Letting Her Lead (Ghost Riders MC Book 3) Read online

  “Come on, Julie shortcake. You’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve got four weeks left before I ship out. Marry me.”

  She shakes her head, and then gives me the sweetest smile and leans in close to my face. With me down on one knee, we are about eye to eye.

  “You’re crazy and hot. But I’m a firm ‘no’ on the proposal.”

  “Fine then. If you won’t marry me, at least go on a date with me. In fact, come to a pool party with me today,” I say, and look at her with my most hopeful face. I just need to get her to agree to see me again, I’ll worry about the ‘marrying me’ thing later.

  “No.”

  “I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’m shipping out in a month. What if I die? Would you really do that to your country?”

  She lets out an adorable snort. She looks at me and sighs deeply. “You won’t quit until I agree, will you?”

  “I’m afraid I’m pretty stubborn. You can ask my sergeant if you like.”

  “Fine, give me your number and I’ll call you.”

  I get up off the ground and pull my cell out of my pocket. “Give me yours. I have a feeling I won’t hear from you if I’m not the one calling.”

  She has the decency to look a little ashamed. It’s clear I’ve sized up her plan.

  “All right.”

  I get her number and text her while she’s standing in front of me, just to make sure she didn’t give me a fake one. Once I hear the ping on her phone, I feel a little better about not keeping an eye on her until later.

  “I’ll text you directions to the party, and don’t forget to bring your suit. It should be fun.”

  She nods her head in agreement, but as she tries to step past me I reach out and lightly grab her fingers. I feel it again when our hands touch, and I look up from them into her eyes. When her chocolate brown eyes meet mine, I can see she feels it too. She may have tried to shake me off, but I can see the look on her face. I didn’t imagine it and neither did she.

  With just that touch and a smile, she’s walking away from me, and I’m left in a fog.

  A few minutes later Lucias is snapping his fingers in my face, and I’m struggling to remember what the fuck just happened.

  * * *

  Later that day…

  “Why are you all jacked up?”

  “Just waiting for a friend to show up,” I say as I pace in front of the window. Everybody is out back at Scribe’s place, and Lucias and I are inside. He came in here a few minutes ago to check on me, and he won’t leave. I got a text from Julie twenty minutes ago saying she was on her way, but so far there’s no sign of her. I don’t know how far away she lives, so I’m trying not to worry about something happening to her.

  “The only friends you have are here. Who is she?”

  I look over at Lucias and see him take a drink of his beer. I could really use one, but I’m trying to hold off. I don’t want to smell like alcohol when Julie gets here. “Just some chick I met at the store. I invited her to the party. I think she’s bringing a friend.”

  “Nice,” he says, and plops down on the loveseat.

  After a torturous wait, I see a car pull up, and I see the driver has curly blonde hair. My heart starts beating out of my chest with excitement, and I go the front door and pull it wide open. I feel Lucias walk up behind me as I head out the door, and I hear him mumble something about “playing it cool.” I can’t be bothered to pretend. I’ve got a few short weeks to go, and this girl is something special. I don’t know why, or how, or what it is, but I aim to find out.

  She steps out of her blue Civic, and her friend gets out of the passenger seat. We texted briefly after I sent her directions, and she asked if she could bring someone with her. I assumed it was for safety because she was meeting a strange guy at a strange place, so I couldn’t fault her for it. Plus I was going to do whatever it took to get her to show up. I wouldn’t have cared if she had to bring her whole goddamn family.

  “What’s up, shortcake,” I say as I stride over and help her grab her bag out of the trunk. She looks so fucking hot that I’m trying to think of baseball stats to keep from pitching a tent in my swim trunks. I left my shirt off so she could get a good look at me, but now I’m wishing for some extra coverage in the crotch area. Julie is wearing a bathing suit cover up, but it’s white and see-through, and her neon pink bikini underneath is shouting at me. Those tits can’t possibly be suspended by that tiny string, and I’m praying to the textile gods that the thread doesn’t hold up. I need to see her nipples or I’ll die an unfulfilled man.

  I hear a throat clear, and I realize I’ve been staring at her while Lucias has been talking. I look at Julie’s face and she blushes a little. Even her blush is sexy as fuck.

  “This is my friend, Sierra.” Julie motions towards her friend.

  “Nice to meet you,” I say, reaching out and shaking her hand. She’s a good-looking girl. She’s got short curly hair and bright green eyes. She’s got on cut-off jean shorts and a bikini top so the tattooed sleeves of her arms show. She reaches over and takes my hand firmly, giving me a chin nod as a hello. She then turns to Lucias, unabashedly looking him up and down.

  “You’re cute. Show me around this place.”

  Lucias laughs a little and takes her into the house.

  I look back over to Julie, and we stand there silently for a second. I can see her eyeing me up and down, and I can tell from the look on her face she likes what she sees.

  I reach out and take her hand, leading her into the house. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Not like you gave me much of a choice.”

  “It got you here so I’m making no apologies.”

  Once inside, I show her around the house, and then take her out back to see the pool. Scribe has a sweet set-up out here with a huge pool and lots of space for entertaining. Once I give her the general introductions, I grab us a couple of beers and head to the other side of the pool. It’s a bit quieter and out of the way, and we sit on two lounge chairs so we can talk. Yeah, fucking talk. I don't know what it is about this chick but I want to know everything about her, and I know my time is limited.

  I watch as she stands up and takes off her cover up, revealing her body, barely hidden by her tiny bathing suit.

  “Fuck me,” I whisper, or so I thought. I see the blush across her face, letting me know I wasn’t so subtle.

  She sits down and looks at her beer. After a few seconds she looks around, and then lets out a breath as if she’s come to some decision.

  “Look, you seem like a really nice guy and, God, are you gorgeous.” I start to interrupt with a joke, but she holds her hand up to stop me. “I’m only eighteen. So I can’t even drink this beer. I know you're on leave and I don't want to get you into trouble.”

  She has a look of utter disappointment on her face as she hands me her drink. I knew she looked young, but I didn’t realize she was that young. Suddenly I’m worried if I should’ve invited her here. I should’ve taken her somewhere private instead of asking her to come to a party with a bunch of crass Marines.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. Do you want to go somewhere else?” I ask. I don’t want her to get upset and leave, and I’m not finished with her yet. I'm also not ashamed to beg. Again.

  Her face turns bright red, and she looks anywhere but at me. “It’s fine, I just didn’t want to get you in trouble. I tried to say no and I knew this was a bad idea.” She reaches for her cover up, and starts to put it back on. “I’ll just find Sierra and we can go.”

  She stands up and my brain kicks in. “No!” I shout, and grab her wrist. I look around and see everyone staring in our direction, and her friend makes her way over to us. I reluctantly let go of her wrist, and people go back to what they were doing, trying not to cause a scene.

  “You okay, Jules?” Sierra asks.

  “Yeah, I’m good. You ready to go?” I can see they do some eye exchange and Sierra nods her head.

  “Wait. Ple
ase don’t go.” I panic and try to think of something to get them to stay. “Look, there’s a theater room in the house. Why don’t we put something on, and you and I can talk some more? Please. No drinking, nothing crazy. Let’s just talk.” I can hear the note of desperation in my voice, but I don't give a fuck.

  “Hang on a second,” Sierra says, and pulls Julie over to the side. They have a short convo, and walk back over to where I’m standing.

  Sierra looks me in the eyes, and after a second I guess she finds what she’s looking for. “You’re in luck. Your friend Knox, I guess you call him ‘Scribe’, is kind of cute, so I don’t mind hanging out while you guys talk a bit. But the second she asks to leave, we are out of here. No protests, no arguments. We are gone. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  I don’t waste any time, taking Julie by the hand, leading her inside to the end of the house and into the room Scribe uses as a movie room. There’s a big projector screen at one end and a couple of couches at the other. I walk over and choose a movie at random while Julie sits on the couch. Once it’s up and playing, I go sit beside her and turn my body so I’m facing her.

  She’s got her cover up back on, but I’ve got my shirt off. I feel like I should have put on more clothes for this, but I’m not losing time away from her by getting dressed.

  “I’m sorry. I should’ve said something in the store.”

  “I didn’t give you much of a chance.”

  She laughs a little at that. “No, you’re right, you really didn’t.”

  “I’m twenty seven. I don’t know if that makes a difference to you, but just in case you wanted to know.”

  “It doesn't bother me.”

  “Your age doesn’t bother me,” I say, and I mean it. Something about her has taken a hold of me, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt. I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t let her go. It’s like there’s this pull between us, and I’ve got to figure out what it is.

  Her cheeks blush a little and she nods her head. “Good then.”

  “So,” I say, reaching out and taking her fingers in my hand. The feeling is still there, and oddly enough, it comforts me. “Tell me all about my shortcake.”

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