“You worried about the Jacks?” Dawn hoisted her tray of empties onto the bar. “You’ve been watching that door all night, and since you aren’t interested in dating, I know it isn’t because of a guy.”
Was she that obvious? Turning to hide her disquiet, Arianne said, “I was safe at your place, but I got a bad feeling the minute I pulled into the parking lot outside. I need to be ready to hit the door running because I’m not up for a Viper-style interrogation right now. I still have bruises from being knocked off my bike.”
“Fucking bastard.” Dawn pressed a fist to her mouth. “Wish I still had the kind of contacts I did when I was with Jimmy. I’d so like to kick me some nasty Viper ass, and then I’d…” Her voice trailed off when the front door banged shut again. Arianne followed Dawn’s gaze to the group of bikers walking through the bar, her heart slowing only when she spotted Devil Dogs MC patches on their cuts. Relieved, she turned away, only to look back when Dawn whispered.
“Well … hellooo, baby.”
Arianne looked up and her heart seized in her chest.
Jagger.
What the hell was he doing here?
Her body heated in an instant, a blush burning her cheeks as she cast a surreptitious glance at Jagger from beneath her lashes. Conundrum had more than its fair share of bars, and the Sinners owned Riders and had recently carved out Sixty-Nine Bar on the east side of town as their turf.
Three Sinners followed Jagger as he wove his way through the tables toward the Devil Dogs, who were in the process of clearing everyone out of the back corner. Dawn’s eyes widened when they rushed to seat Jagger at the end of the table, his back to the wall, giving him a clear view of the bar.
“He’s someone important, that’s for sure. I would need to see the patches on his cut—”
“Jagger.”
Dawn startled. “Jagger, the president-of-Sinner’s-Tribe-who-kidnapped-you-then-let-you-go-and-now-you’re-hot-for-him-although-you-shouldn’t-be Jagger?” Her voice rose above Mot?rhead’s “Ace of Spades,” blasting through the speakers. No easy feat.
“Well, look at him. He’s devastatingly gorgeous. I mean, how many bikers look like that? And he was different from the bikers I know. He cleaned up the knife wound on my throat.”
“You do understand how absolutely inane that sounds,” Dawn said. “His friend sliced you with a knife, but he’s a nice biker because he cleaned you up.”
Heart thudding, she looked over at the corner table. Jagger caught her with his gaze, giving her no time to stifle her blush. A thrill of excitement shot through her veins. Oh God. It was like high school all over again, except he had come to her bar and not her locker, and he was the badass president of a rival MC and not the grungy lead singer of a high school metal band she had been panting after for two years.
Still, her body reacted to his unexpected presence exactly the same way—stomach churning, body heating, nipples hardening—although this time with an intensity that stole her breath away.
“Cool it with the doe eyes and dreamy smile.” Dawn reached over the bar and pinched Arianne’s arm. “You’ve spent your life trying to get away from bikers. Just ignore him and he’ll go away.”
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who just goes away.”
“Maybe not.” Dawn licked her lips. “He’s got the ‘king of the castle’ thing goin’ on there. Lookit those Devil Dogs fawning over him. I wouldn’t be surprised if they drop to the floor and lick his—” She cut herself off with a gasp. “Sweet mother of hotness. It’s Thor.” Dawn gestured to a tall biker with shoulder-length blond hair walking toward the table. “Maybe I spoke too soon. In fact, I did speak too soon. You should definitely go and talk to him, and while you’re there, you can find out who his friend is. The blond with the body made for sin. That boy could turn a good girl bad.”
“I saw him at the meeting,” Arianne said. She’d told Dawn about everything except Jeff’s possible involvement in burning down the clubhouse. “He’s on the executive board, but I didn’t catch his name.”
“Well, we’re gonna catch it right now.” Dawn grabbed her tray. “You talk. I’ll take orders and drool. And to think I wasted time on a man like Eugene.”
“Eugene?” Arianne tried, but failed to keep a straight face. “Your dating website disaster? You texted me from the restaurant for an emergency call thirty seconds after you sat down, and I picked you up ten minutes later. There wasn’t much time wasted that evening.”
Dawn shuddered. “That ten minutes felt like ten years. He brayed when he laughed. And his lips peeled back. Did I tell you he had horse teeth?”
“You Instagrammed his teeth, so everyone knew.”
“But it was okay.” Dawn had the good grace to blush. “He wasn’t into social media. He had no friends, so he couldn’t be embarrassed, and I didn’t use his real name. Just his teeth.”