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

just a kid, and he’d come home from school that afternoon before either of their parents were home and found her hiding in her closet, shaking and looking terrified. He’d pulled her out and sat on the couch, holding her close, murmuring to her that he was with her and it would be okay. When that hadn’t worked, he’d distracted her with stupid knock-knock jokes until he’d had her giggling, completely forgetting the storm that had raged outside.
    He saw a glimmer of that scared little girl in her eyes now.
    “It’s just a storm, sweetheart. We’re safe here. Safe and dry.” His hands rubbed up and down her back.
    He pulled her down, leaning back against the wall near the door. He kept it cracked open a couple inches so he could breath easier and not get that ‘closed in’ panicky feeling.
    He held her close, cuddled against his side. Her arm naturally lay across his stomach, holding him tight. With one hand he stroked her head, and soon his fingers began to play with her hair.
    “Ghost?” she whispered.
    “Hmm.”
    “Can I ask you something?”
    “Anything, brat.”
    “When you moved out of your dad’s house—was it because of me?”
    He was quiet for a moment, not sure just how much to admit. Finally, he blew out a breath. “Partly.”
    “Because of the kiss.”
    The kiss. Their one and only. He’d kissed hundreds of women since then, but still that one kiss he’d shared with her stuck in his memory like no other. “Yes and no.”
    Her head lifted off his shoulder, and she met his eyes, hers frowning. “What do you mean?”
    “Because of the kiss, but mostly because you were growing up and…”
    “And what?”
    “And I was starting to think about you in a way I shouldn’t think about you.”
    She grinned. “You wanted to fuck me, didn’t you?” Blunt and to the point, that was Jess.
    “Watch your mouth, brat.”
    “But its true, right?”
    “Yeah. I wanted to fuck you. That what you wanted to hear?”
    “Yep.”
    “Wasn’t gonna happen. No way in hell. So I did what I had to do. I left.”
    “And now?”
    They looked into each other’s eyes a long moment. He supposed they both were thinking about the ‘what ifs’. Which was a total waste of time. It was in the past. Done deal. Best she realized that. He pressed her head back to his chest. “Get some sleep, Jess. Tomorrow I’ll get us out of here.”
     
    ***
     
    The next morning she awoke to find him going over his bike, studying every part.
    “What are you doing?” she asked sleepily.
    “Trying to rob Peter to pay Paul.”
    She frowned. “Huh?”
    “Trying to find a place on the bike I can steal a bolt from to use on the shifter.”
    “Oh. Any luck?”
    “Nope.”
    “I’ve got to pee.” She stood up and moved toward the door. He barely spared her a glance.
    “Don’t go far.”
    She slipped out and glanced around. The sun was up and burning brightly in the sky, burning off the chill of the night before and drying out the ground. She moved off to some bushes a short distance away. When she returned, her eyes to the ground, she saw something in the dirt near the entrance to the shed. Squatting down, she realized it was two black cable ties half covered in mud. She dug them out and looked at them. Then she bit her lip, stood and moved into the shed.
    “Ghost?”
    “Yeah, babe?” he asked, still tinkering with his bike.
    “Think these will work?” She held up the two black pieces of plastic.
    He looked up, his eyes zeroing in on them and narrowing.
    “Zip Ties? Let me see.” He motioned with his hand for her to bring them to him.
    She handed them over and watched as he looked from them to the shifter.
    “Goddamn, girl. I think they might just do the trick.” He quickly threaded them both through the hole where the bolt would go, connecting the two parts together. Then he looped the ties through and pulled them tight.
    She watched as he yanked the shifter up and down.
    “Fuck yeah.” He grinned back at her.