“So much security…” I mused, as Ashley steered me up the driveway, past the lineup of security guys, his hand on the small of my back. I supposed they recognized him, because they didn’t stop us.
I knew Dirty was famous, of course… but I’d never seen anything quite likethis.
“They’ll want to make sure Dolly’s place is locked down,” Ash told me. “Jude takes this stuff pretty seriously. Lot of famous guests, plus, some of the regular security guys who’re tight with Brody and the band will be wedding guests, so they’ll need others to fill in.”
“That makes sense.”
“Also… a lot of Dirty’s personal security guys are Kings, and when there’s a bunch of Kings in one place doing something like attending a wedding, they have their own security. Last thing anyone needs is some rival bikers sniffing out that they’re here and starting shit.”
“Oh.Wow.”
I already knew Haz and some of the other security guys were bikers, members of the West Coast Kings MC, but it was still kind of a foreign concept to me. I’d had a certain preconception about bikers before meeting Haz, but in my limited experience, it didn’t quite add up to the reality. Like, I knew Haz was an “outlaw” in that other part of his life. But that was just too strange to wrap my head around. Haz was a sweetheart.
At least, he’d always been one to me.
Ashley drew me over to one of the giant dudes who stood at the top of the driveway, in front of the house. “Let me introduce you to Jude,” he said as we approached.
Dirty’s head of security greeted Ashley with a handshake, and he looked pretty much like I’d expected he would. Tall, muscular,scary. He was also exotically gorgeous, with deep, dark eyes, dark hair, and tattoos all down his arms… and some very lucky, very sexy woman with black hair and a black dress wrapped around his side.
“Jude, Roni… this is Danica,” Ashley introduced me.
“Well… hi,” Roni said. She looked me over and smiled as I shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
Then I shook with Jude, who nodded at me but said nothing, just as Haz approached. He was with some big blond guy with a man-bun, who smiled at me. Another biker, maybe. They weren’t wearing their leather vests today, though they were all pretty much wearing black, in their own interpretations of rock-star-wedding casual.
Haz and Ash shook hands. They always did that, even though they were pretty close friends by now.
“Hey, Danica,” Haz said, and he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hi, Hayden,” I said, because I preferred calling Haz by his actual name rather than his biker name. Maybe because it made him seem less scary, and reminded me that he was just a dude—a dude who put his neck on the line for my man, every time they went out in public together.
“This is Connor,” Ashley told me, after shaking hands with the blond. “Dylan’s bodyguard.”
Which meant Dylan was already here, maybe. I hadn’t met Dylan yet.
“Call me Con,” he said, shaking my hand and casually looking me over. He seemed particularly impressed with my boobs. “You need anything, I’m off-duty tonight. So.”
“Did you just hit on my date?” Ashley said, sounding more impressed with the audacity of it than offended.
“Hey, just wanted to let her know her options.”
“How about you don’t,” Jude said, and that seemed to shut Con up.
“Relax, boys,” Roni said, threading her arm through Jude’s. “There are enough girls and beers to go around.” Then she winked at me.
“On that note…” Ashley put his arm around my waist. “We need a drink.” Jude patted Ash on the shoulder, and he led me away, into the yard.
“Your friends are cute,” I told my boyfriend, and when he threw me a look, I grinned.
“Notthatcute,” he said.
A caterer drifted by and Ashley plucked a couple of glasses of champagne from the tray for us. I took a sip; a few sips of booze were probably a good idea. You know, loosen up. I wasn’t all that nervous about this event, in general, but I was about to meet alotof Ashley’s people all at once.
I’d met many of his friends by now, even a couple of the Penny Pushers—Coop and Janner. They’d probably be here today.
But this was the first time I’d be meeting the whole Dirty family.
