Chapter One
Boss
Speeding along the road back into Steeleville, I drive up behind my bar and park in my spot. I had to get out and clear my head. A nervous energy has been running through me like something’s brewing today and I don’t know what the hell it is.
Using my code, I whip the steel back door open, step inside, and head into my office to slip off my leather jacket. It’s still the thick of winter, but the weather is mild and the roads weren’t slick so I rode my newest Harley, testing it out. Wrench’s craftsmanship is a thing of true beauty.
Hans is stocking the coolers while Sam is serving the few early customers we have in. I’ll be working in my office for an hour to handle payroll, and then I’ll go out and lend the guys a hand for the evening until it’s time to close.
After an hour on the dot, I’m powering down the computer. Checks have been submitted online so they’ll be ready for payday on Tuesday. It’s odd to pay people on a Tuesday, but for many of the people here, weekends are workdays.
We’re open every day from eleven in the morning until two in the morning from Monday through Saturday and closed on major holidays. Even with a small town, we’re always busy because other than the clubhouse, which is exclusively for the Steele Riders, there is no other bar in town.
I roll my head, cracking my neck. It’s been one hell of a busy holiday week. Valentine’s Day came and went. With so many of the guys falling on their asses in love, married with babies on the way, it was a big deal, and then yesterday Roxie’s man had just returned from Las Vegas making her world right again, but it opened another can of worms.
Trouble is always brewing for us Steele Riders, and I feel it in my bones. As the commander of these men when we served in the special forces, I did my part in raising them like my own, but we’ve all hung up our war boots and are trying to live peacefully. I’m getting up in years, and I’m not anxious to get into shit anymore.
I’d like some calm days full of just growing old and watching my boys have some kids. I don’t have kids of my own, but I’ve always considered the men that I commanded, taught, and protected as my own children, and they feel the same way about me.
It’s six in the evening when a small crowd begins to fill the bar. Roxie’s not here tonight because she’s busy tending to her fiancé, so Sam is working with me. A group of women gather around me, giggling, with a pink bride-to-be sash on one of them. They’re not from town or I would recognize them, but they could be from the next town over. Either way, they must be having a bachelorette party.
“Hello, ladies. What can I get you?” I ask, smiling at the women and doing my best to welcome them. It’s clear that they’ve already started partying before they got here.
“Do you, like, have some cosmos?” the bride-to-be asks.
“Come on, Lily. This is a small town. They’re not going to have that stuff here.”
I give the snooty woman in a tight, shiny black dress a passing glance and then wink at the bride-to be. “Sugar, we have it all.” I’m guessing they had no intention of showing up to a small-town biker bar in the middle of Texas when there are tons of clubs up in Dallas.
“Now, how many cosmos am I mixing up?” I ask them.
“We all want one,” the snooty one answers.
A hand comes up and a soft voice says, “I can’t have any. I’m the designated driver.” A meek woman waves from the side in a black dress, but it isn’t as revealing. She’s naturally beautiful, but it’s clear she’s not trying to be the life of the party.
“Would you like a Coke?” I offer.
“That sounds good to me.” Her smile is genuine, and I like her. I wonder if she’s single because there are lots of young men here in town who could use a good woman. Something about her screams sweet and innocent.
“Goodness, look at those muscles and tats. Seriously, Daddy.” I turn my attention to the woman who let that slip past her lips. I’m not interested in her at all, but it definitely boosts my ego. I’ve just turned forty-seven, and I’m proud that I still have it—although she might be a bit on the tipsy side.
“Thanks,” I answer, giving a charming smile as always and pulling out the ingredients with a little flair. Getting older isn’t easy on most people, especially when you’ve got no one to grow old with. I’d be dead before these babies grew old.