Vindication: A Motorcycle Club Romance Read Free Page B

dissipate.
     
    “Oh,” said the man with a gesture.
“Sid left his lighter in here, and he asked me to come in and get it. And so,
that’s what I was doing. And then you arrived, and suddenly the world got a
little brighter.” He finished with a bold smile and held her gaze.
     
    Bridget watched him for a moment. She
liked to consider herself a pretty good judge of character. She came from a
long line of military members, and had learned a lot first-hand when she
herself enlisted and deployed overseas. And hell, being around children and
parents for her career was basically a master course in character judgement.
     
    Something about this man stunk of a
soldier’s bloodlust. But there was something else she couldn’t put her finger
on. She couldn’t get a full read on him, and it bothered her.
     
    She sighed and decided she was too
tired to meet this with fury anymore. “What’s your name?”
     
    “Ghost McBride,” he said with a bow
of his head, and a dramatic sweep of his hand. “At your service, dumpling.”
     
    “Don’t call me dumpling.”
     
    “Good notes; got it.”
     
    “I’m seriously supposed to believe
your name is Ghost?”
     
    Ghost shook his head and made a noise
like he was deeply annoyed. “Man, you know, we all collectively agreed to
participate in Prince’s insanity when he changed his name to that stupid
symbol. And I know I’m not a guitar god, but I don’t get why everyone’s gotta
hassle me about my name. At least you can pronounce it.”
     
    Bridget stared at him a moment,
unsure how to handle his surprising disposition. Despite herself, she laughed
and shook her head at him.
     
    “So if I can’t call you dumpling,
what should I call you? Pumpkin? Sugar beet? Or are you more partial to some exotic
food names, like Pad Thai?”
     
    “You can call me Bridget,” she said
with a raised eyebrow. “Like every other normal person does.”
     
    Ghost put his hands down and took a
step closer to her. There was something else in his smile now. “But what if I
want to be a special person?”
     
    “Call your mama, then,” said Bridget
as she put up a hand. “I’m sure she’ll tell you you’re special.”
     
    Ghost walked forward until her hand
was pressed against the hard muscles of his chest. She swallowed against a
suddenly tight throat and tried to resist the urge to run her fingertips down
his body.
     
    “Go ahead,” said Ghost in a low
voice. “You think these muscles are for me? Nah. They’re for you. They go to
waste if they aren’t touched by beautiful ladies such as yourself.”
     
    Bridget hesitated longer than she
would have liked before she yanked her hand away and straightened herself.
“I’ll take a rain check, thanks,” she said. The words did not come out as
sarcastically as she wanted.
     
    “ Nice, ” said Ghost to himself,
as if he’d won some victory regardless.
     
    She didn’t know how this guy was both
annoying the hell out of her, and somehow the most charming person she’d met in
years. And she didn’t know why she believed his story, but she did. After all,
the front door hadn’t been jimmied open, and it was less likely a crook would
risk stealing keys off an actual resident. Sid had most likely given him the
keys freely. Still, he was clearly capable of dangerous things, and she wasn’t
about to let her grandfather go unchecked against him.
     
    “I’ll take the lighter to Sid,” said
Bridget, holding out her hand, “and we’ll find out if you are who you say you
are.”
     
    “Good!” said Ghost. “And then you’re
gonna feel like you missed a really great opportunity for not touching my
muscles when I offered.”
     
    “I doubt that. The lighter, please?”
     
    Ghost dropped the lighter in her open
palm, grazing his hand against hers as he did. The feeling of his skin on hers
sent a jolt of desire through Bridget’s nerves. She closed her hand over the
lighter and pulled it away with a little groan of