Claimed
1596 Words
(Mira)
I changed into the green shirt Harlow had insisted I wear. It fit better than anything I'd owned in months. The color made my eyes look brighter, my new hair look richer. I almost looked like myself again.
Almost.
I pulled my hair out of the ponytail and let it fall around my face. The dark brown felt right. Like I was taking back something Tyler had made me give up.
My shift started at five. I went downstairs at four forty five to help Hank set up. He was behind the bar counting bottles when I walked in.
"Well look at you," he said, smiling. "New clothes. New hair. You clean up nice, Mira."
"Harlow took me shopping."
"That girl would shop every day if she could." He went back to counting. "You settling in okay here?"
"Yeah. Everyone's been good to me."
"Good. Because you're doing good work. Customers like you. Tips have been solid, right?"
"Better than I expected."
"That's because you're good at your job." He closed the inventory book. "And because Ridge made it clear you're under club protection. Nobody's going to give you trouble."
There it was again. Club protection. Ridge's protection.
I didn't ask for it. Didn't want to owe anyone anything. But I had to admit, it felt safer knowing nobody would cross that line.
"Thanks, Hank."
"Don't thank me. Thank Ridge when he gets here." Hank checked his watch. "Speaking of, he should be walking in any minute. Six o'clock, like clockwork."
Right on schedule, the door opened at six. Ridge walked in wearing his usual. Dark jeans, black tee, leather vest with the president patch. He looked tired, like he'd had a long day.
Then he saw me and stopped walking.
His eyes went from my face to my hair, down to the new clothes, then back to my face. He didn't say anything for a moment. Just looked.
"You changed your hair," he finally said.
"Yeah. Went back to my natural color."
"It looks good."
"Thanks."
He walked to his usual spot at the bar. Sat down. Kept looking at me like he was trying to figure something out.
"New clothes too," he said.
"Harlow took me shopping."
"My sister knows what she's doing." He ordered his usual burger and fries. "The green suits you."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I just nodded and went to put in his order. When I came back with his water, he was still watching me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. Just noticing."
"Noticing what?"
"That you look more relaxed than when you first got here."
He was right. I did feel more relaxed. Crosswell was starting to feel less like a hiding place and more like somewhere I could actually breathe.
"Maybe I am," I said.
"Good. You should be." He took a drink of his water. "This is a safe place. You don't have to keep looking over your shoulder here."
I wanted to believe that. But Tyler was still out there. Still calling. Still looking.
The evening shift picked up fast. Regulars came in for dinner. A few club members stopped by. I served drinks, took orders, cleared tables. The rhythm of it was familiar. Comfortable.
Around seven, a guy I didn't recognize came in and sat at the bar. Not a club member. Just a regular customer. He ordered a beer and I brought it to him.
"Thanks, sweetheart," he said.
"No problem."
I started to walk away but he called me back.
"Hey, you new here?"
"Sort of."
"Thought so. I'd remember a pretty face like yours." He smiled. Not creepy, just friendly. "I'm Dave."
"Mira."
"Nice to meet you, Mira. You from around here?"
"Not originally."
"Where you from?"
Before I could answer, Ridge was there. He didn't touch the guy. Didn't say anything threatening. Just stood next to me and looked at Dave until Dave got the message.
"Oh," Dave said, glancing between us. "Didn't know you were taken. My bad."
"I'm not," I started to say, but Ridge cut me off.
"She is."
Dave put his hands up. "No disrespect, man. I was just being friendly."
"Now you can be friendly somewhere else."
Dave left money on the bar and walked away fast.
I turned to Ridge. "I had that handled."
"I know."
"Then why did you step in?"
"Because I wanted to."
"Ridge."
He looked at me. Really looked at me. "You're mine, Mira. Everyone in this town needs to know that."
"I'm not yours."
"Not yet." He said it the same way he'd said it before. Like it was inevitable. "But you will be."
My heart did something weird. Something I didn't want to think about too much.
"You can't just claim me," I said.
"I already did. The night I brought you here. The night I put you under club protection." He leaned against the bar. "You might not have accepted it yet, but everyone else already knows. You're my old lady."
"I never agreed to that."
"You didn't have to. I decided."
The arrogance should have made me angry. Should have made me want to run. But instead, I felt something else. Something warm and dangerous.
"You don't get to decide that for me," I said.
"Watch me."
We stared at each other. I could feel everyone in the bar watching us. Waiting to see what I'd do.
I should have told him to back off. Should have reminded him that I wasn't staying. That this was temporary.
But I didn't.
"Your food's ready," I said instead, and walked away to get his order.
When I brought him his burger, he was talking to Dane. The VP looked at me, then at Ridge, then smiled like he knew something I didn't.
"New hair looks good, Mira," Dane said.
"Thanks."
"Ridge can't stop staring at you."
"Shut up," Ridge said.
"Just saying what everyone's thinking." Dane grinned. "You got it bad, brother."
Ridge didn't deny it.
I went back to work, but I could feel Ridge watching me the whole night. Every time I walked past. Every time I laughed at something a customer said. Every time another guy tried to talk to me.
He was marking his territory without actually saying it out loud.
And the crazy thing was, I wasn't sure I minded.
Around nine, Cassidy came in with a few other old ladies. They sat at a table near the back and ordered drinks. When I brought them over, Cassidy grabbed my wrist gently.
"Sit with us for a minute," she said.
"I'm working."
"Hank won't mind. Come on."
I sat down. The other women introduced themselves. Tessa, Knox's old lady. Marie, who belonged to one of the other members. They were all friendly. All curious about me.
"So," Cassidy said. "You and Ridge."
"There's no me and Ridge."
All three women laughed.
"Honey, that man threatened Crash's patch over you," Tessa said. "There's definitely something going on."
"He's just being protective."
"He's being possessive," Marie corrected. "There's a difference. And from what I've seen, you're not exactly running away from it."
"I'm not staying in Crosswell forever."
"That's what I said when I first got here," Cassidy said. "Fifteen years ago. Now look at me."
"I'm not you."
"Maybe not. But you're falling for him whether you want to admit it or not." She smiled. "And that's okay. Ridge is a good man. He'll take care of you."
"I can take care of myself."
"I know. But it's nice to have someone who wants to anyway." Cassidy finished her drink. "Just don't fight it too hard. Sometimes the thing you're running from leads you exactly where you need to be."
I thought about that as I went back to work. About how I'd been running for so long I'd forgotten what it felt like to stop. To breathe. To let someone else carry some of the weight.
At the end of the night, after everyone had cleared out and Hank had gone home, I was wiping down tables when Ridge walked over.
"Need help?"
"I've got it."
He picked up a rag anyway and started wiping down the bar.
We worked in silence for a few minutes. Then he said, "You really do look good. The hair. The clothes. All of it."
"She wouldn't take no for an answer."
"It's not the clothes. It's you." He stopped wiping and looked at me. "You look like you're not scared anymore."
"I'm always scared."
"I know. But less than before." He put the rag down. "And I'm going to make sure you don't have to be scared at all. Whatever you're running from, whoever he is, he's not getting to you. Not while I'm here."
"You don't even know what you're protecting me from."
"Doesn't matter. I know enough."
I wanted to tell him everything. About Tyler. About the hospitals. About the nights I'd spent hiding in my car because going home was worse.
But the words wouldn't come.
"Thank you," I said instead. "For everything."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I know. But I want to."
He nodded and headed for the door. Stopped halfway there and turned back.
"Mira."
"Yeah?"
"You look beautiful tonight. Just thought you should know."
He left before I could respond.
I stood there in the empty bar, surrounded by clean tables and turned off lights, and realized something that scared me more than Tyler ever could.
I was starting to fall for Ridge Dalton.
And I had no idea what to do about it.
- Writer
