The Runaway

5

For Lisa, carrying hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in cash on her was pretty routine. All of the Smoke Valley Motorcycle Club's side business was conducted in cash, and while she wasn't often engaged in actual extortion, intimidation, or smuggling, her Dad and the others had no qualms about sending her on small errands. Such as this one. She vaguely knew the club was getting paid for driving Mr. Tenerson's competition out of town, but none of that information has been officially exchanged with her.

Tenerson's secretary offered Lisa a glass of cool lemonade and some cookies, and the man himself talked to her about his granddaughter's recent success at track while he prepared the cash, taking it out of a safe behind his desk. He struggled finding a container for the money and in the end emptied a bag of hard candy into a bowl and placed the wads inside it.

"Say thank you to your dad from me."

"Sure will." Lisa saluted and pushed the bag into one of the zip-up pockets inside her leather jacket.

In some ways, she knew she could contribute more to the club, but in others, even this kind of money handling was more than a prospect would be allowed. The difference was that a prospect was on his way up, while she was stuck in permanent limbo.

There was no more small talk to be had once the money had been exchanged, and she left Tenerson's office as soon as she'd finished her lemonade. Maybe Roseanne would have liked some too? Lisa asked the secretary for a small bottle for the road, but as she waited for it, she looked out the window behind the desk and spotted her girlfriend outside.

Girlfriend.

Even thinking about another person in terms of that word felt kind of strange. She hadn't had a girlfriend in ages. And yet there Roseanne was. Sweet as apple pie, if apple pie was a bit too sexy. Roseanne wore a tight short skirt today, paired with sandals and a simple T-shirt. The fabric rode up her thighs when she leaned down to pet a stray cat.

Lisa sighed. Despite the negative thoughts digging at the back of her brain, it was difficult to not be happy with Roseanne around. So maybe she was a bit of a princess, raised in a different place, in different circumstances, but her heart was in the right place, and she put effort into trying to fit in with Lisa and her family.

After a few more moments of watching Roseanne push the cat on its back, and scratching its tummy, Lisa left the building, approaching her girlfriend. The cat noticed her and fled, as if Lisa were a Doberman out for its blood. Typical.

Roseanne looked up, and her pretty face brightened with a smile. "How did it go?"

Lisa pulled Roseanne up before giving her the lemonade. "Ah, he says he needs to think whether to offer us the loan or not. You know. Small-town politics," she lied, rolling her eyes.

Even with Roseanne's background, Lisa wasn't comfortable sharing details of the jobs she did for the MC. One issue was club business being secret, the other—being unsure how well Roseanne would handle knowing what kind of shit her girlfriend was willingly involved in. Roseanne never had any kind words about her brother, and he was the hands-on sibling in her family's business.

What if she accepted Lisa's background, but didn't like her being too involved? It was best to just keep things under wraps.

"And speaking of small-town politics... Can we hold hands here, or is that a no-no in this town?"

Lisa smirked and entwined their fingers. "Oh, it's definitely a no-no. But no one's telling me what to do."

Roseanne leaned against her with a grin as they left the local administration building behind and walked down the empty street toward the side alley where Lisa had parked her motorbike. They talked about Roseanne's wish to have a cat in the future, but Lisa's interest was lost when a poison green pickup truck drove past and parked on the other side of the road. Blood boiled in her veins so fast she could barely hear Roseanne anymore.