Juice spotted her before he even parked the bike. The young woman standing with Luann was taller than he remembered her, and her hair was longer than she usually kept it, but he'd know her anywhere. Maybe it was her mannerisms, maybe it was her curves – God knows he'd thought of them many times over the years they had been apart. Whatever it was that tipped him off, Juice knew the moment he spotted her that Grace Callaghan had just stepped back into his life.
"Juice?" Austin called from where she was scooting off the back of his bike. They were supposed to take the van and go get some things from her apartment. At this point, anything to get Austin out of Jax's hospital room was productive.
But Juice was too distracted by Grace's presence at the lot. "I'll be right there."
If there was any doubt in his mind that it was her, those shreds were swept away the closer he got. He stood there for a few seconds, drinking in the sight of his childhood best friend as an adult woman. When he had left New York, he never thought he had seen her again. Not because he didn't want to; their lives had simply taken them in different directions.
"Gracie," he finally said, an unstoppable grin taking over his features.
The dark-haired girl turned to see who was getting her attention, and her jaw hit the pavement. "Carlos?"
Juice laughed at the way her Boston accent made his name sound more like 'Cahlos' when it rolled off her tongue. Even their peers in school had known the difference between their heavy Queens accent and hers. He'd always adored it.
After her initial surprise passed, Juice was ready with open arms for the hug he knew was coming. Grace flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. She kissed his cheek and held on tight.
"It's good to see you, too, Gracie," Juice laughed, putting her back down on the ground.
She couldn't erase the goofy smile from her face. "What are you doing here?"
"I work here," Juice answered. "Clay's my boss."
Grace turned to Clay, a mortified look on her face. She'd nearly forgotten just what she was doing there. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Luann waved her off. "I take it you two know each other."
"Carlos and I grew up together when I lived in New York," Grace explained.
"Well, why don't you and Carlos take a walk," Clay suggested. "He can show you around Luann and I will discuss your employment opportunity."
"Employment?" Juice questioned.
Grace took him by the hand and dragged him into the clubhouse. "I'm moving here. From Miami."
"Damn. You've been up and down the East Coast, haven't you?"
Grace rolled her eyes. "I stayed in New York for a few years after you left, then I went to Orlando. I just moved to Miami in the last couple of years."
"You always wanted to live in Florida," Juice replied, smiling nostalgically. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have you around again, but I want you to tell me what's going on."
"I don't know all the details. Luann explained that things about the Sons of Anarchy are on a need-to-know basis."
"You're stalling, Gracie."
She sighed. "Luann and Clay are going in together on a strip club on the outskirts of Charming. Friend of mine in Miami knows her, Luann asked if she had any girls she could send up."
Juice frowned. "How long have you been stripping?"
Grace shrugged. "Started when I moved to Orlando. About five years, I guess."
"Gracie … that's not you."
"That wasn't me," she corrected. "A lot of things have changed in the last eight years, and maybe you don't know me anymore. Juice."
With that, she stormed out of the clubhouse, back to Clay and Luann. Juice sighed and ran a hand over his head, settling it on the back of his neck. He'd been so happy to see her, but to find out she was stripping? Grace was better than that and he knew it. There was nothing he could do about it now, he supposed.
He sat behind the driver's seat and started the engine. He tried to keep the anger and confusion from his face, but Austin knew them all too well.
"You look pissed off," she commented, and Juice knew she was in protective mode. "Who was that girl?"
"Relax," Juice replied as he pulled off the lot. "I know her from back East."
Austin raised her brow. "And?"
"Look, Aus, you gotta keep this between you and me for a little bit, okay?"
"Fair enough."
"I know her from back home. Her parents moved from Boston to Queens when we were ten. We were pretty close and … anyway. She's working for Luann now."
Austin nodded in understanding. "I'm guessing she's not usually clothed when she's working?"
Juice shook his head. "No, she's not."
"What's her name?"
"Grace. Look, we really don't have to talk about this."
"All right, but just remember … I'm here if you need to talk."
"Thanks, Aus."
And he knew it was true. It didn't make him laugh this time like it usually did, but he thought about when Austin threw the croweater Jax had been screwing out of the clubhouse. Juice knew she'd do the same for any of them, himself included. Now that he thought about it, Grace and Austin weren't so different. Grace could be shy and prissy at first glance, but once you got to know her, there's was a very tough girl underneath.
Or at least there was in the Gracie he knew. This Grace – the stripper – wasn't the girl he knew in junior high and high school. She wasn't the girl he'd dreamed of and missed all these years.
.:.
Grace leaned back on the pillows on her hotel room bed and let out a deep breath. Her emerald green eyes stared at the ceiling. She should be sleeping; her cab was coming early to take her to the Stockton airport so that she could fly back to Miami. Luann and Clay had liked her and agreed to hire her on, despite her exhibition when Carlos – er, Juice – had first called her name.
No one had called her Gracie in years. After Juice left New York, then her mother died, and there was no reason for her to stay in New York. Some friends were heading down for Orlando and while Grace trusted them, none of them knew her like Carlos did. So many things had happened since the day she left New York, and some of those things she was still trying to reconcile. She would just have to hope that she could get back to Miami, get her things, and get out before things got worse than they were now. She'd come back to Charming, make some good money, find a lawyer, and figure things out from there.
Her heart hoped that she could rekindle her friendship with Carlos, but her head told her that was a stupid, empty dream. He'd never understand the person she'd become.
Grace let out a deep breath as she threw the covers back. She had told herself she wasn't going to do this here, but she couldn't stop herself. The battle between her head and her heart was just too much to deal with. Sleep would come easier this way, too.
She climbed out of the bed and reached for her overnight bag. The pill bottle was easy to find; there was no way she'd try to hide it from herself. She'd panic if she couldn't find those pills right away.
She took two and swallowed them down with a glass of water. Already she felt calmer, just knowing the peace that was coming.
.:.
Grace thought she had much more than this, but when she got back to that apartment in Miami, she found that there were only a few bags of clothes and one shoebox of old pictures she wanted to take with her. Tyler could have the rest of it. If it worked out her way, Tyler would think she just fell off the face of the planet.
"You know he's going to go ape-shit when he finds out you're gone," Penny warned her.
"I know," Grace sighed, lugging one large duffel bag out into the hallway. "But I can't stay here anymore. You know that."
There was no arguing that. It had been a month since Grace first visited Charming. Luann had found a place to turn into a strip bar, and called to let her know she was ready for Grace to come back. That month with Tyler had been hell – knowing the end was coming but not knowing when.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Penny looked around. "That's it then?"
Grace nodded. "That's it. I'll be in touch, all right?"
Penny hugged her fiercely. "You know I will. Call me if you need anything, okay?"
"I will," Grace promised, hugging her back. "I'm going to take this one down to the cab and come back for the others."
"I'll help," Penny offered. "That way you don't have to make two trips."
The women hugged again once Grace's bags were in the trunk of the cab. Grace was going to miss Penny; one of the few friends she had who actually gave a damn. It had been Penny who first discovered she needed a way out and called Luann for a favor. Penny waved in the rearview mirror; Grace watched her go before turning back to the cab.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
Her breath caught in her throat. That was the one voice she had hoped to never hear again and it belonged to the man she never wanted to see again.
"I'm leaving, Tyler," Grace told him. "I'm through."
"The fuck you are," he snorted. He pulled her to him and backhanded her right across the face. "You're staying right here with me."
"Hey," the cabbie called. He pointed a gun right at Tyler and kept his aim with confidence. "Let her go. She gets in the car with me."
"This isn't your business," Tyler growled.
"Her fare is my money, and that's my business," the cabbie returned.
Tyler slowly let her go. Grace tried to control her breathing as she got in the cab and locked the door. The cabbie backed slowly into the driver's seat, putting the gun back in the glove box and pulling away from the apartment complex.
"Thank you," Grace finally managed a few minutes down the road.
The cabbie nodded in the mirror. "Not a problem. Just don't like seeing men beating up on women. It ain't right."
"You might have saved my life."
"My pleasure, ma'am."
The cabbie was kind enough to help her with her bags into the airport, took her money, and went on his way. Grace checked in for her flight back to Stockton and didn't stop looking over her shoulder for Tyler until the plane was off the ground.
.:.
"All right, church is in session," Clay announced. Everyone seated at the table quieted and turned towards him. "First off, welcome back to our VP. Jax, it's good to see you at the table again."
"Yeah, we missed your ugly mug," Opie joked.
"You fuckers can't live without me," Jax returned.
They all bantered for a couple minutes before Clay settled them down, anxious to get down to the task at hand.
"Luann needs some new business and so do we. Otto wants us to invest in this new strip place with her."
"You know I'm always down for a pussy tease," Tig smiled.
"This would be business, gentlemen. You choose to be a patron of the place, that's your choice."
"I don't know," Jax spoke up. "Austin's not going to be crazy about half-naked girls running around the clubhouse."
"Don't deny it, Clay," Chibs warned. "New girls means new croweaters. Never fails."
"As much as I love Austin, I gotta do what's best for the club. ATF has been half up our asses for the last few months and we're going to have to lay low on the guns for a little bit – meaning we need a legit cover. Automotive just doesn't seem to be enough anymore. I'm leaving it up for a vote, majority goes. We're looking at a fifty-fifty split with Luann."
As the votes came in, Juice was torn. He wanted to think that a negative vote would somehow prevent Grace from taking or getting that job, but this was good for the club. It was good for a prominent member's old lady. And, even without the Sons supporting her, Luann could likely finance the whole thing herself anyway. At least then Grace would be close and he could keep an eye on her.
So when the vote came to him, he nodded. "Aye."
The vote turned out to be unanimous; the Sons of Anarchy would back Luann Delaney on her new strip club. Clay let the gavel fall, and it was done.
Juice stood with the rest of the men and headed straight for the bar. He ordered up a shot of tequila and a beer from the prospect, and Half-Sack delivered it promptly.
"Hey, where's the girls?" Juice called.
Austin appeared from the clubhouse and shook her head. "I kicked 'em all out."
"You bitch," Juice teased.
"Fuck you," Austin smiled, punching him in the arm. "Don't worry, they're coming. Gemma and I told them all to stay away until after church sessions. We're sick of playing hostess till you fuckers get done."
"That's probably for the best," Chibs spoke up. "Aussie-girl, she don't play nice."
They all chorused their agreements, and Austin took a modest bow. "You're welcome."
Jax and Austin disappeared to the back room, and Juice felt for Jax. It was true that Austin didn't always play nice, and she wasn't going to be very happy when Jax told her about the strip club. He didn't have much time to think about it; Gemma opened the door, letting in a line of croweaters.
"Have at 'em, ladies," Gemma commented, pulling Clay back through the door with her.
Rachel, a pretty blonde who Juice had hooked up with a few times, cuddled up to him right away. "What do you say, Juice? You want to spend the night with me?"
Anything to take his mind off of Grace and her job as a stripper. He ordered up three more shots – one for him and two so Rachel could catch up.
"Just give me the bottle," Juice ordered the prospect. He took it in one hand and Rachel's hand in the other. "Come on, baby. Let's see how crazy we can get."
A/N: I was trying to stay away from the whole damsel-in-distress thing, but it just snuck its way in. Don't worry, Juice will have his own fair share of distress, too.
Hope you enjoyed this first chapter!