Derek Read online

  Never.

  The door to the clubhouse opens, and my brother, Wilder, walks inside. He stops dead in his tracks when he sees me and Derek standing close to each other.

  Derek doesn’t move but just continues touching the side of my face. But I don’t want any trouble, so I put distance between us and move across the room to start packing up my stuff. I can feel both of them looking at me, but I have gotten good at ignoring that. I turn on some music on the overhead speakers and mind my own business.

  “Brittany!” someone yells. Amelia, Lane’s wife, walks over. “We are having a girls’ night, you in?”

  I grin. “Oh, you know it.” I am down anytime to shake my ass. I can hear Wilder, behind me, groan as if he is in pain. I am sure it’s complete hell when we go out for girls’ night, because we always cause trouble one way or another—but if we didn’t, where’s the fun in that?

  Then I can forget all about Derek calling me “beautiful” and leaving me all confused. I wonder what changed? For a year we have been having this weird staring match going on, and now he has breached the boundary.

  Hmm.

  Maybe my ass just looks better today or something. Yeah, I can see that happening. It is pretty huge, if I have to say so myself.

  I am a curvy, luscious woman; I am who I am and I love myself. I am not ashamed of my curves. I have been compared to Ashley Graham more than once, and that is totally fine with me. One thing Darla taught me was to love myself no matter what; self-love and self-respect are so important.

  I owe her so much. I will never, ever forget to be appreciative of what she has done for me. Without her I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

  I roll my bag out to my car, and I drive home so I can get ready. I so need a drink or ten.

  * * *

  “Woohoo!” I yell and raise my arms above my head, smiling at the ceiling. The girls around me do the same; we are having the time of our lives. Joslyn, my brother’s girlfriend, is right alongside me. She is literally the sweetest.

  I grin when I come up with the idea to cause a little bit of trouble. I take out my phone and take videos of all the women; then I send it to their men.

  Sigh, I love seeing the alphas blow their tops over things like this.

  “Hot damn!” I scream when I see Joslyn get low. It makes me happy to see her let loose.

  I look at the other girls. Shaylin is the daughter of the former president of the club, and her brother is the current president. She is married to a man who is a member of the neighboring MC, the Devil Souls. There is Amelia, who is married to Lane, the president. There is Jean; she is married to a guy from the Devils Souls MC. Kayla is married to the vice president of the Devils, and Alisha is with a Devil also.

  I grab my drink and finish it off in one gulp, and I get up from the table and join the girls. I take Joslyn’s hands and spin her around. She laughs and clutches her stomach until tears are rolling down her face. I laugh right along with her. I shake my butt and close my eyes, enjoying being free and happy.

  Hands grip my hips, and I open my eyes and spin around, coming face to face with a strange man.

  “Let me go,” I demand, glaring at him. I am not someone who likes to be fondled. He doesn’t do as I ask but grins at me like I am cute. “Come on, baby, shake it for me.” He twists my hips.

  I laugh loudly, and I bring my fist up, planting it on his nose. I may be all girl, right down my heels, but I punch like a man and I am not afraid to do just that.

  He lets me go and clutches his face. “Bitch!” he screams and stalks off. Well, what a pussy. All it took was one hit for him to take off running like a baby.

  I shake my hand and go back to the girls. Shaylin is laughing her ass off at me. She probably would have shot him, honestly. She is trigger happy, and it’s just gotten worse over the years. One thing is for sure, I won’t get on her bad side, and I definitely won’t get on her husband’s bad side. But I do dance with danger. I did send him a video of Shaylin shaking her ass like it’s her last day on earth. When I see that massive man walk inside the building, I am going to dip out and sneak onto the bus that carried all of us girls here.

  Thirty minutes later the door to the bar opens and, one by one, the guys strut inside. Their eyes connect to me and then to their women.

  Uhh, am I in trouble? Butcher’s eyes go to me, then narrow. Yeah, I think I am in trouble. I look down at my drink, which has become very interesting.

  The door slams open again, and I can’t resist looking up. In walks my brother and someone I never expected. Derek.

  I never sent him anything.

  His eyes go to me. Oh my God, did he come to me? Act drunk, Brittany, and then they can’t hold anything against you.

  I put a huge goofy grin on my face, making myself look drunk. He looks at my brother and grins at him; then he stares straight in my direction.

  Oh my God, my fantasy has come true. I always wanted a man to come rescue me; who cares if it’s for my drunkenness? Not me. So I plaster on my best smile, the one that gets me out of trouble and gets my dad to bend to my will.

  Derek stumbles. Damn, either he tripped over something or I am extra hot. I am going to go for the latter because it feeds my ego.

  I raise my arms. “You came for me!” I slur my words slightly, though I am buzzed but not drunk. Is this wrong of me? Probably.

  I throw my hair back over my shoulder. “Carry me away!” Okay, maybe that is asking for a lot, because I have some meat on these bones, but a woman can dream. I wiggle my fingers.

  He laughs and bends over, throwing me over his shoulder like I weigh as much as a child.

  Can we say “hot”?

  “I will get her home safely,” he tells my brother.

  First off, I am thrilled that he came here for me and wanted to make sure I got home safely. I never expected that.

  I’ve wanted him to do this for a year, an entire year, and now he is showing interest in me for the first time. He basically told my brother the same thing by showing up and kidnapping me.

  Hell, I wish he had done it sooner, and now that I have liquid courage backing me, maybe we can get all of this shit settled tonight or something.

  He carries me out into the parking lot, the cold air sobering me up. He rubs my legs. “You good up there, darlin’?” he asks.

  Oh my God, the voice! It’s so deep and just…ah! I contain what I really want to say. “Yeah, I am fine.”

  Better than fine, I am freaking golden.

  I hear a truck start to life then the sound of a door opening, and he sets me on the seat.

  I am face to face with Derek.

  “You’re not sick, feeling okay?” He smooths my hair out of my face; it’s crazy right now since he was carrying me over his shoulder. I nod, because I am not sure I can speak without making a fool out of myself. I am not used to sweet Derek.

  He grabs my seatbelt and buckles me in; then he shuts my door. I follow him with my eyes as he walks around the front of his truck. He gets inside, and I can’t help but notice his muscles flexing when he puts his hands on the steering wheel.

  “Thank you for taking me home,” I tell him. I can’t stand quiet.

  He looks at me before he backs out of his parking spot. “Don’t thank me, honey, I got you.”

  I wonder how else he has me?

  “Still.” I shrug and lay my head on the cool window, starting to feel sick from all of the tequila I downed.

  I don’t live too far from the bar. I live right on the outskirts of town, near a few single MC guys, so it’s safe, plus our town is safe in general.

  I want to ask him so many questions. I don't know much about him at all. I just know he is a member of the MC, he is hotter than sin, and that’s it.

  “What made you come and get me?” I blurt out without thinking, and I want to take it back the second it comes out of my mouth.

  He grins. “Honey, you know the answer to that.”

  Okay, that is not what I expecte
d him to say, and he is sooo not getting off that easy.

  “Actually, I don’t.” I fold my arms across my chest and he looks over. He chuckles when he sees my expression.

  He pulls into my driveway. “How about I just show you? Tomorrow night at eight I will be here to pick you up.”

  My mouth opens in shock, and he gets out of the truck before I can say anything else. Did he really just ask me out on a date? Wait, he didn’t ask. He told me.

  I watch him walk over to my door. We’ve got to love an alpha male. He opens my door and takes my hand, helping me out of the truck.

  He walks me to my front door, his hand on the small of my back. He reaches inside my pocket, shocking me, takes out my house key, and unlocks the door.

  “See you tomorrow, doll.” He smirks and I laugh. I step inside my house, moving away from him so I can face him.

  “That’s what you think, honey.” I wink and slam the door shut, locking it before he can get inside.

  I hear him laughing through the door. Yeah, you will see.

  Chapter Two

  Brittany

  One part of me wants to hide so he can’t find me, but the other part of me doesn’t want to be an asshole.

  So I decided to wear high-waisted dark-blue jeans with holes in the knees and thighs. I am wearing a black bell-sleeved shirt, tucked in, and to pull off the look, my red high heels. My hair is down, curled and flowing down my back. My makeup is the bomb, with smoky brown eyeshadow.

  I look at the clock and it’s five till eight. I finished right on time. I walk into my living room, and I see Derek is already out in the driveway.

  Oh boy, this is real and it’s happening.

  When he gets out of his truck, I suck in a sharp breath at how amazing he looks. He is wearing a dark-blue Levi button-up, showcasing his arms and those tattoos. His hair is in a bun at the back of his head. He is wearing dark-blue jeans and brown boots.

  Basically, he looks absolutely amazing.

  The best part is he is holding a bouquet of roses. I have never gotten roses before.

  I smile and let him knock on my front door; then I walk to the door and open it, coming face to face with him. Butterflies is the only way to describe how I feel right now, giddy and excited that this is happening.

  “Wow,” he says, looking me up and down.

  I laugh. “Want me to spin, too?” I tease and I spin around for him, giving him the full effect. When I turn around to look at him, his eyes are darker and I know that he likes what he sees. Well, at least I have that going for me.

  “Fuck yeah I do, doll.”

  Oh, that voice!

  “These are for you.” He hands me the roses.

  I take them and bend down to smell them, and I hug them to my chest. “Thank you, Derek.” I smile softly and walk inside to put them in a vase. I admire them, thinking how sweet is he?

  I feel eyes on me, and I look up and see Derek leaning against the doorframe. “Ready to go?” I ask. I know I must look cheesy, acting so weird over getting flowers, but I am that kind of person—you could buy me water and I would get teary eyed.

  I think it comes from my childhood. I never, ever got anything, nor did anyone really do anything nice for me, so when it does happen it shocks me, even to this day.

  Once I moved in with Darla, she got me all new things, and I was a blubbering mess for weeks. Every single morning, when I put on a brand-new outfit, it would hit me all over again.

  I pull myself out of my deep thoughts; I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole. My life has been affected by what happened, but it made me grateful for the life I have.

  One thing that has been on my mind a lot lately is I want to go see my biological parents. Despite everything that’s happened, I just need that peace of mind.

  “Yeah, I’m ready.” I walk over to him and he takes my hand, leading me out of my house. He takes my keys and locks the door for me.

  I love that he is so tall: six-foot-four. That means I can wear heels as high as I want, and I won’t hear him bitch. That’s happened many times before when I have gone out on dates. I am around five-three without heels, and the ones I am wearing are a good three inches, which is kind of tame for me.

  Plus the guys who complained about my heels were more feminine men. I am used to gruff alpha males, and these men and I just clashed. I want someone who won’t take my shit, and they took it and didn’t do anything about it. Is it too much to ask for someone to challenge me?

  Derek helps me into the truck. Right now I am, surprisingly, not nervous; I expected to be ready to crawl out of my skin, but I’m not.

  He gets inside and slams the door shut. “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “Diane’s Shack”

  I sit forward in my seat. “That’s my favorite!” My all-time favorite food is crab legs. I know that I am not going to be the most attractive after I down a couple of pounds of crab legs, but I don't even care.

  He grins. “I know, darlin’.”

  “Oh yeah? How did you figure that?” I ask.

  “Darlin’, I have watched you for a year, and I know a lot about you. More than you think I do.”

  Okay, I never expected him to say that. I look out the window as the city starts to come into view. “I watched you too. We had this staring match going on, didn’t we?” I tease and he laughs.

  “We did, darlin’. I think stubbornness was a huge reason we didn’t approach each other sooner,” he admits and, honestly, he is kind of right. I was not going to approach him first; I am not a chaser.

  I grin cockily. “I guess I won that one.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, if you say so.”

  I wag my finger at him. “No way, you know that you’re the one who gave in. You practically kidnapped me from the bar!”

  He shrugs. “If you say so, doll.” I narrow my eyes on him; is he trying to piss me off?

  He glances over at me and laughs loudly. “Shit, doll, I love when you get pissed.”

  I fold my arms across my chest and stare straight ahead. I am going to ignore him. I am going to eat my crab legs, and I won’t even speak to him. Yeah, that’s how it’s going to go.

  He continues to laugh like this is the best day of his life. The thing that is shocking me the most is that Derek rarely speaks unless he has something very important to say, but right now he is the exact opposite. I mime zipping my lip and ignore him.

  When we pull up in front of the restaurant, I open my door. “Keep your ass in the seat.” Derek gets out of the truck before I can tell him to stuff it. He snatches the handle before I can push the door all the way open. I try not to grin as he takes my hand and helps me step out of the truck, and I admire him every single second as he eyes me up and down.

  I flip my hair over my shoulder and give him my most seductive look, which could very well get me in trouble, but I do love to dance with the devil every now and again.

  He doesn’t let go of my hand; instead he intertwines our fingers, and we walk hand in hand into the restaurant.

  He holds the door open for me and immediately eyes go to us. For one thing, he has his cut on now. He put it on once he got out of the truck. The waitress grabs two menus, and we are seated immediately—the perks of being part of the MC. We get special privileges sometimes.

  I sit down in the booth, and I expect Derek to sit across from me, but he plops his big butt right beside me. Okay, that’s kind of cute, but I’ll never admit to that.

  “Do you know what you want?” I ask, scooting my menu up the table, because I already know what I want.

  “I figured we could get the crab deluxe?”

  Oh, I will agree with that. It’s basically a huge-ass seafood boil, and the whole table will be covered with crab legs, shrimp, potatoes, and lobsters.

  “A man after my heart.” I clutch my chest and he chuckles. I guess he is kind of cute. I like that he knew exactly what I would want.

  He leans back in the seat, and I am very aware of how gr
eat he looks. The way his jaw moves when he talks, the way his eyes change colors in the light. Everything.

  “Do you have any siblings?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I have a brother who is three years younger than me. He is in the military.”

  I wince internally. It’s scary when one of your loved ones joins the service, and it’s even tougher missing them so much.

  “That’s tough.”

  He nods. “He is an army ranger like I was, like our father was.”

  “I didn’t know you were in the military.” I know being an army ranger is tough and it’s hard to get into.

  The waitress approaches. “Hi guys, my name is Danielle, what can I get you to drink?” She cocks her hip against the table. She is way too close to Derek, and he is pretty much crotch level with her.

  “Beer,” Derek says in his gruff voice, which kind of throws me because he wasn’t like that a second ago. She just continues to smile at him like he is the best thing since sliced bread, which he kind of is, but that’s not the point.

  “I will have water with lemon,” I tell her.

  She doesn’t even bother to look at me. Her eyes are fastened on Derek, who is staring at our hands, intertwined on the table. He is showing her that we are together. He just got a bit more attractive to me, I have to admit.

  I smile at her and she walks away in a huff. I don't feel like getting into a fight today, but you know it happens.

  “Do you have any pets?” I ask.

  “I do.”

  “Oh yeah? What kind?”

  “She is a teacup apricot golden doodle.” Okay, I never expected that at all. I figured it was a German Shepherd or something like that, not a little puppy.

  “How cute!”

  He grins and takes out his phone. The image on his screen is a little dog lying on his chest. There went my ovaries, right out of the freaking window—there is no going back from seeing this picture.

  “What is her name?”

  “I just call her Princess.” He shrugs and that just ended me. I am dead.