Stalked by the Rebel, page 1
Stalked By The Rebel
Kaci Rose
Copyright © 2024, by Kaci Rose, Five Little Roses Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.
Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Cover By: Comar Covers
Edited By: Debbe @ On The Page
Contents
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1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Epilogue
12. Rebel Hearts MC Series
Other Books by Kaci Rose
13. Connect with Kaci Rose
About Kaci Rose
14. Please Leave a Review!
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Now on to the story!
Chapter 1
Chance
The roar of motorcycles fills the air as we race down the two-lane Texas road. Today is my club's annual Poker Run, and in my opinion, the Rebel Hearts Motorcycle Club puts on one of the best.
The next stop is my buddy Alex's Ranch in Rock Springs, Texas. He just took it over from his parents after he married his high school sweetheart, Vikki. They're expecting their first kid, and she is currently on bed rest, so his sister Jessa is back in town to help pick up the slack.
Jessa is the one girl who has had my heart, but has never known it. I’ve never let on because she's completely off limits as my best friend's little sister. I took those feelings and buried them so far down into the depths of my heart that no one will ever know. Now I’m going to build that wall higher as I steel myself for the visit.
As treasurer of the Rebel Hearts, I was involved in the planning process for the Poker Run and was excited to suggest using my buddy's ranch to help him out. If the club likes his place, we can start using his beef at cookouts and other events. I know that will help not just him, but the town, too.
Since this is my stop, I'm leading the group when we pull into the small town of Rock Springs, Texas. As we ride down Main Street, we turn more than a few heads, but we're used to that. This one is different, though. This is my home, where I grew up, and it's nice to see that not much has changed as we ride past the diner where Jo serves the best coffee, along with a side of town gossip. WJ's bar looks the same too. It goes without saying that Nick still serves the best BBQ in the state, and he has the awards to prove it.
When we get to the other side of town and take the road that takes us out to the ranch, a smile crosses my face. The air is just different here. It's lighter, fresher, and you can smell the bluebonnets for days.
At the ranch gate, my nerves kick in, and I push them down. No way am I giving anyone the slightest hint of my feelings for Jessa. Alex has enough on his plate. He doesn't need to stress about his best friend having highly inappropriate thoughts about his little sister, even if it said little sister is twenty-three now.
When I was running around with Alex on the ranch, I always thought of her as a little sister. Then I went off and joined the military, and was back on leave during her high school graduation, seeing her for the first time. The sight of her knocked me on my ass. She was not the same little girl who would run around in pigtails trying to keep up with us boys.
She's now the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I have spent the last five years telling myself how off-limits she is and how I should be dating other people. But I can't because all I want is her. All my body wants is her. The mere thought of her and my cock is hard. Yet, when I went with a buddy to celebrate his breakup at a strip club, I couldn't even get a chub with all the mostly naked women in front of me.
Parking my bike next to Alex's truck, I direct the rest of the club to park behind us and off to the side, facing the barn so we don't tear up their yard. When I turn back around, Jessa barrels down the front porch steps right to me. She throws herself into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"You're here. It's so nice to see a face that isn't Alex's," she says with a giggle as I spin her around before setting her down on the ground.
She's never done that before. I've never had her gorgeous, curvy body pressed up against mine. I just pray she couldn't feel how hard she made my cock. As Alex walks out the front door, I turn to talk to a few of the guys, making sure everyone was parking where they should be. Then taking a few deep breaths, I force my cock down before turning to greet to my best friend.
"Hey, I'm glad you made it safe. Jessa has been baking for two days straight, making sure we have enough cookies for everyone," Alex says, walking up and pulling me in for a hug.
"Unless that pretty little lady has a new recipe for cookies that smells like barbecue, please tell me some of this world-famous BBQ from this teeny tiny small town we keep hearing about is on the menu," one of the MC guys jokes.
"It sure is. Let's head around back to where Nick has all the food going," Alex says. All the men follow him, but I hang back with Jessa, clinging for just a few minutes of time with her without everyone else around.
"Have things been since you've been back?" I ask.
After she got a marketing degree in college, she got a job working for a company in Dallas. But she dropped everything and came home to help run the ranch when Vicki was put on bed rest halfway through her pregnancy. Her family has owned the ranch for several generations, and I know she loves the land as much as her brother. But it can't be easy either.
"Honestly, it’s been stressful. I love my brother and Vicki with my whole heart, but I feel like I'm a little kid again with rules and a curfew and zero freedom doing more work than I did when I lived on my own," she says.
As we walk towards the back of the house, I stop to take a good look at her.
Even though the dark circles under her eyes are evident and she doesn't have a stitch of makeup on, she's still beautiful.
"After this poker run, I've got a few things I've to wrap up, but then I'll come give you a hand and help you guys get caught up. You deserve some time off, too." I say almost without thinking.
"Well, at this point, I would give my first born child for one day to sleep in. Vicki has been throwing up in the middle of the night and since my bedroom is right next to the bathroom, I hear it and it's keeping me up. Of course, Alex stays with her in the morning and that leaves me to be the one to get up and do the morning chores."
While I know she loves her brother and Vicki, leaving it all on Jessa is stressing her out. And Alex is doing his best to take care of his wife. But it’s obvious to me that she’s tired and needs help.
"Actually, having a newborn baby in the house isn't going to be much better. The baby will be up every couple of hours and will need to be fed and changed, along with all the laundry it’ll be generating. But at least I can help with some of it, and hopefully, we can alternate some of the workload," she sighs.
Without thinking, I wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her to my side.
"If you ever need a break, I'm just a phone call away. It shouldn't be left all on you to take care of everything," I say.
Her smile is perfunctory, as if she doesn't believe me. Knowing that she's not going to call me for help makes me realize I'm going to have to insert myself to make sure she gets the breaks that she needs.
Having her body against mine again wasn't a good idea. My cock hardens, and I have to let her go so I can take a few deep breaths. Somehow I need to try to forget how she fits perfectly by my side and how her hair smells like a bouquet of wildflowers and sunshine.
We join the others who are scarfing down some BBQ and grabbing handfuls of Jessa's cookies. Soon they’ll be getting their poker card, and then preparing to get back on the road.
Alex's phone goes off, and he pulls it out of his pocket to look at it.
"Shoot, Vicki needs me. She's up from her nap. I'll be back down as soon as I can to help with clean up." He doesn’t even wait for an answer from Jessa, before bolting inside.
The look of dismay is written across Jessa's face. She knows that she's going to be all alone cleaning up this mess. Right then, I make the decision to help her clean. Winning the poker run is not as important as taking care of this girl. Even though I have to go back since I’m treasurer and need to count the money, I can spare some time to help her.
"Here, I'll help." I grab some food, go inside to start putting it away.
"You don't have to help. I know you have to get back to the event," she says.
"I don't care about the event. My
"Thank you," she says tiredly.
As I put the food away, she takes a trash bag back to the porch, picking up the empty plates and cups. When I walk back out to the porch, one of the senior ranch hands, Mark, is there though he doesn't see me right away.
"Must be nice to have time to hang out with your friends while the rest of us are picking up the slack," Mark says to Jessa. It's then that he notices me. When he looks at Jessa, my blood run cold at the dirty look that he gave her.
The only thing that allowed him to keep his life today is the fact that he walked off towards the barn.
Is this how he normally talks to her? Is this why she's under so much stress? Why the hell hasn't her brother put an end to this?
Jessa is the sweetest girl out there. But why does she look guilty? Why would she feel guilty that someone else is having to do her chores because she's here cleaning up? Why is she not furious at the way she was just spoken to?
My gut is screaming that something is not right here.
"I'm going to head out, but make sure you remember something. That man works for you, not the other way around." I tell her before I leave.
Chapter2
Jessa
Chance’s words from yesterday keep rolling around in my head. Thinking about how he reminded me that Mark works for me, and how Mark's words really bothered me. So, since I know Vicki is upstairs napping, and my brother is alone in the kitchen, I’m going to bring it up to him.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" I ask, getting his attention.
"Yeah, what's up?" he asks as he sits at the dining room table.
"After you went upstairs yesterday, Chance stuck around and helped me clean up. While I was on the porch collecting trash, Mark walked up from the barn and was pretty belligerent. He said to me: 'It must be nice getting to hang out with all my friends while the rest of us pick up her slack.' Then he walked off, looking satisfied he’d said his piece. Just the way that he thought he could talk to me like that really bothers me." Though at my words, there's no change of expression on his face.
"He is the head ranch hand, and you were gone when he started," he said, as if justifying the way I was treated.
"Listen, I'm not some greenhorn who is just learning how to run this ranch. I grew up here just like you did, and I've already paid my dues." I put an end to that line of thought right away.
"I know that, and so does he," Alex says.
"Does he? Because that makes the way that he talks to me even worse." I say, raising my voice because I'm getting really irritated.
"Okay, I'll talk to him when I get back from picking up Vicki's medicine in town. But you need to remember we're all under a bunch of stress right now, so maybe cut him some slack," Alex says.
All I can do is sit there with my mouth open. How can he be blowing this off like it’s nothing? I know more than anyone we're all under a bunch of stress because I'm the one doing all the extra work. Something inside of me snaps, and for the first time since I've been home, I grow a backbone.
"No, I'm going into town. I'll grab her medicine. I need a break from this place after working my ass off for three weeks straight and not being able to leave. So I'm going to be the one that’s going into town. After I pick up the stuff that's on the list, I'll be back." Without even giving him an option, I grab the truck keys, the list off the counter, and walk out the door.
Running on pure adrenaline, I start the truck and head down the driveway, not giving my brother a chance to come after me. Only once the ranch has disappeared from the rearview mirror do I stop, pull over on the side of the road, take a deep breath, and process the conversation that we just had.
At this point, the only conclusion I can reach is that my brother is so stressed out that he's burying his head in the sand. Maybe I don't have a choice but to take Chance on his offer to come help out. Alex can't deny that we could use an extra hand, even if it’s for only a few days, just to try to get ahead.
Right now, the ranch is barely breaking even and we can't afford to hire anyone else. Otherwise, I would have already done it with or without my brother's permission.
Pointing the truck towards town, I crank up the stereo and drive slightly below the speed limit, while enjoying my freedom of being out of the house. Once in town, the first thing I do is go right to the diner. It’ll be nice to see some friendly faces and I could use a strong cup of Jo's coffee.
From the moment I park and step out of the truck, I can feel someone's eyes on me. But I don't see anything out of place on Main Street, so I shake it off. This is a small town. It's nothing for people to be paying attention to you just so they can be on top of the newest gossip.
"Jessa!" Jo greets me with a big hug before ushering me to a bar stool at the countertop. "Sit down and let me pour you a strong cup of coffee on the house."
Normally, I'd argue and insist on paying for it, but there's no trying to change her mind when Jo decides something. Everyone in town knows how stubborn she can be.
"Bless you. That is exactly what I came in here for," I say as she rounds the counter. Suddenly she stops to look at me and frowns.
"Is everything okay? We haven't seen you or your brother in town much. Ford says everything's all right, but I'd rather hear it from you," she says, her Southern drawl really shining through.
Ford is our cousin who has his own ranch to run, but he or his wife, Savannah, tries to make it out once a week with some homemade casseroles and check on us.
"It's going. I'm not going to lie, it's been stressful. I wish I could say I'm looking for the baby to be here so that I can get more sleep, but I know that little bundle of joy means I'm going to have even less sleep. Though, I can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew," I say, with a big grin on my face.
"I can only imagine how hard it was for everyone when I was on bed rest. It was not easy, and my poor husband was waiting on me hand and foot and just as stressed out as I was." Riley interjects from a table behind me.
She ended up on bed rest with her first. Luckily, her husband has a big family who all were able to pitch in. Now that our parents have retired to Florida, it's just me and my brother. I don't think Alex or I have let on how tense and frazzled we are. Mainly, because we want them to enjoy their retirement. However, it has crossed my mind more than once to call and beg them for help, even if only for a week.
If I contacted them, I know the backlash I'll get from my brother because my dad will start to wonder if he made a mistake handing the ranch over to Alex. That's the last thing I want because while I love the land, I do not want to take it over either.
"My brother has been great and at Vicki's side taking care of her. I'm so grateful that I could come down and help them out. Though I think maybe I'm just a little stir-crazy because it's been over three weeks since I was last off the ranch. It’s made me realize that I need to make it a point to do more of these town runs more often." Even though I try to make it sound like I'm joking, I definitely am not.If Jo picks up on the fact that I'm not joking, she thankfully doesn't comment on it.
"Well, if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. You know that this town will band together to help you guys out," she says.
I know they will, but I also know that if I ask, I will never hear the end of it from my dad and brother. I think it's a pride thing because they've run the ranch on their own all these years, and they have never asked for help. My brother would just see it as me saying he couldn't do it, and I don't want to have that argument. So, I just smile and thank Jo for the coffee before leaving the diner.
The moment I am back outside, I feel eyes on me again, but looking around, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. I go next door to the feed shop, put in our order, and then grab a few things that are on my brother's list. When I walk back outside, I have the same feeling again as I walk across the street to the pharmacy to pick up Vicki's prescription.
We’re hoping that this anti-nausea medicine will work and my sister-in-law will finally be able to keep some food down. Looking around, I spot a set of earplugs and put them in my cart. I’m hoping they will allow me to get a little better sleep. But I don't stick around too long because every time I pass another aisle, someone says hi and asks how Vicki is doing.
