She tensed visibly. It was obvious that even though she"d been all about asking him questions, the thought that he could do the same made her uncomfortable.
"Hey, if it"s going to make you uncomfortable, you don"t have to answer." He didn"t want to give her the out, but he did anyway.
"No it"s only fair. I"ve just never had someone to open up with like this before, and because it"s you...it unnerves me."
He chanced a glance at her. "What do you mean I unnerve you?"
She bit her bottom lip and met his glance. Even though they were in the car on the interstate, neither one wanted to look away from the other. She broke the gaze first. "I care what you think about my answers. You"re the first person in a long time that"s made me care what you think about me."
That threw him for a loop. This strong girl who always gave him att.i.tude cared what he thought about her. What the h.e.l.l was he going to do with that?
Chapter Five.
The rest of the ride had been completed in comfortable silence. It was almost as if her blurting out that she cared what he thought put them both at ease. As they traveled into the heart of Nashville, she again asked where they were going.
"South Street."
Now that she knew the name, she did get a little excited. "I"ve heard of that place before! Some girls I have cla.s.s with went last weekend. This is really a good surprise."
The smile on her face was enough for him. It was probably the first genuine smile he"d ever seen from her. One that spoke of girly excitement and complete surprise. He answered her with one of his own, proud that he had lit up her face like that. "I"m glad you"re excited."
She watched as he negotiated the traffic when they got off the interstate. She clenched her thighs at the exit and tried not to look as he maneuvered them into the correct lane.
"Do you get nervous in traffic?" he asked, laughing.
"Yeah. You, though, handle it very well."
The tone of her voice when she said that made him want to stop the car and get them in the backseat fast. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that he could handle her just as easily as he did the car.
"Lots of practice on my bike."
She didn"t want to distract him as they merged into the regular downtown Nashville traffic. Within minutes, he made a left and they were in the parking lot of a restaurant.
"Here we are," he said as they parked, and each got out.
She met him around the side of the car where he waited on her. She shivered in the coolness of the January air, and he tucked her beside him, placing his arm around her shoulders. This felt way more like a date than she had ever imagined it would, but it felt good at the same time.
They walked inside, and he motioned to the hostess that there were only two of them, asking for the smoking section. They were seated quickly, and a waitress came to take their drink order. It was obvious as soon as the waitress came to the table that she thought Jagger was a nice looking man. Bianca watched as the woman thrust out her chest further and saddled on up next to his side of the table.
"What can I get for ya?" she asked, all but ignoring Bianca.
Jagger looked uncomfortable as he got up from his side of the table and went to sit next to Bianca. "I"ll take whatever beer you have on draft, and what will you have?" he asked, putting his arm around her again.
This waitress had p.i.s.sed Bianca off. The why of it she didn"t want to examine, but at the same time, she wanted this woman to know that he was here with her and would leave with her. Planting a saucy smile on her face, she leaned in to Jagger, put her head on his shoulder and her hand on his thigh. With the blunt tip of her fingernail, she caressed the blue jean material using an up and down motion. "I"ll have a margarita."
Glaring at Bianca, the other woman flung her hair behind her as she went to put their drink orders in. It didn"t escape Bianca"s notice that she shook her a.s.s as she walked away, probably hoping that Jagger would watch.
"You like me that much, huh?" he tried to joke, lifting himself up from the seat and adjusting his jeans.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the jeans were now tight over his crotch. "You seem to like me," she grinned as she lightly ran her hand over the hardest part of him.
He grabbed her hand and held it away from his body. "Don"t start something that I know you don"t want to finish right now. You"re not that kinda woman. Both you and I know that."
That hit her like an ice-cold shower. He was right. This wasn"t her. Embarra.s.sment rode high on her cheeks as she drew her hand back from his lap and all but folded up back into herself.
"Now, honey, that don"t mean I don"t like it."
The waitress came back with their drinks and took their orders. When she left, they sat in silence. Jagger"s arm rested on the back of the booth, and he lazily twirled a piece of her hair as he thought of what to say. Things had become awkward all of a sudden, and he didn"t want them to ever have to sit in that kind of silence.
"Just to clarify, I liked that you were touching me."
She took a long drink of her margarita and then turned to face him. His blue eyes were so clear that she could see herself in them. "I liked touching you, but you"re right. I"m not that kind of woman, and I was about to disrespect myself just because some chick p.i.s.sed me off."
An hour later they had eaten their dinner and were debating on what to do as Jagger waited on the waitress to bring back their change.
"It"s cold, but would you mind walking down Broadway?" she asked, her eyes bright with excitement at the idea.
For the first time since he met her, she looked her age. She was excited to be spending the evening with a man and it not be expected that he would at least get to second base. To make this night never end, he would do whatever she wanted and love every single minute of it.
"I would love it."
Traffic was light in Nashville, and it made getting downtown to park relatively easy. Jagger parked the car and pulled a knitted cap out of his jacket pocket, putting it on before he exited.
"Can I have the keys?" she asked as, they met each other around the car.
He handed them to her and watched as she popped the trunk. Reaching in, she grabbed a larger jacket along with gloves.
"I was wondering if you had a heavier jacket somewhere," he grinned as he watched her dress in the warmer gear.
"Yeah, I kinda hoped you would say it would be okay to walk around downtown. I love downtown Nashville. If I was a big city girl, this is where I would live."
He reached out, grabbing her hand, and they took off walking down Broadway. "So tell me, how"s Western"s education program?"
She laughed. "I knew it wouldn"t take you long to get nosey. I could just tell it about you."
He did his best to look hurt, but she knew better. "I"m just curious about you. How is that wrong?"
Her gaze met his again, and the feelings he inspired in her were so intense, she drew her eyes away from his and instead focused on the earrings in his ears. They were black metal circles, gauged, but she wasn"t sure of the size.
"It"s not. Western"s program is hard. It"s really a five-year program, and I feel like I"m going so slow compared to other people. I"m on schedule to graduate in May. I"ll be the oldest first year teacher ever, but it"s better than giving up, right?" she deadpanned.
Jagger rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. "There"s not a timetable on dreams. If you have them, you can always achieve them."
"That"s pretty profound for a guitar-playing member of a motorcycle club," she giggled.
"Hey, sometimes I"m deep. I"m friends with Tyler after all." He winked at her, grinning at his own joke.
The giggle turned into a full body laugh. "I"ve talked to him a few times. He"s like Yoda. He never really answers a question."
"I know!" Jagger joined in the laughter. "You kinda get used to it though. It"s just who he is."
"It must be great to have friends like that, that you can go to whenever you need something. I have a couple friends that I"ve made at Wet Wanda"s, but there"s no one that I feel like I can really go to if I had a problem."
"You can come to me now. In fact, I want you to." He took a moment to think, his face scrunched up in thought. "Aren"t you from Bowling Green?"
"No, I"m from the big "ole city of Brownsville."
"Oh wow! You really are from the sticks," he teased.
"You have no idea. I"ve never really been super close with my family, but I do have a few cousins that I talk to every once in a blue moon. They still live in Brownsville, and even though it"s only about forty-five minutes away from Bowling Green, it sometimes feels like it"s a whole world away."
He could understand that. He felt that way inside the club every once in a while. It was light years from the home life he"d grown up in. Even though they had welcomed him into the family, he still felt uneasy at times, grasping to find his foothold and his place. They were a lot alike in that regard. Grabbing her hand, they continued along the river front until it was just too cold for them to continue. They turned around, heading back towards the car.
Jagger pulled up to the clubhouse and shut the engine off. "I had a really good time with you tonight, and I"m glad we"re going to be doing it for the next few weeks."
"Speaking of," she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope, "I was able to get $75 for you this week. I"ll try to do better next week."
He grabbed the envelope and reached up to caress her cheek. "Don"t get it too fast, darlin". I really enjoyed tonight."
She leaned over, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I did too."
Chapter Six.
Jagger put his leather chaps on over his jeans and buckled them before putting on his leather gloves. The abundance of leather was there to protect him from the elements just as much as road rash if he were to wreck. This was a long protection run, and he knew that he would need the warmth they provided. A knock sounded on the door to his dorm room, and his fellow newly-patched member, Layne, yelled out that they were ready to leave.
"Coming."
He made his way to the bay that they kept the bikes in during winter and saw that he was one of the last to show up.
"Apparently, I"m late. Sorry guys."
"Nah," Travis Steele, the information officer, smirked as he walked up to Jagger. "We"re all still waitin" on Liam to get here."
"He"s goin" on the run? He hasn"t gone on one since they found out Denise is pregnant."
"Yeah, to tell you the truth, I think he"s getting on her nerves."
Jagger laughed, "I can see that."
He took a seat on his bike, waiting for the ride to start, and pulled his personal cell phone out of his pocket. Besides his bike, his one luxury was an iPhone, and he loved it. Seeing that he had a text from Bianca, he smiled.
Just wanted to tell u I had a good time! Thnx for the trip to Nashvegas!
The smile on his face got bigger. She"d had a good time. That boded well for their next meetings.
Glad u had a good time! Nashvegas next trip or someplace diff? I"m game for anything!
His hope was that they would go north this time, not just stay in the immediate area. Riding with her had been one of the best times he"d had in recent memory. She seemed as sheltered, although in a different way, as he had been as a child, and he wanted so badly to see all the things both of them had missed out on together.
"Let"s get this show on the road!"
Putting the phone in his pocket, he looked up to where Liam stood in front of the group.
"We"re going to try and make this as quick as possible. It"s colder than a witch"s t.i.t outside, and I know I have a warm bed waitin" on me. We"re heading to Louisville today, the truck will drop off there, and then we"re free to head home. You can do whatever you want after we get the truck safely there, but I suggest we all ride back together."
Jagger nodded in agreement as everyone voiced that same opinion. Taking a bandana out of his back pocket, he tied it around the bottom part of his face. He liked wearing them because it secretly gave him a thrill. As a young boy he loved to watch westerns, and that"s how all the outlaws had kept the dirt and dust out of their faces. He wasn"t sure that he"d ever just flat out admit that to anyone, but he loved it just the same. Cranking his bike up, they filed out of the garage and hit Porter Pike, which would take them most of the way to I-65 where they could head north to Louisville.
Bianca was beginning to get stressed. She had two papers due in the next 48 hours and over 100 pages worth of reading to go along with it. It was nights like these that dread and uncertainty rolled up in her stomach, along with self-doubt. Would she ever be able to make her dreams come true? Would she ever be able to do anything besides be a waitress in a seedy dive? Luckily Wet Wanda"s had been dead on this cold night, but in exchange for the extra homework time, she would now be low on money.
A smile spread across her face. Maybe she could drag out paying Jagger his money back if they kept having a good time together. When he had suggested they do dinner, the reason she had accepted was so that she could get out and maybe have a good time. She hadn"t counted on the fact that he was a gentleman as well. In all actuality, she really shouldn"t have gone to Nashville the night before. It had put her even further behind in studying, but she hadn"t been able to say no, and regardless of her crazy schedule, she was still young enough that she needed to have fun. Her cell phone, which sat to the left of her, began buzzing. Glancing over at it, her heart skipped a beat when she saw it was a text from Jagger. When had that happened? Her heart going crazy because he had texted her. Something had taken hold of her the night before, she craved to see him again. She had known he would be gone on a protection run so she hadn"t expected another text after the last one.
Just got back from Louisville and I"m hungry. Wanna grab a bite?
She wanted to meet him badly, but she also knew that this homework wasn"t going to do itself.
I would love to, but I"m drowning in homework and starving!
She took the moment to pout. She really did want to see him, but she hadn"t come this far in life and in school to give it up at this point. Just as she was about to get back to writing, her phone buzzed again.
I"ll bring you something and sit with you if it"s ok? I don"t like eating alone.
A breath that she didn"t know she"d been holding released itself from the tightness of her chest. She had a feeling his unease had something to do with the childhood he"d told her a little about. In her experience, most highly religious families ate together, and maybe eating alone was something he couldn"t bring himself to do. What would it hurt?
Sounds good. Just surprise me with food and when I tell you to be quiet, promise me you"ll be quiet.
Within seconds he"d texted her back.
On my way!
Suddenly she panicked and hopped up, picking up stuff as she went. Her house was clean by nature, but for some reason she wanted to impress him. She had seen some of the expensive things that members of the club had. He was so far out of her league.
Jagger remembered the way to her apartment from the night her car had broken down and he"d taken her home. He"d committed that route as deeply to his memory as he could.