Squinting, I tried to make out if they had any patches on their jackets. The number of bikes in the parking lot gave me the suspicion that there were either a lot of nomads or recreational bikers in the area. We knew Seattle to be neutral territory with no reigning club in charge.
I suppressed a snarl of rage when I saw the patch on the lead biker’s jacket. He was a nomad, all right. A nomad for Las Balas. His ridiculous behavior suddenly made sense.
“Ryder won’t be happy if we make trouble,” Mack said from behind me.
“Ignore them,” I answered. “We won’t make the first move. But if they try and start something, we will make our president proud.”
The boys grinned and nodded before following me into the diner. It wasn’t a good idea to draw too much attention to ourselves, especially on our first night. Hopefully, the Las Balas group wouldn’t notice us in the crowded diner.
Unlike most diners, this one had a bar set up. We made our way over to an empty table and waited for a waitress. There was no reason why we couldn’t get a bite to eat with our directions.
“What can I get for you?”
I looked up into the turquoise eyes of the sexiest woman I had ever seen. It was like a thousand bolts of lightning hit me all at once. She had pale blond hair that looked almost silver in the diner’s fluorescent lighting. It framed a heart-shaped face with plump pink lips that were just begging to be kissed.
I almost had to sit on my hands to keep myself from grabbing her curvy hips and pulling her closer. Her perfectly shaped breasts were eye level with me, and I did my very best not to stare at them. I failed miserably, which was amusing to my brothers sitting next to me.
“People usually start with drinks,” she said dryly.
I jerked my eyes back up to her face and gave her a lazy grin.
“You talk to all your customers like that?” I asked, smirking.
“Only the ones who waste my time,” she answered pertly.
“It’s only been a few seconds,” I said, my grin widening.
She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to order or not?”
“We will take whatever you have on tap,” Coyote interjected, nudging me.
She nodded and walked away.
“Way to keep a low profile,” Coyote muttered.
Mack snickered.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I snapped.
“You were looking at her like you were going to eat her up,” Chase answered, chuckling. “Scaring the poor waitress is not keeping a low profile.”
“She didn’t seem very scared to me,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
A few seconds later, the waitress came back and slammed our beers down. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she ignored me. She took out a small pad of paper and a pen.
“Y’all want food, or are you just going to get stupid drunk?”
“Do you have a problem with us in particular?” I asked, leaning back and stretching my arms behind my head.
“You bikers?” she asked.
I nodded, frowning.
“In a club and all that?” she clarified.
I snorted. “And all that,” I answered.
“Then I have a problem with you in particular,” she answered. “Now order.”
“It might help to clarify,” Mack said before I could snap something insulting, “that we have literally just gotten into town. We aren’t associated with any other bikers. Really, we just play music.”
She looked around the table at us before resting her intoxicating gaze on my face. God, I wanted to fuck her so badly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sighing. “Most of the bikers we get are rowdy and tip horribly. They are just a pain in my ass, to be honest.”
“Well,” I said, smirking at her. “I’ll be sure to tip very generously. An ass like that should never be in pain. If it is, then they are doing it wrong.”
I winked at her, enjoying the scarlet blush that stole across the creamy skin of her face.
“We will take four burger dinners,” Mack said, rolling his eyes at me. The other two were holding back their laughter. “And directions to the Teton Lounge, if you have them. We are supposed to play there this weekend.”
Flustered, she grabbed our menus from the table, her breasts grazing my arm as she leaned over to scoop them up.
“You got a name?” I asked her, using every ounce of my willpower not to fondle that breast.
“Emma,” she said, her face still flaming.
“Emma,” I repeated, letting her name fall from my mouth in a soft purr. “My name is Rex. It’s nice to meet you.”
I extended my hand. She looked at it and hesitated before grasping it in her own soft hand. I let my thumb trace the back of her wrist, my eyes trapping hers. I let some of the primal desire I felt for her shine through my gaze and felt her hand tremor slightly as her eyes widened. Clearing her throat, she pulled her hand from mine and walked off a little unsteadily.
I smirked. Seattle was turning out to be very interesting.
Mack kicked me under the table. “Low profile,” he grumbled.
I shrugged but was on my best behavior when Emma returned. She stayed at our table only long enough to set down our burgers and the check down before scurrying off. I would have thought it had been me that threw her off balance, but her eyes barely looked my way. They had been trained on the table across from us the whole time, and the spark I had enjoyed in them earlier had completely gone out.
Angry that someone could do that to her, I turned to look at what—or who—had her so scared.
Of course. It was the Las Balas bikers. The leader was the one that she had been staring at with fear and revulsion. Rage seared through me. If he had laid one hand on her, I would kill him, low profile be damned.
Mack followed my gaze and shook his head.
“Don’t,” he murmured.
I ignored him while I watched the Las Balas nomad intently. Mack, Chase, and Coyote wolfed their burgers down, but I could barely eat as thoughts of what could cause such fear in Emma’s eyes ran through my head.
Mack silently grabbed the check from Emma’s hand when she returned and went to pay.
“Here are your directions,” she said quietly, her eyes flicking to the Las Balas table.
“You okay?” I asked her, letting my hand graze hers in a soft, comforting touch.
She looked down, startled, but met my gaze warmly. Before she could answer, a shout from the Las Balas table drew her attention, and she swore under her breath.
“Emma!” the leader called again. “Get over here and take our order!”
“Ashley is your waitress tonight, Theo,” Emma called back, her voice tight.
“I don’t give a shit,” he answered. “We want you!”
Groaning, Emma shoved the paper with the directions into my hand. Walking over to the Las Balas table, she stopped just out of reach of Theo.
“What can I get you?” she asked dully.
“How about some of that fine ass,” Theo said, snatching her wrist and dragging her into his lap.
She struggled out of his lap, her face red with rage and embarrassment.
“Not on the menu,” she snapped at him, adjusting her skirt.
“Your boss tells me differently,” Theo answered, smirking.
“Hank doesn’t own me,” Emma snarled.