The expression he gave her clearly told her he was serious. But before Sara could clearly and concisely tell him to fuck off, Casey intervened.
“Julie needs to get a new bike. That one isn’t going anywhere. Could you show her what you guys have?”
Sara snorted at the lame attempt to get rid of her.
“Wow, Julie. Your ride is fucked.” That low-voiced statement from a tiny Asian woman crouching by the totaled bike.
“I know, Kelly. I know.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Casey offered. “We’ll get you a new one here. Kelly’s got the cash and cards. I think it’s time to spend a little money.”
Miki folded her arms in front of her chest. “Drug money, I assume,” she queried smugly.
Angelina’s eyes snapped open wide and Sara slapped her hand over her friend’s mouth. Casey raised one eyebrow, looking right at Sara. Like she could control Miki or something. Hell, no one could control Miki.
“Why don’t you guys go in and check out our stock,” Sara quickly stated. “Some great stuff just came in.”
With a nod, Casey motioned to her females and they entered the store while she and Marrec walked to the edge of the parking lot, out of hearing rage. Once they were effectively alone, Sara and Angelina let out huge sighs.
“Drug money, I assume?” Angelina ground out between clenched teeth, giving Miki a good shove.
Miki shrugged. “I was just asking.”
“Well don’t. Don’t ask. Don’t query. Don’t question.” Angelina moved toward the door, then spun around on four-inch designer heels to glare at Miki. “And try not to get the shit kicked out of us by biker chicks. Think you can handle that?”
“Think you can handle that,” Miki angrily mimicked as she went to follow Angelina into the store. Sara watched as Miki grabbed the handle on the glass door, but she pushed instead of pulled and slammed into it. “Motherfucker!”
Sara laughed and felt her headache slip away.
Chapter Two
“So, what happened to your face?”
Sara grabbed Miki by the back of her T-shirt and jeans before the woman could dive over the counter and wrap her hands around the throat of the Asian girl they called Kelly.
She pulled Miki back to her while Angelina leaned forward and said, “You know what they say about curiosity? That it stabbed the annoying biker girl over and over and over again until she spit up blood.”
Oh, yeah. That was subtle. Sara pushed Angelina back, too. Her friends had always been protective of her. It was sweet, in its own rabid-squirrel kind of way.
People rarely just came out and asked about her wounds. Not so directly. Yet there seemed to be no malice to Kelly’s question. It was simply a question. So, Sara gave her a very simple answer. “None of your business. So are you taking those shirts?”
Kelly looked down at the six T-shirts she held in her hand. “Uh…yeah. Sure.”
As Sara rung up the sale, Marrec and Casey returned. The tension seemed to have lessened, but she could tell Marrec was still on edge as he walked around the counter, patting Sara on the shoulder. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Sara said under her breath. “And they’re buying a ton of shit. I expect a bonus, old man.”
Marrec smiled. “Greedy bitch.”
Casey stood in front of Sara, examining her closely. “Interesting scar.”
“Un-fucking-believable,” Miki bit out, looking like she might try and dive over the counter again.
“Check this out.” Casey pulled her mane of hair off her neck, and turned so Sara had a clear view.
Angelina and Miki winced.
The healed over and raised rips across the woman’s neck ran from the back of her left ear, across and down her neck, disappearing under her jacket. Sara sensed they went on well down her torso.
“Mountain lion,” Casey volunteered. “Eight years ago. A nasty fight.”
“You? You fought a mountain lion?” Clearly Miki wasn’t buying it.
“It was either him or me. And in the end it all comes down to survival.”
Sara thought about her father. He’d fought to protect her all those years ago and it cost him his life, but in the end she survived.
Julie, who seemed to be getting stronger and healthier by the minute, interrupted the moment with an announcement. “The males are here.”
Four more bikes pulled up outside the shop. Sara could see the gorgeous chrome through the window. She got all tingly just thinking about having one of those bikes between her legs.
Miki turned to Casey. “Are these men men or chicks dressed as men?” Sara sighed and Angelina closed her eyes in exasperation. Miki grinned. “I’m just askin’.”
What walked through the shop door three minutes later, though, were clearly “men men.”
Chapter Three
“You know,” Angelina quietly stated to her two friends, “I was just thinking I need to stop by the butcher. Pick up some steak.”
“I could use some sausage,” Sara added. Then she and Angelina began giggling over the “hottie-hots” who walked into Marrec’s store.
“Aren’t you two freaked out by these people just a little bit?” Miki demanded softly.
Sara watched the group interaction. She had to admit, they didn’t act like any motorcycle club she’d ever met before. Friendly but polite. Affectionate and playful, but not remotely sexual, except for a few.
A tall, amazing-looking man walked over to Casey. His hair was grayer than the woman’s, but it looked premature. There were only a few lines on his face. As soon as Casey saw him she broke into a huge smile. A smile he returned. He didn’t kiss her hello. Instead, he brushed his head gently against hers. Nuzzled her under the chin, pulled her hair aside and licked the wound on the back of her neck.
Angie missed the moment, busy staring at her hands and complaining about her chipped nail polish. But Miki saw it.
“Okay. Does that freak you out?”
Sara shrugged and answered honestly, “I think it was kinda sweet. Weird, but sweet.” She was used to bikers grabbing their women’s crotches and shoving their tongues down their throats right in the middle of the shop. It always seemed like they were about to take them right there on the show floor. But what she’d just witnessed, that was affection. Something she herself had never really experienced with the men she had gone out with over the years. Nice men she’d only let get so close. There was never a time she didn’t have walls up or, as her friends called it, “The Armor”. She felt safer that way, but it also kept every well-meaning man at arm’s length.
Another male came in. This one blond and perhaps a little closer to her age. He was as big as a house, though. Like a blond polar bear. All muscle and strength. He actually reminded Sara of the Vikings from one of Miki's computer games. All he needed was that horned helmet. He greeted a few of the females but mostly with a pat on the shoulder or a nod. But when he saw Miki it was like someone hit him over the head with a rock. He looked stunned. He walked into the wall.
Sara turned to Marrec in an attempt to hide her smile. He’d gone over to greet the older biker as Casey spoke quietly to him. When she was done, the two men stared at each other and, finally, shook hands. “Name’s Yates. And I really appreciate this,” he said with genuine warmth.
Marrec nodded. “No problem. Just remember whose territory this is.”
Yates smiled at that. “I don’t think that’s a problem.”
Sara and Miki frowned at each other. Sara had never known Marrec to be so territorial before. Bikers came in to his shop all the time, but he never seemed concerned about any of them as he did this group. And these people seemed positively kittenish compared to some of the hardcore criminals who’d walked through the doors of Marrec’s business over the years.
Of course, all this had Miki’s major brainpower working on hyperdrive. And Sara knew her friend was on the verge of saying something completely inappropriate—again.
Angelina, however, was b
usy putting on lip gloss while staring into a mirror customers used to try on sunglasses. Angie was one woman who didn’t let herself get worked up over stuff she couldn’t control. Although that rather Zen-like philosophy did take years of court-ordered therapy to obtain.
“Oh, God. Oh, God,” Miki whispered desperately. Sara watched the blond bear meandering toward them with the possible intent of trying to talk to Miki. Turning to Sara with a look of pure panic, Miki yelped, “Tell me he’s not coming over here.”
“Not everyone is loved by Thor, God of Thunder.”
Miki glared but couldn’t stifle a laugh. “I hate you.”
Sara grinned, about ready to help her friend escape true love—but he walked in.
He’d been outside checking out the damaged bike. He was tall. Taller than Yates. Taller than any of them, except for the big blond guy who kept silently staring at Miki and slowly moving in on her. This new guy was big too. Sara actually wondered how he possibly got those shoulders through the door. And at six-feet, there were not a lot of men who made her feel small.
Dark brown hair reached to his shoulders and swept across his face, practically covering bright hazel-colored eyes. He had several days’ growth of stubble on his jaw, and a thick muscular neck she could spend all day chewing and licking. Dressed in black jeans, black T-shirt and a black leather jacket, he was, simply, the most beautiful man Sara had ever seen in her life. And she wanted him so badly she couldn’t breathe.
He didn’t notice her when he walked in, but everyone else did. The rest of the members stopped talking, stopped shopping, stopped moving. As one, they all lifted their heads and sniffed the air. Then they all turned and looked at Sara.
She couldn’t understand it. She hadn’t done anything. Hadn’t moved. She’d also stared at Yates when he walked in. Exactly what cued them in to her sudden need to be naked and straddling this brown-haired god, she had no idea.
As she obsessed over this, Angelina leaned in and said, “Um…hon? Are we going to need to peel you off that seat?”
Sara, distracted from being the center of attention, turned to Angelina. “Shut up.”
“You don’t remember him,” Miki chastised, her blond stalker quickly forgotten.
“Remember who?
“Tragic, black leather–clad biker guy over there.”
Angie started laughing. “Oh, my God, it is him.”
“Who?” Sara snapped.
Before she got an answer, Sara realized that after greeting the females of the group, he’d finally noticed her. His eyes locked on her and she actually felt her face get hot and the walls of her pussy tighten.
“The good Samaritan,” Miki offered.
“I think your exact words were,” Angelina added in, “‘Pretty man is all mine.’”
“Just before you stuck your tongue down his throat,” Miki filled in.
“And I believe there was some crotch-grabbing.” Angelina shook her head. “Whore.”
Sara growled at her friends when the insanity from the previous evening came flooding back to her. Too much tequila. Asshole club pigs grabbing her. And the classic Sara-drinking stupidity, where she did something she ended up regretting the following morning. Apparently, this time her regret was him.
“Oh, hell.”
“But clearly he remembers you.” Angelina giggled.
Of course he did. When a tall, scarred woman calls you a pretty man, and sticks her tongue down your throat—you remembered her. And if Sara had any doubt, the sudden grin on his face confirmed it.
“Uh-oh,” Angelina whispered.
“He’s headin’ this way,” Miki chimed in. Fuck, she almost sang it.
“I’m in hell.” Sara began to search for something, anything to do. She was too distracted to focus, though. Her nipples had hardened. Her pussy was on fire. And she kept wondering what he looked like completely naked.
Naked with his head between her thighs.
Jesus Christ! What was wrong with her?
“Hi.” His voice was so deep she felt like he’d run a finger up her bare back. He leaned against the counter and lowered his head so they were eye to eye.
“Howdy!” Angelina piped up, a big smile on her beautiful face.
“Hey, y’all!” Miki said, her Texan accent suddenly ten times thicker than normal.
Sara hated them both. A lot.
Still she wasn’t going to let some guy freak her out. Sara looked up, a greeting on her lips, but it caught in her throat.
He was staring at her—well, more like smirking—with those beautiful eyes of his, and really it was all she could do to stop herself from giving him a hickey on that thick neck.
“Remember me? I’m your…what was it? Oh, yeah. I’m your pretty man. But I never quite got your name.”
Sara could feel her face getting red when the entire room erupted into laughter.
Before she could say a word—or punch him in the face—Yates interrupted. “All right people, let’s saddle up. Julie, we’ll pick up your new bike tomorrow.”
Marrec came back behind the counter and Angelina moved out of the way so he could get to the safe her long legs were in front of.
“You three.” Casey stood next to Sara’s deepest, darkest fantasy and Sara didn’t like it one damn bit. In fact, she wanted to punch the shit out of the bitch for standing way too close to him, which was clearly not a rational response when she didn’t even know the guy. “Because you were so helpful today,” Casey continued, oblivious to how close she was to getting her throat ripped out, “I’d like to invite you to a little party we’re throwing tomorrow night out near that big park off the state highway.”
“Kingsley Park?” Angelina practically knocked a crouching Marrec over to get closer to Casey. The woman did love a good party.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Casey confirmed. “I think you guys will have a good time.”
“Or,” Miki interjected flatly, “you could cut our throats and leave us for dead now so we don’t have to make the trip.”
Sara knew she no longer had anyone’s attention. Miki and her mouth had thankfully stolen the spotlight once again.
Everyone stared at Miki—except her pretty man. He was still staring at Sara, but he did raise an eyebrow at Miki’s comment.
Marrec quickly stood. “Miki!”
“What?” she asked with that damned innocent smile.
Marrec took a deep breath, something the older man often did around Miki. “You guys, go to the party. Have a great time. I will personally vouch for these people.”
Angelina answered for the three of them, “We’ll be there.”
“Great. Ten p.m., day after tomorrow. See you then.” With that, Casey walked out of the store, the females following her, all loaded down with bags of Harley-and Marrec’s Choppers–branded clothes.
“Let’s go, gentlemen. We’ve got beer to buy.” The men moved out, but Yates waited. “Zach, let’s hit it.”
Zach stared at Sara for a few more moments, straightened up and followed Yates to the door. “Tequila, right?” Sara watched him as he moved, she couldn’t help herself—the man had an amazing ass. “That’s your drink of choice?”
Then he was gone.
“Sara’s got a hottie on her tail.” Angelina practically frothed at the mouth in her excitement.
“More like a biker. And they’re on the List,” Miki pointed out.
“Fuck the List! She needs to get laid,” Angelina barked back.
Miki sighed. “Not if her last fuck will be a train pulled by some scumbag motorcycle club.”
“Okay!” Sara grabbed each by the shoulder. “Marrec here is as close as I’ve had to a father since I was eight. I would really appreciate the two of you not discussing me and fucking in the man’s presence. Do you think you idiots could handle that?”
Miki and Angelina were silent for a moment. But it was just a moment.
“Did you see the bulge in the man’s pants? He’s packing major heat and it’s for her.”
“He’s on the List!”
She was much prettier than he remembered. And sweeter. She actually blushed when he looked at her. She wasn’t remotely innocent, though. He smelled her lust from fifty feet away—as did everyone else. What surprised him even more was his body’s immediate response to it. To her. Which seemed strange. The woman wasn’t anything to him.
“Cute, huh, Zach?” Casey sat on the bike behind Yates. Her arm around her mate’s torso, her head on his shoulder.
“You’re leaving your bike here?”
“Marrec will take care of it. So, what do you think?”
“I think that with all due respect, you should back the fuck off.”
Casey grinned. “Don’t take it out on me because you’re afraid to make a move.”
“Afraid to make a move? Really?” Zach shook his head. “I wish I could figure out what you’re up to.” He turned and looked at Yates’ mate. The Alpha Female of his pack. Affectionately known by him and his baby sister as the bitch from hell. “You’ve never given a shit about what I stick my dick in to before, why do you suddenly care now?”
“I don’t. I only care about the Pack. And, unfortunately, that includes you.” She flashed him a grin as Yates started his bike.
“So what exactly are you hoping I’ll do?”
Casey shrugged. “Follow your instincts.”
Zach Sheridan watched them pull out, annoyed his mother raised him not to hit women in the face.
He walked to his bike and stopped. He looked back through the store windows. She used her arms to haul herself onto the counter. What strength she lacked in her bad leg, she made up for in the rest of her body. Lifting her legs, she twisted her butt around, and slid down off the case so she was in front of the counter. Her friends appeared to be arguing. She stood between them, trying to stop the fight, but the two women were in full swing. Finger pointing had begun.
Zach straddled his bike, but he couldn’t resist looking back one more time. It seemed she’d gotten tired of the fight. She grabbed both her friends by the face and shoved them in opposite directions. Zach laughed, causing Conall, who had been waiting for him, to stare.