I didn’t have a lot of experience with romance, but as I sat in the middle of my bed, looking at the engagement ring I was holding between my fingers, I couldn’t help thinking that this was the least romantic engagement ever. The ring was gorgeous, of course. My mom had picked it out. It was a three-stone, round-cut diamond ring with a fourteen carat white-gold band. The thing reflected light like a mini disco ball.
It was big and designed to attract attention. Not my style at all, but it would probably look great in pictures, which was the whole point.
I put the ring back inside the little black box with a sigh. I hadn’t even been able to bring myself to try it on. This whole thing was spiraling out of control. I had agreed to marry the man that my parents wanted me to be with three years ago, but now that they wanted to make the engagement official, I couldn’t help wondering if I’d made a mistake. Who ever heard of an arranged marriage in these modern times?
I got off the bed and placed the ring on my dresser. It would stay there until the engagement was announced in two weeks. Until then, I was going to try not to stress about it. I’d gotten myself into this situation, and I’d have to deal with it when the time came.
I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was time to head to the soup kitchen. I made it out of the house without delay this time, so I was the first volunteer to arrive today. There was only street parking, so I didn’t pay any attention to the motorcycle at the curb as I shuffled past with another box of non-perishable food.
Then I stepped inside the door, and the heavy box was taken from my hands. I looked up, expecting to see Sean, but the smile froze on my face as I found myself staring into Butch’s grinning face.
What the hell?
“Ah, Sabrina, you’re here,” Sean said as he walked out of the kitchen and caught sight of me lingering in the doorway with a dumbstruck look on my face. “This is Butch. He’s here to help us out.”
Butch put the box down on a nearby table, then turned back to me, looking perfectly at ease. It was as if he wasn’t rattled by my presence at all.
“You’ve come to volunteer?” I asked Butch, my eyes wide.
That would mean working side by side in the kitchen and while serving the food. His proximity was going to drive me crazy. I could already feel warmth spreading through my body at his nearness, the result of a blooming desire. I was like a horny teenager around him.
“Not quite,” he said, giving me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. There was something different about him. He seemed colder somehow, like he was angry with me.
I gulped. Maybe it had been wrong of me to slip away before he woke up the morning after we had sex. I had convinced myself that it was the best option at the time, but now, looking into his eyes again just a few days later, I wasn’t so sure about that.
“Butch is here to arrange a fund raiser for us on behalf of Black Satin and Outlaw Souls.”
I recognized the name of Butch’s motorcycle club, but the other one was foreign to me.
“Black Satin?”
Butch chuckled, and the low sound went straight between my legs.
God, what was the deal with my libido around this guy? I would have thought that I got him out of my system when I went home with him the other night, but I wanted him now more than ever.
“It’s a…” Sean hesitated, looking uncomfortable as his eyes turned down and he rubbed the back of his neck. I was shocked to see a pink color spread over his cheeks.
“Strip club,” Butch finished for him. “I work there.”
“You’re...a male stripper?” my voice was faint. The idea of him dancing provocatively while slowly peeling off layers of clothing to reveal his sculpted body made my knees feel weak. Of course, I would only want him to do that for me.
My mind conjured the image of my ridiculously expensive engagement ring, and I reminded myself that I had no business wanting that or anything else from this man. I couldn’t get seriously involved with anyone other than my soon-to-be fiancé.
“Bouncer,” Butch corrected, looking amused. “Black Satin is a ladies-only stage.”
“Oh.”
So he saw naked strippers every night? I didn’t love that. Butch smirked as if he could see the flicker of jealousy inside of me. I needed to work on my poker face.
“Butch is also a member of Outlaw Souls, the motorcycle gang,” Sean said.
“It’s a club, not a gang,” Butch correted.
“What’s the difference?” I asked, tilting my head to the side as I regarded him.
“Club sounds better.” Butch’s smile turned coquettish and an unstoppable giggle bubbled up in my throat, the sound light and girly.
“What kind of fundraiser did you have in mind?” I asked. This still felt like a dream, having Butch crop up in my life so unexpectedly like this. I was half-expecting to wake up in my bed any minute now.
