Chapter Twelve
Sniper
“D angling me as bait again?” Katey jumped off the back of my bike and looked around the casino parking garage cautiously. She was still on edge, jumping at the sound of every closing car door or revving engine.
I accepted her helmet and hung it over the handlebar before I removed my own. She was more relaxed on the bike this time, almost smiling when she stared up at me. “Wouldn’t work as well if I used somebody else for bait.”
That earned me a laugh. “Good point, I guess.” She looked around again just before we stepped onto the elevator. “What are we doing here?”
“Eating,” I answered and pressed the button. “It’s something humans require for fuel.”
“Smart ass.” For the first time in two weeks there was no bite to her words.
“We’re here because you need to eat. If you skip another meal a small gust of wind will take you down.” That was half true anyway. It would be a long damn time before I forgot what she looked like, naked and sprawled on the floor.
“Gee thanks Sniper. You say all the right things.”
I laughed. “I didn’t say you didn’t have a bangin’ body, because you do. But you have to eat.”
We arrived at the restaurant, and I found a table that allowed a view of both exits. “This is something I would think a doctor should already know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Prepare yourself for all the food I am about to eat. Buffets are my specialty.” She stood and marched towards the first row of food with a wicked determination.
She surprised the hell out of me when she returned to the table with a plate piled high with food. “You’re allowed to go back as many times as you want, you know.”
Katey’s laugh was throaty and melodic. “I like to sample a little of everything,” she insisted, eyeing my plate. “Meat and potatoes. Big surprise.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” There was no malice in her words, but I took offense.
“It means that you’re just like Cal in a lot of ways.”
That much was true. We came from similar backgrounds, and we served our country together. But he upheld the law, and I broke it. Regularly. “Why did you choose emergency medicine?”
Her blue eyes sparkled. “I’ve always been quick on my feet and calm in a crisis, so when it came time to choose my specialty it seemed like the perfect fit. It’s all I wanted to do, and I loved it.”
“Why did you stop?” Doctors made good money, and she wouldn’t have to live in shitty apartments. “I’m always hearing about the need in the medical field.”
Katey sighed and took a big bite of mac and cheese while she contemplated her answer. “The first few times I ran away from Ethan that’s exactly what I did. It was easy to get a job, harder to keep it when your dangerous ex showed up and made a scene time and time again.” Her jaw clenched and she began to stab at her food. “People who end up in the ER are already having problems and some big scary biker adding to it was the last thing they needed so after the last time, I decided to find something that paid cash so it would be harder to find me.”
I wasn’t na?ve enough to think that was the only reason, but I also knew she wasn’t ready to trust me that much. “So you gave it up.”
“I had to,” she insisted. “I went into medicine to help people, not stress them out.” Katey sighed and pushed her half-empty plates away before she stood. “I’m not giving up forever, especially not now that I have a big strong husband to scare him off.” She laughed and walked back towards the food.
I watched, my eyes fixed on the sway of her ass. She needed to gain a few pounds, but her body was incredible, especially that round ass. And she was funny, dammit. When she wasn’t being a dick, she was funny. A woman who could laugh at herself was irresistible.
“My turn,” she laughed when she returned with a giant plate of three types of fries, and the other held two burgers.
“Your turn for what?”
She carefully cut both burgers in half, setting two halves on top of the fries and shoving the other plate in my direction. “How does one become part of a motorcycle club.”
“It’s a process. You have to be sponsored and there’s a trial period similar to your residency.”
Her brows shot up. “Long hours? No sleep? Annoying bosses?”
My lips kicked up to one side. “Something like that.” People always wanted to know what it was like being a biker, or how many people I’ve killed, in the club and the service.
“Is it everything you thought it would be?”
Her question shocked me and forced me to think about it. “No but only because I didn’t know what I was expecting. I guess I was looking for that brotherhood and camaraderie to replace what I had in the military. It’s different, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“It’s admirable, you know, the way you guys always have each other’s backs. Like brothers.”
“Exactly.” It was refreshing to know that she understood. “Your ex’s MC wasn’t like that?”
She shrugged. “Not really or if they were I never saw it. They were pretty volatile and toxic.” She shivered as if thinking about it disgusted her. “They were different.”
“Sucks for them.” I stole one of her fries and laughed at her shocked expression.
“Not my problem anymore.”
We both made one more trip to the buffet before we headed back to the clubhouse. It felt as if we’d crossed some invisible barrier that was between us. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I thought we made progress today. However, that progress was quickly stamped out when we rode past Steel City Motors and found a motorcycle with flames flicking off it, fifteen feet high.
I pulled up to the clubhouse and got off my bike just as Diesel, Rocky, and Gio came out. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Someone left a note for you, Sniper.” Gio handed me a crumpled piece of yellow paper.
I straightened out the paper and stared at the words, handwritten in block letters. “You can’t keep what’s mine.”
I smiled.
Wanna bet, motherfucker?