“What’s your lady like today?” Wyatt asked.
“Yeah, reckon you could bring her in?” Brooklyn raised her eyebrows.
“My attorney. Willow?” Carter laughed. “Nah, not fucking likely.”
“Shame.” Brooklyn tapped her long red nails together. “Young, female, knows Pierce for when we rock up here each year, that could have worked.”
“Still could.” Wyatt nodded at Skylar and Jayden. They were snogging now.
“Yeah, you’re well and truly single, son, and I know you like a challenge. How about you go and get this Willow on board?”
“You say it like it’s an easy thing.” Carter shook his head.
“Would be if she fell for you.” Brooklyn cupped his cheek. “You, my son, are a handsome man, and you have a lot to offer a girl. Go get her. Go get us an attorney to win our cases for free.”
“And that’s it, not because I like her or anything, just bang her and bring her in for the club to use.”
“You always put the club first, Carter, you know you do.”
“Yeah.” Wyatt nodded. “You’re solid, right through.”
Carter pulled in a deep breath and closed his eyes. But it wasn’t Willow he saw in his mind, it was Leah.
The woman he’d seen for the first time earlier that day but had somehow managed to worm her way under his skin. Invading his thoughts, his mood, and his damn fantasies.
How long would she do that? How long would she mess him up for?
He didn’t know. But what he did know was he needed to see her again the same way he needed to breathe.
****
Cheers and Beers was a typical Pierce drinking hole. It needed a lick of paint, but the beer was cold. The long bar was stained yet polished. The optics were plentiful and the local staff friendly.
Carter wandered into the air-conditioning, glad to be out of the evening humidity. He’d left his Harley curbside next to a couple of others. Last week, there would have been fifty or so lined up, now with the rally over, clubs and chapters had headed back to home turf, including his.
Not Carter, though, he’d thrown a few hundred bucks at the motel receptionist and secured himself a room for a while longer.
There was something he needed to do.
Or rather someone.
He glanced around, searching the dark booths for the face that had haunted his dream the night before.
She had to be here. He’d seen her wander across from the courthouse with Willow about twenty minutes ago. An after-work drink was clearly a habit of theirs, and this was the third night in a row.
He frowned then rubbed the line between his brows. Wyatt, the know-it-all, was right. He did have a pussy frown, and it was damn annoying.
As was the fact he still couldn’t see that glossy black bob or those slim shoulders. She’d been wearing a sexy-as-fuck red silk shirt teamed with tight black pants when he’d seen her. Almost enough to make him rev his bike from the shadows, pull up alongside, and grab her for the ride of her life, whether she wanted it or not.
But he’d refrained himself. He preferred his women willing, even if there was some persuading to do along the way, or should he say seduction.
Seduction. Mmm, he’d like to practice some of that on Leah. He’d bet he’d have to pull his best tricks to get her pupils wide with desire and her nipples poking at her silky shirt.
His groin ached. He huffed and strode to the bar. Where the fuck was she?
“Beer,” he said, setting his ass on the edge of a stool. He glanced in the mirror behind the bar.
Ah, there was Willow, and where she was, Leah was sure to be close. Except he still couldn’t see her.