Beard Mode (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 1) Read online

  “Why?”

  Always with the why. This woman was full of questions. Ones I didn’t want to answer. Not now, not ever.

  “Because I wanted a reminder. I may have a new life, but I didn’t want to forget where I came from.”

  “But you came from here,” she pointed out.

  I sighed.

  “I did,” I agreed. “But my life—what made me who I am right now—was made in Kilgore. I may be in a new place in my life, but I don’t ever want to forget what that life left me with.”

  She blinked. “That’s pretty deep.”

  I grunted.

  “Be right back.”

  I felt her eyes on me the entire way, and it was a good feeling, not a bad one.

  Having her eyes on me didn’t send chills down my spine. Having her eyes on me didn’t make me feel sick to my stomach.

  It was just her, and I couldn’t wait to explore more with her.

  Five minutes later, I came back out in a more comfortable pair of jeans, a different black t-shirt that wasn’t soaked in sweat from standing in the sun for two hours, and my cut in my hand.

  She was on my lawn chair reading one of my books.

  Which she jumped out of the minute she spotted me.

  “I didn’t hear you,” she accused.

  I grinned. “Don’t know how. The floors are this fake wood shit, and I’m wearing boots.”

  She shrugged. “I haven’t read this one.”

  She wiggled the book in my face, and my eyes were drawn to the title.

  “That’s not one adults normally aim for.”

  “I imagined, by the kid on the front,” she confirmed. “Didn’t they make this into a movie?”

  “Percy Jackson?” I asked. “I think so. I don’t see the movies of books, though. Always ruin it for me.”

  She snickered. “I agree.”

  “Why does it seem like I know you?” I asked her.

  “I guess you kind of did. In a roundabout way. You saw me, but never talked to me,” Imogen smiled. “You were all I talked about my senior year.”

  I blinked.

  “What?”

  Chapter 10

  Did you hear that? That was the sound of my ovaries exploding.

  -Imogen upon seeing Aaron with a baby in his arms

  Imogen

  I nodded, red infusing my face.

  “You were at a party—Labor Day—my senior year, and I saw you for the first time. Your eyes held mine for about a second too long, and I fancied myself in love.”

  Aaron grinned.

  “Hate it when I make eye contact too long.”

  I snorted.

  “Well, apparently, it was obvious to Tawny as well, because she dropped me as her best friend, and I was left being a loner the rest of the year.”

  “Bookie!”

  I nodded my head.

  “Yep.”

  I was a ‘bookie’ according to him.

  When I was at a social gathering, I was reading.

  It didn’t matter if it was a pool party or a football game. If I had enough light to read, I did.

  “You were the one who convinced me to pick up Harry Potter, you know.”

  I blinked.

  “What?” I asked. “I never once spoke to you.”

  “No,” he agreed. “But I saw you reading Harry Potter, and I wanted to know what kept you so enraptured throughout an entire fucking Fourth of July fireworks show. So I picked up the book when I got home.”

  My mouth fell open.

  “That’s…amazing!”

  He grinned.

  “You were also the one to convince me to continue reading. Every time I came to a party and you were there, I’d secretly look at what you were reading. You were very inspiring in that department,” he paused. “Though, I don’t remember you looking like this when you were younger.”

  I snorted.

  “I went into the Marines right out of high school. I grew up. Found my voice. Pretty much, I became a little bit more social, and a lot less of an introvert,” I explained. “Oh, and I finally grew boobs.”

  He grinned lasciviously.

  “Is it wrong that I think it’s hot that you were in the Marines?” he questioned.

  I laughed. “No, I don’t guess that it is.”

  His mouth split into another lopsided grin.

  “I like it when you smile.”

  The smile fell off his face.

  “It’s not a pretty one anymore,” he shrugged. “When I was in my…accident…the car caught fire, and burned half of my body. Knocked out about eight teeth. Smashed three bones in my arm. It was fucking magical.” He breathed in and out a few times, then continued. “I can cover most of the other scars…but the ones on my face are definitely the hardest to swallow.”

  “They don’t detract from your handsomeness.”

  He gave me a look that clearly disagreed with me.

  “I scare people with just a look,” he informed me. “Tawny can’t even look me in the eyes.”

  “Tawny’s a pussy.”

  With that, he burst out laughing.

  “Come with me to the wake.”

  My eyes widened. “You want me to come with you to a place that’s going to be crawling with bikers and cops? And what about Tank?”

  “It’ll be okay,” he promised, looking over to Tank who was still out cold. “He has nothing else to chew up.”

  I snorted.

  “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  His grin widened.

  And that was how I ended up on the back of Aaron’s bike, zipping through some back roads, clinging to him while elation poured through my body.

  I’d never been on a motorcycle before today, but this ride I was paying attention.

  I’d seen them, yes. I’d worked on them, double yes. But I’d never ridden one.

  I was quickly realizing that this could become an addiction.

  Riding like this felt freakin’ awesome! I didn’t even notice the oppressive heat. All I could feel was the wind in my hair.

  “Hey!” I called out, tapping him on the shoulder. “Shouldn’t I be wearing a helmet?”

  “Probably,” he confirmed.

  “Shouldn’t you be wearing a helmet?” I noted.

  “Probably,” he repeated.

  “Then why aren’t we?” I asked over the blast of wind and the rev of the motor.

  “Because I don’t have any,” he pointed out.

  “Wouldn’t you feel bad if I fell off your bike going this speed and cracked my head open on the concrete like an egg?”

  It was meant to be a tease, but I guess I was a little too literal with my words because he stiffened.

  “Yes, I would,” he shook his head. “I’ll get you one tomorrow.”

  “Not you?” I asked.

  “Not me,” he confirmed.

  I grinned.

  “We’ll see about that,” I teased, poking him in the belly.

  His abs tightened, and I had to snap my lips closed and grit my teeth to keep from laughing.

  “Ticklish?” I teased, making to poke him again.

  “Not at all,” he lied, grabbing my hand.

  Something charred and black on the pavement had me whipping my head around, but just as suddenly as it was there, it was gone again.

  I turned the other way so I could see the trees passing by, but they were going so fast that it was nearly impossible to get a gauge on where we were.

  But just as suddenly as I started to get curious, he started slowing down, and I tightened my legs and arms around him.

  His hand finally left my arm, and I linked my hands together to hold on just a little bit tighter.

  “Where are we?” I yelled.

  “The Reject Clubhouse.”

  “What’s the Reject Clubhouse?”

  “The ‘Rejects’ are what we call ourselves, I guess,” he
shrugged. “They’ve been doing that for a long time. Before I came,” he continued. “They fancy themselves the rejects of The Dixie Wardens MC. The ones nobody else wanted in their clubs,” he smiled. “The ones that didn’t get along with the others, but nobody wanted to tell them officially that they were out of the club. Others went nomad…then got tired of the life and settled down. This is where it happened.”

  He traveled up a long gravel driveway that twisted and winded through the woods straight up to a simple white house.

  It was very ordinary until you got to the massive wraparound porch. It truly was a thing of beauty. Not only was it beautiful by itself, but it also gave the house a lot more character as well.

  “You don’t think of yourself as a reject, do you?” I asked as he pulled the bike into a spot at the very front of the house.

  “Yes,” he didn’t even hesitate.

  He didn’t elaborate. Didn’t explain. Just said yes and expected me to accept that answer.

  Which I didn’t.

  Or wouldn’t have had people not started to file out of the clubhouse—well, more than what had already been outside to begin with.

  “’Bout time you showed up, new guy.”

  Aaron sighed.

  “It’s been quite a long time now, Tommy Tom,” Aaron drawled. “At what point do I become just a ‘guy’?”

  This Tommy Tom grinned. “When we get a new guy.”

  Everyone around us snickered, and I chose to look around at the house instead of all the men in an effort to control my pounding heart.

  I’d never seen so freakin’ many sexy men in my life!

  And, Jesus, was the porch freakin’ awesome!

  It had to span at least twenty feet from the front door, and looped around the side of the house where I’d seen from the driveway that it extended well past the back of the house.

  The entire thing was stained wood, and large, bulky cedar posts held up a red tin roof that would likely sound fucking fabulous if it rained.

  The railings were also made of cedar, but on a much smaller scale than the posts.

  “We were told to wait on you to eat, and we’re all fucking starving,” Tommy Tom continued. “Stone’s rules, though. If all the members aren’t here, we don’t eat.”

  My belly flipped as I finally looked up at the men again instead of staring at the porch.

  All the men that were standing closest were ones I’d seen around town on their bikes. Members of this chapter.

  They all had long looks on their faces and my belly pinched.

  “What are we eating?” I asked softly, breaking the silence that’d fallen.

  I didn’t know what else to say.

  I didn’t know these men.

  Didn’t know their personalities. Didn’t know whether they even wanted to be pulled out of their thoughts, but I had to try. The look on all of their faces was heartbreaking.

  The one closest to me grinned, though it was a sad grin.

  “I like a woman that can eat,” he declared.

  He was tall. At least a foot over my height, if not more.

  Though that wasn’t hard to do. I was five-foot-one, and not a millimeter over. Everybody was taller than me. Even nine-year-old boys named Davis.

  “Imogen, from left to right is Seanshine, Truth, Ghost, Tommy Tom, and Big Papa. Fellas, this is Imogen, my neighbor.”

  I wasn’t the only one that read the rest of the underlying message.

  With his arm around my back, hand hooked in around my opposite hip, it was clear to not just me, but everyone else, that I was his…at least for tonight.

  Now, if only that would be true all the time…

  Chapter 11

  Milk is good for your teeth. So is minding your own goddamned business.

  -Note to self

  Aaron

  “So I heard my neighbors fucking last night,” Truth says. “They were fucking so loud, slamming the headboard against the wall and shit.”

  I raised a brow at him.

  “Yeah, so?” I asked, waiting for the moral of the story.

  “So I go out to my bike this morning and see a couple of medics taking an old lady out on a stretcher from the next row house over,” he continued.

  I winced, thinking he was about to say that she had a heart attack during sex.

  However, what came out of his mouth made me burst out laughing.

  “According to the neighbor on my other side, she fell out of bed and was banging her cane on the floor and the wall to try to get someone’s attention,” Truth’s smile widened.

  “Yeah…” I waited.

  “And now I feel bad for masturbating to what I thought was sex, when in fact she’d fallen and couldn’t get up.” He burst out laughing.

  I rolled my eyes and went back to my sandwich.

  Imogen, who’d drank right along with all the boys, laughed uproariously, which was Truth’s intention.

  All the boys looked at her, staring at her like she was the next best thing since sliced bread.

  “Apparently, you didn’t have a hard time getting it up,” Ghost muttered.

  “You’re one to talk,” Truth shot back. “How’s the chick that you stalk?”

  Ghost ignored the question.

  It intrigued Imogen though.

  “How do you not know who your neighbors are?” he countered, trying to change the subject. “You’ve been there for ten years.”

  “Why do you stalk a woman?” Imogen asked.

  She was just buzzed enough to make her brave. Give her the courage to speak to the men that she wouldn’t otherwise normally have spoken to.

  Ghost didn’t answer her. Not at first.

  “My wife.”

  Her brows rose. “You don’t look like the creepy stalker type,” she told him honestly. “If you were stalking me, I’d open my bedroom window to let you in. Just sayin’.”

  I snorted, leaning forward to cover her mouth.

  “What about me, darlin’?” I teased. “Would you open your window for me?”

  “I’d go outside to meet you,” she told me when I removed my hand. “Naked.”

  Laughter burst out around the table we were sitting at.

  “You’re not supposed to tell him he’s winning,” Memphis informed Imogen. “Then it’ll give him a big head, and he’ll have you pregnant for the third time.”

  She pointed down at her belly as if to say ‘see?’

  Imogen’s head turned to study the other woman.

  “I’m not seeing the problem.”

  Laughter filled the air, and Downy pulled his woman into his chest. “She doesn’t look convinced, baby.”

  Memphis waved her hand through the air. “She will. Eventually.”

  She eyed me when she said it, and I had a feeling that I was being told what to do. Not out loud, no, but silently. She was looking at me with a calculating look, wondering if I’d have the balls to say anything.

  “Aaron, how’s your brother’s baby doing?” Downy broke into the stare down. “I got a bird’s eye view of the labor, you know.”

  I winced. “I heard.”

  “What happened?” Imogen squirmed until she could see me. “Are your sister-in-law and the baby all right?”

  I nodded. “Perfect. Now.”

  She glared at me, and I barely contained the urge to smile. It wouldn’t do to show her that her attitude amused me.

  “But she had their baby on the side of the road on the way to the hospital. Booth pulled over just in time to play catcher.”

  “How does that even happen?” Truth asked.

  “You’d be surprised. I’ve ran three calls in my time as a paramedic with Kilgore. Each of those the baby was born before they could reach the hospital.”

  I wasn’t sure what had gone on, but luckily it’d all been okay. It could’ve been terrible.

  Booth could’ve lost his wife. Twice.

  And tha
t was more than some men could handle.

  “They’re doing okay,” I finally settled on. “Booth is following Masen around like a lost puppy, and Masen’s trying not to pull her hair out. It’s definitely been rough on the both of them.”

  “Was it a boy or a girl?”

  “Girl,” I grinned. “Chubby ten pound little baby.”

  Imogen snickered. “Davis was ten pounds, too. I’ve never seen my sister’s face turn that red before. I also made sure to take a picture of the incident for future blackmail purposes.”

  Tommy Tom snorted. “That’s not very nice.”

  Imogen turned to survey Tommy Tom, who wasn’t drinking like the rest of us. He was on call, and likely would be called in before the night was through.

  “When I was in eighth grade, my sister told my crush, at the time, that I had large pepperoni nipples and had a fire crotch. Which she still likes to tell me to this day. So no, I don’t feel the least bit sorry for holding that picture as collateral. Nor do I go a day where I don’t tell her in some way, shape, or form that she pooped on the table while giving birth.”

  I covered Imogen’s mouth before she could continue.

  “All right,” I told her, trying to soothe her with my voice. “He didn’t mean it.”

  Tommy Tom opened his mouth to deny it, but chose wisely to shut the fuck up when he caught my glare.

  Don’t you fucking dare, I mouthed.

  Tommy Tom’s eyes twinkled.

  Moving my hand away from her mouth, I realized that she’d become really quiet in the last minute. So quiet, in fact, that I had to look at her.

  And when I did, I realized that she was sleeping.

  Her eyelashes fanned against her cheeks, and her head was lolled to the side.

  She’d already been leaning on me pretty heavily, but now it was like the fight had gone out of her.

  “Looks like you have a live one on your hands,” Big Papa joked.

  “Daddy would’ve liked her,” Memphis murmured.

  The table went silent.

  “I think it’s time for us to go,” Memphis groaned as she straightened out of her seat. “I’m tired.”

  Everyone stood but me, and we all watched as Downy led his pregnant wife out of the clubhouse, closing the door softly behind them as they went.