Devils: Cutthroat 99 MC

by Evelyn Glass

  “I have my car. And what would have happened if I said yes?”

  “I would have given you a ride home.”

  “And once we got there?”

  “That would have been up to you.”

  “If I told you to go home?”

  “Then I would have gone home. I told you: you can trust me.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Beast grinned and held up three fingers to his forehead in salute. “Scout’s honor.”

  Shayna grinned. “Were you ever a boy scout?”

  “Well, no,” he admitted, “but you can still trust me.”

  “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind, boy scout.”

  ***

  Beast was prowling the Casino, looking for someone interesting. It was nearly eleven and he noticed a very attractive woman in dark blue slacks, a light blue shirt and sneakers striding toward him with purpose, watching until he recognized Shayna.

  He fell into step beside her, gently taking her arm as they continued to walk toward the entrance. “I thought you were going home.”

  “I was. My damn car won’t start.”

  He had to work hard to keep the smile off his face. He could tell she wasn’t kidding and was in no mood. “I’m sorry to hear that. Want me to take a look at it?”

  “No. Thank you, but I just want to go home.”

  “Come on,” he said, pulling at her arm to turn her away from the door. “I’ll take you home.”

  She resisted his tug. “Thanks, but my dad is on his way already.”

  “Your family lives here?”

  “Out by Nellis. Dad’s in the Air Force.”

  “No need for him to drive here. I’ll take you home,” he said, pulling her to a stop just before the doors.

  She couldn’t say what she was thinking because he was a guest, so she smiled. “Thank you, but no. Please let go of my arm.” He let her go, holding up his hands in surrender. “Thank you,” she said, releasing the breath she’d taken to call for security had he continued to hold her.

  He took a step back. “Say hello to your dad,” he said before turning and walking away. There were too many fish in the sea to beat his head against the wall for one, even if she was as stunning as a mermaid.

  Shayna watched him stride away without a backward glance, frowned, and stepped outside. She was annoyed that Beast had manhandled her a bit, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. Then it hit her. What annoyed her wasn’t that he took her arm, but his presumption that she’d simply agree to allow him to take her home. If he’d asked, that would have been one thing, but to simply assume she was going to let him do it? That was too bold and self-assured by a good measure.

  She smiled and waved as she noticed her father creeping up in his Silverado. Beast may be as sexy as hell, but she wasn’t going to fall all over him just because he snapped his fingers.

  “Thanks, Daddy,” she said as she crawled into his truck and buckled herself in. “I’m sorry to have to call you so late.”

  “No problem, Punkin,” he smiled as he eased through the portico. “It’s probably just a dead battery. No place to get one this late, so we’ll fix it in the morning.”

  Shayna yawned mightily as he turned onto the strip toward home. “Not too early, okay?”

  He chuckled. He loved his daughter to death, but she’d never been much of a morning person. “Don’t worry. I’ll come home at lunch and we’ll take care of it then. How’s that sound?”

  She knew what he was thinking and grinned as she looked out the window at the passing lights. Even though it wasn’t quite eleven, she’d woken him up when she’d called for help. It was the same dynamic they’d been dealing with for dozens of years, the early bird and the night owl. “Perfect.”

  ***

  Beast idled to a stop at bar and glanced at what was on tap. “Lowenbrau,” he said as he sat down. The keep nodded and began to fill a mug as Beast turned his back and glanced around the room. One beer and he was out of here for the night. He thought of Shayna and grinned. She was a feisty one, all right, and he liked that about her. He hadn’t missed the intake of breath that indicated she was about to get loud, and the last thing he wanted was to cause trouble and get kicked out of the tournament.

  “Two bucks,” the keep said as he sat the mug on the bar.

  Beast turned, peeled off a fiver, and dropped it on the bar. “Keep the change.”

  “Thanks!” the man said as the money disappeared and he moved off to tend to another customer.

  Beast picked up his beer and gave it a sip, still smiling to himself. His primary goal was to win the tournament, but secondary to that, he was going to find out more about Shayna, and then he was going to take her to a room and fuck her blind. He’d give her a reason to get loud other than him holding her elbow.

  He noticed movement to his left and glanced at the woman sitting down. “Glass of red tonight please, Chuck,” she said as the bartender arrived to take her order. She was falling out of her clingy blue dress in all the best ways.

  “I’ve got it,” he said as the woman reached for her tiny but stylish clutch to pay for the order as the bartender sat it down.

  “Thanks!”

  “My pleasure,” he said as he pulled out another five and tossed it on the bar.

  “You in town on business?” she asked as her eyes traveled over his face and body.

  “You might say that. You?”

  “No, I live here. I work in the La Fashion boutique here in the casino. I’m just having a glass of wine to unwind before I go home. What business are you in?”

  He smiled. “I’m in the poker tournament.”

  “Really?” she cooed as a small smile played at her lips.

  His smiled widened. Gotcha…

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Give it a try,” Bob called from under the hood of her Civic.

  Shayna pressed the clutch in and gave the key a twist, grinning as the little car whirred to life.

  “There you go. Turn your lights off the next time.”

  “I didn’t leave the lights on!” she protested as she switched her car off.

  “Sure you didn’t,” her father teased.

  “Thanks, Daddy,” she said as she gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

  “My pleasure, Punkin.” He picked up the dead battery and started toward his truck. “I’ll return the battery after work and give you the core charge.”

  “Just keep it. It’s the least I can do for you doing this for me.”

  “Nope. Can’t do it,” he said as he slid the battery into the back of the truck and wrapping a bungee around it to keep if from sliding around. “How can I hold it over your head if you pay me?”

  She giggled. “Okay, fine. Thanks, again. You’re a life saver!”

  “You think I’m a little piece of candy with a hole in the center? Gee, thanks!”

  She giggled again. She may be twenty-six, but her father still teased her like she was twelve, and she loved him for it. He’d said many times that no matter how old she got, she would still be his little girl. She knew her parents’ love for her was unwavering and unconditional, and sometimes she felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

  “Only because you’re so sweet to me.” She opened the passenger door and dragged her backpack out. She had a few hours yet before she went on shift and she’d rather spend the time studying in the employee lounge rather than driving home just to come back.

  “You’re worth it.” He gave her a hug. “See you tonight.”

  “Okay. I won’t be late.” She was leaving for school in the morning, and she knew her parents would wait up for her since she’d still be in bed when they left for work in the morning.

  She stood in the scorching Las Vegas heat as her dad started his truck and began to drive away, then turned and hurried out of the parking lot for the casino. She threw the heavy bag into a chair in the lounge, pulled out a thick textbook, then immediately walked out again. She was starving, skipping breakfast in orde
r to be ready when her dad arrived to pick her up.

  She returned to the public portion of the casino, making her way to Tops Choice, the low-end restaurant in the casino. It was her normal lunch and dinner stop when she worked and her friend Angela worked there. Besides, with her employee discount, you couldn’t beat the $2.99 salad bar. As she waited for the hostess she could see the place was busy, but not packed.

  “Hey, Shayna!” Angela said she returned to her station. “I thought you were back in school this week.”

  “I leave in the morning,” Shayna replied as Angela led her to her normal table, tucked in a corner. “Ted asked me to hang around for the tournament.”

  “Aha! We get a lot of them in here during lunch and dinner. How’s it going?”

  “Pretty good. Boring, mostly.”

  Angela grinned as she nodded. “You won’t be doing it much longer, but you had still better stop by and say hi, okay?”

  Shayna nodded as she sat her book on the table then followed Angela part of the way back. “Count on it. Who else would you find to laugh at your drunken ass?”

  Angela giggled as their paths separated, Shayna making her way to the salad bar as her friend returned to her station to seat additional guests.

  Shayna picked over the bar, loading her plate with lettuce, then adding cheese, tomatoes, and other items. She skipped the dressing in deference to the calories and returned to her seat where her water was waiting. She was such a regular that the entire staff knew what she typically ate and didn’t bother her.

  ***

  Beast stepped out of the tournament room and stretched. He felt like shit, and it showed in his play. He’d plied Maranda with a few drinks before she’d invited him back to her place, and he’d followed on his bike. She was fascinated by his colors and the fact that he was the president of a motorcycle club, asking all kinds of questions. Had he killed anyone? Did he get in lots of fights? Had he ever been in jail? He could tell she was a bit disappointed that they weren’t an outlaw club, but he fed her fantasy of being fucked by a big bad biker by embellishing the danger of what he did while not giving any specifics, leaving out the fact that the guns and danger was in service of his clients. As he softened her up, they had a few more drinks while Maranda listened in rapt attention to his stories. There was never any doubt he was going to fuck her, but she was a lazy lover and expected him to do all the work. She could get away with it because of the way she looked, but he’d had more than his share of stunning and sexy women, and he wasn’t impressed with her skills or attitude. As he left her snoring, he wished he’d taken Fawn up on her offer of a repeat. She might be older, but at least she was into it and it showed in her fucking.

  He’d been in no shape to ride last night when he left so he’d called a cab, then gotten up early and called for another cab to fetch his bike from Maranda’s apartment. He hadn’t gotten enough sleep and was hung over. While the fresh air of the ride had cleared his head some, he was still suffering the lingering effects of his night.

  He decided what he needed was food. Food and another dose of Advil. He wasn’t in the mood for anything heavy or elaborate, bypassing upscale restaurants, before stopping at one that looked more to his taste.

  “One,” he said as he approached the hostess.

  “Right this way, sir.”

  Beast followed the hostess into the restaurant, doing a double take when he spotted Shayna sitting in the corner, her nose in a thick book, her fork hovering over a half-eaten salad as she slowly chewed.

  “There’s my party,” he said as he changed course for Shayna’s table.

  “Is she expecting you?” Angela asked, as she arced around a table in pursuit of Beast.

  “Nope,” he replied, ever slowing.

  “I have a table right here for you, sir,” she tried, not wanting him to bother her friend.

  “No, this one will do fine,” he said, never slowing as he weaved toward her table.

  Angela followed, not sure what to do, finally deciding to see if Shayna would allow him to sit down. She’d normally try to accommodate a guest’s request for table preference, but she was in a bind. Had Shayna been a guest she’d have put a stop to him on the spot, calling for security if she had to, but Shayna was an employee, a hostess just like she was. It was their job to be accommodating to the guests. If Shayna allowed him to sit down, fine, but if not, she’d sit him somewhere else or have security remove him.

  She was deep in her Internal Medicine text, reading the pathophysiology of heart murmurs, when she became aware of Beast standing at her table.

  “May I sit down?” he asked.

  Angela was standing behind him looking apologetic.

  “I’m having lunch.”

  “So I see,” he said as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

  She sighed. “Thank you, Angela.”

  “Thank you,” Beast said as Angela placed a menu in front of him.

  “What can I do for you?” Shayna asked.

  “Have lunch with me.”

  “Appears I don’t have any choice.”

  Beast smiled. “You do. If you ask me to leave, I will. But before I go, I’m sorry I made you nervous last night.”

  “You didn’t make me nervous.” She could tell from the look on his face he wasn’t buying it. “Not much anyway.”

  “What can I get you, sir?” Carol asked.

  Beast looked at her, obviously waiting on her to say something. “Go ahead.”

  When Beast opened the menu, Carol opened her eyes wide and briefly fanned her face, making Shayna smile.

  “Black & Blue Burger and fries.”

  “Pink or no pink?”

  “Pink.”

  “Anything to drink?”

  “Just water.”

  “Be right out,” Carol said, picking up his menu then turning away, looking back over her shoulder and winking at Shayna.

  Beast looked at the textbook open on the table. It was upside down for him, and it didn’t help that it was full of long words he wasn’t sure he could pronounce, like valve stenosis, valve regurgitation, septal defect, or even worse, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. “Are you a doctor, or a rocket scientist, or something?” he asked as he nodded at the book. Damn! Smart and beautiful! This girl has got it all!

  Shayna giggled at Beast’s dumbfounded expression, and tipped the book up. “Doctor,” she said, knowing the pictures of the dogs on the front of the book would tell him what kind of doctor.

  “A vet?”

  “That’s right. I attend the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University in Pomona.”

  “Pomona, California?”

  “That’s right.”

  “That’s a hell of a commute.”

  She smiled. “I live there through the week, come home on the weekends to work.”

  He nodded, impressed in spite of himself, and said so. “How much longer you have to go?”

  “Two more days. I leave in the morning to go back and take my final,” she said as she waved her hand over the book.

  “You won’t be here for the tournament?”

  “I go on shift at four today. I’ll be back on Friday. Why?”

  He grinned. “Not that I’m superstitious or anything, but I’ve been playing like shit this morning. I think it’s because my good luck charm isn’t in the room with me.”

  “Me?” she asked, as she scrunched her face and rolled her eyes at the lameness of the line.

  He chuckled. “What can I say? I could do no wrong last night. This morning I’m just holding my own. If my luck turns around after you come into the room, then we’ll know.”

  “What if you’re out before I get there?” she teased.

  “I’m not playing that bad!”

  Shayna giggled. “Okay. If you’re still in the game, we’ll see. I’ll even give you that rap on the table for luck if the dealer doesn’t mind.”

  “Deal! So what about you? I assume you will quit the casino after you graduate.”
<
br />   Shayna closed her book. “Eventually. I have to get my license first, then land a position somewhere.”

  “How hard can that be?” he asked. “Seems to me that once you’re a vet, you can write your own ticket. No? I’ve never heard of an unemployed doctor.”

  “You have to find a clinic that needs another doctor,” she explained. “There aren’t many big vet hospitals. Most clinics are owned by one or two doctors. I need to find a clinic that needs another doctor because their practice is growing, or one of the doctors is wanting to retire. I’m confident I’ll find one, but it takes time for something to open up.”