“I see,” Tim said. “And after the party, I presume you’ll be heading south, Carter.”
“I will at some point in the future.” He took another sip of champagne then turned to Leah. “Perhaps I’ll persuade your daughter to take another vacation. The sun, sea, and surf suit her.”
Leah laughed as if she hadn’t noticed the tension. She was a good actress. “Vacations are a rare treat.”
“Leah, Leah. Good, you’re here.” A tall, slim woman wearing a black and white polka dot dress, nipped at the waist, strutted up to them. She gripped Leah’s shoulders and kissed her on both cheeks with loudmhwaanoises. “We’ve been highly anticipating meeting your companion.” She turned her attention to Carter. Her eyes widened and her mouth made a perfectO, but not a sound came out.
“Ellen,” Leah said. “This is Carter.”
“Well, yes, I … I see.” Ellen’s gaze slipped down Carter’s body, a grater on his nerves. She reached his boots then lifted her attention back up over his leathers and t-shirt, skimming his ink and then finally settling back on his face. “And what do you do, Carter? For a living, that is?”
“I fix engines, ma’am.”
“Engines?”
“Bikes, jet skis, boats, cars, you name it. Got oil, I can fix it.”
“And is that a lucrative trade?” She tipped her chin, her lips a flat line. “Fixing?”
“It is when combined with a few side businesses.”
“Oh?”
Carter grinned. He had no intention of telling her any more, but it would be fun for her imagination to ponder on what else he did.
“Carter took me to Tijuana last week,” Leah said. “For lunch. It was lovely.”
“Tijuana.” Tim scowled. “Dangerous place that.”
“I can promise you your daughter was perfectly safe with me.” Carter was aware of the gun at the base of his spine. Yep, he’d had all eventualities covered.
Tim looked between Carter and Leah. “You should get some food. There’s smoked salmon from Nova, Leah, your favorite.” There was tension in his voice.
“We will, thanks, Pops.” She tugged Carter’s arm. “Come on, I’m hungry.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Carter said with a nod and a mock salute.
They didn’t reply.
Once out of earshot, he chuckled. “They hate me, but you knew they would, right?”
“They don’t hate you.”
“They couldn’t keep the horror off their faces.”
“They were just surprised, that’s all. I haven’t dated a biker before.”
“Surprise, huh, that’s one way of describing it.”
They arrived at a long buffet table adorned with every type of food imaginable, a swathe of flowers, pillars of candles, and a huge swan made from ice that was dripping from its beak.
She handed him a plate. “Eat. It’s a long time since we stopped at that diner.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he piled his plate high, his mouth watering. He knew he stood out like a sore thumb on the fancy lawn, but that didn’t stop his stomach from rumbling.
They took a table in the shade. A waiter delivered more champagne.
“It’s fancy, this.” Carter took a bite out of a chunk of bread dotted with sun-dried tomatoes and nodded at the crowd of guests.