Chapter 14 Tex
TEX
The bar was already loud when we rolled in.
Bikes lined the gravel lot out front, and music thumped faintly through the wooden walls. The place wasn’t fancy, just an old roadside bar with neon signs in the windows and decades of cigarette smoke baked into the floorboards.
But it was familiar.
And familiar was good.
I killed the engine and swung off the bike and Rowan climbed down behind me with trembling legs, and all my dirty mind could think of was all the other ways I could make her body tremble like that.
She smoothed a hand over her hair as she pulled off the helmet and handed it back to me before glancing around nervously.
“That was…” she began, and I loved the way her smile had grown. The flush to her cheeks and the way her chest heaved. I had heard her squeal as we had ridden here, and I couldn't deny how much I loved hearing it.
I smirked. “I know, Rowan. Why do you think we all love it so much?”
“It’s like riding a horse, really, but just, different somehow.”
“Faster?” I asked, because I had pushed my bike hard, loving the noises she had made, but loving more the way she had clung to me.
“Horses are really fast, cowboy,” she laughed. “I don’t know, there was just something about being on your bike, with you.”
She looked up at me through her lashes and gave me one of those soft smiles of hers. I knew exactly what she meant though. No explanation needed. Riding with her on the back of my bike tonight had been the best ride I’d had in a long time.
I reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling her with me. “Come on, let’s get in there. You’ll be safe with me.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t let go of my hand, and I slammed shut the lid on the voice inside me that started whispering things I didn’t want to hear.
The moment we stepped inside the bar, a few heads turned.
Not because of me, but because of her.
Rowan looked good tonight. Too good. Far too fucking good for a bar like this, and definitely too good for a man like me.
I knew that every man was looking at me with jealousy, and I couldn't deny how much I liked that feeling. I had never wanted to own anything other than my bike before, and I sure as hell didn’t want to own a woman, but the thought of a woman belonging to me and me belonging to her was definitely growing on me.
We moved through the bar with me giving a hard glare to every man that looked at her. And every man was looking at her. The short denim skirt, the boots, the way her hair fell loose around her shoulders. It was the kind of look that made men stare without even realizing they were doing it.
My jaw tightened slightly as I guided her toward the back where the Kings had taken over two pool tables.
Moose spotted me first. “Well look who finally showed up.”
JD leaned back in his chair beside him. “And he brought company.”
“Did you bring us entertainment?” Ridge said, leaning on his pool cue.
I practically snarled in his direction and I heard Moose and Swampy laugh.
“I’d keep any thoughts of her being entertainment to yourself if I were you,” Moose said. “Brother gets real protective over his woman.”
“As any man walking in with a woman looking like that would,” Confessor said, a tired expression on his face.
“She’s not my woman,” I said, and Rowan slipped her hand from mine. “But I’d keep all thoughts of Rowan out of your head altogether if you want to keep breathing,” I added, glaring at them all.
Rowan laughed from beside me. “I’d listen to him if I were you.”
Ridge held up a hand in apology and backed away toward the pool table, and I shook my head and turned my attention back to JD. Rowan gave them all a polite smile while I clasped hands with the guys.
“I’m going to go and get a drink. Do you want anything?” she asked.
“I’ll take a beer, thanks.” I pulled out my wallet and she laughed and shook her head.
“I can buy my own drink, cowboy,” she laughed, and headed to the bar. and I watched her ass like a man possessed the entire time.
“Everythin’ quiet?” I asked when I finally turned back to the table, ignoring the knowing look some of my brothers shared. “And don’t fucking start with that shit. This is business—she’s just business.”
“For now,” Moose said with a grin.
JD smoothed a hand down his beard in a pathetic attempt to wipe away his own smirk. He nodded toward Rowan. “She holding up okay?”
“Better than yesterday,” I said, pulling out my cigarettes and lighting one. I turned back to the bar where Rowan was standing, my eyes narrowing when a guy stepped up beside her.
Tall. Brown hair. Local-looking.
They hugged and something inside my chest tightened instantly.
“What’s got your attention?” Moose muttered, coming up close beside me. “Oh, now I see.”
I shoved him away. “Fuck off.”
Across the room, Rowan was laughing at something the guy said, one hand resting casually on the bar as they talked. He leaned closer to hear her over the music. It was too close for my liking.
A strange feeling curled low in my gut, sharp and possessive. And I didn’t like it one damn bit.
“You planning to go claim your girl or just keep glaring at that poor bastard in the hopes you’ll kill him off with a look alone?” Moose said dryly.
“She’s not my girl,” I replied as casually as I could, but the words came out rougher than I meant them to.
Moose smirked into his beer. “Sure. I mean, I can send over a couple of the boys if you want. Maybe she’d like club life? Piece like her hanging around the club would be good—fresh blood.”
A growl rumbled through my chest as I turned away from Rowan and glowered at Moose. “Have you been doing any work or are you just here to pull on my dick all night?”
Bear was at the table and he started laughing. “Careful, brother, you’re sounding more and more pussy-whipped by the second.”
“Never gonna happen,” I drolled.
Rowan eventually returned with two drinks in her hands. “You okay?” she asked, concern in her face. “Has something happened?”
“No. Why?” I asked. The two words were sharp enough to cut, and she flinched back from them.
“Who’s that?” I asked, gesturing toward the asshole she’d been talking to.
“Him? Oh, he’s just an old friend from high school,” she said casually as she handed me a bottle. “He runs a mechanic shop in town. Are we playing?” she asked, nodding toward the table.
I didn’t ask the guy’s name because I didn’t want to know. He could be her future and I didn’t want to fuck that up for her. Because sooner or later this thing would be over and we would all go back to our lives.
“Sure, go set up the table and I’ll be over in a minute. I just need to finish talking to JD.” I gestured toward the pool tables.
“Am I going to get to hear you sing tonight?” she asked, pointing toward the small stage.
“Maybe later, if you’re lucky.” I grinned at her, and she smiled and headed toward the pool tables. I watched her ass sashay across the room, my dick hardening in my jeans at the way her hips swayed. “Fuck me,” I grumbled.
When I turned back to JD and Bear, they both sat with knowing smirks and I rolled my eyes at them.
“Business?” I snapped, sitting down.
JD straightened his expression. “All right, all right. I’ve got a couple of guys heading out to question a couple of old-timers that used to drive trucks for us back in the day—see if they know anything, or anyone.
I’ve put the feelers out on the new cartel leader, Mateo, to see if anyone knows anything more about him and see if we can maybe set up a meeting, and I’ve got Bolt looking into the device that triggered the fire in her barn.
We’ve got practically everyone here tonight, and if they’re not here, they’re set up waiting at either end of the road. ”
I nodded, satisfied that everything was in place and going to plan.
Now we just needed the fucking cartel to show up so I could break them. They’d tell me who our rat was and then I’d kill them all slowly.
“See? Lots of work. Now can I pull your dick about falling for a woman?” Moose said, and I stood up and frowned at him.
“You want to pull my dick?” I asked him, and his grin fell.
“What? No, that’s not what I meant, motherfucker!”
Bear, JD, Swampy, and Gods—who had just come over from talking to a woman—started to laugh.
“Fuck off, that’s not what I meant,” Moose protested again.
I picked up my beer and began walking over to where Rowan was, but not before I gave Moose the middle finger, knowing the guys were going to be giving him shit all night now.
“Hey,” I said to Rowan as I drifted over to her. She’d grabbed a cue and lined up her first shot like she’d done it a thousand times before.
“You any good?” I asked, already knowing she was because I’d seen her play the first night I’d gotten back into town.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Watch and learn, cowboy.”
The crack of the break shot echoed through the bar as balls scattered across the table. She sank two in the first turn, and then missed the next one but only by a fraction. Then I pocketed three and then missed one.
This was how it went for the next hour.
She refused to let me buy her a drink, but offered to buy me one every single time. And every time she went to the bar, the guy from earlier made a move to talk to her. My hands clenched at my sides, the urge to do something growing increasingly difficult, though I knew it was ridiculous.
She wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t hers. She could see who she wanted—eventually, when this was all over. Yet my body hated the thought of her anywhere near him, or any other man. The urge to go around gouging the eyes out of every man’s face was becoming harder to ignore the more they stared.
I leaned against the edge of the table watching her move around it as we played a new game, the curve of her hips shifting as she lined up another shot.
The barmen sent over another drink for her and she waved a thank you to the guy from earlier before downing the last of her current beer and taking a long drink of the new one.
The drinks had warmed her cheeks slightly and her laughter came easier now. And damn if my eyes didn’t keep drifting to her lips.
She missed the next shot and groaned. “That one was supposed to go in.”
I stepped closer behind her, resting my hand lightly against the small of her back. Her body stilled for half a second at my touch, and then stiffened completely as I leaned in, my mouth close to her ear.
“Your angle’s off, sweetheart,” I murmured.
She glanced at me. “You offering lessons to me now?”
“Maybe.”
The warmth of her body through my palm made my focus slip for a second.
It was becoming all too easy to imagine pulling her closer. And far too easy to imagine what those lips would feel like against mine.
Even easier to imagine slipping her panties down and sinking myself inside of her. How warm she’d feel. How wet…
“Tex?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah?”
“I think they just called your name.”
I stepped back from her, putting some distance between us. Needing the distance before I lost my goddamned mind over this woman. “Guess I’m heading on stage in a minute then.”
Her eyes lit up instantly. “You’re really going to sing?”
Her excitement made me chuckle. “Don’t get too excited. It’s just a shitty bar, and a couple of songs. Nothin’ fancy.”
“So modest,” she laughed. She looked up at me, “well, I can’t wait to hear you up there, Tex.”
Something about the way she said that made my chest feel tight in a way I hadn’t ever felt before. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I heard my name being called again and she squealed, following me across the bar to the stage.
I set my beer down on top of the jukebox near the small stage and the bartender handed me the old acoustic they kept behind the counter. I adjusted the mic and glanced out at the crowd.
The other Kings had heard me sing and play hundreds of times, so they didn’t give a shit about any of this. Instead, they looked happy that they were finally free to use the pool table Rowan and I had just been using all night long.
All except Moose and Bear, who came to watch, and keep a close eye on Rowan. None of us had forgotten that we were here to draw the cartel out, though as the night had gone on it had become less likely that they would show.
I zoned back in, not really seeing the crowd, or Moose or Bear, anymore.
Instead my eyes found Rowan.
She was standing close to the stage, drink in hand, watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
The room quieted as I strummed the first chord. The familiar rhythm settled into my hands automatically. Normally when I played, I let myself disappear into the music. Into the familiar feel of the chords on my fingers and the words on my tongue.
Tonight was different though. Because every few seconds my gaze drifted back to her.
To the way the bar lights caught in her hair.
To the way her lips curved up when she smiled and her lashes fluttered at something Moose said against her ear.
To the way she watched and listened to me like she’d never heard music before.
By the second song I barely noticed the rest of the room because all I could see was her—Rowan.
And the dangerous thought circling in the back of my mind was that if I didn’t get some distance from her soon, I was going to want to kiss her.
No. I would kiss her.
And that would be a very bad idea.