DECKER: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 9) Read online

  “The only routine I want is one with Lynx,” she sobbed. “And he doesn’t want me, so I guess, here I am…”

  She drained the rest of her glass and sniffed.

  “You’re better than all of this,” Jamie reassured her. “And I’ve been patient with you until now… But I’m not going to let you sit here in the dark and mope about him! Come on, it’s time to pull yourself together!”

  Even as she said the words, she wasn’t sure whether she could believe them. She could see how cut up and destroyed Tammy was, and after her run in with Decker, now Jamie could see how it would be easy to fall fast and hard for such a man.

  “I’m going to bed,” Tammy said quietly as she got to her feet.

  Jamie instantly felt guilty as if she had ruined the evening with her attempt at tough love.

  “I didn’t mean it, Tammy. I just don’t want you to sink, you know?” she reached out and grabbed her hand.

  Tammy squeezed it lightly back and nodded her head.

  “I know you didn’t,” she smiled weakly. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a drag to be around. I promise, tomorrow is a new day, okay? I’ll get up early, I’ll do whatever you want to do. Let’s have some fun… We can go and get some of the new things for the house like you suggested and make a start on decorating my room?”

  Jamie couldn’t believe that Tammy had even remembered that she had tried to get her involved in her little house project, but she was relieved that she had.

  “That would be great,” Jamie smiled. “I think it’ll do us both a world of good… Just think, we can spruce up this old place and make it much lighter and happier. And we can do your room however you want! You know you’re welcome here, don’t you?”

  Tammy smiled warmly and nodded her head.

  “You’re a good friend,” she said softly. “Thank you, for everything you’ve done for me so far. I would have been lost without you.”

  It was so genuine that Jamie felt tears welling up behind her own eyes. She had never been given such gratitude before and it was a good feeling.

  “Good night,” Tammy smiled as she made her way out of the room and up the stairs.

  The slasher movie reached its peak and Jamie curled her lip up to her nose as she saw a teenage boy having his head pulled clean off by some axe wielding, serial killing maniac, and then she grabbed the remote and turned it off.

  The only light in the room was now drifting through from the hallway and the darkness around her reminded her of the black depths of Decker’s eyes.

  How could she even consider asking Tammy about him when she was in such a state over one of his biker brothers? It would be the most selfish thing in the world she could do, and yet it was all she could think about.

  It had been a brief meeting, but it had certainly left an impression. And now, Jamie was certain that it was going to take all of her willpower and more to stick to her promises to remain single, independent, and most importantly, well away from any of The Forsaken Riders.

  The diner was a buzzing hive of activity and Jamie was already wishing that she was just at home, curled up in bed, instead of at work. The heat in there was intense and she swept her hair up high above her head and pinned it with the pen she had been using to jot down her orders as she swept her way around the room.

  She and Tammy had been on their little mission a few days before, and Jamie could tell it had lifted her mood and that her friend may now be on the road to recovery. They had blitzed the house from top to bottom, and had started to redecorate Tammy’s room, now that she had decided to stay. With all of the extra outgoings that Jamie had been making, she had decided to take on some extra shifts at the diner to pay for it all. And even though she was exhausted, she knew it would be worth it.

  “Hey!” one of the truckers called down the counter to her, breaking her stream of thought. “Can I get a large, strong coffee?”

  Jamie smiled and nodded and picked up the pot. He had been in there for well over an hour, drinking and shouting orders, and he was starting to get well on her nerves. She strode over to him and filled up his cup and he picked it up to drink it without a thanks or even looking up to acknowledge her.

  It was enough to make a girl want to scream.

  But instead, Jamie smiled sweetly and turned her back to him and worked her way down the counter, tending to the other customers and trying not to let that one rude trucker bring down her mood.

  She had been on shift for nearly three hours and she was starting to feel as if she could curl up and fall asleep right then and there. Tammy still hadn’t been back into work since she had signed herself off for her rest. And now Jamie was starting to worry about her and whether she would ever be allowed to return. She knew that Tammy’s dad owned a hardware store in town, but that didn’t guarantee something for her to fall back on, plus she knew that Tammy enjoyed the diner. All of the girls who worked there did because it was a great place to hang out, exchange gossip, and meet new people passing through. Jamie liked it because it reminded her that there was an outside world, and that something else existed out of the confines of Slate Springs. Even if she knew that she would never leave it.

  “Hey!” the trucker called to her again and she dug her feet into her shoes and clenched her feet together. “This shit isn’t even warm.”

  Jamie was almost shaking with anger and she couldn’t bring herself to turn around. She knew that he was addressing her, even though he was being so obnoxious he didn’t deserve her time, but she was at work… And as the saying goes, the customer is always right…

  “Yes, sir?” Jamie turned around with a wide, beaming smile on her face, which was patronizing more than anything. “How can I help you?”

  “Like I said,” he snarled. “This shit is cold. I want another.”

  Jamie smiled sweetly and placed the pot of coffee down. She knew that it wasn’t cold, she could feel the heat radiating through the sides, warming her palms. And no one else who had been served with exactly the same had complained. It was just this one guy being a jackass and she wasn’t about to let him get away with it.

  “A please would be nice,” she said finally after leaving his statement hanging heavy in the air for a few moments. “If you ask me properly, I’ll consider it.”

  The trucker’s face twisted into something disgusting and vile, as if he had smelled something bad and that he couldn’t believe it was still around him. He crunched his top lip up to his nose and snorted out of both nostrils in what could have been a laugh or a snarl, she couldn’t be sure. And then he slammed both of his palms down on the counter and got slowly to his feet.

  When he extended and stood up tall, Jamie could see that he was well over six foot and very intimidating. He was looking down at her with so much anger, she honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if he had lunged out and punched her straight in the face. She found herself staggering backwards slightly, her heart pounding and the nervous ringing in her ears getting louder by the second.

  “What did you just say to me?” the trucker spat with a growl.

  Even though she was terrified, Jamie knew that she had to stand her ground. She couldn’t let him speak to her in that way and there was no way she was going to pander to someone who was being so clearly disrespectful.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and stood up tall and straight.

  “Well, what I said was, if you asked me nicely, maybe I would consider getting you a refill. On the house.” She glared up at him with menace in her eyes, just wishing that he would have the nerve to come back with another retort.

  He took another step closer and Jamie noticed that the air around them had fallen silent and everyone was now watching them and how the situation would unfold.

  “You dumb bitch,” he spat. “As if I would ever listen to you.” He threw his head back and laughed, and Jamie felt her face flush red. Some of the other truckers along the counter started to laugh with him and the more that they joined in, the louder his roaring laughter becam
e.

  “Stupid little whore,” he spat at her again with so much venom that she could feel the poison oozing out of his black heart. “Now fill up my fucking coffee, bitch.”

  He slammed the cup down on the counter and pushed it in her direction. But as soon as he did so, a pair of big, rough hands grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around.

  Jamie had been so preoccupied and embarrassed by the trucker, she hadn’t even heard the bell ting over the door as a new set of people had walked into the diner. And she had been so focused on not losing her cool that she had noticed even less as one of them had started to walk slowly up to the trucker before grabbing him from behind.

  “What the fuck did you just say?” Decker demanded as he threw the trucker onto the ground by the scruff of the neck and stood high over him. “You got the nerve to say that to me, you piece of shit…?”

  The trucker quivered underneath him and Jamie finally took a breath. She had no idea how she had been so lucky, but Decker was there in the diner. He had come to her rescue, just like she was some kind of damsel in distress. And even though she would hate to admit it, it was the biggest turn on in the world.

  5.

  “Who the hell are you?” The trucker coughed as he tried to catch his breath.

  Decker lifted him up and slammed him back down against the cold linoleum tiles, knocking the air right out of him, and holding onto him so tightly he stood no chance of getting away.

  “What the hell,” the trucker tried to say, but it came out all wheezed and broken.

  “I think the real question is, who the fuck are you?” Decker snarled as he tightened his grip around the scruff of the trucker’s neck. “Coming in here and speaking like that to a woman? You’re certainly no man, that, I can see for sure.”

  He shook the trucker by the neck and slammed his head back off of the floor and a range of gasps and ‘Oohs’ rang out around the crowd. Jamie found herself half closing her eyes. She winced at the sound of the trucker’s head popping against the ground and he moaned as he tried to reach around and cradle it, but Decker used his huge foot to crush his hand.

  “You don’t come into my town and do things like that, you hear me?” Decker barked.

  “I, I’m sorry…” the trucker wailed. His cap had fallen from his head and there was a streak of blood in the back of it, his skull cracked open and oozing. He moaned with pain and bit his lip, trying not to sob.

  “All of this could have been avoided,” Decker said. “She was just doing her job, and for whatever reason, you’ve thought that you could come in here and treat her like she’s worthless? Well, I don’t think so.”

  Decker twisted his big boot down and crunched the trucker’s fingers. He wailed again and begged him to stop, but it only made Decker more determined and a wicked smile flashed across his lips.

  “I’m giving you one chance to apologize,” he snarled. “If I were you, I’d take it.”

  The crowd had all moved back and were watching from a safe enough distance. The room was deadly silent and even though Jamie knew it was all happening, it didn’t seem real. She swallowed hard and kept her eyes fixed on the two men. The trucker and Decker, both of them so different and yet, both so big and brutal. Decker gripped him tightly and pulled him to his feet. The trucker nodded and held up his hands in surrender.

  “I, I’m sorry,” he said in barely even a whisper.

  “You’re what?” Decker spat, holding his throat so tight it looked as if he could crush the air out of him with one hand.

  “I, I’m sorry,” the trucker said again. “I’m sorry, miss…”

  He started to sob again and Jamie felt, for the first time, as if she could look at him in the eyes. He looked so weak and pathetic in that moment. He had gone from a cocksure, arrogant jackass, to a sniveling little boy.

  Decker pushed him forward, into the counter and the trucker kept holding his hands up as if in surrender. Jamie crossed her own arms over her chest and puffed out her breasts to try and make herself feel more confident, even if, inside, she was slowly shrinking away.

  “I think you need to tell her again,” Decker demanded. “Louder, so that the whole diner can hear you.”

  The trucker crunched up his face and closed his eyes. The men he had been sitting with at the counter were all watching him closely, wondering what he was going to do next and Jamie could tell he had a tough choice on his hands.

  If the trucker apologized, he would leave Slate Springs, never come back, and be seen as a pussy by all of his friends. But if he didn’t… Well, he was clearly going to get the beating of his life.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, this time, much louder so it rang out around the room. “I’m sorry for being disrespectful.”

  Jamie looked into his eyes and she could see the remorse, but it was far too late.

  She glanced him up and down, and then she turned her back and walked away into the kitchen, where she pushed herself against the wall so that she was out of sight and took a deep breath.

  The noise in the diner began again and she could hear the sound of the door opening and Decker bundling the trucker outside. She was so embarrassed and mortified, but she was also grateful that he had come to her aid. If he hadn’t, where could that altercation have taken her?

  She bit her trembling lip and tried not to cry. She had been so positive when she had gone into work earlier in the evening, and that one asshole had managed to ruin it all. The cooks were all busying around, trying not to draw attention to her, and the noise out front was back to normal, so Jamie could tell that the show was over.

  She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, and she was about to turn around and step back out into the diner when, suddenly, she felt him close to her again. She could feel his eyes on her and when she looked up, there he was…

  Decker. All six-foot-five of him, complete with rippling muscles and those deep, black eyes.

  “Jamie,” he said calmly. “Are you okay?”

  His voice was like a soothing melody that she never wanted to forget. She nodded her head slowly, but just having him there so close to her and being so protective was making her tears harder to control.

  He reached out and rubbed her shoulder with one hand and she held her fist up to her mouth to try and stop herself from crying.

  “That guy was a prick,” Decker said. “But I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. I just couldn’t stand there and listen to him speak to you like that.”

  Jamie shook her head and a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

  “You didn’t embarrass me,” she whispered. “I’m glad you were here… It would have been… Just awful…”

  She looked up and tried to smile, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

  “Hey, don’t cry,” he said. “He’s gone now.”

  Jamie nodded.

  “Why don’t you take off that apron and let me buy you a drink? Decker smiled. “I think you deserve one tonight, don’t you?”

  Jamie looked up into his eyes and they were glinting down at her with mischief.

  The clock on the wall told her that it was almost eleven, and even though she was supposed to be there until the early hours, she wasn’t the only girl working and she was sure that her boss would understand once he had been told about the incident with the trucker. She had only agreed to come in as a favor to him, anyway, and she had seen out the busiest hours of the night.

  She thought on it for a moment, and even though her mind was screaming at her, telling her not to get any more involved with this ultimate bad boy, she couldn’t help but be intrigued.

  Could one drink really hurt? She thought to herself as he flashed her his wicked smile again and she felt her whole body react.

  He was clearly into her, and he couldn’t just be all talk if he had publically defended her like that. And it had been such a long time since she had enjoyed any kind of male company. Surely, she owed it to herself to let go just this once…

&
nbsp; “Okay,” she said. “I’ll tell the other girls. As long as you promise to look after me? I’m paranoid now that I’m going to have a gang of truckers on the lookout for me, baying for my blood.”

  “Oh baby,” he laughed. “Those little girls wouldn’t stand a chance up against me.”

  As he said it, Jamie felt a rush of excitement flood through her, right from her heart down to her pussy. He was sexy as hell, and so bad it was driving her wild.

  His eyes glinted down at her and she could barely handle it. She wanted to reach out for him, right then and there, and pull him close to her. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck, pull his lips against hers and let him ravage her right there in the kitchen. But she had to have some self-control.

  “Come on,” he said. “I’ll wait for you out front.”

  He turned and left her still flat against the wall of the kitchen, her heart pounding and her skin tingling. It took her a few moments to wrap her head around everything that had just happened. She had been publically humiliated by a nasty trucker, saved by the guy she was more than attracted to but was trying her best to avoid, and now she was skipping out of work to go on a date with him… A biker! She was about to run out of the diner and break all of her own rules. Had she gone completely insane?

  She reached around the back of her waist to untie the apron she was wearing and hung it up before she grabbed her bag and headed out into the counter area.

  “Guys,” she said to the girls. “I’m going to call it a night.”

  “Are you okay, Jamie?” they all ran toward her looking concerned.

  “Yes,” she said genuinely. “Yes, I actually am… Don’t worry about me.”

  She swung her purse over her shoulder and flashed them a smile before she headed to the door.

  “See you tomorrow, girls,” she called back to them as they all stood there watching her, dumbfounded as to how her mood could have so rapidly changed after all that had just happened. “Enjoy the rest of your shift!”

  The bell tinged high above her head and she stepped out into the cool night breeze. Decker was sitting on the back of his bike, revving the engine and smiling back at her, a toothpick clenched between his teeth and looking so fucking cool, Jamie just wanted to ravage him.