After the events of last night, I wanted to take it easy, so I was at Wheelz. It was a weeknight, not usually our busiest time, so the bar didn’t have any civilian patrons, just club members. This was fine by me. Sure, I could make more money with more customers, but this was a much more relaxed environment. Just the Rebels.
Charlie stood behind the bar, learning the ropes from Ink.
Ink had been a prospect six months ago, so it was all fresh in his mind.
Chalk was playing a round of pool with Maverick, giving the less experienced player some pointers. Bear, our road captain and one of the oldest among us all, sat at a table alone, pouring over a map as he planned our next ride. He liked to use real maps instead of the GPS on his phone. The GPS would give him the quickest route to the destination we chose, but it wasn’t really about the destination. By planning the ride on a map, Bear could make the route interesting, finding twisty backroads, or taking us past beautiful scenery. Being an ex-army man with his military discipline and attention to detail, this extra effort he was always putting in everything he did was what made him excellent at his position within the club.
As for me, I sat on a barstool, drinking a beer with my vice president, Gunner, on a stool beside me. A hockey game played on the television screens around the bar and we were watching it with little interest while making conversation.
Gunner wasn’t the chattiest person in the world, but I liked that. Cause when he did tell you something, it was usually worth listening to. Right now, he was telling me about his dad’s fishing boat and the first time he’d ever caught anything. “I’d just about given up and my old man, being the hard son of a bitch that he was, had made it clear that I would only be getting dinner that night if I caught it. The sun was going down and he was preparing to head back to the dock, gloating about the three fish he’d caught that day when my line finally pulled. I swear, I had to use my entire body to get the damn thing to come and when it finally came out of the water, it was a big ole catfish.” He held his arms out about two feet apart, grinning with pride he’d held on to all these years. “That sucker was bigger than all my dad’s catches.”
“You showed him,” I said, holding out my beer bottle. Gunner clicked his bottle against mine and we drank to that.
The door of the bar opened and I turned, expecting to see another club member, but to my surprise it was Harper walking into the bar. She wore a dress again, but she had an open blazer over this one, her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. This was the first time seeing her with her hair up and I liked it. I could see more of her face and her long neck.
Her eyes fell straight to me and she walked over.
I straightened in my seat.
The stare of every person in the bar was glued to her, but she didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she slid gracefully onto the stool beside me.
“Can I get you anything?” Charlie asked, appearing in front of her with a white towel flung over his shoulder.
“Can you make a fuzzy navel?” she asked.
“Can I?” Charlie scoffed, confidence dripping from his voice. But then he stepped over to Ink, and repeated the question to him in a low voice, “Can I make one?”
I chuckled as Ink nodded and started to show him how to do it. I’d put some fruity, frilly drinks on the menu for women that came into the bar. When I first opened this place, I focused on beer and hard liquor, but I listened to the feedback I got from my female customers. We had fuzzy navels, screwdrivers, and sex on the beach available.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Harper. I saw no point in beating around the bush as we both knew she had a reason for being here. She didn’t seem like the type to hang out in a biker bar alone. Few women were, actually. My eyes flickered down to her pink lips, wondering what she might taste like. If she’d only give me a chance to find out.
“I have a business proposition for you,” she stated.
I wanted to make an inappropriate joke, but I held it in. Whatever this was about, Harper looked serious. “Tell me,” I insisted, turning on my stool and giving her my full attention.
“It’s about what happened yesterday. My boss saw the footage and he sent me here to offer you a job.”
“A job?” I didn’t see that coming.
“We need additional security, obviously. I was hoping that you, meaning the whole club, might be interested in providing it. During our busiest hours every day.”
I thought it over for a long moment. I could only see the positive part of the request. We could keep an eye out for more drug dealers and catch another one that we might be able to get more information out of. It would also add a legitimate business opportunity to the club’s list of activities. And Harper would be there, feeding my newest addiction—her. It was a winning proposition.
“We’ll do it,” I said.
She smiled, laying a hand on my arm. “Thank you so much,” she said, as Charlie sat her drink down in front of her. “We can talk about pay later, but for now, we’ll celebrate this new business opportunity with a drink. Another beer for Bones, please.”
Charlie produced the ice-cold beer and she started to hand over money. It was cute how she wanted to pay for mine too, but I waved her off. “You can tip Charlie, but don’t worry about the drinks. I own this place.”
Harper handed over a generous tip to Charlie and we drank.
Harper looked around the bar curiously, from the pool tables to the dartboards. “Can you tell me a little bit about your club?” she asked. “If we’re going into this security business together, I think it might be a good idea for me to know these things.”
She was trying to be professional about it, but I could tell she was interested on a personal level. It seemed clear to me in the way she looked at me, with just a hint of interest that she couldn’t hide.
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “But one of the club rules is that we can’t talk about club business like that.”
“I see.” Harper was easy to read, her emotions reflected clearly on her face.
I could see she was suspicious of my response. “I can tell you this, we are not bad guys. We’re not criminals. I swear.”
She didn’t look entirely convinced but gave me a small half-grin.
I’d take that. For now.