Wild Ride (Wind Dragons MC #4.5)(10)

“No problem,” he says simply. “What time do you finish?”

“At four. Bailey is getting Rhett.”

“Someone will be here at four to pick you up,” he says, his tone brooking no argument.

“Oh, that’s okay, Sin—”

“Four o’clock,” he repeats, then smiles, flashing straight white teeth. “Have a nice day, Tia.”

I was being dismissed.

I get out of his car and walk up the stairs to the dental office.



“You’re not the only one who needs a drink right now,” a familiar deep voice says, sitting next to me.

“Wow, are you actually talking to me first?” I tease, hungrily taking in his green eyes and light hair.

“Cute,” he replies, his lip twitching. “You here alone?”

I shake my head. “My car broke down again, and Sin sent Ronan to pick me up from work. We decided to stop for a drink, except now he’s chatting up the hot bartender,” I explain, nodding toward the bar.

“And he left you here alone?” Talon asks, eyebrows rising. “What a dick.”

I laugh at that. “He’s fine. I need this drink, and I don’t care if I have to sit here alone to consume it.”

“So you called Sin instead of me to come and save you? I have to say, Tia, that hurts,” he says, placing his hand over his heart.

I roll my eyes. “I was on the side of the road and he stopped. He wasn’t as nice about my options as you were.”

Talon grins, his eyes filling with amusement. “I wanted to command you, but I didn’t think you’d respond to that very well.”

“And you’d be right,” I say, taking another sip of my margarita. “I don’t like feeling like I owe people. I’d rather just do it by myself, you know?”

“You’re stubborn,” he concludes.

“That too,” I admit, smiling wryly. “So why do you need your drink so badly?”

He studies me for a moment, then says, “Can I trust you?”

“You can,” I tell him. “What happens between us, stays between us.”

“Like that kiss?” he says, surprising me that he actually brought it up.

“Exactly like that kiss,” I say, my voice unintentionally going a little husky.

His gaze lowers to my lips. “You didn’t tell anyone?”

“No. Did you?”

He shakes his head. “But I’ve thought about it.”

“Me too,” I whisper.

Wow. This was the first time we’ve actually spoken about the kiss, and the first time he’s shown real interest in me. I feel like his guard is down right now, for some reason or another. I like him like this, but I have a feeling that this is a rare moment I’m not going to get again.

“One of my men died,” he says, twirling the liquid in his glass. “And his girl is two months pregnant, and I had to tell her.”

“Fuck,” I whisper, placing my hand on his arm. “That must have been awful, Talon. I’m sorry you lost your man, and I’m sorry that you had to break it to his girl.”

I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now, and here I am nursing a drink because my car is getting fixed by a bunch of controlling-yet-kind alpha males who won’t let me make my own decisions. This really puts my life back into perspective. I’m being a total bitch to people who want to help me, just because I’d rather do everything on my own. I really don’t want to ever lose my independence, but if I learned anything from my relationship with Bailey, it’s that maybe it is okay to let someone help every now and then. It doesn’t mean I’m giving up my independence.

“Shit happens,” he says, putting his hand on top of mine. “You know something funny?”

“What?” I ask, running my thumb along his.

“Out of all the people in the world, I wanted to call you to come with me to tell her. Like your being there would have made the situation easier somehow. I guess you would’ve been better at comforting her than I was.”

“I’m sure you did your best,” I say softly, relaxing as I hear his words. “There’s no good way to tell news like that.”

I like that he wanted me to be there with him, helping him through this hard time. He might not realize it, but it means something.

“No,” he agrees, staring straight ahead. “There isn’t. She cried. And wailed. The sounds she made . . . they were heartbreaking. I didn’t even know they were that close, or whatever. I mean, I’ve never even met her before, but the pain in her eyes . . . I don’t know, I guess now her kid doesn’t have a dad.”

“Talon,” I say, when I hear his voice catch. “Look at me.”

He looks at me.

“This wasn’t your fault, so don’t make yourself feel like it was. How did he die?”

I don’t know the story yet, but I like to think that I know the type of person he is. He’s honest, if he’s anything. I don’t think he’d lie about something like this.

“He was stabbed,” he replies. “And I’m sure as hell going to find out by who.”

The conviction in his tone leaves me no doubt that he will.

I take his phone from the table and open the keypad. “No password?”