Chapter 14
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” CeCe asked.
“I’m sure. Go ahead and have some fun. I don’t expect you to sit here with me all night,” Grace told her.
“You wouldn’t be sitting here if you would accept one of the invitations to dance.”
“I will when the right one asks.” Grace had no intention of dancing with the few men who’d had the courage to approach her. One even sat down next to her in an attempt to draw her attention. Disgusted when he had picked his nose and winked at another woman passing their table, she asked him to leave.
It had been a terrible idea coming out with CeCe to the local hangout. She would give CeCe fifteen more minutes, then she had every intention of making an excuse to leave.
Grace watched CeCe and her pick-up move toward the dance floor while a couple at the next table argued. The young woman was angry with her fiancé over spending time with his mother the evening before.
“If I knew you were such a mama’s boy, I would never have started dating you to begin with.”
For several minutes, Grace was forced to listen to her berate and belittle the man who tried to soothe her anger repeatedly by apologizing.
Finally, the woman got up and left him sitting at the table alone, telling him she was going to the restroom. Grace had to bite her lip to keep from telling him to make a run for it while he had the chance. Instead, she watched the others on the dance floor.
When a chair next to her was pulled out, her head turned and she met ice-blue eyes staring back at her. She didn’t know if she should be frightened he was here. He was thinner than she remembered and his hair was cut close to his head showed a healing gash. The new haircut made him appear even meaner and more dangerous.
“Hello, Grace.”
“Ice, what... What are you doing here?” She looked wildly toward the dance floor for CeCe, but she had disappeared. She searched the room and found her talking at the bar with a different man. She also saw Max and Jackal at the other end, both standing casually, drinking beers.
Ice shrugged. “Would you believe I was in the neighborhood and stopped in for a beer?”
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Were you?”
A smile tugged at his sensual lips. “No.”
“Oh.”
“How have you been?”
“Good. You?”
“Good,” he repeated her brief answer, his eyes sliding over her body in the royal-blue dress. “You look beautiful tonight.”
“Thank you. My brother told me you got out.”
“You told your brother about me?” He reached out, tugging the passing waitress’s skirt. “Honey, bring me a beer.”
The woman had initially looked angry at his familiarity, but when she got a good look at Ice, her frosty expression warmed, and she smiled seductively back at him.
“Sure thing, sugar.”
Grace mentally noted he had called her honey. So he routinely uses affectionate terms to address women, she thought.
“Only that you were the one to take me hostage,” Grace told him, taking a sip of her drink. “He wanted to let me know the man responsible for holding me hostage was out of prison.”
“I can tell you’re still pissed.”
“A woman tends to hold a grudge over something like that, Ice.”
“I was hoping you would have gotten over it by now.”
Grace narrowed her eyes on him. Was the man crazy?
While the woman from the next table sat back down and immediately began berating her fiancé for not ordering her another drink, the waitress returned, setting down Ice’s beer in front of him.
“Here you go, sugar.” Ice reached inside his wallet and pulled out a twenty. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks, sweet thing.” The waitress seemed even more attracted to him, giving Ice a slip of paper before moving off.
“Go away, Ice,” Grace told him as soon as he turned back to her.
He frowned at her closed expression. “No. I’ve had to wait for those dickheads watching you to back off.” Ice leaned closer to her. “I’ve missed you.”
Grace sat stunned by his admission. “I can tell,” she said snidely.
Ice crumpled the slip of paper, tossing it across the table. “Baby, I only have eyes for you.”
“Do. Not. Call me. Baby.”
“I think you need to loosen up. Let’s dance.”
“I don’t…” Before she could finish her protest, he pulled her from her chair and led her toward the dance floor.
Grace didn’t want to make a scene. She would dance one dance with him then find a way to slip from the club and go home.
It had been a long time since she had danced. Her mother had often thrown extravagant parties as she grew up, and she had learned to dance at an early age. She had also been allowed in nightclubs in Paris with her friends with Dax escorting them.
She had suppressed her love of dancing by staying away from the dance floor. Now, listening to the music, she was unable to prevent that love from slipping free. Her body moved lithely to the music. Ice was a good dancer, also, moving against her to the sensual beat. She raised her arms to the ceiling as her hips rotated in moves which drew attention to her, but she was unaware, lost in her own pleasure.
As soon as the music ended, Ice escorted her from the dance floor before another song had a chance to begin.
“I wanted to dance again,” she protested with a pout on her face, wanting to lose herself again.
“You want to dance? I’ll dance with you in private. Where did you learn to dance like that?”
“Paris,” she said, flouncing back to her chair. She noticed the man with the irritating fiancée watching her.
“Jesus, woman, you’ve given every man here a hard-on.”
Grace blushed bright red. Dax had gotten in many fights when she was younger with men she had spent the night dancing with. She had forgotten how uninhibited she tended to be while dancing.
“Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Next time, we’ll be in a private place where I have a bed close by.” Ice grinned at her wickedly.
“There won’t be a next time. I don’t want to see you again. I don’t know why you came to see me, but nothing is going to happen between us.” Grace decided the best way to handle a man like Ice was to be forthright and honest.
“Why not?”
“Because...” She stared at the sexy man sitting next to her and briefly drew a blank. Then reason returned.
His face was harsh, yet he had a carnal appeal that drew her, as it would most women, Grace surmised. There was a wildness about him women would be tempted to tame. Grace was not one of them.
“Let me see.” She began pointing out her reasons for not wanting to become involved with him. “You’re a criminal.”
“The charges against me were dropped,” Ice interrupted.
“From your previous conviction?” she questioned.
Ice’s mouth closed with an audible snap.
“I didn’t think so.” Then she continued with her mental list. “You don’t have a job.”
“I do. I work for a well-respected business man.”
“You do?” she asked, surprised.
“I do,” he gloated.
“Doing what?”
He lost his gloating expression. “Security,” he answered without elaborating.
She shot him a doubtful look yet continued on. “You belong to a bike club. I’ve watched television shows; they have wild parties, break laws, and have several women the club owns.”
“Don’t believe everything you watch on television.”
“Which part wasn’t true?”
“The women. We don’t own them. They come and go as they please.”
Grace reached out and picked up her drink, finishing it in one swallow, and then placed her glass back on the table. She rose to her feet, her eyes searching through the crowded room, finding CeCe at the bar now t
alking to Max. She angrily strode toward her.
“It’s time to go.” Grace reached out, grabbing her upper arm and trying to pull her away from the bar.
“Wait! I want to introduce you to—”
“I’m already acquainted with Max.”
“You are? How?” CeCe’s eyes widened as Ice came to stand behind her. “Who is that?” she breathed.
Grace really, really didn’t want to introduce her. CeCe would call her mother as soon as she got home. Then her mother would call her, and she would spend the rest of the night trying to diffuse her mother’s fears.
“Let’s go.” Grace tugged at CeCe’s arm harder, but she stood immovable.
Ice reached around her, giving CeCe his hand. “Hi, I’m Ice.”
“Oh, my God, the Ice?” she breathed, shaking his hand and not releasing it.
“Yes.”
Grace groaned at Ice’s amusement.
“I want to have your babies.”
Grace was going to kill her friend—literally kill her—for embarrassing her.
Ice laughed, moving to her side and putting his arm around Grace’s rigid shoulders. “I’m not looking for a baby mama.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Hey, what about me?” Max said, wrapping his arm around CeCe’s waist. “I love kids. I have four.”
“I haven’t forgotten about you.” CeCe’s sensual purr had Grace’s fingers itching to grab her friend by her teased hair and drag her from the nightclub.
“CeCe, I want to leave. Now!”
“All right, all right. Don’t get your panties in a twitter.”
Grace stood by while her former friend gave Max her phone number, urging him to call her soon. Before CeCe could speak to Ice again, Grace began dragging her away.
As she passed the table with the man with the bitchy fiancée, she came to an abrupt stop, seeing his chastised expression. Unable to resist, she leaned down and gave him a brief kiss on the lips.
“You should drop that bitch before you sign a marriage certificate.”
The bitch in question began screeching at her, but Grace didn’t stay to listen, practically running outside.
“What in the fuck was that about?” Ice grabbed her hand, bringing her to an abrupt stop.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? That kiss you landed on his mouth wasn’t fucking nothing.”
“I couldn’t take that poor man listening to her bitch at him for another minute. Now, before she opens her mouth, she’ll know he has options.”
Ice stared at her in anger at her convoluted thinking. “What options? You’re sure as hell not one of them.”
“I think he was sweet. He let her bitch at him all night because he spent the evening with his mother at the hospital.”
“I don’t give a fuck if his mother’s dying; you’re not going out with him.” Ice’s voice began to rise.
“I didn’t say I would go out with him, only that he had other options than to listen to that bitch,” Grace explained.
Ice breathed in and out of his mouth. “You could have told him that without kissing him.”
“Yes, but it wouldn’t have been as effective,” she said stubbornly.
CeCe started laughing.
“I’m going home.” Grace tried to walk at a fast clip, which was difficult to do while dragging a reluctant CeCe.
She took CeCe’s purse from her, digging through it to find her car keys. Pushing the button, she opened the car door and shoved CeCe toward the driver’s side before heading to the passenger’s side. However, before she could get in, Ice braced his hand on the door.
“Give me a damn minute.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. It’s not like she had a choice with him blocking her.
“Have lunch with me tomorrow?”
“No,” she refused instantly.
“Dinner?”
“No.”
Ice removed his hand from the car door, tracing a finger down her cheek. “All I could think about when I was in the hospital was how bad I wanted to see you again.”
“You were in the hospital? When?” Dax had told her Ice had been released, but he hadn’t mentioned Ice had been hospitalized.
“Doesn’t matter. Will you have lunch with me?”
Grace bit her lip in indecision.
“You can pick the place and time.”
She knew it would be a mistake, a terrible mistake.
“The pain was awful. I had three broken ribs and a fractured sternum.”
Grace took a closer look at Ice, seeing the paleness of his skin and that he had lost weight. She had been so surprised to see him she hadn’t noticed the obvious changes.
“All right,” she gave in, instantly regretting it. “I’ll meet you at the Jiffy Grill at eleven.”
Ice grinned, moving away from the car to let her enter. She was about to tell him she had changed her mind, but he was already walking away toward Max and Jackal, who were waiting for him at the front entrance of the nightclub.
“Dammit.” She opened her car door and slid inside, angrily slamming the door closed.
CeCe was sitting there, staring at her. “Girl, he’s hot.”
“Shut up.”
Ice walked away, glad Grace couldn’t see the triumphant smile on his face.
“You look happy as shit with yourself,” Jackal commented.
“She agreed to go to lunch with me tomorrow,” Ice said, not slowing down as he walked across the parking lot to his bike.
Swinging a leg over the huge motorcycle, he started the engine.
“How did you get her to agree to that?” Max asked, getting on his own bike.
“I told her I had been in the hospital.”
“You played the pity card.”
“I’ll play any hand I have to, but that woman is going to be mine.”
Chapter 15
Grace pulled into the parking lot of the Jiffy Grill, getting out of her car as she continued to argue with herself about going in. She was almost to the front door when she convinced herself to turn around. She managed to take two steps back to her car when the sound of a motorcycle filled the air. Coming to a stop, she watched as Ice pulled into the parking lot.
She would never admit it to him, but he looked good, as if he belonged on the huge monster he brought to a stop in front of her, turning off the motor.
“Going somewhere?”
“Um... I was going inside the restaurant. I just got here.”
“The restaurant is that way.” Ice nodded toward the building.
Not wanting to lie again, she stayed quiet, unable to take her eyes off him.
“You hungry?”
“Not really.” She was so nervous she felt as if she might vomit. She needed to get back into her car and leave as fast as she could.
People going to the small grill were looking at them curiously as they entered.
“Then let’s go for a ride.”
Immediately, Grace shook her head, taking a step back. “I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before. I’m afraid I’ll fall off.”
“You won’t fall off. Come on, we’ll just go around the block a couple of times. If you don’t like it, I’ll bring you right back here, and we’ll go inside and eat a lunch neither of us wants.”
Knowing she was making the biggest mistake of her life didn’t prevent her from taking a step forward and timidly climbing on the back of Ice’s bike.
“Hold on tight to my waist.”
Hesitantly, her arms circled his waist as she scooted forward on the bike. Thank God she had dressed casually, wearing jeans, boots, and a chunky sweater with a thick jacket.
Ice started the motor and her breath caught as he pulled out of the parking lot. He drove down the street before turning down a side road where he slowly rode through several neighborhoods.
Grace loved it. She had never expected to enjoy the experience, but the sound of the motor thrummed through her blood a
s the air rushed passed her face, tugging at her hair.
Ice came to a stop at a red light next to the diner.
“More?” he yelled over the loud motor.
“Yes!”
As the light turned green, she expected Ice to go faster, but he didn’t, driving slowly through town and leaving the city limits for longer country roads. Her arms tightened as his speed gradually increased.
A part of herself she had known when she was young and wild came back to life, enjoying the ride as she had never dreamed possible. She could almost understand why men gave up normal lives to be able to answer the call of the road. To be free was everyone’s dream, and the motorcycle gave you that as the miles soared past and homes became fewer and fewer.
They drove for a while before Ice stopped at a small diner with a gas station out front. He gassed his motorcycle then they went inside to sit at one of the booths and place their order.
“Well, how did you like it?”
Grace gave him her first real smile. “I loved it.”
Ice studied her flushed cheeks and excited eyes. This was how he had imagined her when he had been in prison. This was the woman he had known was hidden underneath the layers of restraint. She had him forcing back the desire ringing inside him. The wildness he sensed inside her called to his soul; however, if any of his brothers had spouted off such bullshit to him, he would have called them a pussy and beaten some sense into them.
“I found this place when I drove in from Queen City.”
“How long did it take you to drive here?”
“About three hours, but it should have taken four.”
Grace laughed then turned serious. “That’s a long drive.”
Ice shrugged. “I enjoy the ride. It gives me time to think. The clubhouse can get loud sometimes with the brothers there.”
“Do you all live there?”
“Some do, some don’t. I do. I haven’t found the place I want to call home yet.”
Grace swallowed, looking down at the scratched up table. “Ice, this isn’t—”
He got up from the table, going to the counter to pick up their burgers. The aroma from the hamburgers and fries had her mouthwatering.