are four bikers sitting at a table, all staring at me with big smiles on their face.

I clear my throat. "Good morning."

"Morning," they all say in unison. One of them even lifts his cup of coffee up and tilts it toward me.

I can feel my face heat. I start walking again, faster this time. I get only a few steps when a woman from a couch to the left of me says, "He's good, isn't he?"

I look at her with my mouth hanging open. I want to say something smart, but honestly her words hurt me a little. I know exactly what she's implying, and I don't like it one bit, but instead of getting into it with her, I tilt my head farther in the air and start walking to the door again. I barely get it open before I hear, "Hey, Mama, stop." I let my head drop and shake it back and forth.

I think I would've been able to get out of here unnoticed if I would've just announced to everyone I was leaving instead of trying to sneak out. I turn with one hand on the door and say gruffly, “What?” I can feel the woman's eyes on me along with the other bikers. Jason is obviously not playing fair. He has his jeans on, but they're unbuttoned, and he still doesn't have a shirt on. I hate that this woman on the couch is seeing him like this.

He ignores the teasing from the guys and walks up to me, kissing me right here where I stand. When he pulls away, his voice is gruff, and each of his hands are on the side of my face. "I wanted to wake up next to you."

I know I shouldn't do it. I should just leave it alone, but that's not how I am. I nod over to the half-naked woman on the couch. "Looks like there are plenty of women here to take my place."

I turn to go, but he holds on to me, pulling me against his hard body. "I'm not like that, Mama. There will be no one but you in the bed next to me."

His words both excite and scare the hell out of me. This is all happening so fast. "I gotta go," I tell him.

His hands tighten on my shoulders and he bends down to get a better look at my face. "Don't freak out on me."

I try to keep the fear off my face. "I'm not. I need to shower and go to work."

He pulls his phone from his front pocket and hands it to me. "Give me your digits."

I take his phone and put in my phone number. The whole time, my eyes keep going over to the woman on the couch. Jason must notice me doing that because he tilts his head at her and asks me, "Is she giving you problems?"

I shake my head and look him in the eye. "Nothing I can't handle."

He lets out a breath and then puts his arm around me and turns us to where we are facing the room. "All right, everyone, take this as notice. Tara here is my old lady. Anyone gives her problems, you're going to have problems with me."

The bikers all look over at the woman on the couch. They know exactly why Jason made the announcement. I don't know whether to be pleased or what, but I pinch a piece of skin on his waist and look up at him. "You know I'm not old, right?"

He laughs. "I'm not saying you're old. I'm saying you're my ol’ lady."

I pull back away from him. All of it has become too much. Maybe it's the emotion that I'm feeling from everything that happened between us last night. "I don't even know what that means, Jason, 'old lady,' and right now I don't know if I want to know."

He nods in understanding. "I get it. Maybe I'm moving too fast for you. We don't have to label it right now, but basically all it means is you're mine."

I've already discovered that Jason is a tad bit overbearing and over-the-top possessive. He wants a lot from me, and I don't know if I'm ready to give it. I wasn’t lying when I told Becca the other day that I didn't know if I was ready for this and that I already knew Jason had the ability to really hurt me. I didn't feel anything like this with Mark.

"I really need to get to work." I turn on my heel and leave before he has a chance to stop me, but he still follows me out barefoot and walks across the gravel lot to where I have my car parked. He opens the door and helps me in and then squats down next to me.

"I'm not trying to pressure you or scare you off."

I swallow. It's hard to think clearly with him this close. "I know you're not," I answer him.

He reaches for my hand on my lap and squeezes it. "We can take this as slowly as you need to."

I nod, not trusting my voice.

He leans into the car and presses his lips against mine. "Catch you later, Mama." He backs away from the car and shuts my door.

I wave at him as I pull away. He stands there watching me drive off, and I see him in the rearview mirror. It's crazy, because I have a few more hours before I have to be at work so I don't have to leave, and quite honestly, I don't want to either, and that scares the hell out of me.