by Dahlia West
Ava raised an eyebrow at her best friend. “It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that Jonah’s headed there now.”
Sienna blushed but didn’t reply.
“Stalking’s illegal in South Dakota,” Ava pointed out. She was trying to keep it light but this thing with Jonah had stalled. As far as Ava knew, Sienna and Jonah had kissed once. Ava didn’t want to talk about it. Picturing her brother making out wasn’t high on her list of leisurely pastimes. Thankfully, Sienna never wanted to talk about it, either, but apparently she hadn’t let it go.
Sienna leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the steering wheel. “I wasn’t stalking.”
“Sure you weren’t.”
“I wasn’t!” Sienna insisted without lifting her head. “I was out driving. He was out driving. I saw him... the car turned on its own.”
Ava snorted.
“I just wanted to know.”
It was difficult not to sympathize. Sienna was awesome, as far as Ava was concerned. And as long as nobody offered up any details, Ava was perfectly happy for her BFF to date her brother. Unfortunately, Jonah wasn’t as enthusiastic.
“He’s not seeing anyone,” Ava told Sienna. It was a small comfort, to be sure, but it was something. “At least, not that I’ve ever seen.”
Sienna lifted her head wearily. “So, why not me?”
Ava clucked her tongue trying to come up with a reply. In the end, she merely shrugged. “We don’t have to go there. If Jonah saw us anyway, we’d probably be toast.”
“You think he’d tell Adam?”
Ava shrugged again. It was impossible to predict what Jonah Stark would do on any given day. He and Ava might share a last name but the similarities ended there. “Maybe, maybe not.”
Sienna reached for the ignition and twisted the key. “We can just drive by.”
“Sienna...”
“We can drive by,” she argued. “There’s no law against it. Your biker might be there.”
“And if he is, we’re going to sneak inside? Surrounded by bikers and ex-military and roughneck cowboys?” This didn’t exactly seem like their scene, especially not Sienna’s. Ava grinned at her relatively-timid friend. “Then what?”
Her teasing didn’t go over as well as she hoped. Sienna shook out her shoulder length brown hair and squared her shoulders. Her expression turned a startling mix of stern and angry. “You know what? I don’t know, Ava. Because I don’t know what happens when you come face-to-face with a guy you like who really likes you, too. But you’re going to find out. One of us should.”
She slammed the Oldsmobile’s shifter into Drive and stepped on the gas. The tires spun for a moment, kicking up gravel from the tiny parking lot. Sienna managed to recover as the ancient vehicle rocketed forward.
Ava grabbed the door handle. “Easy there, Speed Racer,” she cautioned with a laugh.
Sienna smiled, too, and Ava was relieved. “Maybe you should drive.”
“Maybe I should. First rule of racing,” Ava told her with a sharp nod of the head. “Eyes on the road.”
Sienna turned her attention to the cross street and angled the vehicle onto the asphalt. “What’s the second rule?”
“Don’t crash.”
Sienna snorted. “I would be the only person to crash on the way to the bar.”
They made it across town in record time, especially since it was Sienna driving. She slowed the Olds as they passed a roach motel called the Rainbow and neared the bar at the end of the street.
“You could take him there,” Sienna giggled, nodding at the rundown building.
Ava wrinkled her nose. “Pass. I have standards.”
“Well, you do now,” Sienna pointed out.
Ava’s jaw twitched. Being reminded of Clint annoyed her. She shot Sienna a harsh look.
“Hey,” Sienna said, raising her hands. “Better than me, maybe. I don’t have any regrets. I don’t have anything to regret. I don’t have anything at all.”
They rolled past the full parking lot. Rows upon rows of bikes, trucks, and beater cars gleamed under the streetlights. Jonah’s Harley wasn’t there, at least, though Sienna probably wasn’t too happy about that.
Ava thought she heard her friend sigh, but ignored it. They were almost at the corner when Ava caught a glimpse of something. “Hang on,” she ordered, putting a hand on Sienna’s leg.
Sienna hit the brakes and Ava leaned across her, scrutinizing the lot. She’d almost missed it. In between a row of huge-ass Harleys sat a lone, red Honda Interceptor.
“Which one is it?” Sienna whispered.
Ava raised an eyebrow at her. “No one can hear you. And it’s the Honda. Like mine, almost.” Pretty far from ‘almost’ but Sienna wouldn’t know the difference.
“Oh, yeah. Duh,” she giggled. Then she frowned. “How do we get in? We can’t just walk through the front door. What if there’s a bouncer?”
Ava scanned the door but didn’t see anyone standing out front. Sienna was right, though. There could be a bouncer just inside and then they’d be busted. She chewed her lower lip. “Go around back,” she suggested.
Sienna turned and drove slowly down the adjacent block.
Ava peered out the window. “There,” she said, pointing. “There’s a side door.”
It wasn’t as well-lit as the front. Ava thought that was probably a good thing.
“Turn here,” she told Sienna. “Away from the bar.”
They parked away from the bar, locked the Olds, and got out. Ava hustled Sienna down the street and to the side door of Maria’s Bar.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Sienna whispered fiercely as Ava grasped the door handle.
She shrugged. She’d done far worse. She’d done things even Sienna didn’t know about.
Ava tugged on the handle and the heavy door creaked open. The muffled music sharpened. “Wait, though,” she ordered and let the door close again.
“Why?” Sienna asked, though honestly she looked a bit relieved.
Ava reached out and popped the button on Sienna’s shirt.
Sienna grabbed the fabric and pulled it back, slightly. “Ava!” she hissed.
“We have to look like we belong. Not like high school girls.”
“Recent high school graduates!” Sienna shot back.
“So, show me some skin,” Ava demanded.
Sienna hesitated. Something in her eyes changed. Ava could see it, even in the dark. “Sienna?” she asked gently. “What’s wrong?”
Sienna sniffed. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” She reached up and undid another button. She tugged open her shirt and pushed up her tits until cleavage made an appearance.
Sienna certainly had a lot more up top than Ava did. Ava always thought it was odd that she never showed it off. If Ava had it, she’d flaunt it.
Sienna shook out her hair. Her eyes looked defiant, almost angry. “Sluts it is, then.”
Before Ava could say anything, Sienna flung open the metal door and stalked inside.
Chapter Six
Ava took one last look over the parking lot and ducked inside herself. They were in a small hallway, flanked by doors. Men’s room, Ladies’ room, Employees Only. Ava passed up all three.
She grabbed Sienna’s arm and headed toward the main room. Loud country music was blaring, thumping the walls. “Just act like you’ve been here a million times,” Ava told her friend. If that wasn’t enough, surely the cleavage was.
When they exited the hallway, Ava realized the place was bigger than it looked on the outside. The dance floor was large and packed with people. It was a veritable sea of boots and Stetsons. The occasional leather jacket broke up the monotony. To the right, the actual bar gleamed, lit from behind. A tall, older blond woman stood behind it, pouring drinks faster than a cowboy could sling a Colt at high noon.
Ava ducked away from that side of the room and steered Sienna to the left. The farther they were from anyone who worked here, the better.
They weaved their way through the crowd. Ava scanned it for a familiar, handsome face.
From behind them, someone practically shouted, “Well, hey there!” The music really was way too loud.
Sienna turned first, then Ava. Ava sighed. Not who she was looking for, but at least it wasn’t Jonah. The young cowboy in front of them grinned. “Haven’t seen you before,” he commented.
Sienna shifted nervously. “Yeah, um, we don’t— ”
“How can you be sure?” Ava yelled back, cutting off Sienna. “The place is crazy.”
His grin widened. “Oh, I’m sure I’d remember.”
Ava resisted rolling her eyes but Sienna smiled.
In a ridiculous parody of an old movie, he offered Sienna his arm. “Wanna dance?” he asked her.
Sienna snuck a questioning look at Ava. Ava could see that her friend really wanted to say yes. Ava couldn’t exactly blame her for being tired of sitting at home night after night, waiting for a phone call that never came. She nodded. Sienna practically squealed.
Before she could accept, Ava snagged her elbow and leaned closer. “Don’t leave the building. Don’t drink anything.”
Sienna nodded. Ava wasn’t all that worried. Sienna was sheltered but mostly by choice. Her mother required a little too much supervision, proving to Ava that even if you had a bio mom, that was no guarantee she’d be worth a damn. Miriam Stark had been all anyone could ask for, really, and she shared a backyard with Sienna and her mom for most of Sienna’s life, making her Sienna’s surrogate mom most of the time. Both Ava and Sienna had lucked out that way.
Ava left Sienna to figure out a Texas two-step and went in search of her own dance partner.
As she made her way through the crowd, a cowboy in a faded chambray shirt and dusty boots appeared by her side. He was grizzled, though, and smelled like cheap beer. He hadn’t shaved in a while. Ava was too afraid to take a deep whiff for fear that it was because he hadn’t showered in a while, either.
She glared at him, narrowing her eyes and clenching her jaw. The message was clear enough without having to actually say, “Back off.” His alcohol haze must not have been too thick, because he gave up without a word and receded back into the gyrating whirl of bodies.
Ava made it out the other side relatively unscathed. Only one person had stepped on her boot. Ahead of her was a raised area of the bar, filled with pool tables. Her eyes fell upon a small group of men off to one side. All of them were older but seriously hot. None of them had women with them, though, and she found that odd. When she realized the third man was the one she was searching for, she was glad that was the case.
Having to fight off a bunny in a biker bar was beneath her.
One of them noticed her staring and gave her a curious look. After a few seconds, he tapped the younger man on the shoulder. He glanced at his friend questioningly, then turned to follow his gaze. His eyes scanned the dance floor until they settled on Ava. She felt a jolt in her belly.
Damn.
She hadn’t remembered wrong. Holy shit. The bar was dark but it didn’t obscure him at all. He was taller than she would have assumed, but not by a lot. His dark hair framed his eyes, eyes that were practically boring into her from across the large space.
Without looking back at his friend, he passed over his cue and headed toward her. His long strides took him effortlessly across the wooden floor.
Ava realized that she didn’t think he could get to her fast enough.
Maybe he thought the same because he began to move faster.
As she watched him make his way toward her, a table in the back caught her eye. She froze. Two guys were at a table, sipping beers. One she’d never seen before; the other was Jonah.
Instinctively, Ava took a step back.
“Damn it,” she muttered to herself.
Jonah had few friends, as far as Ava knew, but apparently he hung out with them more than she would have guessed.
She turned away quickly and darted back through the crowd. She cursed her luck as she pushed people out of her way. Oh well, she’d known it was a risk to come here. It had still seemed worth it at the time.
On her way back across the room, she searched the crowd, trying to spot Sienna and her cowboy. It was dark, though, and there was little elbow room. She didn’t see any familiar faces.
Across the dance floor now, she hurried past the jukebox. Her phone was in her jeans pocket and she’d call Sienna when she got outside. She was just a few feet from the door when she was caught from behind. Suddenly, she was whirling and the green exit sign spun before her eyes. In the space of a second, she was facing the wrong way, back pressed up against the wall, pinned.
“Where are you going so damn fast?”
Ava’s heart was caught in her throat. Dark eyes pierced her, muscled arms held her in place against the wall. Damn, he even smelled good.
She swallowed hard, trying to catch her breath. “Didn’t see anything I liked,” she said with a shrug.
“Oh, is that right?”
He leaned in, putting his face just inches from hers.
Ava forgot the real reason. She forgot everything, even how to breathe.
“I see something I like.”
He wasn’t touching her. His palms were pressed against the wall on either side of her. He was close, but not too close. Or maybe not close enough.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
Ava didn’t answer.
Undeterred by her silence, he grasped her arm gently and turned it over. “Hmm,” he said thoughtfully. “Adam, Dalton, Jonah, DJ?” He raised his eyes to her. “So... what’s a guy gotta do to get on the list?”
She laughed and pulled her arm away. “Doesn’t take much to get in me. Not many can get on me.” Sort of true and this guy didn’t need to know anything about her, anyway. Ava had spread pretty easily for Clint, her ex. He’d broken her heart, but she’d decided that was her own fault. In the end she figured it wasn’t opening her legs that was the problem, it was opening her heart.
Guys were good for a ride or two, but you had to get off... and then get off. At least that’s what they did.
His hand slid down her arm and fell to her hip. The thump of the music in the other room vibrated the wall he had her pinned against. Maybe that was why he started to lean in close, to make sure she could hear him. Ava decided she didn’t care why.
He pushed her hair to one side and ran a finger down her jawline. “How old are you?”
Put off by the question, she pushed on his chest. He didn’t back away, though. “Old enough,” she insisted.
He was unimpressed. “And how old is that? Exactly.”
“Twenty-one.” She hoped he believed her. Being kicked out of the bar would be humiliating, to say the least.
He snorted. “If that.”
Ava jutted up her chin. “Twenty-one,” she said more firmly. “You wanna check my driver’s license?”
He grinned at her. “You have one, chica? I’m shocked. Seems like RCPD would’ve taken it away by now.”
“Oh really? Did they take yours? Don’t forget, I’ve seen you race, too.”
He laughed. “Nah. I race, baby, but I don’t get caught. But you? I don’t know.” He reached down to her arm again and clucked in admonition. “Not sure you have the best judgment. All these guys.”
Irritation rose in Ava’s belly again. She could correct him, but why bother? He didn’t need to know anything about her for her to get what she wanted. “What’s your magic number, amigo?”
He shook his head. “The number doesn’t matter. But I don’t go putting their names on me, either. Unless these are fake.” He teased her by rubbing her arm with his thumb. “Do these wash off?”
Again she jerked her arm away but again wasn’t able to escape him. He had her pinned against the wall and apparently he liked having her there. Ava didn’t mind as long as he stopped insulting her. “These are real, cabrón. I promise. So is every other part of me,” she added, thinking
of the Start-line Skank.
He grinned again. “Your Spanish isn’t. It’s fake as hell, but I like it. And I’ll find out for myself which parts of you are real. I promise.”
Ava’s heart pounded in her chest. Oh, God, how she wanted him to find out.
“These are really good,” he added, breaking her train of thought.
She followed his gaze back to her arm.
“How did you afford these?”
She smirked at him. “I win a lot of races,” she replied. “A lot.” Technically true, but she’d still never paid for her ink.
He nodded. “I heard that about you.”
Ava looked up, startled. “From who?”
“From Weasel. After you ditched me last night, I asked around.”
“I didn’t ditch you.”
“Chica, you did. You shot out of the Badlands like a bat outta hell. Like you’d turn into a pumpkin at midnight or something.”
She shrugged. “I had somewhere to be.”
He took hold of her wrist again. “With Adam, Dalton, Jonah, or DJ?”
“You ask a lot of questions,” she told him. “Who cares?” She leaned back against the wall and grabbed his hips. She tugged but he wouldn’t budge.
“I never got your name,” he said, running his hand along her arm again.
Ava shivered. “Do we need names?”
He grinned. “We will later. Most definitely.”
“Why’s that?”
He leaned down and brushed his lips against her ear. Ava’s whole body tingled as she breathed in his scent. Into her ear, he whispered, “Voy a coger tanto, muñeca, estarás gritando mi nombre.”
Ava closed her eyes and licked her lips. “I have no idea what you just said, but I think I really, really want you to do it to me, whatever it is.” She reached up and ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair.
He pulled away from her just a bit.
Ava fought the urge to grab him and pull him back to her, to taste him.
“My name’s Emilio,” he told her. His parted lips were full and inviting.
All the better to eat you with, Ava thought and shuddered.
He grinned again. “As in, ‘Emilio, yes! Oh, Emilio, don’t stop. Harder. Emilio, dios mio, just like that.’ ”