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“You didn’t call me back,” King said from the other end.
“God, I’m sorry. I meant to. There is just so much going on.
“How about I come over so we can talk.”
Jo wasn’t sure. She didn’t know if she could handle more rejection on top of everything else that had been going on, but she was beholden to him per a contract and hesitant to say no.
“Sure. How long?”
“I’m sort of on your front doorstep now,” he replied.
Jo sprang from her chair. She looked like shit. Well, he had seen her looking worse, she surmised, and he did come unannounced. She walked to the front door and opened it, her phone still up to her ear.
“Goodbye,” he said with a grin, ending the call and slipping his phone in his pocket.
Realizing she must look ridiculous, she put hers on the entry table to the side and invited him in.
“Drink?” she asked.
“Sure,” he replied, stripping off his leather MC jacket and hanging it on the coat rack before following her to the den.
“You gonna do anything with the decor in this place?”
“Not at the moment. Apparently, I have a quarry to fill in first.”
“Will you have to tear down the work you’ve done to do that?”
“I don’t know yet. Trey is working on all of it for me.”
“You don’t think he is in league with Holly?”
“No. He never seemed to like her from the moment she honed in on his sale. He’s a bit green at the real estate bit, more of a contractor sort at heart. I think he was excited about me refurbing this place as I was.”
“Well, I’ve come to take you away from all this, at least for a bit.”
“Ah, work.”
“Yes and no. A friend is having an art exhibition at a local gallery. I thought you might enjoy a bit of culture.”
“Sure. Give me a bit to get dressed. Help yourself to the bar,” she said, heading upstairs for a quick shower and change. She emerged less than thirty minutes later wearing a red linen dress with a fitted bodice and a long flowing skirt that she had bought on sale during his absence. She had pulled her hair up and wore minimal makeup, glamorized by a heavy cat eye and vibrant red lips.
“Wow. You look stunning and in record time,” he commented.
Jo looked at him, noting that he had somehow transformed from biker garb to a classic cut charcoal suit. He looked, somehow, as if he had just stepped off a runway somewhere.
“How-?” she began.
“Don’t ask,” he replied. “Car is waiting outside,” he told her.
“I suppose we are ready to go then,” she replied.
Jo noted his Harley parked on the curb as they approached the car hire. She realized that she had never been on it. What sort of biker didn’t take his “old woman”, as some of them called their other halves, on his bike?
“Jo?” he asked, looking at her curiously.
She turned to see him holding the door open for her and got into the back of the car. He walked around to the other side and climbed in beside her, giving the driver the address for a local gallery.
The gallery was already half full. Jo took in the room at a glance. The Turner family was out in force. Both Paul and Saul were there. At the far end of the room, Saul went on talking, and made no move to greet her. She couldn’t be sure if he had seen her or not. Something occurred to her.
“Why have I never seen Paul at the club? You said he was a member.”
“Yes, but he doesn’t frequent the club. He’s one of us, but more from afar than immersed in the day to day club business.”
“I see,” she observed, wondering if he had been the one who had truly tried to cheat her. She could see that he was much better looking than Saul. He oozed arrogance as he stood laughing with his brother and several others.
"I was talking to Paul yesterday on the phone. I get the feeling that if you want to back out, you could come to some arrangement."
"You mean he would refund the money I paid to his brother already?"
"Something like that. Jo, I want you to think about it. I've been worrying about that place. I have a feeling you've bitten off more than you can chew. There is a reason it has been left in a state of disrepair all this time. You might do better to accept his offer and let it go."
Jo didn't answer. King might not want to think badly of his pack brother, but she was less inclined to give him any benefit of doubt.
Something occurred to her as she stood there among the many black and white clad members of a society you’d not expect in Oregon. She was not just playing out of her league, but out of her planet. They were not made of the same element, them and her. In her stupid red dress, she did not belong in their cold, flawless world. They were ice and she was fire.
