DIESEL (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 13) Read online

  Britney had burst into town a couple of years earlier, her parents had grown up in Slate Springs and had yearned to be back in the desert after years in the city. And so they had finally uprooted their lives and brought them back to the only place that they could ever really call home. Britney had struggled at first and she had debated leaving. But once she and Jenny had made friends and they decided to rent a place together, things had just taken off from there and now Britney was set and loving town life. Jenny had been able to help her settle in and the girls had become fast friends. They were like sisters rather than just two random girls who just so happened to meet each other, and now when Jenny looked back, she could barely remember a time when Britney hadn’t been in her life. She loved her dearly, and would do anything for her. Their friendship was of such importance that she sometimes considered her to be more family than her own mom and dad.

  They kept walking and as the sun beat down on them from overhead, Jenny couldn’t help but remember her lust-filled dream and of the man who had inhabited it. She felt her spine tingle a little, her body replaying the sensation of the touch of his hands.

  “What’s wrong?” Britney asked as she cast her eyes down to her. “You’ve got that look on your face again…”

  Jenny shot a glance back at her and burst out laughing.

  “Sometimes I think you know me too well,” she said as she shook her head. “But yes, you’re right… I had another dream last night.”

  “Ooooh!” Britney slapped her playfully on the arm and got the look of an excited schoolgirl all over her face. “Come on then, spill the details!”

  Jenny rolled her eyes and shrugged.

  “Unfortunately, there isn’t many…” she began. “I woke myself up before we got down to any real action.” She used quote marks to emphasize her point.

  “Lame,” Britney said with a huff. “But what was the guy like this time?”

  “Interesting…” Jenny raised her eyebrows. “Totally not my type but he still woke something, that’s for sure.”

  “Let me guess, was he a straight-A student turned doctor? Or a chess player?”

  “What the hell?” Jenny almost choked on her surprise.

  “You know what I mean,” Britney eyeballed her seriously. “You’re never going to lust after a good guy, are you?”

  Jenny pretended not to hear her for a moment but then she shrugged and pouted.

  “Well, I mean, could you find yourself crushing on a chess player?”

  “There are hot chess players I’ll have you know,” Britney said matter-of-factly as she crossed her arms over her chest. “But the point is, he could be the hottest guy in the world, but unless he had a bad boy edge to him, you wouldn’t look twice.”

  Jenny considered what she had said for a moment and had to admit that Britney did have a point. Even though when it came to men, she was rather inexperienced, she had always tended to lean toward the men with the dangerous edges. Hell, she even worked in one of the dodgy joints in town so she was immersed in that kind of world.

  “Well, everyone has a type, right?” she asked with a grin.

  “Sure,” Britney laughed. “And I’m not criticizing that, but surely those guys come with a whole load of baggage…”

  “Maybe,” Jenny shrugged. “But then again, maybe not. You can’t stereotype everyone.”

  It was Britney’s turn to consider what had been said and she shrugged and went quiet. Jenny felt like punching the air, as if she had finally won one of their arguments that only ever seemed to go in Britney’s favor.

  So far, the day had been an interesting one, to say the least. A sexy dream, another burned breakfast, and now an epiphany and a win over her friend who was always right.

  Maybe I was right, Jenny thought as she smiled to herself. This really will be my year…

  She couldn’t help but smile to herself secretly as they continued walking and began to approach the diner.

  Jenny went first and pushed open the door. As soon as they stepped inside, the scent of coffee and bacon drifted over to meet them and Britney rubbed her hands together in delight.

  “Can we take a booth, Arlene?” she called to the miserable looking waitress behind the counter who just nodded and looked away.

  “As cheerful as ever,” Jenny joked as they slid into one of the booths by the window and both grabbed a menu.

  “I swear she should just quit,” Britney whispered. “She clearly hates it here.”

  “Agreed,” Jenny said with a nod of her head. “I wait on people at Tanner’s, but I’d never dream of treating people the way she does over here.”

  “Yup,” Britney said as she closed the menu and looked up and around. “She better not take ages, I swear if I don’t get some pancakes my head will spin off in fury.”

  “God, you’re a drama queen,” Jenny said as she closed her own menu and tried to catch the waitress’s eye.

  After a few moments, Arlene walked slowly toward them, looking as if she would rather be anywhere else in the world.

  “Morning girls,” she drawled. “What can I get you?”

  “A big jug of coffee and pancakes for two,” Britney responded before Jenny had chance to protest.

  Arlene scribbled down the order and then turned her back on them and stalked back to the kitchen without saying a word.

  “One day karma will get her,” Britney said. “Mark my words.”

  “Karma?” Jenny laughed. “I don’t think she really deserves a big old dose of karma for being rude and having no manners. But I guess maybe someone will treat her just as harshly at some point.”

  “They better,” Britney said with a wicked laugh.

  Arlene returned with the coffee and set it down on the table between them. Jenny poured for them both and stirred in a tiny bit of cream before she raised the cup to her lips to blow on the steam. Even just the smell of it was bringing her back to life. She honestly didn’t know what she would do without caffeine.

  “So,” Britney began as she raised her own steaming mug to her lips. “Plans for the week? When are you working and when are you at home?”

  “I have no clue,” Jenny said genuinely. “I work tonight, but I haven’t seen a schedule for this week, so as far as I know, I could be down every day or I could only be down for the back end of the week. I guess I’ll have to enjoy the suspense.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “The exciting life you live…” Britney joked.

  “Ha…Ha,” Jenny scowled. “What about you? What’s on your agenda?”

  Britney shrugged.

  “The usual, work, gym, repeat…” she said with yawn. “Jeez, do we need something big to happen.”

  “Be careful what you wish for,” Jenny said ominously. “Something big could always turn out to be something bad…”

  “I guess,” Britney agreed.

  Jenny let her eyes wander to the back wall where the kitchen was bustling and plates of food were being laid out one after the other. When she saw two stacks of pancakes make their way out and under the heat light she smiled and topped up their coffees.

  “Here we go,” she grinned. And she delighted in how happy it made Britney.

  “It’s about time,” Britney said breathlessly, clutching her palm across her chest. “I was about to faint.”

  “Drama, drama…” Jenny rolled her eyes.

  Arlene clomped over to them and let the plates fall ungracefully onto the table with a crack and before she asked if there was anything else she could do for them, she was already back in the kitchen and the girls were looking at each other half with amusement and half with disbelief.

  “I wonder if it would be worth complaining,” Britney said.

  “I doubt it,” Jenny picked up her cutlery. “What would it achieve?”

  The girls looked at each other for a moment and then shrugged and went back to their food. Now that it was in front of her, Jenny wasn’t even hungry. It seemed as if the only hunger she had was the one brewing in her dr
eams. The one that made her hot and bothered and full of desire.

  She pushed her plate away and picked up her coffee.

  “Are you not going to eat that?” Britney asked with wide eyes.

  Jenny shook her head and Britney whipped out her hand and pulled the plate across the table to her.

  “You’re insane,” she said. “These are seriously the best pancakes in the entire world.”

  “Well, they’re certainly better than yours, that’s for sure.” Jenny smirked.

  “Screw you,” Britney grinned as she shoveled another large forkful into her mouth and chewed obnoxiously.

  Jenny laughed and shook her head and looked around the diner. It was pretty quiet considering it was on the main road in and out of town, and she was much used to seeing it busier, even at crazy times of the day or night. But it felt good to have some peace and quiet, sometimes she just liked to sit there in the window and watch the world go by. She enjoyed seeing all of the cars and trucks fly past, and sometimes she would imagine where they were going.

  You’ve gone and got wanderlust, she thought. One dream about a hot guy and stunning beach and suddenly, all you can think about is escape…

  She sipped her coffee and reminded herself how lucky she was. She was young, free and single, she had a roof over her head, great friends, and a job she enjoyed. Why should she want to escape that?

  “There’s that look again…” Britney said ominously as she took her fork and maneuvered another huge part of the pancake stack into her open mouth.

  “I’m fine,” Jenny said with a half-smile. “Honestly, I’m just tired after my night of broken sleep.”

  She looked down at her feet and played with the edge of the table as she tried to avoid Britney’s gaze. They knew each other better than they even knew themselves sometimes, and Jenny knew that Britney would be trying to figure her out. She would know that something was on her mind.

  “Anyway,” Jenny said as she drained the rest of her coffee and raised her hand to Arlene to request the check. “We better get home. You’ve got a ton of cleaning to do and I would quite like to lay out in the garden in the sun for a few hours seeing as summer is well on the way. I could do with a tan, don’t you think?”

  “You’ve got great skin,” Britney rolled her eyes. “Olive and soft and gorgeous, don’t make me show you all of my white bits.”

  The girls both burst out laughing just as Arlene slapped the check down on the table and scowled at them both one last time.

  As they left the diner and began their walk home, it felt weird for Jenny to acknowledge how different one little dream could make her feel. She had been so happy being single, but now, she really was beginning to crave intimacy more than she had ever experienced before. She didn’t know where this new road would lead her, but she knew she had to be open to possibilities and adventure. Life was for living, and she was finally ready to step up and see what it was all about…

  3.

  The afternoon sun reached its height and Jenny lay back on the grass wearing a bikini with a lot more substance than the one she had been in her dream. The ground around her was warm and slick from the sprinkler, but where she lay was nice and chilled. The coolness just underneath her back was a welcome distraction from the heat and it gave her the chance to lay for longer before it all became too much for her.

  Inside the house, Britney was listening to country music and keeping herself busy with the vacuum as she continued to clean up the mess she had caused that morning. When Jenny thought back to the carnage she had walked in on, she couldn’t help but laugh. Her best friend really was a terrible, terrible cook.

  She rolled over and lay on her stomach, letting the sun’s rays lick at her back and hopefully, give her a soft glow that would carry her through to the evening. She had work in a few hours, and even though she was used to the four walls of Tanner’s, the local strip club and bar, she had heard a whisper that a lot of the bikers were supposed to be there that night.

  When Jenny had taken the job as bar girl, she hadn’t been prepared for how much it would affect her. She had started there almost as innocent as could be, but she had seen some things that had led her to discover there was more to life in her quiet little town than met the eye. The Forsaken Riders were bad and dangerous, but ultimately, they all had good hearts, and she had watched with adoration as she saw how they protected Slate Springs behind the scenes and kept trouble away from everyone’s doors.

  It was strange for her to be on the inside. She had grown up in the town and had never really been aware of what was going on around her. But after working at Tanner’s, she knew one thing for sure, if the bikers suddenly disappeared, the town would be thrown into turmoil. They were the protectors of Slate Springs, a dynasty not to be messed with and one that wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  She still remembered her first night on the job. She had gone there expecting to see naked girls, but not being prepared for how much the outlaws’ lifestyle would appeal to her. She relished in seeing them protect and fight, and she loved hearing snippets of conversation about the dealings they had going on out there in the desert. Jenny was as loyal as they were, and she knew the power of discretion. For this reason, she had been welcomed in and trusted like one of the outlaws themselves, and she took her role with them very seriously. She didn’t like to think of herself as a bikers moll, but at the same time, she was part of the inner workings of one of their businesses, and she had to keep a good head on her shoulders and know where her priorities were. When it came to work and the bikers, it was one of the only things she would never share with anyone, not even Britney. Jenny did a good job and she was right there in the thick of it, but she had heard the stories of the trouble that could come knocking on the door and she didn’t want to be so involved that she ended up getting herself dragged into something bigger than she could handle.

  She had gone there after never having a boyfriend and she had been swept up in the excitement of the lifestyle. For her, it had become the norm. The more she thought about it the more she could see Britney’s point when she declared that Jenny only looked at bad boys. Maybe now she couldn’t see it any other way. The men that surrounded her on a daily and nightly basis were all from the wrong side of the tracks, but with hearts of gold. If only she had the nerve to put herself out there.

  She sat up and rubbed the back of her neck. There had been plenty of times she had gone into work looking like a bag lady, maybe it was time she stopped dressing down and let her features shine. She was on a mission to make this her year, after all.

  She jumped excitedly to her feet and hurried inside. Britney was still dancing around the kitchen cleaning away plates and the remnants of burnt pancake batter when Jenny flew past her with a wave of her hand and disappeared up the stairs and into her bedroom.

  She closed the door and looked around. Her closet was full of clothes, but she never felt as if she truly had anything to wear. As she padded over and opened it up slowly she peered inside and decided to let fate take its course.

  “Something will jump out,” she whispered to herself as she decided to close her eyes and let her fingertips dance up and down the rails in anticipation.

  After she had done it for a few moments and had lost all sense of where her hands were she stopped and grabbed the first hanger she touched. She felt the silky fabric in her fingers and had to stifle a laugh because she knew exactly which top it was. When she opened her eyes she nodded with a smile.

  “Oh jeez,” she said as she shook her head. “This is going to be interesting.”

  In her hand was a skimpy and very silky cream camisole which was low cut in deep v’s on both the front and the back. She smiled as she let her hands trace over it. She had been saving the top for when she had felt more confident, and she had to admit that even though it was one of those pieces of clothing that would always scare her, maybe it was time to take the plunge and just go for it.

  “Go on, Jen,” she coached hersel
f. “You bought it for a reason.”

  She hung the top up on the side of her closet door and dove back in to find something for her bottom half. She had rows and rows of trousers and skirts, but she knew how hot and sticky Tanners could get, and the last thing she wanted was to make herself uncomfortable. She stopped at the section where she kept her shorts and cut offs and decided to go for a pair of tiny denim frayed shorts. She held them up next to the camisole and grinned.

  “I can’t believe I haven’t worn this combo sooner,” she said as she hung the shorts up too and walked back over to her dressing table. As she opened the top drawer and started to flip through her accessories, she knew she didn’t want to be overdone in anyway. If she wore that outfit and a low pair of shoes or sneakers she would be able to get away with it whilst still being comfortable and cool. If she put on a ton of jewelry or a heavy necklace it would only make her hotter and a lot more stressed if the club was busy. She settled on a small, light, silver chain and a matching anklet and a few silver rings to smatter over her knuckles and then she smiled and nodded her head with satisfaction.

  Usually, when she went into work at Tanner’s, she did it with her hair scraped back and her glasses on. She didn’t even need to wear them, it was more of just a style statement, but she had decided this was the night she would finally stop wearing a disguise. She was going to let the real Jenny shine through, and she was going to enjoy doing it.

  She hopped into the shower and started the process of getting ready. She had never been one of those girls who loved the labor over her appearance, but she felt that this time it was justified. She had spent so much of her life shying away and she was riding the wave of confidence to finally let herself be who she always knew she could be. Ever since she had been a teen, Jenny had suffered with her confidence, or more the lack of it, and she had always hoped that one day she would be able to cast off the shackles that had kept her meek and mild. She was used to making sure she blended into the background and hid all of her best features, so that she wouldn’t attract attention. But as she had got older, she had noticed that her skin was pretty perfect, her eyes were a startling light blue in contrast to her olive tones, and her blonde hair made her appear such an exotic and unusual beauty that it was a shame for her to keep it hidden away.