Jackal (Heartlands Motorcycle Club Book 12)

  Jackal

  Heartlands Motorcycle Club Book 11

  Frankie Love

  Contents

  About

  1. Jackal

  2. Lydia

  3. Jackal

  4. Lydia

  5. Jackal

  6. Lydia

  7. Jackal

  8. Lydia

  9. Jackal

  10. Lydia

  11. Jackal

  12. Lydia

  Epilogue 1

  Epilogue 2

  Heartlands MC

  Want More?

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2020 by Frankie Love

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  About

  JACKAL

  By Frankie Love

  There's only one girl I want. And she's way too good for me.

  Lydia is the sweetheart of the Heartlands and she's nothing but innocent.

  And me? I'm nothing but trouble.

  As a teenager I did time for a crime I don't regret.

  When I meet the bikers of Heartlands Motorcycle Club, it was like I'd finally found my people.

  But I'm keeping a secret. When our new club rivals, the Blue Devils, find out where I've been all this time, I can't keep hiding the truth.

  They want to avenge my stepfather's death. And kidnapping Lydia is their idea of payback.

  I've been to prison once — I'm not scared of going back.

  But I'm goddamn terrified of losing the girl I love.

  Dear Reader,

  Jackal is a wild-at-heart hero ready to show Lydia what it means to be his woman. She's ready to take a leap of faith if it means jumping into his arms... and his bed. This double virgin romance is nothing short of filthy-sweet.

  xo, frankie

  Jackal

  This isn’t how I spend my Friday nights. Ever.

  Usually it’s me going for a long ride after work, grabbing a beer at the bar, then heading home early to chill out to some music and unwind.

  I know, pretty tame for a badass biker — but I keep to myself. It’s how I spent my childhood. And now, as a twenty-three-year-old man, it’s how I relax. I sure as hell don’t do parties.

  Yet here I am. I’m at the big end of summer party at Hollow Oak Hill, and everyone's having a good time down at the lake. The guys I work with are giving me a hard time for being here. Not because they don't want to see me, but because I never come out. I'm no damn recluse, but I keep my head low. And I have my reasons for that.

  Maddox hands me a beer. "It's good to see you out, man," he says with a grin. "Damn, what made you decide this party was the one you'd actually come to?"

  We look out over the lake. There are a bunch of the younger Heartlands members here. Maddox and I work at the garage together and there are some other guys we ride with, but lots of townies too. And while a lot of the women are ones we know from the Ride or Die bar, there are a lot of new faces too. I see a few guys I recognize, but I don’t know from where. It gives me a bad feeling. If shit went down here tonight, I wouldn’t know who it was with, or why.

  Maddox whistles. "There's some fine ass here tonight. Right?"

  I clench my jaw, running a hand through my hair. I shrug. "I don't know," I say. "It's just really not my scene."

  "So why are you here at all?" he asks.

  Again, I shrug. It's not that I don't want to tell him the truth, but if I do, he's going to razz me about it. Maddox is that kind of guy. He likes to joke around. Always the charmer and always with a new girl. We couldn't be more different. It's not that I'm not likable. It's just, well, okay, I’m not exactly likable.

  "You see that girl, Peaches?” he asks. “She just got hired at Ride or Die, and look how good she looks tonight." Maddox grunts. "Damn."

  I laugh. "Why don't you go talk to her?" She's with a group of women that I don't recognize. They're in bikinis and cutoff shorts. Everyone's been jumping in and out of the lake, but now it's getting colder out and someone's making a big fire.

  The plan is to hang out here all night, drinking beer, maybe sleeping under the stars. I see a few tents have popped up already. Me, I'll ride home before then. I like to sleep in my own bed, with a roof over my head. And I like to be able to see the doorway. See who's coming for me.

  My time in prison taught me that, to always be on the lookout.

  And sleeping out here with a bunch of strangers? Hell, that's dangerous. And I don't do danger, not anymore.

  Which is why I usually stay away from parties, and stay put at the mechanic shop. An engine I understand. People, not so much. They're complicated in ways a piece of machinery isn't. I can read an instruction manual and understand how pieces fit together. But human beings aren't like that. There's always a curve ball you don't expect. Alliances made you don't understand, and contradictions that break your heart.

  I tense my jaw, hating where my mind is going. But that's the thing about me. I'm not exactly the most fun to be around, way too serious for my own good. Maddox knows that. He understands me, even if he doesn't like me being a buzz kill.

  I take a drink of the beer, wanting to loosen up, have a good time. "There you go, buddy," Maddox says, clapping me on the back. "Okay, you ready to be my wingman?"

  I chuckle at that. Even though I try to keep a straight face all the time, it's impossible not to laugh at this jackass. God, I love him like a brother, but we couldn't be more opposite.

  "Sure. I'll be your wingman. Not sure what I can offer, exactly."

  "Just talk me up," Maddox says as we walk over to the group of women. "You know, say something nice about me."

  "Nice about you?" I laugh harder now. "I don't know about that, Maddox. What's nice about you? You get in bar fights most weekends. Conley threatens to throw you out of the Heartlands because you show up drunk to meetings. And last time I accidentally walked in on you at the mechanic shop, you had two women over your knees. Not exactly dating material."

  Maddox laughs. "I know, but maybe Peaches will see through all that and give me a chance."

  I shrug. "Maybe."

  "And surely one of her friends is to your liking."

  I look over at the three women Peaches is with. There's nothing wrong with them, exactly. They seem nice enough, or at least like they like to have a good time, but they're not why I'm here. Neither is Maddox. There's only one reason I came out tonight, and I can't tell a soul.

  I swallow hard as I look across the lake at the party in full swing, looking for her. Her. Always her. But before I can find the girl who I can't stop thinking about, we've reached Peaches and her crew. Maddox is introducing himself and me, and I jut out my jaw trying to think of something to say to make Maddox seem like the catch he wants Peaches to believe he is.

  “I just got here with my girlfriends,” Peaches is explaining. “But where did Lydia go?”

  One of her friends speaks up. “She said she was going to get a drink.”

  Satisfied, Peaches turns to Maddox, asking him what he does, but my eyes are roaming the lake, looking for her. Now that I have confirmation she came, I won’t be able to relax until I see her.

  "I work at the mechanic shop," he says, "and I know you just got hired at Ride or Die. I thought maybe after work sometime we could get together and hang out.”

  Peaches smirks. "Oh yeah, you thought so?" She raises an eyebrow. "And why would I go out with you? I've heard of your reputation."

 
I clear my throat, knowing this is the time I'm supposed to jump in and say some nice things about my buddy. "Yeah, but Maddox has a real sweet place out on Whiskey Road. You ever been out there?"

  Maddox crosses his arms, smiling. He has tattoos on his biceps telling Peaches that he's seen trouble a time or two.

  "No, I never have been out there," she says, placing a hand on her hip. "What's it like?"

  I look to Maddox and he nods, knowing where this is headed. It's somewhere good.

  "Maddox inherited his dad's place. It's real sweet. He's even got an in-ground swimming pool with a slide."

  "With a slide?" Peaches says exaggeratedly, rolling her eyes. "Well, in that case..."

  "What? That doesn't impress you?" Maddox says. "Come on. It's a pool with a slide. Surely that's got to at least win you over for one date."

  "Oh, it's a date now? Earlier you just mentioned we were going to hang out."

  I chuckle, knowing these two are good for each other.

  "Now tell me," Peaches says. "Does this pool also have a hot tub?"

  "As a matter of fact, it does," Maddox says. "And all four of you ladies are welcome to come over. Tonight even."

  Peaches and her friends look over at me. "And what about you, Jackal? Are you going to join us?"

  I narrow my eyes, shaking my head. "Nah, I have plans."

  Her friends look put out. "Really? You have plans?"

  "Yeah," I say tightly. “I have plans."

  And it's then that I see her. She's standing with a guy I don't recognize, definitely not someone from the club. He's way too clean cut for that, for us. Makes me wonder what he's here for at all.

  "Hey, I'll leave you to it, seems like you have this under control,” I tell Maddox, squeezing his shoulders. "See you around, okay?"

  Maddox doesn't even hear me — his focus is on the ladies before him and I let him have them. They were never of any interest to me.

  I walk straight for her. I heard she was coming, but seeing her here upsets me. This isn't where she belongs and the guy she's with is not the kind of guy she needs. He looks like trouble, the kind of trouble that could hurt her, break her.

  That's not what she deserves. She needs someone to protect her. I walk right over to them without any hesitation, and when they notice me approaching, the guy glares. Lydia's eyes reach mine, silently thanking me, at least that's what I'm telling myself.

  "Jackal," she says, her voice soft, wispy like she could float away, like she's an angel, like she's way too good for this earth. All things I know to be true because I've been watching her this last year.

  Not in a stalkerish way, but in an I'm worried about you way. She's too trusting of people and that's going to get her in trouble, especially with a guy like this.

  He thinks his money and his good breeding will get him places, but that's not true. He thinks he's charming enough to win her over and that his designer clothes and his fancy sunglasses will make her feel special, but they won't.

  They couldn't, because this jackass can't offer Lydia what I can.

  Lydia

  Grant cornered me the moment I got here. How did he even know about this party? It's not that I dislike him, I'm just so dang sick of him. All of senior year, he tried to get me to go out with him and I always had to come up with excuses for why I couldn't make it to the movies or to his killer party at his dad's mansion or on the spring break trip to Tahoe. I was constantly making up excuses and still, he was relentless. He thought I was playing hard to get when the truth was I wasn't playing at all.

  I’m just not interested in a guy like Grant. How could I be?

  While he may match me in some ways, in others, not at all. Outwardly, I’ve played the part of the good girl, just like I was while raised by my preacher of a daddy who turned out to be a con artist. I was raised with values that kept me in line. Kept me wearing pretty pearl necklaces and white lacy blouses and skirts that hit my knees.

  I have always been the good girl. And it’s not like now I’m looking for trouble, but I am ready to stop playing by other people’s rules. I am going to play by my own. The things I feel inside don't match my outside. That doesn't mean I'm going to get a ton of piercings and tattoos and start wearing leather bondage outfits. I'm just saying maybe for once I could take off the pearls and replace them with diamonds.

  It's hard with a sister like Ruby, who is the poster child for perfection. She is precious and perfect, an amazing wife and now mother as well as a sister. I didn't want to disappoint her and Ranger. They've been so good to me since I moved here to the Heartlands but I feel like the girl I've been isn't the girl I could be.

  A guy like Grant, well, there's a reason I've been saying no all year long. There's a reason that when he corners me at this party, I don't step closer. Instead, I step back. There's a reason that when Jackal walks over to us, approaching me with a look so dark, it's not chills that run up and down my spine. It's desire.

  Jackal is dangerous in a way that sets my heart on fire. He is mysterious in a way that makes me feel safe. I lick my lips, waiting like always for him to say something, anything, but he never does. Every time I come into the shop and try to get him to talk to me, he shakes his head and says he's got work to do. Every time I see him in the parking lot that the mechanic shop shares with the bar, he has a reason why he's got to jump on his bike and ride off.

  But he's not running away right now.

  In fact, he's looking at me like he has something to say.

  "What are you doing here?" he asks me. Then he turns, looking at Grant. "Did you need something?”

  The tenor in Jackal’s voice is firm in a way that has Grant mumbling. "I'll see you around, Lydia. I’ve got to go.”

  “What are you doing here, Lydia?” Jackal asks.

  I look around. “Well, everyone's here. It's a party. It's kind of a tradition to come to Hollow Oak at the end of summer.” Even I understand why people came out to the lake tonight. To let loose, to have some fun.

  The older members of the club aren't here and it feels like we can get away with anything. That's why I came. Of course, my sister would be furious with me if she knew — and Ranger too, probably. He thinks coming out to the lake tonight is a terrible idea but I'm a grownup. I graduated high school and I'm a legal adult and I can do whatever I want within reason.

  I look at Jackal now that Grant has walked away. "Why were you scaring him off like that?" I ask.

  "Didn't you want me to?" Jackal asks.

  I swallow hard. It's like he can read my mind. How? We've hardly ever said anything to one another. Mostly because Jackal always finds a reason to get away from me as soon as possible.

  "You shouldn't be here," he tells me.

  "You're not the boss of me," I say.

  "Yeah? You think Ranger would like you being here?"

  I’m surprised that he's talking to me, looking at me as if he knows me. “Please don't tell Ranger I'm here. He and Ruby would be so disappointed."

  "They don't like you to come out to parties?"

  I shake my head. "They don't want me to get into any trouble." I take a slow breath in and let it out, waiting for him to say more.

  "I'll keep your secret," he tells me.

  "You will?" My shoulders falling, relief flooding me. "I still live with them," I say, "and don't want to mess that up."

  "I understand," Jackal tells me, "but I'm taking you home."

  "Now?" I say. "I just got here."

  "I mean it, Lydia. I'll keep your secret but you're leaving."

  I look around the lake. So many people are having a good time. Dancing, someone has music on a speaker, a bonfire's lit. Bikini-clad and beers in hand, everyone's soaking up the sun. Enjoying the luxury of having a day off from work and just relaxing. In my backpack is the new digital camera Ruby and Ranger got me for graduation. I was planning on taking photos tonight, practicing with my new lens. I wanted to capture this moment, a moment that feels like freedom. When I mention it to Jackal
, he isn't having any of it.

  "No, you're not taking pictures. You're going home now. How did you even get here?"

  "I got a ride with Peaches."

  "Of course you did," he says. "Come on, get your stuff. We got to go."

  "You're not the boss of me," I repeat, but inside I'm smiling.

  Being alone with Jackal is definitely not the worst way this night could have gone. It's not like I was planning on drinking anyways or hooking up with any of the guys here, like Grant.

  No, I came here today because I wanted to have some fun, but being alone with Jackal is way more than fun. It's like a miracle, like a dream. If I'm being perfectly honest, it's a fantasy. My only fantasy because when I go to bed at night and I close my eyes, I think of him. This mysterious man who will hardly meet my eyes, let alone talk to me.

  But what is happening right now — this is no dream. This is real life, my real life. Jackal is here and he's telling me he'll keep my secrets. That he'll take me home on his bike. My whole belly flip-flops and my core tightens, needy for things I've never had.

  Him.

  "Okay," I say, "my backpack's over by that picnic table. Let me grab it.”

  "All right," he says, “then let's get the hell out of here."

  Now I can't hide the smile. It spreads broadly across my face. This is the perfect way to end the summer because it doesn't feel like an ending at all. It feels like a beginning.

  Jackal

  Once she has her backpack, she turns to face me, looking so damn sweet in her white lace sun dress. She has no idea how beautiful she looks with her long blonde hair flowing free to her waist, freckles on her cheeks, the sun setting behind her. She looks like a picture worth a thousand words. More.