She went into the living room, seeing that Hennessy was playing a game of pool with Nickel.
Going upstairs, she went to Jewell’s room, finding it empty. Hearing the shower from the room next door, she knew that was where Jewell must have been.
Biting her lip, she dragged herself toward the closet to grab her jacket. The weather was supposed to be terrible over the next few days. If she was going to do the Naughty Santa game, she was going to need a few things, she told herself … And she did need more marshmallows. Hennessy wasn’t the only one who liked them.
She argued back and forth with herself as she put her boots and coat on. It was only when she heard the shower turn off did she hurry out of the room to make her way back downstairs.
Hennessy was putting his jacket on when he saw her.
“You change your mind?”
“Yes.”
Hennessy ginned, opening the door. “Ladies first.”
Arin rolled her eyes at him. She preferred him being an ass.
The man who was watching the door moved aside as they walked onto the porch.
“The roads are getting slick. Are you planning on going to town?”
“Yes, we’re going to the Super Store.”
The man reached into his jacket and gave Hennessy a set of keys. “Take the black SUV. It should get you there and back.”
Arin flashed him a casual smile. “Thank you, Jack. Is that hot cocoa helping to keep you warm?”
“Sure is. Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
Hennessy held her arm as they went down the steps.
Shivering, she was grateful when the first thing he did once they were inside the SUV was to turn the heat on and point the vents toward her.
“How many marshmallows did you give him?”
“Huh?”
“How many marshmallows did you put in the cocoa you made for him?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t count them.”
Why does it matter how many I gave Jack?
“I like a lot in mine.”
“Okay, I’ll buy an extra bag.”
As he drove, Arin could sense something was bothering him. In the dark vehicle, she debated the wisdom of leaving the safety of the club with a man whom she truly did not know that well. She hadn’t even told Jewell she was going. However, she consoled herself with the fact that Jack had seen her leave with Hennessy.
Trying to put her fears to rest, she just asked what was bothering her. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Does it involve marshmallows?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged. “I’ve never had anyone make cocoa just for me unless I bought it. When I grew up in a foster home, there were three other foster kids. Our foster mom would always put marshmallows in her own children’s cups but never in ours.”
Arin turned to look at him, seeing the proud man sitting behind the wheel. Something told her that he had never shared that childhood story with anyone else. That he did had to be for a simple reason. He was jealous.
She had felt that emotion for too many years with Marcus not to recognize it with Hennessy. The badass biker that he portrayed to the rest of the club hid a façade of a young boy who had once been badly hurt by an adult who had taken care of him. You didn’t grow up to be so sensitive over something as simple as marshmallows if it hadn’t been more than once and over more important things that had hurt just as badly.
Having grown up in a warm and loving home, it had only taken Marcus two weeks to shred her confidence. If it wasn’t for her family and Jewell, she didn’t know if she would have been able to be brave enough to leave him. Arin wondered if Hennessy ever had anyone in his corner when things had gotten bad for him.
Keeping her eyes forward, she focused on the road and not on the man behind the wheel. When she returned to the clubhouse, she was going to stay as far away from him as she could get. She was already wavering in her ability to withstand Hennessy and win the bet that she had made with Jewell.
In life, there were men like Marcus, who captured your heart with good looks and smooth words, and then there were others like Hennessy, who captured your heart one marshmallow at a time.
Chapter 11
Hennessy hung his jacket in the closet before crossing to the bar. Opening a beer, he didn’t acknowledge Moon, who was sitting at the bar.
“How was work?”
“Same as it was yesterday.” Boring as fuck.
If he had to do the mundane job day after day, he would blow his fucking brains out. Four days already seemed like it had lasted a lifetime. Unable to be given the opportunity to see Arin made it even worse.
Raising his beer to his lips, he saw Moon twirling something on his finger. “What’s that?”