GHOST: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Evil Dead MC Series Book 5) by Nicole James Page A

feel about her.
    He moved out the very next day.
     
    Ghost shook the memory free and stared at the woman before him now.
    “I crossed a line I never should have crossed. Thought we both agreed to forget that day ever happened.”
    “You mean forget that kiss ever happened?”
    “Yeah. That’s what I mean.”
    “We’re not actually blood related, Ghost. It’s not like you’re really my brother. My mom just married your dad. He wasn’t the first stepdad I ever had, or the last.”
    He squatted back down and began working on his bike again. “What’s she on now?”
    “Husband number five.”
    He shook his head.
    “How about your father?”
    He squinted up his face, thinking. “Mmm, number six, I think.”
    She huffed out a breath. “Doesn’t bode well for either of us, does it?”
    Ghost chuckled. “No, I guess relationship longevity doesn’t run on either side of this fucked up family.”
    She smiled, sobering. “I guess not.”
    Ghost continued working on his bike. He was glad to occupy his mind with something and glad they were both able to drop the subject of the one and only time they’d kissed. He hadn’t been lying. It had been a mistake.
    Jessie sat back against the wall and eventually dosed off. After a while, Ghost took a break and wandered outside. He found a small bluff and was able to climb up and see the road. He spotted several small groups of Death Heads riding the highway.
    He thought about leaving his bike and heading out on foot, but he didn’t know how far they’d get, especially with Jessie in those damned high-heeled boots. There was no way she’d be able to hike through the vegetation, and if they kept to the roads, they’d be sitting ducks and spotted for sure. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if the Death Heads came upon them.
    He looked to the west and saw another line of storm clouds approaching. Goddamn it . They just couldn’t catch a break. He returned to the shed to find Jessie nervously pacing. When she looked up and saw him, she came to a dead stop.
    “You came back.”
    He frowned. “I was just checking out the road.”
    “I thought you left me.”
    “Babe, I was twenty yards away.”
    She began twirling a piece of her hair nervously. “I just thought…”
    He remembered that quirk of hers. Whenever she got nervous or anxious she’d twirl a piece of her hair, round and round. He wasn’t even sure she was conscious of doing it. But for him it was like a ‘tell’ in poker. A dead giveaway to how upset she was. Not that she was ever that hard to read, not for him anyway. At least, that had been the case when she was younger, now, maybe not so much. “Jess, you really think I’d leave you here?”
    “Well, I didn’t think you’d leave your bike, but when I woke up you were gone…”
    “Oh, so I’d leave you, but not my bike, is that it?”
    “I’m sorry. Of course you wouldn’t leave me. I guess I just… got scared.”
    Where the hell did this insecurity come from? It was so unlike the old Jessie, at least the girl he’d known. She was ballsy and brave. Perhaps her brother’s death had done more damage than he’d realized, that or the years since he’d seen her last had scarred her in some way. She’d obviously left Seattle with not much more than the clothes on her back. At some point he was going to have to draw that out of her, but now was not the time. Now she just needed to feel safe. And that was something he’d always been good at with her. He’d always been able to make her feel safe when she was a kid.
    “Come here.”
    She hesitated only a moment before she walked to him. He pulled her roughly into his arms, holding her close. He dipped his head to her ear.
    “Not goin’ anywhere without you, brat. Okay?”
    “Okay.”
    Lightning flashed and a crack of thunder boomed. He felt her shiver and pulled her closer, remembering how she’d always hated storms as a child. Remembering one storm in particular when she was