Miki nudged Sara. But Sara blew it off; she’d seen Marrec do that many times before. It was that “weird thing” he did. Hell, Miki did lots of weird things so she had absolutely no room to judge.
“Where did you crash anyway?” Angelina queried.
The girl knelt down beside the mangled metal, “Don’t know. I guess about two miles back.”
The friends exchanged glances.
“How did you get your bike here?”
“Dragged it.” The girl’s head shifted as Marrec turned to face the parking lot entrance.
“Wait a minute,” Miki continued, “You expect us to believe that you dragged that thing here? In your condition? Bullshit,” she finished flatly.
Sara and Angelina exchanged glances. As always, Miki was as subtle as a brick to the head.
But the girl ignored her, “Good.” She seemed relieved, “They’re here.” She stood up and walked to the front of the parking lot just as four beautiful, tricked-out Choppers, all manned by women, pulled in and halted next to the girl.
“Check it out.” Angelina elbowed her friends, “Lesbians. In Texas.”
“Would you shut up,” Sara chuckled.
“Julie, glad to see you’re not dead.” Spoke the oldest of the women. Her blond hair streaked with gray. Her face covered in age lines. She was probably gorgeous once. Now she was just beautiful.
She got off her bike and hugged the battered girl, “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, Casey, I’m fine.” The girl leaned in and whispered something to the older woman. Casey looked up and straight at Marrec.
“No problem.” Casey walked over to Marrec. “This your shop?”
Sara watched her boss’s back straighten, his arms crossing over his large chest. “Yeah.”
The woman smiled coldly, “Got a minute?”
Marrec observed the woman carefully. “Sara,” he spoke without taking his eyes off Casey, “Go inside.”
A startled Sara looked at her equally startled friends, “Are you kidding?” She asked him. Marrec rarely ordered her to do anything. He especially never ordered her to go away like a 10-year-old child.
The look he gave her clearly told her he was serious. But before Sara could clearly and concisely tell him to fuck off, Casey intervened.
“Julie needs to get a new bike. That one isn’t going anywhere. Could you show her what you guys have?”
Sara rolled her eyes at the lame attempt to get rid of her.
“Wow, Julie. Your bike is fucked.” This from a tiny Asian woman that was crouching by the totaled bike.
“I know, Kelly. I know.”
“Don’t worry about it.” The older woman answered, “We’ll get you a new one here. Kelly’s got the cash and cards. I think it’s time to spend a little money.”
Miki folded her arms in front of her chest, “Drug money, I assume?” She queried smugly.
Angelina’s eyes snapped open wide and Sara slapped her hand over her friend’s mouth, as Casey raised an eyebrow.
“Why don’t you guys go in and check out our stock. Some great stuff just came in.” Sara offered.
With a nod of her head, Casey motioned to her females and they entered the store while she and Marrec walked to the edge of the parking lot, out of hearing rage. Once they were effectively alone, Sara and Angelina let out huge sighs.
“‘Drug money, I assume?’” Angelina ground out between clenched teeth.
Miki looked at her friends, “I was just asking.”
“Well don’t! Don’t ask. Don’t query. Don’t question.” Angelina moved toward the door, then spun around to look at Miki. “And try not to get the shit kicked out of us by biker chicks. Think you can handle that?”
“Think you can handle that?” Miki muttered as she went to follow her friend into the store. Sara watched as Miki grabbed the handle on the glass door, but she pushed instead of pulled and slammed into it, “Motherfucker!”
Sara laughed and felt her headache just slip away.
Chapter Two
TOC
“So, what happened to your face?”
Sara grabbed Miki by her T-shirt and jeans before she could dive over the counter at the Asian girl they called Kelly.
Angelina leaned forward as Sara pulled Miki back to her, “You know what they say about curiosity? That it stabbed the annoying biker girl over and over and over again until she spit up blood.”
Oh, yeah. That was subtle. Sara pushed Angelina back too. Her friends had always been protective of her. It was sweet, in its own rabid-squirrel kind of way.
Sara looked at the woman. People rarely just came out and asked about her wounds. Not so directly. But there seemed to be no malice to her question. It was just a question. So, Sara gave her a very straightforward answer, “None of your business. So are you taking those shirts?”
Kelly looked down at the six T-shirts she was holding, “Uh… yeah. Sure.”
As Sara rung up the sale, Marrec and Casey returned. The tension seemed to have lessened a bit, but she could tell Marrec was still on edge as he walked around the counter, patting Sara on the shoulder. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Sara muttered under her breath, “And they’re buying a ton of shit. I expect a bonus, old man.”
Marrec smiled, “Greedy, bitch.”
Casey stood in front of Sara, examining her closely. “Interesting scar.”
“Un-fucking-believable.” Sara heard Miki mutter angrily.
“Check this out,” Casey pulled her mane of hair from off her neck, and turned so that Sara had a clear view.
Angelina and Miki winced.
Sara stared at the healed over and raised rips across the woman’s neck. They ran from the back of her left ear, across and down her neck, disappearing under her coat. Sara sensed they went on well down her torso.
“Mountain lion.” Casey volunteered. “Eight years ago. Was a nasty fight.”
“You? You fought a mountain lion?” Clearly Miki wasn’t buying it.
“It was either him or me. And in the end it all comes down to survival.”
Sara thought about her father. He’d fought to protect her all those years ago and it cost him his life, but in the end she survived.
Julie, who seemed to be getting stronger and healthier by the minute, interrupted the moment with an announcement. “The males are here.”
Sara could see through the glass window as four more bikes pulled up outside the shop.
Miki turned to Casey, “Are these men men or chicks dressed as men?” Sara closed her eyes and Angelina sighed. Miki broke into a grin, “I’m just askin’.”
What walked through the shop door three minutes later, though, were clearly “men men.”
Chapter Three
TOC
“You know,” Angelina was quietly stating under her breath to her two friends, “I was just thinking I need to stop by the butcher. Pick up some steak.”
“I could use some sausage,” Sara added. Then she and Angelina began giggling.
“Aren’t you two freaked out by these people just a little bit?” Miki quietly asked.
Sara watched the group interaction. She had to admit, they didn’t act like any motorcycle club she’d ever met before.
A tall, amazing looking man walked over to Casey. His hair was grayer than the woman’s, but it looked premature. There were only a few lines on his face. As soon as Casey saw him she broke out into a huge smile. A smile he returned. But he didn’t kiss her hello. Instead, he brushed his head gently against hers. Nuzzled her under the chin, pulled her hair aside, and licked the wound on the back of her neck.