“You’re crazy,” she shook her head.
“You know, I could even build you a custom chopper,” I was teasing her, and she knew it. It was an old game of ours. I pretended that I could talk her into becoming a biker chick, and she sassed me back. It was exactly what I needed to forget about my worries. For now.
* * *
The next daywas our monthly meeting of the Outlaw Souls. Sometimes we met more frequently, and we all spent a lot of time together, but Ryder liked for us to all get together at least once a month for an official meeting. They always took place in a backroom at The Blue Dog. Lately, we’d been working toward cleaning up La Playa, trying to take control of the town away from Las Balas, so that goal gave us plenty to discuss.
I was on my bike, taking the familiar route to the bar. The Blue Dog was located on the western side of La Playa, on the opposite street corner from Tiny’s. There were several other businesses around, helping to make the bar seem less intimidating to those that weren’t members of the club. That was important for us. It helped keep the cops off our backs.
I rode past a gas station and tire shop, weaving through the traffic on my Road King. Then, there was a second-hand clothing store on one side of the street, next to Absolute Fitness. Our Sergeant at Arms, Swole, was the manager of the gym, which was convenient for her, since it was located across the street and half a block down from The Blue Dog. It was good for her to have a legitimate job like that. It gave her a little distance from Outlaw Souls on paper.
A red light at the corner made all traffic movements on the street stop just as I was in front of the gym. I put one foot down on the ground, to keep my balance, and waited. Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention to a woman that was leaving Absolute Fitness with a black gym bag hanging off of one shoulder. She was average height and curvy, with her skinny jeans hugging her ass in a way that made my eye wander without my conscious consent. The shirt she was wearing had a V-neck that showed just a hint of cleavage.
Damn.She had a body that was built for sin.
My eyes greedily drank her in. Her dark hair was damp, as if she’d just finished showering, and that thought caused a mental image to appear that had my body coming to life. Suddenly, this mystery woman turned to look my way, as if she felt my eyes running over her. Bright green orbs stared at me, surrounded by dark eyelashes. She had high cheekbones and a button nose, but it was her mouth that drew my attention, with its perfect cupid’s bow lips. I’d never felt such an instant attraction to a woman before. Every part of my body hardened just from looking at her.
She was watching me too, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from my heated stare. The woman was still walking down the sidewalk, but I had distracted her. Her foot caught on a raised section of the sidewalk, making her stumble forward. It happened so quickly, and before I could even react, she had gone down on the concrete, barely throwing her hand out in time.
“Shit,” I muttered. Bringing my bike over to the curb, I brought down the kickstand and hopped off, hurrying to her. She was already getting back to her feet by the time I reached her, looking down at her scraped palm with a frown and reddening cheeks. “Are you okay?” I asked, stopping beside her. I reached out to place a hand on her back, but she flinched, so I pulled my hand back.
“Uh… yeah,” she said, shrugging as if it was no big deal.
“Are you hurt?”
“Well, my pride is a little bruised, but other than that, I’ll be fine.” She gave me a weak smile, a blush still coloring her cheeks. I smirked. It looked like my girl was a tough one.
Wait a minute.My girl?Where did that thought come from? I didn’t even know this woman’s name.
“What about your hand?” I asked even as she fisted it and brought it to her side, clearly trying to hide the wound from my view.
“I’ve had worse.”
I didn’t like that at all. Her matter-of-fact tone made it seem like her words didn’t matter, but they sure as hell did to me. I wasn’t even sure why.
“I’m Trainer,” I said, sticking out my hand for her to shake. It occurred to me that some women might be intimidated by a biker guy approaching them on the street, especially one that looked like me. I was big. Not just muscular, but broad and tall. But this woman didn’t look scared.
In fact, now that I was closer to her, I could see that she was a fighter. I wasn’t sure exactly how I could tell, maybe it was something in her eyes or the way she held herself, but I had the distinct impression that I was looking at a warrior right now.
“Erica,” she said, taking my hand with her uninjured one and giving it a surprisingly firm shake.
“Hey, Trainer.” I turned and saw that Swole had just walked out of the gym, shrugging on her jacket with the patch sewed into the back. “You coming to the meeting?”
Swole’s eyes went back and forth between me and Erica, lingering on our hands, which were still clasped together. I quickly let go, immediately missing her warmth.
What was going on with me? I felt almost frazzled around this woman, which was so out of character for me.
“Yeah. Sure,” I replied. “See ya around,” I nodded to Erica, who was still looking at me like I was somehow fascinating.
“Right. Nice to meet you,” she said. Then, turning to Swole, “and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Swole walked to the curb, waiting for the traffic to thin out so she could cross, while I mounted my bike once again, driving it across the street to the bar. I was damn close to being late for the meeting, but for once, I didn’t care. My mind was too preoccupied with a brunette. I couldn’t resist looking back across the street once I’d parked in The Blue Dog’s parking lot, but she was already gone.
Four
Erica
Don’t even think about it.
