“Is she smart?” Dev asked.
“I trust her with money, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Dev said, his voice dropping in tone. All playfulness, all lightness had leeched out of him, and I heard the dominance, the strength in him.
It was terrifying.
“She doesn’t know anything,” Richie promised. “She doesn’t know about our arrangement—”
“Good,” Dev interrupted. “It better fucking stay that way. New shipment coming in tomorrow. I don’t want any trouble.”
“There won’t be any trouble. She doesn’t know. No one at the bar knows anything.”
I’d heard enough. Whatever they were involved in, I wanted nothing to do with it. Backing away, I left the alley and got to my truck. I opened the heavy old door and climbed inside, wanting to get the hell out of there as fast as possible.
Richie’s bar wasn’t a biker bar, but in the last many days, two men from two different biker clubs had found their way in. Coincidence?
Doubtful.
“Have you heard from Richie? Or seen him lately?” Shelly asked three nights later.
I frowned. “Now that you mention it, no. I’ve been off the last couple of nights though.”
“Hmm. He’s usually here at the end of the shift to open the safe and put the till in, but he hasn’t come in yet. I’m glad he finally gave me the safe combo so I can do it myself.”
“Well, let’s hope he shows up tonight,” I said.
She held up a nearly empty bottle of tequila. “We’re out of Añejo and I couldn’t find any more in the store room.”
“There’s no way we’re out. Richie orders that stuff by the case.”
It took me a few minutes to find a rogue box of tequila hiding in the back corner of the storage room under a dusty box of Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
When I returned, the bar was packed. I held up the bottle in triumph and smiled.
“Why do I always miss stuff?” Shelly asked with a sigh.
I grinned at her. “You have no attention to detail.”
“I’d spray you with the water hose…except it’s totally true.” She laughed. “I’m good at other things.”
“Such as?”
She gave me a look like she was thinking something dirty.
“You’re such a dude.”
The next couple hours flew by as Shelly and I manned the bar, serving customers and vetoing horrid music selections on the jukebox. The tip jar by the register filled up, and it looked like it would be a good night.
When there was a brief lull, Shelly said, “I need to use the bathroom.”
I nodded as I reached for a rag, cleaning up a puddle of beer that had spilled across the bar. It was still sticky, so I crouched down to find the spray bottle of surface cleaner. When I stood up, I froze.
“How you doin’, sweetheart?”
It took all of my willpower not to flinch. Dev commandeered a stool as his eyes roved over me in appreciation.
“Hi,” I greeted in hesitation. “Can I get you a drink?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want a drink. Have you seen your boss?”
“Richie? No. He hasn’t been at the bar for a few days.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” Dev’s voice was low and dangerous. “I don’t like people who lie to me.”
I adamantly shook my head. “I swear I haven’t seen him.”
His eyes bored into mine. “Give me your phone.”
Like an obedient child I reached into the back pocket of my jeans and retrieved my cell. I placed it into Dev’s outstretched hand.
He quickly typed something and then handed it back. “There. Now you have my number. And I have yours.” He winked. “If you see Richie, you call me. Immediately.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling faint.
He nodded, rising from his stool. “I’ll be back, but there’s one more thing.” He beckoned me with his finger to come closer. “I don’t want anyone to hear…”
Before I realized what he was doing he leaned over and planted his lips on mine. He tasted like stale cigarettes and bourbon. It took everything inside me to keep the bile in my stomach from rising. I was angry with myself for not seeing it coming.
“You’re a hot little piece.” His eyes dragged over me, like he couldn’t wait to see what I looked like naked. “Bet you’re fire in the bedroom. It’s gonna be fun finding out.”
He chucked me under the chin and then sauntered out of the bar. I saw the emblem on the back of his leather cut with Iron Horsemen in bold script.
Shelly came back from the bathroom. “What did I miss?”
I somehow managed to plaster a smile on my face and reply, “Nothing.”
I refused to confide to Shelly about Dev. I hadn’t even told her I’d walked in on Richie talking to the Iron Horsemen president a few days ago. If Shelly was warning me away from the Blue Angels, I didn’t want to give her more to worry about when I mentioned the Iron Horsemen.
The less she knew the better.
When we closed the bar for the night and I flipped the sign to read Closed, Shelly said, “You should go home early. Ditch out.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you’ve been working like a maniac and I owe you from when you closed by yourself the other night.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone here. Richie hasn’t made an appearance tonight. I don’t know if he will.”
“Mark will come.”
Mark didn’t look like much, but he was proficient in Krav Maga and had his concealed carry permit. It wasn’t what I would’ve expected from a spectacle-wearing computer programmer, but he was an alpha male, through and through.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” I said, glad that I was leaving Dive Bar for the night.
Shelly called to me, “Hey, I want to go wedding dress shopping this weekend. You in?”
I grinned. “Damn right.”
We hugged goodbye. I headed to the back exit and opened the door into the spring evening and smacked right into my missing boss.
“Ow,” I mumbled, rubbing my shoulder and glaring at him. “Where the hell have you been? And why are you skulking around? You know Dev is looking for you, don’t you?”
He ran a hand through his greasy black hair. “Did Dev come to the bar?”
“Yep. What sort of shit did you get into, Richie?”
He played dumb. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why is there a biker club president walking in and out of Dive Bar like he owns the place?”
“I don’t have time to explain,” he evaded. “Wait here. I need a—just promise me you won’t leave right away.”
I paused, considering. Then I said, “I’ll be in my truck.”
“Give me five minutes. I left something in the office.”
Before I could reply, he dashed through the doorway and disappeared. I found my keys at the bottom of my purse and unlocked the truck. I got the engine going so as soon as Richie and I parted ways, I could go home.