Chapter Two
“What the fuck does she see in that wuss,” Aaron “Sin” Sails said over the rim of his bottled IPA. He shook his head in disgust. “I’ll never know what beautiful women find attractive in men like Fletcher. A worm has more personality.”
“Money maybe. Some women like bad boys. Others like men with guns.” Arrow Stonebriar flexed his muscles.
“What would you know about guns?” Echo showed off his toned arms.
“Hey, these are regulation?” Arrow joked.
Echo snorted. “Regulation? Those look like they come standard with desk duty.”
“Desk duty? I bet I can outrun, outsmart, and outdo you any day, buddy,” Arrow shot back confidently.
“Last time you ran it was to grab dinner,” Sin chimed in. “And you pulled a hamstring. True hero.”
The group of men laughed.
“Did anyone ask your opinion?” Arrow smirked.
Sin shrugged. “Just spreading the wealth of my knowledge.”
There wasn’t much the men loved more than agitating one another.
Bear remained quiet. He kept his attention glued to the couple sitting at the bar. Aasia and Fletcher were leaned in close, and both seemed agitated. Were they arguing? Was Fletcher breaking up with her as his mother had demanded? Bear had toease up on his grip that he had on his bottle, or he might shatter the glass. A big part of him wanted to storm over and punch the dirty bastard in his perfectly squared jaw.
Aasia shifted slightly on the barstool and her chin came up. She noticed Bear staring and he didn’t shy away. She offered him a semi smile. He responded with a dip of his Stetson. His unwavering gaze stayed on her across the dusty planked floor of Oscar’s long after she went back to her conversation with Fletcher. The neon light above her painted the curves of her face with a blue glow. She was beautiful enough to make his heart skip a few beats.
A lone tendril of hair had escaped from the mass of mahogany waves that draped her shoulders. The lone strand looked stark against her cheek. The close-fitting top showed off her firm breasts and the sparkling navel ring above the low waist of the cutoff jean shorts. Although she was dressed pretty much like every other woman in the place, there was something different about her. Maybe in the way she carried herself with subtle dignity.
Bear admired very few things in life. A well-trained horse, a sunset and Aasia. She could only be described as captivating. She had no idea how much he wanted her. Or did she?
Seeing her with Fletcher sickened Bear.
Her tongue came out to roll across her top lip and his breathing stopped for a second. Her big eyes were sponges to the neon light around her, making them two blue beams. Bear hated that Fletcher was on the receiving end of that look. He didn’t deserve to be in her presence.
Bear sat there in a room full of music and chatter, absolutely intoxicated, not on alcohol but on the woman sitting fifty feet away.
“Are you listening?”
Echo’s question dragged Bear back to the team. “What did I miss?”
“Who do you think killed Silver?” Zane Taylor asked in a lowered voice.
Bear tugged at the wiry whiskers on his jaw and shrugged. “The man had more enemies than there are stinkbugs at the ranch. Your guesses are as good as mine.”
“Far as I’m concerned the world is a better place without him above ground,” Arrow said. “Cheers to another one gone.”
They all lifted their drinks in salute and took a long celebratory draught.
Although Bear could see their point, knowing Silver would kill his own brother if it would help him get ahead, he also saw the situation from a different angle. Someone wanted the cartel member dead so he couldn’t talk. Texas Heat had known for a long time that Silver had a list hidden somewhere that could bring down a helluva lot of people in high places. Whatever he knew was now buried with him—unless they could find that list that several witnesses had made references to in interviews.
There was movement at the bar. Fletcher answered his phone and Aasia sat alone.
~*~
Everything seemed to be extra noisy around Aasia as she sat at the bar with Bentley. His mood was about as awkward as the thick, stale air inside Oscar’s. Over the two years they’d been together they’d broken up more times than she could count. They still hadn’t patched up the last time they got into an argument and he ended things.
She brushed back a strand of hair and sighed. “What do you need to talk to me about?" she asked him. Lately, she wasn’t certain she cared what he was up to, or who he was seeing. Intruth, she would prefer to be sitting with Bear—even though he seemed to be brooding tonight.
