Damaged and the Knight (Damaged #2)

Proving as much, Bailey descended upon me when we arrived and told me every minute detail of her day. I couldn’t help laughing though because she was so excited to see me. I think she wanted to know about dinner, but she was getting better about not pushing unless info was offered.

Judd walked over to Vaughn and said nothing. Vaughn said nothing to him either. They just stood next to each other while Tucker sat nearby with Maddy on his lap. Cooper was sway dancing with Farah. They were mostly making out, but she pulled away when I arrived. Cooper looked uncomfortable in his jeans, making Farah laugh. He just rolled his eyes then glanced at the door.

“Hint,” he said.

“Not yet,” Farah told him, patting his chest and causing his expression to shift into an even needier one. “I want to dance with Tawny.”

Cooper sighed and found a seat next to Tucker who caressed Maddy’s expanding bump. Farah took my hand and started dancing.

“Did dinner go well?”

“Yes. She’s really nice.”

“Maybe she’ll be your new mom like Jodi’s mine?”

“Maybe,” I said, glancing at Judd who had his walls up high and wasn’t planning on letting anyone past them. Vaughn looked cranky as he watched Tucker and Maddy coo at each other. “I think Judd needs space. Like our relationship is moving too fast for him.”

Farah slowed our dancing to the new song by Billy Joe Shaver. “Did he say anything?”

“Judd isn’t the kind of man to talk about shit. Well, he’ll talk if he is helping me with something. When he’s the one in a bad place, he shuts down. He’s shutting down now.”

“Cooper makes Judd sound like he isn’t the kind of man to commit at all, but he’s really into you. I think if Cooper wasn’t used to getting everything he wanted, he wouldn’t have known what to do with me or would have freaked out about how fast everything happened. Judd isn’t Coop, so he’ll need a little time. As long as you end up in the same place, it doesn’t matter how you get there, right?”

Smiling, I realized the slow song had shifted into something faster. As Farah and I danced faster, bumping our hips together, Bailey joined us. I could see she was feeling left out. Everyone had a guy or wasn’t interested in talking. She even tried to strike up a conversation with Vaughn who acted like he couldn’t hear her over the noise.

An excepted fact was that the Smith girls couldn’t dance. We could bounce and jump around, but rhythm wasn’t our friend. Bailey mostly shook her hips like she was doing the twist. Seeing her dance, I laughed and Farah followed suit. Bailey didn’t know why we were laughing, so she laughed too.

For the next few minutes, the three of us laughed and danced like idiots. The bar was overheated and I wanted a beer, but Judd was by the bar and I didn’t want to talk to him when he clearly didn’t want to talk to me. So I danced and pretended like I hadn’t a care in the world.

Apparently, our dancing sent him over the edge because Cooper appeared and gave Farah his horny red alert look. Laughing, she hugged me and Bailey then walked quickly with Cooper out of the bar.

Bailey and I returned to dancing like fools. She might have the weirdest moves, but her enthusiasm was unmatched. We slow danced for one song then jumped around for another. Finally, Bailey leaned forward and made a confession.

“I drank ten beers before you got here and now I’ve got to pee. I’ll be back.”

“Should I come with you?”

“I’m peeing, not puking, so no hair holding is necessary,” she said, winking. “Get us beers, since I’m about to piss out the ones I’ve drunk.”

Watching her go, I walked to the bar away from Judd who watched me without looking at me. Yet, I knew he was watching because his jaw twitched whenever a man focused too long on Bailey and me dancing. Now, he stared into space as if in his own world. Next to him, Vaughn looked like he was having a staring match with the overhead fan. Studying the two of them, I realized men who became enforcers were a special breed of weird.

I carried two beers to a table, but I didn’t sit down. Mostly, I wanted to keep an eye on Judd like he was keeping an eye on me. Remaining casual, I wanted to know he was nearby so I wouldn’t freak out about the large number of male bikers in the place. Kirk’s place was like a way station for a lot of bikers passing through the area and they all seemed to be there that night.

“I remember you,” a voice said from just behind me. “You still have a thing for bikers, I see.”

Cold sweat broke out along my neck and back. Even as I told myself the voice could belong to anyone, my body reacted with fear. Turning around, I found one of the older bikers from that week. His weathered face hadn’t changed much, but I thought he seemed smaller. I guess I’d just grown up. While I thought his name might be Saul, he was merely one of the gang.