“Come again,” Wyatt said as they stepped past him and Belle.
“Yeah, don’t let that eejit put you off.” Belle jabbed her thumb in Taff’s direction. “It’d be nice to have a bit of class around here for a change.” She laughed.
Leah smiled. The chances of her ever returning were slim. Soon she’d be home getting on with her life as an attorney—sleeping alone in her bed by night, and playing the dutiful mayor’s daughter whenever she was called upon.
Chapter Thirteen
When they arrived back at the beach house, Leah fixed a jug of iced tea and settled in the shade of the deck.
Carter stripped off his t-shirt and flopped into the chair next to her. He sipped his drink.
“Did you get your … business done with Hudson?” she asked, staring out to sea.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” She paused. “Anything you can tell me about?”
He huffed. “Another MC is getting twitchy. We owe ’em a few bucks.”
“And you haven’t got it?”
“We will have, in a day or two.”
“What do you owe them for?”
He looked at her. “The less you know, the better, babe.”
She was quiet.
“Fuck. I’m an idiot.” He frowned.
“What? Why?” His sudden change of tone surprised her.
He poked at a splinter on the wooden chair arm. “For taking you to the compound. Taff … he’s… Fuck. A woman like you, shouldn’t—”
“Define ‘a woman like me’?” She set her drink to one side and watched a turn strutting over a sand dune.
“C’mon, you know what I mean.” He shrugged.
“I want you to say it.”
“Classy. You belong in fine restaurants, five-star hotels, that kind of thing. Not like me. The compound is home, always has been.”
“Do you really think we’re so different?”
He appeared thoughtful for a moment. “No, but I think what we’re used to is different.”
She turned to him. “I’ll admit I’m not used to seeing guns drawn on a daily basis.”
“For some club brothers, it’s the only language they speak.”
“And you?”
“Nah, I just have to work the lingo to survive in that world. You wouldn’t step into court without knowing all those fancy attorney words, would you?”
“I guess not.”
He was quiet, then, “I might not have been to college, Leah, and I haven’t ever sat no bar exam, but I’m not empty up here.” He tapped the side of his head.