Ties That Bind (Ruthless Sinners MC 1)

I glanced over my shoulder and found her standing behind me with a big goofy smile spread across her face. Even though I knew she wanted to know what happened after she’d left the bar, I feigned ignorance. “Well, what?”

“You know what! How did it go with your guy last night?”

“It went okay. More than okay.” I couldn’t help but smile as I said, “I think we got things sorted or, at least, partly sorted.”

“So, my girl got laid again.” She teased. “I couldn’t be happier for you.”

“Don’t get too excited. I’m not sure if I’ll be seeing him again.”

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t know. I’m just scared, I guess.” I shrugged with doubt. “I don’t want to end up with a broken heart.”

“There’s always that chance with any guy, Dee, but I gotta tell ya”—her smile suddenly faded—“I’d give anything to have a guy look at me the way he was looking at you last night. Damn. He’s got it bad for you, girl, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say you felt the same way about him.”

I wasn’t sure I was ready to admit it to her or myself, but she was right. Right or wrong, I was falling for Zander. There was something about him that got to me in a way no man ever had, and it terrified me. There was no way I could explain it all to Krissy, so I decided to try and change the subject. “What about you and your guy from last night? Did you have a good time?”

“He was all right, I guess. He seemed like a nice guy and all, but there were no fireworks or anything.” A look of indifference crossed her face as she chuckled. “I don’t think he’s the one, but I’ll go out with him again just to be sure.”

“You’ll have to let me know how that goes.”

“I will, and I expect you to do the same with your fella. I think you might be surprised by how things will play out between you two.”

“We’ll see.” There was a commotion in one of the resident’s rooms down the hall, so I used the opportunity to cut our conversation short. “I better get down to Mrs. Williams’ room and see how she’s doing.”

“Okay.” When I turned to leave, she called out, “I’ll be expecting an update soon.”

“I know you will!”

After I checked in with Mrs. Williams, I spent the rest of my day staying busy with rounds and paperwork. By the time I made it back home, I was exhausted, but that didn’t stop me from checking my window every few minutes for any sign of Zander or his brothers in my parking lot. When I wasn’t checking my window, I was glancing down at my phone, hoping that by some chance I might actually hear from him before I went to bed. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I knew he said he would be gone for the day, but I was hoping that he might touch base with me, especially after our little discussion the night before.

After hours of foolishly waiting and hoping, I finally gave up and went to bed. Consumed with frustration, I tossed and turned for hours, questioning over and over whether I should simply end things with him and relieve myself of the constant fretting. Even though it might’ve been easier, the thought didn’t set well with me. In fact, the mere thought of never seeing him again made my heart ache with dread.

I don’t know how long I’d been lying there when I finally gave in to my exhaustion and drifted off to sleep. I was in the thick haze of sleep when I heard a strange sound in my bathroom. I sat up in my bed, listening in utter fright as the noise became louder and louder, followed by the sound of water coming from the shower. While I was scared out of my mind, I found it doubtful that an intruder would take a shower before slicing my throat, so I eased out of bed and crept over to the bathroom door. My hand trembled as I turned the doorknob and stepped inside. My breath caught in my throat when I found a naked Zander standing in my shower in all his wondrous glory. The water trickled down his chest as he smiled and said, “Hey ... I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was.” I tried to keep my eyes from roaming south as I placed my hands on my hips and let out a huff. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m taking a shower.”

“I see that, Zander. How did you get in here?”

A sexy smirk crossed his face as he replied, “You’re not the only one who can pick a lock, darlin’.”

“You picked my lock?”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t want to hear your mouthin’ again about me blowing you off.”