by Debra Kayn
Goosebumps broke out over her bare arms. Why did the news excite her, and equally scare the shit out of her at the same time?
None of the other men ever singled her out, not in the way he had. Ink tried every day to get her to go up to his room, but his teasing relationship came from trust and time spent together. He'd no more than force her than upset her by pushing her to have sex with him. The others, well they were settled with a specific girl, not that they didn't switch around. She spent time with them all, but somehow, for some reason, they all came to her for companionship and nothing more.
Sex to everyone in the club seemed superficial and an activity to break up the stress of living at the club. While the other girls might dream of meeting one man who rocked their world, they were content to play in the meantime.
"That'd be great. Yes," she whispered, overwhelmed with relief.
"My vote's yes then," Lee said.
Kurt banged the table with his fist. She jolted and looked away from Lee to Kurt.
"Since the prospects can't vote or visit the ladies, and the probates haven't served enough time to sit at the table, voting has ended. Silver Girls will reopen in the new Sterling Building," Kurt said. "Shari, you'll meet with me tomorrow to work out the details. Lee, I want you sitting in on the meeting too. Now, everyone get the hell out of here. I'm taking my old lady home and finding out what in the hell is going on around here that I don't know about."
Shari stood and approached Risa. "Sorry. We didn't want or expect you to take the fall for our idea."
Risa winked. "Kurt sounds gruff, but he's fine...or he will be."
"I can't believe it. We're back in business." Shari hugged Risa.
"I'm happy for you all." Risa kissed her cheek.
"Thanks." She glanced over at Lee, who continued staring at her from his chair. "I should go tell the girls."
The men took their leave, and she thanked Kurt again. "Nothing will change. I promise. It'll be exactly as it was last year when the bikers and miners got along, and the girls danced. We know who we belong to, so there's nothing to worry about."
Kurt glanced at Risa and then turned his attention to Shari. "There's always something to worry about."
"The girls have discussed paying for rent for the cabin, too," she added, trying to get back on his good side.
"No." Kurt's mouth firmed into a straight line. "Non-negotiable. Bantorus takes care of the girls."
Not wanting to push her luck, she walked toward the door. There were so many things to do before they could open and start dancing. The Sterling Building, a replica of its former historical self, would need all the biker memorabilia and junk the members kept there cleared away.
Lee moved in front of her and blocked the doorway. She shivered. Unable to escape him, she faced him.
"Hey," she said.
"I want you to go outside with me." He lowered his voice. "Now, doll."
Shit. Everyone knew the men exited meetings hyped up on testosterone and seeking relief. She gazed behind him out into the hallway, looking for Sawyer and found him with his arm around Carrie. She clamped her teeth together to keep from making up an excuse.
Nobody turned down the bikers when it came to spending time with them. However, Lee was no Sawyer, and he wasn't a Remmy. He came across interested in her, but distant. More importantly, he wasn't a man you told no to, when all you wanted to do was throw yourself at him and yell yes.
Like when she kissed him.
And when he'd kissed her back.
He'd made her completely insane and giddy.
A man like him could have her stripped and in bed without hardly trying.
Maybe she wanted him to try, because she found herself nodding and followed him out of the room.
At the end of the hall, Sawyer spotted her and his face flushed. She shook her head, letting him know not to interfer, and stayed with Lee. It wasn't fair to make Sawyer come to her defense. He was a young man and deserved to have fun.
The girls approached her, and waited for information about the meeting. She looked at Germ, Crain, and Stripper, expecting them to speak up, but they remained quiet.
"The club gave us permission to move forward with reopening Silver Girls." She braced herself for Jojo's hug. "Tomorrow will be a big day, so let's go slow and make sure we do everything right the first time. I'll know more about how things will work out with the Sterling Building after I meet with Kurt in the morning."
Jojo let go of Shari and jumped into German's beefy arms. Carrie hugged Sawyer. Alana dragged Stripper down the hall, promising him everything but the moon. Shari turned to Lee, wanting to share her happiness, but the set jaw and lowered brows stopped her. He had no reason to dislike her decision.
He was a nomad—or he was. He also didn't understand her place within Bantorus. He had no claim on her or input into what she did in her free time, even if he was Kurt's brother.
"Let's go." He slipped his hand underneath her elbow and guided her through the main room and out the front door.
Lee took her down the steps and out into the gravel parking lot. She gazed up and down the road to keep from looking at him. After the meetings, she'd typically stay with Sawyer, and spend a few hours talking with him and listening to his dreams he wasn't able to vocalize to the club. His young age and personality entertained her.
When Sawyer wasn't around, and before Natalie came to Bantorus, she'd stayed with Remmy. They were friends who had sex, nothing more. They'd come to that understanding after a rather rowdy party when she'd had too much to drink. Instead of taking advantage of her, Remmy put her to bed and waited until the next night to approach her. His chivalrous personality made an impression on her. They both took what the other offered, and walked away from each other without any preconceived notions that there'd be a next time. There had been other times, but not once since Natalie caught Remmy's eyes.
The other members were satisfied with a few dances, a lot of flirting, and then moving off with the other girls for the rest of the night. She blew out her cheeks. She had a good idea what Lee expected of her, and she had no plans to follow through. She might not know him, but she knew herself. He wasn't a Sawyer or Remmy. Lee demanded everything from her emotionally and physically. In the end, when her uncle came back and she could go back to California, Lee possessed the kind of personality that would leave her hurting in the end.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"Going to town." Lee tossed the keys to the truck the club used on occasion to her.
"You want me to drive?"
"Yeah." He opened the driver's door. "Hop in."
Because the likelihood of him wanting to go to town to have sex with her was lower than if they stayed at the club, she got in the driver's seat and started the engine. She'd driven the truck many times when she had to run errands.
Lee sat in the passenger seat and rolled down the window. She gazed over at him, and when he put on his seatbelt, she drove out of the gravel lot. They rode in silence the two miles into town. Whatever his reason for the spontaneous drive, he kept the information to himself.
Under the viaduct, Doris and Leo, the owner of Country Mart and her husband, walked hand in hand down the asphalted path that residents often used to get from one end of town to the other. She waved and continued down Main Street.
"Pull into the bar you talked about earlier," Lee said.
"Rail Point?"
"Yeah, the one you said had good burgers."
She glanced at him. "Was there not enough pizza to go around tonight?"
"I wasn't hungry then. Now, I'm hungry." He pointed at an empty parking spot in front of the bar. "Right there."
Once she pulled over to the curb and shut off the engine, she turned to him. "I don't understand why you brought me along if all you were doing was coming to eat dinner."
"Do you always question the men?" he asked.
She flinched. "Just because I'm one of the bitches doesn't mean I have to submit to rudeness."
"Ever think about taking off and leaving Federal? Just ride off or jump in a car, start over, and forget what made you run?" Lee laughed, the sound so shocking, she could only stare. "Nah, probably not."
She studied him, trying to keep up with the change of subject. He bounced through three different conversations without missing a breath. The change put her on edge.
He glanced over, grinned, and motioned with his chin. "Let's go have a beer at least."
He hopped out of the car, walked around the front bumper and during that time, his face went from relaxed, to tense, back to relaxed. She exited the driver's seat and met him on the street. He ushered her inside the bar.
Joe, the bartender and owner of Rail Point, set down his bar towel and moved around the end of the counter, coming in her direction. Shari moved to meet him, but Lee grabbed her wrist and kept her at his side. Before she could question him, Joe approached her.
"Shari." Joe lifted his chin toward Lee. "Kurt or Remmy know you're here?"
"It's okay. He's—"
"I'm Bantorus," Lee said.
Joe widened his stance and his busy gray eyebrows lowered. "Since when?"
"Since the day I was fucking born." Lee dropped Shari's hand and stepped in front of her, closer to Joe. "If you have a problem serving me a beer why don't we settle our differences now, because I'm thirsty, and I promised Shari I'd take her to Rail Point, and that's what I plan to do."
The lines around Joe's eyes deepened. Shari slipped her fingers into Lee's hand. Joe wasn't being mean. He supported Bantorus, including the Silver Girls.
"Lee, it's okay," she said, holding on in case he tried to hit Joe.
The two men stared each other down. She held onto Lee tighter.
"Take a table, but no fighting. I'll grab you and Shari a beer," Joe said.
Lee squeezed her hand. "Appreciate it."
Shari exhaled in relief and smiled at Joe in apology for Lee's gruffness. Lee escorted her to a vacant booth in back and tucked her in closest to the wall before sliding in beside her. She leaned closer, nudging his shoulder with hers. "Joe watches out for Bantorus. He also makes sure the Silver Girls aren't bothered while we eat."
He grunted. "Then he should recognize the colors on my vest."
"He will in time," she said. "You're new. He's leery, that's all."
The music switched to a slower song and a few miners groaned. She tapped her foot under the table and peered around the room. Most of the men she knew from dancing, and besides an occasional smile, wink, and hello, they kept their distance while out in public. Not that she could blame them. Some had wives or girlfriends at home and it was a small town.
The only time it was safe for them to talk with her was while she danced. Everyone knew the rules, no illegal activities, no drugs, and no prostitution. It was okay for the miners to look, but not touch the dancers. Their wives and girlfriends didn't mind chitchat in a safe environment, because the men came home and pleased them.
Once the news broke of their reopening, the men would return and they'd once again have entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights in the Silver Valley. She leaned against the table, excitement growing. With Risa pregnant, her charity work for the miners would slow. Shari and the girls could pick up the slack, giving them more exposure to cleaning up their reputations. Even Natalie could join in, since she owned Meghoni Mine and enjoyed charity work. They could work directly for the families in the Silver Valley who needed an extra hand occasionally.
Joe delivered two mugs of beer. Shari smiled and reached for the drink.
"What's made you happy?" Lee asked after Joe left.
She swallowed the mouthful of beer and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "I get to work again. It also feels good that the bikers understood what we wanted and why."
"That's why I brought you here." He rubbed his thumb against the condensation on the mug. "I wanted to talk with you away from the club, so we could have some privacy."
"About what?"
"I want you to give up the idea of opening up Silver Girls," he stated.
She set her mug down. "Excuse me?"
"It'd be best if you stayed at the club and forgot about spending more time in town, especially dancing. It's not safe."
She shook her head, trying to understand why he'd care. Coming up empty, she blew his request off. The only person allowed to control what she did was Kurt. She owed him. When bad things happened to Risa and Remmy, Bantorus rallied around her and the girls to keep them protected. It was the first time since Uncle Ted escorted her out of California and deposited her in Federal that she believed she wasn't alone and vulnerable, despite the problems the club was having.
"I'm going to open Silver Girls," she said.
No nomad was going to ride into town and tell her what to do. Going back into business was going to help her, not hurt her.
Chapter Five
Ignored by the other customers in the bar and secluded in the back of the room, Shari had to stay and listen. Lee used his hand and twined their fingers together, prepared to hold tight if she decided to pull away from the talk he had to have with her. If she was going to go into business, she needed to know what she faced.
"There are twenty other things you could do to earn money," Lee said.
"Really?" Her attitude told him everything. "This is Federal. If you don't work in the mine or for the county road department, the only jobs available are at the motel, the grocery store, or one of the seasonal shops. I can earn more dancing in two hours than I could a week at the other places."
"Have you always danced?" he asked.
"No, of course not." She pressed her lips together and pulled her hand away. "You know, I like you. I do. You're a good guy when you want to be, but I've already gone through the club with my request, and I was granted permission. You had your time to talk Kurt out of supporting us, and instead you gave your vote. You didn't need to bring me here—she looked out into the room—and upset me in front of everyone."
"Are you upset?"
She grabbed her beer, drank greedily, and set the mug carefully on the table. "If you keep suggesting that I shouldn't dance, then yes, I'm upset. If you have a problem and want to go back on your vote, take it up with Kurt."
"Where's the attitude coming from?" He finished his beer without taking a breath, and then he continued before she could reply. "You want to work, then work. I ask you a few questions, and you start getting prickly. You want to know what's bothering me about you dancing for every asshole in town? I'll tell you."
Instead of talking, he left the booth, taking her with him. He stalked out into the middle of the floor and twirled her around until he had her plastered against his chest. Only then did he let go of her hand to wrap both his arms around her. She couldn't escape, and she had to see for herself what could happen.
"What are you doing?" she said, breathlessly and off balance.
"I'm proving my point. Look around." He waited until she looked over to the bar. "The men are looking because you're a beautiful woman they'd like to fuck. If I wasn't here, they'd be on you faster than you could tell them no. You want to see what you're going to deal with when you go back to dancing, it's this, doll," he said. "Except you put yourself at risk, because there's too many ways a man can hurt you."
"You'll be there to protect me," she said.
He nodded. "Shit happens, and then it's too late.
"That's true with life in general." She rocked back on her heels, trying to move away, but he held on tight. "We can sit down now, or better yet, you can take me back to the club. Nothing is going to change my mind about dancing again."
"Fine. You want to dance." He nudged her arms up around his neck. "You're dancing with me."
She stood in front of him, staring up into his eyes. "You're not even moving, the music playing is country, and now that we're out in the middle of the room, every man is watching me, because I'm hanging on a member of Bantorus...who is not dancing."
H
e exhaled loudly. "I don't dance. I can't hear the music over your jabbering, and I don't care who's watching you, because I have you in my arms, and if any one of them tries to touch you, then I have a problem that my three-eighty on my hip will take care of for me."
She shook her head. "It figures that you're even cockier than Kurt or the other men."
"Explain," he said.
"You're a nomad...or were until tonight." She fingered the edge of his vest behind his neck. "You don't like rules, or you would've become a lifer years ago. That doesn't mean you can ride into Federal and have an opinion about what I'm doing. I'm opening Silver Girls, because the other women need something to take pride in besides being a piece of property for a motorcycle club. Being a Bantorus bitch keeps them entertained, but deep down, they need more."
"You think you're the one who can help them," he said.
"No, of course not," she whispered. "They have to do that on their own."
"What about you?"
Her brows rose. "I'm good no matter what I'm doing."
"Prove it."
Her arms slid down his neck, and she planted her hands on his chest. "What are you talking about?"
"Show me how good you are." He stepped back, removed cash from his front pocket, strolled over to the bar, and slapped the money down in front of Joe.
He returned to her. His hands shook. He couldn't even remember the last time a woman left him out of control.
Tango would kill him if he laid a hand on Shari, but he was working a case. He'd done many things that were against the law, against the ethical code of the club, against what most people believed was wrong. He wasn't against pushing Shari enough to keep her safe, and if she wanted to continue pretending that she wasn't available to him, he'd show her how wrong she was...tonight.
"We're going to leave, find somewhere to go, and you're going to show me how good you are." He smoothed the hair away from her face, leaned forward, and rubbed his nose against hers. "You've got me hard, doll. Fucking hard enough I could stay up all night and show you a good time."