“Trust me, Outlaw Souls is nothing close to dubious.” Pin gave a dry chuckle. Even his laughter was cute. “We’re a strictly above-board club. Bikes, security jobs, brotherhood, and that’s about it.”
“I didn’t know there was such a thing as an ‘above-board’ biker club,” I said.
“Well, there is,” Pin said. His tone wasn’t too sharp, but his face darkened and I could tell I had offended.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I guess I’ve only been exposed to stereotypes.”
“Not your fault,” Pin said.
“Well, I don’t like being ignorant,” I said. “Tell me more about the club.”
Pin’s smile said he was all too happy to move on. He told me about a few of his brothers and the rides they went on before explaining his accounting work. Then he asked me more questions about how I got into the PI world, and what my favorite cases were.
He laughed out loud when I told him the story about a time I talked my way into a business conference at an exclusive LA hotel by pretending I was on the board of a Norwegian company because I was convinced a guy was meeting his mistress there. I discovered it was an actual work conference and the guy was there for business only.
“Rest assured, I got him a week later,” I said. “It just turned out he preferred cheap motels for his trysts.”
Pin was easy to talk to. A little bit serious, but he could be funny, in a quiet and slightly sarcastic kind of way. Then again, lots of guys I’d gone out with had been easy to talk with. Didn’t mean they weren’t boring after the first few dates.
Before I knew it, I caught a glimpse of Kim and Trey settling down at their table.
“Ok, don’t turn around,” I said to Pin, keeping a casual smile plastered on my face. “But our targets have arrived.”
Pin instantly stiffened.
“Please relax,” I said. “We’re just having a nice evening, ok?”
Pin nodded, and his shoulders eased slightly.
I kept my eyes on Pin, but stole glances over at the table. Kim was decked out in a silver dress with a slit up to her hip and sky-high heels. She looked like a million bucks. I smiled as I sipped my water and grabbed a fry from the plate Pin and I were sharing. She really was trying to torture Trey.
He was smitten too, I could tell. He was ogling Kim with that wide-eyed look of admiration mixed with a healthy dose of pride. I saw it all the time. Guys were so self-congratulatory when they convinced some young hot thing to choose them.
What killed me was that Olivia was no crone. I had seen the pictures. She took good care of herself. Probably had worked out like crazy to shed her baby weight after giving birth. She went to the hairdresser and did her makeup all while dealing with an infant.
But Trey didn’t see any of that. Guys like Trey enjoyed the chase. Once they had the woman all secure and in their bedroom, they lost interest. They started to look for something newer, younger, hotter.
“She’s doing a great job,” I said to Pin. “She’s got him wrapped around her finger.”
“I would expect nothing less from Kim,” he said.
Kim and Trey had ordered, but they were ignoring their glasses of wine. Instead, Kim was leaning forward while Trey ran his hand up and down her smooth brown arm.
“Ok, I’m gonna pull my camera out,” I said. “You just keep chatting while I set it up.”
“About what?” Pin asked.
“Anything,” I said. “Just act normal.”
“I did some freelance CPA work today,” Pin said. “Really interesting situation with their profit margins.”
I nearly laughed out loud as I pulled my camera up onto the table. “You’re really talking about accounting?”
“You said I could discuss anything,” he said.
“Fair enough,” I said. “Please tell me more about profit margins.”
Pin gave me a crooked smile and continued. While he talked, I screwed the lens in place and made sure the shutter wouldn’t clack with a noise when I took a photo.
