“I noticed them standing on the street on my way in.” Connie licked her lips and grinned. “Cute, but in a menacing kind of way.”
They left the kitchen to check out the bikers, now huddled together under a tree as the rain streamed around them. Evie recognized the blond from the night Axle had paid his first visit to Bill’s shop, but not his dark-haired partner.
“I texted Jagger,” she said. “Apparently Axle escaped from Zane so now Jagger has his boys watching my house and the shop in case Axle shows up again. I told him none of the Jacks know where I live, and Axle won’t be coming around again, but he insisted. They really want the poor guy bad. I’m afraid to think what they might do to him.”
“You know exactly what they’re going to do. Zane was trying to kill him.” Connie’s lips quivered at the corners and she shot Evie a sideways glance. “They’re looking kind of wet. And cold. The hot, dark one shivered when I walked by earlier. It would be terrible if they died of pneumonia right there on the street. And they look so young … early to mid-twenties … same as us. I don’t know if I could live with myself, knowing I was the cause of their deaths.”
Evie tipped her head back and groaned. “You’re as bad as Ty when he’s trying to guilt me into buying him something he doesn’t need.”
“Please, Evie.” Connie gave her a soulful look. “Can’t they come inside?”
“Okay.” Evie sighed. “They can sit on the porch, but you’re responsible for them.”
“I’ll just give them food and water and clean up their mess. And I won’t ask to keep them.” Connie pulled open the door. “You can have the blond, but leave the dark-haired one for me.”
Evie leaned out and waved the bikers over to the house. Yeah, the blond guy was cute, but she wasn’t looking for a man. She hadn’t had a serious relationship since Mark, and Viper was just … an interesting distraction. Especially now that she’d seen Zane. She brought her fingers to her cheek, remembering the heat of his breath, and how she had almost let him kiss her.
Zane.
The intense connection and chemistry that had first drawn them together hadn’t changed. But she had. She was finally in control of her life. No longer at the mercy of her mother’s emotional abuse, or longing for a father who was rarely home, she had embraced normal to the extent she knew what normal was. She made her own choices, cleaned up her own messes, and occasionally let her wild side out to play. And that most definitely wasn’t going to be with the man who had left her alone and pregnant, wishing on a promise he didn’t keep.
She let Connie fuss over the bikers while she called to check up on Ty and chatted with him about his game. By the time she made it outside, Connie had everything ready: coffee, sandwiches, and cookies. She introduced Evie to the bikers, dark-haired Tank and his companion, T-Rex.
“Much obliged for the snack.” Tank stood to make room as Evie joined them on the porch.
“Thank Connie, not me. She’s the one who felt sorry for you standing out in the rain.”
Tank leaned back and stretched out his long legs, the patio chair creaking beneath his weight as they chatted about the town and the club. He was a bear of a man, but all muscle and no flab, with a cheeky smile and a dry sense of humor. She could see why Connie was practically drooling over him. T-Rex had a similar build to Tank, but without the bulk. He was fun and easygoing and she was surprised to hear he didn’t have a girlfriend. Connie gave her a nudge when T-Rex made the big reveal, but he was too nice, even though he was an outlaw, and Evie had never been attracted to the “nice” guys.
Still, she’d never thought outlaw bikers could be such fun, and when Connie switched their coffee for beer, and the conversation turned flirtatious, she felt the stress of the last two days sliding away. Between the jokes and the laughter, they all turned a blind eye to the fact the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. And when T-Rex put a hand on Evie’s knee as he leaned over to get another beer, she wondered if she’d been too hasty dismissing the nice guys. Maybe that’s what she needed in her life. Someone relaxed and even-tempered, without a hint of Zane’s dark, brooding, passionate depths, or Viper’s feral power.
And just as Zane’s face flickered through her mind, there he was. How he had managed to drive down her street and climb the steps without any of them noticing was beyond her, save as a testament to just how much fun they’d been having.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he snapped by way of greeting. “What the hell is going on?”
SIX
Think before you act. If you do impulsive, stupid things, you will break parts.
—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL
Evie gently removed T-Rex’s hand from her leg and stood to greet her guests. But Zane clearly wasn’t interested in hellos. His gaze locked on T-Rex and his lips peeled back in a snarl.