Jewell (Biker Bitches 7)

“What happens when it’s one of the kids who claims the reward?”

“They won’t.” Jewell shook her head. “We’ll never find out who took them.”

Rory turned from watching the parking lot. “Why not?”

“Like you said, the kids take after their fathers. There isn’t a brother who would tell on another, regardless of what they do.”

“By not giving them a motorcycle, they are teaching them to look out for each other?” Rory surmised.

“Pretty much.”

“How did they earn your loyalty?”

The smile slipped from her face, and then she turned for the door. “It’s cold out here; you should put a jacket on if you’re going to stay outside,” she said coldly before going inside.

She would go to her grave before she ever told anyone what The Last Riders had done to deserve her loyalty. They had protected her when no one else would, before she was even one of them. None of them had asked anything in return for their help when she had been too broken to care if she lived or died.

When death had come for her, not only had they stepped in front of her, but they had made life worth living again.

It was because of them that she didn’t have to worry who had her back if her world went haywire again, that she could sleep at night without waking to nightmares and, more importantly, she never ever had to be alone. She would never leave The Last Riders any more than a vampire would venture out in the day. They made her invincible, and no man would become close to her enough to make her want to break their bonds. As fucking broken as she had been once upon a time, they had picked her up and super-glued her back together. Rory might be hot, fuck like a dream, and have an ass rivaling Reaper’s, but until a Last Rider tat was inked onto his skin, she was better off shutting down any attempts to get to know him better. Some doors were better left unopened rather than venturing outside to see what was waiting.

Chapter Nine

“Mind if I join you?”

Jewell tore her eyes away from the window to see Rory holding a plate of food. “Yes.”

Ignoring her, he sat down at the table.

Jewell dropped her fork to her plate. “I said, yes. Meaning I mind.”

“This is the only chair available; would you rather I stand?”

Looking around, she saw that Rory was telling the truth. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t realized there weren’t any seats left.

Continuing to eat in silence, she decided to finish her meal and disappear upstairs to watch Netflix until she fell asleep. In the morning, she would drive to Ohio and spend the rest of her break from work there until after the New Year’s.

Glancing up from her plate, she saw Rory staring at Lily as she moved around the dining room, offering desserts from a tray. Rory didn’t take his eyes off Lily as she approached their table.

“Would you like a dessert?”

Jewell took a slice of apple pie as Rory lifted a piece of cake.

“It look’s delicious, thank you.” His gaze became fixated on Lily as she stood beside their table.

“Where’s Shade?” Setting the pie on table, Jewell took a slice of the cake, too.

“He had a phone call.” Lily made a face. “The boys and I were supposed to wait for him to finish, but then John and Clint saw Noah and Chance leaving their house and begged me to bring them.”

Uh-oh. Shade wasn’t going to be happy with that.

Lily didn’t seem perturbed that she had left Shade behind. Jewell’s hand tightened on her fork. In fact, Lily was practically glowing. Realizing why had Jewell nearly squirming in her seat. The lucky bitch would be spending the night making it up to Shade that she had disobeyed him. She didn’t have to ask what Lily was giving Shade for Christmas.

Lily shot a furtive glance at the doorway to make sure Shade hadn’t entered before moving away to another table with Rory’s gaze still pinned on her.

“I wouldn’t let Shade catch you staring at Lily,” she warned. “You’re going to be the one who needs some luck if one of the brothers tells him you’ve been eye-fucking her.”

Rory slowly turned his gaze to hers. “I wasn’t eye-fucking her. She reminded me of someone, and I couldn’t figure out who until she came closer and I could see her eyes.”

“I would keep the observation to yourself.”

“I planned to.” Rory slid his fork through the cake as the tone of his voice changed. “For your information, when I eye-fuck a woman, they’re within speaking distance.”

His voice cut through her just as easily as his fork had slid through the cake. The sensual undertone had her toes curling in her shoes.

Gathering her plates, Jewell stood, abruptly leaving the table. Setting the deserts to the side on the counter, she placed the remaining one in the sink.