With her thoughts on the devastatingly attractive man in her living room, Charley hurried through her shower and blow-dried her hair. Dabbing on mascara and lipstick, she put on a short black dress and black stilettos. When she joined him, Sully stood. He’d traded his sweatshirt for a button-down shirt, and it was his turn to look her up and down. She felt her cheeks heat, and when he grinned, she did a little curtsy.
“Damn,” Sully said in a husky voice, hands splaying on his hips.
“What do you feel like eating?” she asked him.
His grin grew cocky, and he said, “You.”
“Sully!” She wasn’t a hundred percent sure what he meant, but a blast-fire of bashfulness heated her cheeks. She swallowed and asked, “How about a steak?”
“Sounds good.” Sully held out the extra keys to her that had come with the new doorknobs and locks.
“I don’t have anyone to give the extra keys to. Why don’t you keep them for now? You know, in case I lock myself out.”
Sully took her hand and locked the door behind them. In the parking area just outside of her apartment, he openedthe passenger’s door of the truck. But before Charley got in, he pulled her to him for a kiss. Charley’s heart raced as his muscular arms circled her and molded her to his hard body. She rose on tiptoes, and when his tongue touched her lips, she opened her mouth. His hand slipped under her long, loose hair to the nape of her neck, and her tongue met his. His lips melted hers, and when he gently broke the kiss, she turned and slid into his truck. Ten minutes down Colorado Avenue put them in the heartbeat of Colorado Springs.
“What’s your favorite steakhouse?” she asked.
“Ever been to Southside Suzy’s?”
“Once for lunch on my twenty-first birthday.”
“How long ago was that?”
She arched a brow. “Four years.”
“So, you’re twenty-five.”
“Yes. And you’re?—”
“Thirty-two,” he said, pulling into a parking space. “Ever married?”
“Never,” she said. “You?”
“Never. Engaged?”
“No, and I’ve never lived with anyone.”
“Same here,” Sully said with a smile. “Yeehaw.”
“Yeehaw.” Charley giggled.
Sully turned off the engine and hopped out of his truck. He came around to her side and helped her out. He looped her arm through his, and they went into the busy restaurant. Folks from all walks of life from Colorado Springs and beyond dined at this well-known eatery.
“Hi Vince,” Sully said to the semi-retired, older gentleman behind the bar.
“Hey, Sully boy, how’re you?” Vincent South asked.
“Great. Think you have room for us somewhere for dinner?”
“I bet we do,” he replied as his daughter, Suzy, walked toward them.
“Hi, Sully, good to see you,” Suzy said. She had short, spiked hair, a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, and a big smile.
On the way here, Sully had told Charley that Suzy co-owned the establishment with her father. Her boyfriend, Richard, was the undisputed leader of the Sons of Steel motorcycle club and a longtime friend of Sully’s and the Cooper family as well.
“Suzy, good to see you too,” Sully replied. “This is my friend, Charley. She owns the ranch across the highway and down the road from Triple C Ranch-East.”
“Any friend of the Coopers is a friend of ours,” Richard, tall and slim with coal black hair and beard and wearing his motorcycle colors, said. Charley instinctively figured Richard was a good friend to have. But if you were a foe, he and his club were probably a force to be reckoned with. “Welcome, Charley.”
