by Geri Glenn
“Who is that?” I ask the ladies, not giving a shit who answers, as long as I get one.
A round of “I don’t know” leaves me clueless, but I still stand there and watch her. I can’t tear my eyes off her. She marches around the site, barking orders and pointing out where things need to be moved to. She’s bossy, that much I can tell. She looks fearless. She looks like a snob.
She looks like she’s walking straight towards us.
Four
Veronica
There are people everywhere. Security at this event is going to be a nightmare. My attention is drawn to the loud sound of Harleys as the rest of the Savage Angels MC pulls into our camp at Sturgis. They climb off their bikes and there’s shoulder slapping, laughter and it’s quickly getting out of control.
“Bear! I need you to get those bikes moved away from here and on the other side of the buses,” I bellow at him. His old lady Sharon-Ann gives me a withering look and whispers something in his ear. Laughter escapes his large frame as he nods and she gives me a sarcastic smile.
I raise an eyebrow at her and turn around to find the security guards.
“You! Find the person you’ve been assigned to, now!” I say loudly to one of the security guards as he steps out of the bus.
“Yes, Ma’am!” He smiles at me and walks toward the first bus.
The other security guards follow suit and Kat stands beside me.
“Veronica, we are safe here,” says Kat quietly.
“Yes, and I intend to keep you that way,” I quickly reply.
“The Savage Angels are one of the largest MC’s in the country and my husband is the President of them. I’m safe. My band is safe. You need to relax.”
I turn to look at Kat, although she’s talking to me, her eyes are on Dane. He’s walking toward her, smiling and she practically melts at the sight of him. When he reaches her, his massive frame envelopes her and the kiss is enough to make anyone blush. I turn my head and see a group of women and a man on the edge of our camp, one of them has a dog on a harness.
Inwardly I sigh. Fans. Great. The VP of the Savage Angels, Jonas is making his way toward Dane and I meet him halfway.
“Jonas, how are we going to keep them all safe?” I nod toward the group of onlookers.
He frowns at me and looks at the group. “They’re keeping their distance. It’s a rally V. The Grinders are famous. People are going to stare. If you’re worried, you go over and warn them off.”
His green eyes light up when Addy and Ben get off one of the buses. “Talk to you later, V.”
Jonas is a good-looking man. Not as big muscle wise but still a hell of a physique.
“My name is Veronica,” I say acidly as he walks away.
He laughs, nods and keeps walking without a backward glance. I’ll say this for the MC boys, once they’ve made a claim on a woman they don’t appear to have eyes for anyone else.
I look back at the onlookers as they talk amongst themselves. Jamie, the drummer for The Grinders, steps off the bus and walks toward me.
“Hey, Veronica, how you doing?” Jamie has a shaved head and crystal blue eyes.
The onlookers grab onto one another and are obviously talking about him.
“We have fans here.”
“Fuck I hope so! Wouldn’t be much point in being here if we didn’t.” Jamie’s smile is contagious and I smile back.
“Where’s your bodyguard?”
“On the bus,” Jamie replies sheepishly.
“No, no, no! We agreed, we all agreed, none of you go anywhere without a bodyguard.”
“Jesus, Veronica, we aren’t in a war-torn country. Yes, things get a bit wild at these things but the MC’s generally keep the peace for the sake of the gathering. Otherwise it wouldn’t be on. Calm down, have some fun,” Jamie leans down and whispers, “get laid.”
My mouth falls open and I meet his eyes, he winks, the cheeky bastard. “I’m working and you agreed to have security or I’m pulling the pin on this right now,” I say forcefully.
Jamie holds his hands up in surrender and waves at one of the security team guys. The man jogs over to us.
“Veronica, meet Bruce, he’ll be sticking with me like glue from now on.”
I offer them both a tight smile and walk toward the onlookers.
Looks are exchanged between them and one of the women is talking to the one with the dog. The man eyes me warily.
“Hello. I’m Veronica Argent, associate manager to The Grinders. I take it you’re fans?” I say cheerfully with a big fake smile.
“Oh my God, yes!” one of them gushes. “I’m Charlotte, and this here is Laynie, Anna, Ellen and Gear.”
“Are you looking forward to hearing them play?” I ask.
“We can’t wait! We’ve been dying to meet Kat.” She leans in close and stage whispers, “Do you think it’d be alright if we said hello?”
Before I can answer, the biker, Gear, says, “No, it’s not fucking alright, Charlotte. I already told you that.”
I can’t help the look of shock that goes across my face over the fact this man has just answered for me. I have no problem speaking for myself.
“Actually, I’m sure they’d love to meet you all, follow me.” I smile at the one called Gear and he just shakes his head, clearly not happy with me or my invitation.
Internally I’m berating myself for putting the band on display like this, but I will not have any man speak for me. The women all trail along but the biker stays put, his jaw set and his eyes hard.
I stop and look at him. “Not a fan?”
“That’s Savage Angel territory. I shouldn’t be the first member of Kings of Korruption they meet.”
The women all stop walking, suddenly looking unsure. This hadn’t occurred to me, club politics. I smile tightly at Gear and look at the women.
“Give me a minute, I’ll be right back.” I’m in heels but I could climb a mountain in them and I’m quickly back at Kat’s side. “Kat, there’s some people over here I’d like you to play rock star for and say hello but they are obviously tied to another MC and are nervous about crossing into our camp.”
“As well they fucking should be,” growls Dane.
“Oh, stop it. They’re fans. I don’t care what colors they’re in,” replies Kat as she heads toward the women.
Dane reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”
Kat gives him an exasperated look. “Fine! Come on, big guy, lead the way.”
Dane takes point with Kat and I trailing behind him. I glance up at the women and they look excited. Gear shakes his head and moves to stand with them, and I can’t help but notice the protective position he takes. He’s good looking in a rough sort of way. The way he’s looking at me right now causes me to run my hands over my hair smoothing it and to pull on my jacket.
Dane approaches the women but ignores them, eyes firmly on Gear. He holds out his hand and Gear grips it. “Dane.”
“Gear.”
Their greetings are brief but the handshake, even from where I’m standing, looks firm. The men size each other up and eventually break their hold.
Kat holds up a hand in a wave at the women and says, “I’m Kat. How are you ladies?”
She’s a trained professional, a rock star through and through, meeting the fans is something she’s done a thousand times. For the briefest of moments, the woman stare at her then they all talk at once.
I smile at them, give Gear a cursory glance, turn and walk back to the buses. I have a lot to organize before they perform. On my short walk back, Jamie and Jonas pass me as they head toward the small group. Jamie has a grin on his face and winks as he passes me. I shake my head at him and keep going.
Five
Gear
The girls are ridiculous, fluttering around these rock stars like they don’t put their fucking pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us. Veronica disappeared right after making the introductions, and I do
n’t want to show disrespect, but the rest of my club needs to be here. I whip out my phone and shoot off a quick message to Ryker, telling him to come collect his woman.
Dane just stands there, grinning at his woman as she does her rock star thing. He doesn’t even bother trying to make small talk and I’m okay with that. I stand close, keeping an eye on the women until Ryker, Tease, Jase and Reaper appear through the tree line.
Ryker approaches Dane. “Ryker Cole,” he says, thrusting his hand forward.
“Dane Reynolds,” Dane says, giving Ryker’s hand a firm shake.
Ryker points to the other Kings and introduces them by road name and position in the club. “We’re here to rescue you all from our crazy old ladies,” he says and Dane just chuckles.
“They’re harmless,” he replies. “Kat lives for this shit.”
I stop paying attention to their conversation and slip away as inconspicuously as I can, back to my little hidey hole in the woods. I set about getting the rest of my camp set up to the background noise of the girls giggling and chatting away with excitement. I’m happy for them that they got to meet their favorite band, but also a little annoyed. Ryker needs to have a chat with his old lady about club politics and how to go about approaching an unknown MC. That shit is dangerous, especially for an old lady.
The door to the bus opens once again with an airy whoosh and I can’t help but look up to see if it’s her. It is. Veronica steps down from the bus like she isn’t in the middle of a forest of bikers. She moves as if she’s in the middle of Wall Street.
I watch her as she stops and talks to one of the bikers in the band’s entourage. They seem familiar. Flirty even. I don’t like it. The possessive feeling I have towards her is fucked up and I don’t know where the hell it came from. I don’t like that either.
Like it or not though, it’s there. I’m drawn to her. I want nothing more than to take that tight ass bun out of her hair, grip her golden locks in my fist and bend her sweet little ass over one of those picnic tables.
When Veronica takes a seat in one of the fancy lawn chairs at the edge of their site, I feel myself drawn to her. I slip back through the trees and right onto Savage Angels territory once more, glad my own prez still has them occupied, and head straight for her.
“This seat taken?” I ask her, pointing to the chair directly beside her.
Her head whips up as if I’d startled her and she stares up at me with wide eyes. “Um … no. I guess not.”
I plop my ass down in the seat and cock a brow at her. “You don’t look like the type of girl that hangs with bikers.”
Her brows creep high on her forehead. “Is that so? And what kind of girl do I look like, exactly?”
Her cocky tone has my dick stirring inside my jeans. Fuck, this woman is something else. “The kind that likes control. Hard to be in control around a bunch of bikers.”
She huffs out a snarky laugh. “I assure you, Gear Shift, or whatever your name is, I have zero issues with staying in control. Now if you don’t mind, I have some work to do.”
Her bitchy attitude has me picturing spanking her ass as I have her over that table I’d pictured before. “It’s Gear.”
“I don’t care what it is. I don’t know if you’re trying to hit on me, or what, but if you are, you seriously need to work on your game. If you’re here for the band, that’s wonderful. They love all of their fans, but if you’re thinking you’re going to smooth talk your way into my skirt, you’re gravely mistaken.” She snaps her laptop closed and stands. “Good day, Gear.”
I watch her ass sway as she storms away. Why are all the hot ones such bitches?
Six
Veronica
The nerve of him! Yes, he’s tall, dark, handsome and that close-cropped beard is something I’d love to rub my…face on, but I’m not here for a good time, this is work. I’m walking as fast as I can and I swear I can feel his eyes on my body. I have my laptop tucked under my arm and I’m headed toward the site office. I’d like a few more security measures in place to make sure we can keep the crowds back if they surge forward.
When I arrive, there’s a queue. I join the end of it and am acutely aware that I am the only female in this line. The men not so subtly nudge each other and motion in my direction. I’m doing my best to look uninterested and oblivious to them. Inside I’m berating myself for not bringing a security guard or one of the Savage Angels boys with me.
“Tell me Princess, you ever ridden on the back of real man’s Harley?” asks a voice from behind me.
Slowly, I turn around and fix him with a look of disdain. “Actually, yes.”
Laughter erupts from the men around me and I turn back around. Hands land on my hips and I feel his body pressed against mine.
“You ever fucked on one though?”
Taking a step forward and to the side, I turn back around. “I work with the Savage Angels, if I wanted to fuck on a Harley, I’m sure they could arrange it,” I say as flatly as I can. I do not want this neanderthal thinking he’s gotten the best of me.
He grins at the men around us, nodding his head, arms spread wide. “Damn! Those Savage Angels boys got fancy club whores.” He leans into me as he says whore and his foul breath is laced with beer and garlic.
I can’t help it, I take another step back, cough and wave my hand in front of my face. “Oh for the love of God, take a breath mint!”
The laughter around me becomes louder and my foul-smelling friend gives me the once over, spits and walks away.
I turn back around to find the line has greatly diminished. Within five minutes I’m at the front of it and the organizer has eased my fears. They have their own security to make sure everyone who camps here is safe. I step back out into the sunshine and see the communal showers and toilets. Walking toward them I see a sign that indicates that although showering together saves water these showers are not co-ed. I chuckle to myself as I enter the building. No one is in here and I hurry into one of the toilet cubicles. It’s clean and I’m thankful for that.
I do what I need to do while trying to balance my laptop on my knees. I hear the door to the building open and close a couple of times but pay little attention to it. When I emerge from the cubicle, no one is in there, so I place my laptop on the bench and wash my hands. Just as I’m washing away the suds, the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. My eyes dart to the mirror in front of me. Standing just a few feet away, leaning on the wall, is my admirer from earlier at the office.
“You lost?” I ask caustically, even though my heart is racing out of control.
“You got a smart mouth, bitch.” He pushes off the wall and walks toward me.
I turn around. “Take another step and I’ll scream.”
A sinister grin spreads across his ugly face. “I fucking love it when they scream.”
I open my mouth to do just that, but this biker moves like lightening. His hand clamps over my lips, his legs go between mine and I’m hoisted up onto the counter. In one swift move, he rips the filthy bandana from around his neck and stuffs it into my mouth. I taste sweat and body odor and grime. His green eyes are full of lust. I scream but the bandana muffles it.
“Now, bitch, you are going to see how a real man likes to fuck.”