Free One Night in the Outlaw's Bed by Jenika Snow

to the doctor. “Maybe you could
just take me home?” She didn’t expect Diesel to ask her to stay, but she also
didn’t expect him to all but jump up, put his shirt and cut on, and haul ass
toward the door. He grabbed the keys to his Harley and opened the door, but
stopped and looked over his shoulder.
    “I think taking you home
is probably a good idea. Tonight was … nice, Maggie.”
    She looked away when he said the last part. She
would not get even more humiliated.
    You knew this
was the outcome, knew that this would only be a short experience with him, and
if you’re disappointed at the outcome it is your own fault.
    Maggie nodded and spotted her shoes on the other
side of the butcher block . Once on
she followed Diesel out of the cabin and to his bike. He had a cigarette
between his lips and lit the end. She watched him inhale, and he flicked his
eyes toward her. “I don’t normally smoke.” She didn’t respond, because really
she didn’t care. He didn’t smoke, yet he had a pack? Or he only smoked when he
was stressed or pissed like some people did? He straddled the bike and handed
the helmet over to her without looking at her. Yeah, she just needed to get
home, put this behind her as one of those experiences that was good and bad,
and move on. She had given herself to Diesel, helped to ease this ache deep
inside of her to have him—which hadn’t vanished in the slightest—and now knew
that maybe playing it safe was the best option. She didn’t say anything as she
put the helmet on and sat on the bike behind him, but then again neither did he .
    He drove her back to her house, and although she
knew it wasn’t that far of a drive, it felt like an eternity with this weird
vibe moving between them. He pulled up to the curb in front of her dad’s house,
and she climbed off and handed him the helmet back. For a moment all she did
was stand there, and she should have said bye and headed inside, but even that
felt weird. Maggie had never been in this situation where there was this after
sex awkwardness. All of the guys she had slept with before, she had been in a
relationship.
    “I’ll see ya around,
Maggie.” He was watching her, and she glanced down and watched as he kept
curling and uncurling his fingers around the handlebars, but he must have
noticed where her focus was because he stopped. She lifted her eyes back to his
eyes and felt her mouth go dry. There was heat in the light blue depths, but
there was also this almost frightening quality in them. “Take care of
yourself.” But he didn’t wait for her to say anything, just put the helmet on,
pulled away from the curb, and headed down the street until he turned the
corner and his headlights disappeared.
    She stood there for several seconds just staring at
the now empty street, breathing out and turning to head into her father’s
house; she didn’t miss the movement from the living room curtains. The porch
light flickered on and the front door open, and she groaned internally when her
dad stepped out onto the porch. His beefy arms were crossed, and his face set
hard, but with his light blue velour bathrobe the whole intimidating appearance
was lessened. Of course her night would end like this. It seemed fitting.
    She didn’t say anything as she moved past her dad
and stepped into the house. He followed her inside and shut the door. And the
tension in the small foyer intensified. Going to bed and not having to talk to
her dad about this would be ideal, but it was also not going to happen. She
turned around, just wanting to get this over with.
    “I tried calling you, Maggie.”
    She breathed out. “I’m sorry, Dad. I left my bag
here with my phone in it. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
    He didn’t move, didn’t even respond to what she said
until several moments had passed. “Care to tell me what in the hell you were doing
out with a Grizzly member?” Her dad was in his early fifties, but for his age
he was still in shape. Being in the