Her beauty is undeniable, but when she turns and holds my eyes, still speaking to her friend, I feel it again. Something deeper that is pulling me in. But while I’m cataloging her details, I can’t yet form the root or solution of her—and that leads me toneedmore, because usually women don’t entice me, they don’t perplex me or call to me, yet she does.
I sip my drink thinking of how she looked at me with suchdisregard yet her nipples hardened under her thin white shirt as I approached her. How she shuddered under my touch but her eyes went wide when they met mine, screamingplease worship meanddefile meall at the same time.
I look out toward the rain and see it isn’t letting up yet, then back toher.
“You gonna take your shot, motherfucker, or keep making eyes at that stunner behind the bar?” Kai jokes. “Christ I may have to—”
I push past him, hard enough that he steps back a bit. “Don’t even think about fucking looking at her,” I mutter.
Kai and Mason both guffaw at my words.
“She’s fucking tasty. I’ll give you that, so if we’re gonna have to wait while you rail her in the bathroom, let us know and we’ll rack another game without you.” Kai’s eyes drift toward the bar and I move to stand in his way, flexing my fist and pissed off at myself more than him. I have no idea why I’m instantly so protective of her, because it isn’t my fucking style.
“I said,don’tfucking look at her.”
Kai pats me on the shoulder. “You got it, boss, but you better make your move quick. Looks like she’s heading out, and we should too, as soon as that rain lets up. Shel and Prez will have our fucking heads for being late.”
I glance toward the bar again and find her eyes across the room; she involuntarily licks her lips. Fascinating. It’s clear that she has no idea the look she’s wearing is one of pure unfiltered lust. Her cheeks pinken as we lock eyes, but she doesn’t look away how I would expect her to and I let myself imagine all the other ways I could make her blush like that for me. Then she turns, her eyes fluttering as she casts another glance at me over her shoulder before disappearing behind the doorway to the back, her hand sliding down the frame as I hear her words in my head.
Do your best, babe.
I flex my fists as I contemplate her words. An invitation she didn’t even understand herself. With just the memory of those words, I feel the same sort of itch that spreads under my skin when I’m about to hunt a man down. It’s this hyperawareness of not letting go, of making sure I follow through, cleanly and precisely. Only, I don’t want to kill her. On the contrary. I want to make her feel alive—and then, if I discover she is like every other woman I’ve ever touched, I can just move on with my fucking day.
Mason hits the pool table when he sinks an impossible shot and I give my head a shake, though my mind is already made up as I set my cue in its holder and turn it so it lines up perfectly to match the rest. “I’m not finished here yet. Text Prez and tell him we’re gonna be late.”
“Christ,” Kai breathes out. “Just don’t get us arrested. This face wouldn’t last a day in jail.”
I hear him chuckle as I leave them behind and begin my hunt.
I’ve learned over time that if I move with enough confidence, no one will ever question me. Even when I walk right into the back of a restaurant where I clearly don’t belong.
The servers scurry like roaches under a Maglite as I stride to the back in a steady, even pace, breathing in the sweet scent she left behind. All of the employees pretend they don’t notice me because no one wants to be the one to tell me I’m not authorized to cross the threshold of the bar. They’re best to stay out of my way anyway. I’m full of unbridled need, and I don’t know what I might be capable of if someone gets in my way, because in allof my thirty-two years, I’ve never chased down awomanlike this before.
The more I think about her, the more the anticipation and need to find her consumes me. The sweetest hint of vanilla and peach fills my senses, and as I walk I grin with the satisfaction of knowing she’s close and that my chance to unravel her, to find out if I’m right, is coming.
CHAPTER FIVE
Layla
I swallow the burn of a shot of whiskey in the break room. We aren’t really supposed to drink during our shifts, but I think I need it to get through tonight. I’ve just closed the magazine I’ve been staring at for the last ten minutes without reading a word.
“Holy shit, it’s a busy night out there!” Amber, one of the night servers, says as she breezes into the break room and reaches for the cigarettes in her bag. She’s pretty and kind. Her family is from Thailand and her parents split their time between here and there still, but she rarely goes back with them when they travel, choosing to stay alone in their upscale home when they’re gone. She was the first one to befriend me when I started here, and she smiles at me now. Her dark hair is cut into long layers with wispy bangs, and she’s always styled to perfection.
“It’s the rain,” I tell her as I stand and straighten my skirt. “It brings everyone in, because what else are they gonna do in a hundred-degree heat and a thunderstorm?”
“Yeah, and it’s still pouring. I heard it’s supposed to last all night.”
Great.
“Makes you wonder how long the bikers will stay. Don’t see them around here, ever.” Amber pulls the thought from my head as she fiddles with tucking her shirt into her tight black dress pants.
I look at my reflection in the mirror, seeing the eyes of my mother staring back at me. Grief washes over me and I swallow down the lump in my throat. There are moments I almost see her. Almost feel her hand over mine, or see her eyes crinkle in the corners as she smiles.
I’ve had this vision since she died and it clouds my mind—the woman behind the bars, clinging to them. The woman isn’t either of us per se, more a mix, but she looks like us and she’s begging to be freed. It isn’t unusual to see me in her, but after the encounter with Ax at the bar just now and the way I spoke my mind, she looks different—a little bolder now, as if there is a glimmer of hope. As if her freedom might be a possibility.
“Three bikers in our club is like mainstream news,” I comment, keeping my eyes on my reflection.
“They aren’t difficult to look at, if you know what I mean,” Amber snickers as she applies her own lipstick and pushes her tits up. “God, the biggest one ishot. Like, I’d scale him like a tree if I wasn’t afraid he’d do some weird shit like tie me up and spank me red.”
