Chapter 8
Seek
Imanaged to avoid my family for another three days before they’d insisted on seeing me. Distancing myself after not finding someone on a search was a pattern for me and they knew it. They’d only give me my space for so long.
I loved my family, but every time we got together, my mom started probing into my personal life and my sister always managed to turn everything I said into something about herself.
Though I would do anything for them, it got a bit tiring.
My luck had officially run out tonight, though, because now my sister had descended on me.
She also had badgered me into dressing up for our night on the town.
“You look great!”
I turned and gave her a sour look. “I don’t want to go out tonight, Joanna,” I complained.
I’d gone right back to work as soon as I was able to stay awake for more than five minutes at a time.
Summer was always a busy time for S&R and it kept me busy.
When I wasn’t out searching for someone, I trained with my dogs.
It took a lot to keep them in shape, both physically and mentally.
Tomorrow was my first day off in over a week and I didn’t want to go out.
I wanted to stay in and relax. I knew how incredibly boring I was.
It was the reason my friends had all slowly drifted off like ships in the night.
They were either still out partying every weekend, or they’d gotten married and started families. I didn’t fit into either category.
“You deserve a night off, Jamie. It’s been over a month since we’ve gone out.” She let her lower lip stick out in a pout. She was a carbon copy of me, only eight years younger. At twenty-two, she was still all about going out on the weekends and partying.
Friday nights for me were usually reserved for watching my favorite show with a large bowl of popcorn. My sister gave me the doe eyes. I’d never been able to resist that look. “Fine,” I grumbled.
I swiped on some lipstick as she texted her friends. “Ready?” she asked when she looked up. “The Uber is here.”
“Why did you call an Uber? I could have driven.”
“Nope! You’re drinking tonight,” she told me with a sly grin.
I groaned. The last time I drank with her I felt awful the next morning. Downing a bunch of alcohol was not the same when you were over thirty. Jo had gone to work the next day like she wasn’t even hung over. I missed the resiliency of my early twenties.
“They’re here!” she sang out and dragged me out the door.
The last thing I saw was the sympathetic gazes of my dogs. They always behaved when I left them at home, so I wasn’t worried about that. I was more worried about what lay in wait for me tonight. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know. Some new place we haven’t been. Brad found it.”
Brad and Jo had been dating for about a year. He was a nice enough kid, but I wasn’t sure I trusted his judgment in clubs, or anything really. We pulled up and got out of the car and my frown pulled my brows low. “This is a dance club?”
It didn’t look big enough, though it wasn’t small. Also, you couldn't hear music pouring out of the building. At least not yet. The name on the side of the brick was painted on in thick black lettering, ‘The Bunker’. Doubt was heavy in my mind. Nothing about this place said dance club to me.
“I don’t know,” Jo replied, voice peppy. She tugged me inside with her.
It definitely wasn’t a dance club. We both paused just inside the door and eyed the patrons warily. Everyone was closer to my age—and older—than they were to Jo’s.
“There they are,” she squealed and hurried off, launching herself into her boyfriend’s arms.
People were still staring. Men in leather cuts were watching Jo and her group as they sat around drinking beers or playing pool.
The younger kids were painfully out of place in this bar.
Where had Brad brought us? Wherever it was, we didn’t belong.
This was a dive bar, a locals only dive bar.
Though we were technically locals here in Marana, I doubted anyone here was going to care.
I’d just started over toward my sister when someone grabbed my bicep, swinging me around to face them.
My mom had taught us as young girls, if someone put their hands on you, you came out swinging.
You could ask questions later. My dad had died when Jo was a baby, so it’d been up to Mom to teach us all the things a father would’ve. She’d done a great job, in my opinion.
She’d also taught us how to punch properly, making sure not to tuck your thumb into your fist so you didn’t break it. I was grateful to her now as I connected with whoever had grabbed me.
My punch landed a little short of the guy’s face, rebounding off his chest instead. It still made him grunt in surprise. His chest felt like a brick. I was lucky I didn't break anything. That was when I realized I recognized that face. It was Hush.
“Oh…oops. I’m so sorry,” I stammered. I patted his chest where I’d clocked him.
If he was a typical guy’s height, I’d have nailed him right in the face.
He was lucky he was tall. “I didn’t realize that was you.
” We’d forget the fact that he’d grabbed me from behind so he kind of deserved it. I was nice like that.
His face was a hard unreadable mask as he stared at me. “What are you doin’ here?”
“Uh…” I searched his face. He looked pissed. “I came with my sister and her frie-” A gasp tore out of my mouth when he grabbed me and hauled me back toward the bar. “Hey! Let go.” I tried to jerk out of his grip, but he just tightened his grasp on me. His hand was like an iron shackle.
He pulled me over to the bar and sat me down on a stool. Pointing a finger at a man sitting next to me, he barked an order at him. “Watch her.” He started to stalk off toward my sister, then paused and gave my babysitter a dark look. “Hands off, Smokehouse.”
A slow smile spread over the face of the gorgeous man sitting next to me. He had on a dirty t-shirt, leather cut, jeans, and boots. Pretty much the same thing Hush was wearing, only, Hush made me want to know what was beneath all those clothes.
Smokehouse turned that smile on me and all I felt was uncomfortable. Sure, he was handsome, but he knew it. It didn’t have that melting effect that Hush’s gaze had.
“Hi, Gorgeous. I’m Smokehouse.” He held out his hand. I didn’t remember seeing him in the crowd of people that’d been at Picacho Peak that day.
Delicately I took his hand and shook it. “Jamie.” He scooched his stool closer. I leaned away from him.
“That’s a beautiful name.” His light brown hair was standing up in tufts and his green eyes were watching me with an intensity that made me think of a hyena looking for wounded prey.
“Uh, thanks.” This was probably the only time I was grateful that I wasn’t good at flirting.
“Want a drink?”
From you? No way in hell.
“No thanks.” There was nothing wrong with him. In fact, from the corner of my eye I spotted my sister's friends giving me evil glares. They wanted to be sitting here talking to him.
I watched as Hush ushered Joanna and her friends from the bar. “Oh, looks like we’re going,” I told Smokehouse cheerfully. “Nice to meet you.” I hopped out of my seat before he could grab me and hurried over toward the door.
A beast of a man stepped into my path and, before I could change direction, I bounced off him. He caught me by the shoulders and leered down at me. “Where ya heading in such a hurry, Beautiful?”
Beautiful. Gorgeous. What’s with these guys?
I’d never been called anything like that in my life.
Especially not by strangers. Not that I was ugly.
I had a cute face, pretty dark brown hair, and eyelashes that had made my sister pitch fits over the years since hers were apparently shorter.
But men never gave me compliments like this.
Usually, they were too busy staring at Jo.
“I was just leaving,” I told him, worried that he was pissed we were here, too.
“Stick around.” He slung his arm over my shoulders, pulling me in close to his body. His cologne made my eyes water as it assaulted my senses.
“Let her go, Boar.”
My eyes flashed over and found Hush standing there, facing down my captor. Boar? Seriously? I side eyed the man. Yeah, okay. The name fit. His pinched features were more exaggerated by the frown he wore.
“Relax, Hush. I was just introducing myself to your lady.”
Hush’s mouth flattened out into a thin line, but he didn’t correct the man. “Boar, this is…”
“Jamie,” I told him, giving him a little wave from under his arm.
“Nice to meet ya, Girlie.” He released me. They should have named him Boa Constrictor. I shook the meaty paw he held out.
Boar moved past me and slapped his hand on Hush’s back so hard I winced. Hush didn’t move, just watched the other man go back to playing pool.
I glanced around Hush and found Jo standing alone by the door. She looked upset. “Did you kick them out?”
“They don’t belong here,” he said by way of agreement.
“Okay, we’ll go.”
“You can stay.”
My mouth dropped open a little and I shook my head. Whatever game this was, I wasn’t playing. Jo gave a weak smile as I walked up to her.
“Sorry, Brad didn’t realize this was a biker bar.”
“No worries. Where are we going next?” I asked her.
“Well… The guys decided to go down to the U of A and hit a frat party.”
I groaned. I hated going to the University Campus. I was too old to be going to frat parties. “You go have fun. I’m going home.” It was too bad I’d spent so much time picking out the nice curve-hugging jeans and slinky top I had on, but at least now I could go watch my show.
“Do you want us to drop you off?” she asked, her eyes filled with worry and apology.
“No. It’s in the opposite direction. I’ll get another Uber.”
Jo chewed on her lower lip. “Are you sure? I feel bad-”
“Don’t,” I insisted. “I’m much happier going home and eating popcorn.”
“I can wait with you until the Uber gets here.” A horn blared from the parking lot, insistent and loud.
“I’ll make sure she gets home alright.” A deep voice rumbled from behind me.
Jumping, I turned my head and found Hush standing there, arms crossed over his massive chest.
“Who are you anyway? The bouncer?” Jo asked, suspicion laced through her tone.
“Bartender. She’s a friend of mine.”
Jo’s eyes widened and she looked to me for confirmation. I gave her a dubious grin. “We met a couple weeks ago.” A little more, but who other than me was counting?
“If you’re sure…” Her eyes flicked over to Hush again. In a low voice she told me, “At least no one will mess with you if you’re with him.”
“Exactly,” I told her. “So go, have a good time. Be careful,” I warned her with a pointed look.
“I will,” she laughed, finally relaxing now that I was taken care of. She waved with a bright smile as she left the bar. My sister was a bit self-centered most of the time, but she cared about me as much as I did her.
Watching her hop into Brad’s car, I waited until they pulled out to turn to face Hush.
I knew he was still standing there. His presence had the little hairs on my arms standing up.
I wasn’t sure why I was so aware of him.
I never reacted to guys like this. Men. To men like this.
Hush wasn’t a guy, or a boy. He was a man in every sense of the word.
“Does your sister often leave you with men you hardly know?”
“We both just assured her we knew each other and she trusts me,” I countered. “How did you know she’s my sister?”
His brows shot up. “You could be twins.”
I laughed. “She’s quite a bit younger than me.”
He gave me a look of doubt.
“Thanks for the help. I’ll get that Uber and get out of your hair.”
He scratched his chin and then glanced over his shoulder back to the bar. Looking back at me there was something unreadable there in his eyes. After a brief hesitation, he seemed to make up his mind about something. “Want a drink before you go?”
I thought about declining, but that intensity was back in his eyes and it had my body demanding more. I wanted to be near him. He made me feel…alive.
He was far more appealing than sweat pants and popcorn.
Besides, I’d had enough alone time and moping.
It was time to put the loss from the other day out of my mind.
I knew Hush could help with that. “Okay,” I managed to squeak.
He brought out feelings I hadn’t had in some time.
My heart was racing within my chest and my nipples were hard, scraping the lace of my bra.
All he’d done was look at me and he’d affected me.
I could only imagine what he’d make me feel if he got those rough hands on my body.
If I was being honest with myself, it was definitely a matter of when, not if.
Especially if we kept bumping into each other.
That wasn’t uncommon in a small city like Tucson.
He led me over to an empty table and yanked a wooden chair out for me.
I bit my lip to stifle my laughter. His version of gentlemanly was so gruff and violent that it came off as genuine.
I’d let him in my home, so it was clear I trusted him on some level.
Either that or my hormones were overriding my good sense.
“Wait here.”
He started back over to the bar, but paused when a man began to stand up nearby.
Hush’s glare had the man sitting back down in a hurry.
I had a feeling he’d been about to come over to talk to me.
Once every man in the bar was purposely looking anywhere except at me, Hush continued over to the bar.
This was the most bizarre, and kind of flattering, VIP treatment I’d ever had.
The woman standing there was probably around my age, and pretty. She looked over at me curiously and nodded at whatever Hush was saying.
I watched as he walked back toward me and I fought not to melt in my seat. His gait was long and loose. He moved with purpose, but with a grace that belied his strength. Danger poured off him, especially anytime one of the guys met his eyes.
He flopped down in the chair across from me, back to the wall, keeping a close eye on everything going on around us.
“Aren’t these guys your friends?”
“Huh? Yeah, they’re my friends,” he confirmed, confusion clouding his expression.
“You just seem to be wary of them,” I explained.
“Because of you. And because I know them.” His eyes snapped over when a man stood up, but his tensing muscles relaxed as the guy walked toward the bar.
“Because of me? Why?”