Although Dawn had opened his eyes to the possibility some situations just couldn’t be controlled, he couldn’t accept that there were times he wouldn’t be able to protect the people he cared about. He wouldn’t let her suffer the same fate as his mother. Not when he had the strength and resources to ensure it would never happen. Not even if it meant turning his back on the club. And in the boardroom the other day, he’d almost been there.
Jagger thudded his beer bottle on a wooden table to quiet the room, and the DJ turned down Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” The DJ was crap but he owed the Sinners money and what better way for him to work off his debt than to DJ at Riders, one of several bars the Sinners owned, operated, and laundered money through in Conundrum. At least Riders looked like a biker bar: worn wooden tables, posters of girls, bikes, and girls on bikes pinned to the walls, beer bottle sculptures in the alcoves, dim lighting, and a central dance floor that gave the brothers a good view of the girls. And of course, it smelled like stale beer and leather.
Cade grimaced when Jagger cleared his throat. He wasn’t up for this at all. Pretending to have a relationship had been a lot easier when they were just having a good time. But now he felt open, raw, totally and utterly exposed. Not a comfortable feeling.
He shot back his whiskey, swallowing the smooth, bitter liquid in one gulp. Time to back off, regain perspective. This relationship wasn’t real and he had to stop thinking of it that way.
Arianne put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, quieting the room. She winked at Jagger and his face softened. Secret joke that wasn’t much of a secret. Arianne had saved Jagger’s life with that whistle not so long ago.
“As you all know,” Jagger shouted. “Cade has an announcement for us.” Jagger looked over at Cade and winked. Club tradition said that when a brother took an old lady, he had to make a formal declaration to the club. Usually the brothers brought it up in church, but Jagger wanted the word to get out. The Brethren had to believe it was true, and what better way than to invite a bunch of support clubs and support wannabes, splash the cash, and send them out to spread the word that the “Sinner of Sinners” had finally been tamed.
Now he had to make a damn speech when all he really wanted was to get on his bike and ride until he ran out of gas.
After refilling his glass from a bottle on the bar, he searched the crowd and spotted Dawn deep in conversation with Tanya. She looked up and met his gaze, her expression wary. Mustering all the charm he’d relied on to woo women into his bed, he smiled and held out a hand, indicating for her to join him.
“Finally found a woman who lit my fire,” he said, raising his bottle. “Sweet, sassy, and sexy and a bit of a sinner like all of us. She may look soft, but she’s got a core of steel. Sweet butts, dry your eyes. She’s got my heart, my wings, my protection, and my patch. I’m taking Dawn as my old lady and if anyone has a problem with that, I’ll shoot them between the fucking eyes.”
Everyone cheered. Dawn gave a cool smile and, after a nudge from Tanya, joined him in the center of the room, her fuck-me stilettos tapping lightly on the wooden floor. Her gold dress shimmered in the light, hugging every curve of her beautiful body, and her hair fell in soft golden curls past her shoulders. Damn. Why did she have to dress like that? He was hard just looking at her. Every damn brother in the room would be panting after her …
But they couldn’t touch. Dawn belonged to him now and no one touched a biker’s old lady.
Mine. He felt no small amount of satisfaction when he took the new cut from Jagger and slid it over her shoulders. Dawn spun around to show off the PROPERTY OF CADE patch on the back: the skull and stars in the center and his personal rocker on top, and Cade thought he might burst from pride. His cut. His woman. A more beautiful sight he had never seen.
Too bad it wasn’t real.
After the cheers died down, he clasped Dawn’s hand and wove his way through the crowded bar, forcing a smile as he endured the congratulations, handshakes, and pats on the back, counting the minutes until they could be free.
“Hey Cade.” One of the few non-board-members who knew about the ruse, Arianne greeted him warmly when he reached the bar. “Nice speech. All I got from Jagger was a cut wrapped up in brown paper with PROPERTY OF JAGGER written on the back and suddenly I was his old lady.”
“That’s ’cause you were his old lady the second he laid eyes on you. Just took you both a while to realize it.” That and Jagger almost dying in a ditch after rescuing Arianne from her Black Jack family.
“Never seen anyone scowl so much about getting hitched.” Jagger leaned against the bar beside him after Arianne took Dawn to meet her new family. “People are starting to talk. Totally defeats the purpose of what you were trying to do here. Go dance with her, kiss her, make out—something to make it seem legit. Or are you having second thoughts?”