“Hey, Dolly,” Tex greeted me as he sat down at the bar just as I walked back out of the kitchen to bring out some fresh lime wedges.

  “Hey, you,” I replied.

  “Pep got you working, huh?” His eyes traveled down my body, and a crooked grin tugged at his mouth. “Micah seen you in that outfit yet?”

  I shook my head. “He’s in Ocala. This was a last-minute thing. Pepper’s been busier than she thought she’d be, and I needed something to do anyway.”

  Tex nodded. “I sure hope I’m here when he gets a look at it. Might stick around longer than I planned in case he shows up.”

  “Stop stirring the pot,” Pepper scolded him and slid a beverage napkin across the bar in his direction. “Miller draft?” she asked.

  He nodded, then cut his eyes back to me. “Heard about what happened with Calista. You doing okay?”

  I nodded. “Sure. Just fine,” I replied, wanting to get away from him before he asked me any more questions I didn’t want to answer. Talking about Calista was something I’d rather not do.

  The sound of chair legs scraping the floor caught my attention, and I turned to see Grinder moving away from the table he’d been at toward the entrance.

  “What the fuck are they doing in here?” Tex asked, standing up from his stool and following Grinder.

  “Shit,” Pepper muttered, throwing down her bar towel and hurrying around the bar to go toward the entrance.

  Two men had just walked in the door, and one of them I recognized. Bolt was a member of the Crowns MC. He’d been nice to me, but then that had been when I was with Canyon. I hadn’t known him really. Just like I hadn’t really known Canyon.

  “Tex! Grinder! Step back. This is my bar, and I can serve who I want to serve,” Pepper called out before the two of them made it to the Crowns members.

  “You gonna serve that Acree piece of shit if he walks in here too?” Grinder asked her, looking pissed.

  Pepper put a hand on her hip. “No, but if he does, I’ll handle it. These two I haven’t got a problem with, so go on back to your drinks and let them be.” She swung her gaze back to them. “You two here to cause a problem?” she demanded.

  Bolt held up his hands and shook his head. “No, ma’am. We came for a drink. We can leave if need be.”

  She waved a hand at the empty tables. “Have a seat. Tonight’s menu is seafood gumbo or shrimp and grits,” she told them, then turned to shoot a warning glare at Tex and Grinder before making her way back to the bar.

  When she got back to the bar, she looked at me. “You got a problem waiting on them, or do I need to go see if Jimmy can leave the kitchen to come do it?”

  “I can do it,” I replied.

  “Damn, your balls,” Tex said to me before taking a drink of his beer.

  “It’s fine,” I assured him and took my pad and pen out of my apron, then headed to their table.

  Bolt glanced up at me as I approached and smiled. “Didn’t expect to see you here, Dolly.”

  I shrugged. “Can’t say I was expecting you to walk through that door either,” I replied, making him chuckle.

  “Fair enough,” he said.

  “What can I get y’all?” I asked him before he started up small talk. That I wasn’t gonna do.

  He was still Canyon’s friend, and I hadn’t heard anything from Canyon in a month. Micah had said he’d given The Judgment the one hundred grand he owed them and that I’d have no more problems with him.

  “I’ll take a Corona with a bowl of that gumbo,” Bolt told me, then looked over at the other man.

  He seemed nervous as his eyes darted around the room. I wasn’t real sure that was a good sign.

  “Same,” he replied, finally looking up at me.

  I didn’t need to write that down to remember it so I told them I’d get the order in and be right back with their drinks before leaving the table. Heading back to the bar, I put the food order into the computer system, then went to grab their beers.

  “You know either one of them, Dolly?” Tex asked me.

  I nodded. “Bolt. He’s the one with the shaved head,” I whispered.

  As I was turning to leave, I saw Tex on his phone. It was obvious he was texting someone. I just hoped he wasn’t stirring up trouble.

  When I placed the beers in front of the men, Bolt looked up at me. “How ya been, Dolly?” he asked.

  “Good, thanks. And you?” I replied, trying to be polite.

  “All right. Finally got patched in,” he said with a crooked grin.

  From listening to biker talk since being with Micah, I knew that meant he wasn’t a prospect anymore. He was a real member of the Crowns. Ringer was a prospect with The Judgment, and he’d explained it to me one day on the way to work.

  “Congratulations,” I told him, knowing it was a big deal.

  He nodded. “Thanks, Dolly. Miss seeing you around.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that, and before I could think of anything, the door to the bar opened, and I glanced over to see Micah striding inside with Country behind him. His eyes locked on me, barely giving the men at the table a glance. I could tell from here that he was angry.

  “Order should be ready soon,” I told the men and made my way toward Micah.

  His heated gaze took in my outfit, and I watched his jaw clench tighter. When he reached me, he grabbed the back of my head and bent down to crush his mouth against mine. This wasn’t what I’d been expecting, and like every time Micah kissed me, I melted against him, seeking more of it.

  The kiss was demanding and almost painful. I grabbed on to his vest for balance just as he eased up, and then he gently bit my bottom lip before releasing me.

  “You need to change,” he said to me, his expression still as fierce as it had been when he walked in.

  “This is the uniform Pepper gave me,” I explained.

  He grabbed my chin. “Don’t care, Tink. Go change.”

  Seeing as how I had missed him today, which was a given, I didn’t want to argue right now. He had surprised me by coming back early. I was thrilled about that, but he was embarrassing me in front of the entire bar.

  “I don’t see what the problem is,” I replied.

  His hand gripped my waist tightly. “Go fucking change.”

  “Is everything all right, Dolly?” Bolt asked.

  The rage lit up Micah’s eyes immediately, and it had me grabbing his arm with both my hands.

  “I’ll change. Come with me,” I urged, then glanced at Bolt. “We’re just fine,” I told him with a bright smile.

  Micah took a step toward the men, and I held on to him with all my body weight.

  “Let’s go, Micah.”

  The fury in his expression as he glared at Bolt had me ready to call for Pepper. She had to be back in the kitchen, or she’d have been over here, handling this.

  “You don’t fucking speak to Dolly. Don’t breathe in her direction,” Micah snarled.

  Bolt smirked. “She’s our waitress. Might be difficult.”

  “Not anymore,” Micah snapped and threw his arm over my shoulders, then began walking us toward the back. His entire body was strung tight.

  I didn’t say anything until we were inside Pepper’s office with the door closed. But once we no longer had an audience, I spun around and stared up at him.

  “Micah, why are you so worked up? Is it that Pepper let Crowns in the door or the fact that I’m wearing what all her waitresses wear?”

  “Both,” he clipped out. “I can see entirely too much of your skin, and those bastards don’t get to talk to you like they fucking know you. Get on some goddamn clothes!”

  I stepped closer to him and placed my hands on his chest. “I won’t go near their table again. I’ll have Pepper do it. But this is the uniform. Pepper is even wearing it.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what Pepper is wearing. But I don’t want other men seeing what’s mine.”

  What’s his? I stood there, staring up at him, trying not to smile like a lunatic. He’d just called me his. Yes, I was his, but hearing him say it when we weren’t having sex and he wasn’t talking about my vagina made my heart squeeze.

  “Okay,” I said finally. “I’ll change.”

  He narrowed his eyes, studying me. “You will?”

  I nodded.

  “Thank you.”

  “On one condition,” I told him.

  “What’s that?”

  “When we go back out that door, you don’t cause any problems for Pepper.”

  He scowled. “She shouldn’t have let the fucking Crowns in here.”

  “They’re paying customers, and this isn’t a bar owned by The Judgment.”

  He sighed and nodded. “Fine. But you stay away from their table. If that bastard tries to talk to you again, I’ll put his head through the fucking wall.”

  I smiled then. “Noted. Now, go back out there so I can get changed.”

  Micah ran his hand over my bare stomach. “I want to watch.”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Pepper needs my help, and if you watch me change, then…”

  “I’ll bend you over her desk and fuck you. Is that what you’re saying, Tink?”

  I nodded, feeling my face flush as my body instantly began to tingle.

  “Looks to me like you want to be fucked, baby. That needy look just clouded those pretty eyes,” he said, taking a step toward me.

  The door swung open, and Pepper came storming in, looking almost identical to Micah when he’d walked in the bar tonight and seen me waiting on the Crowns.

  “I have three new tables out there, Micah! Stop causing problems and making a scene!” she yelled at him.

  He held up both his hands. “I’m not causing any problems. I just want Tink in some clothing that covers her up more.”

  If looks could kill, Micah would be dead.

  Pepper stalked over to him and jabbed his chest with her pointer finger. “That’s real fucking rich, coming from a man who used to date strippers!”

  Micah grabbed her wrist. “Fuck. Not date. And they weren’t Tink. You know it’s different.” He dropped her wrist then and looked back at me.

  Some of Pepper’s anger eased, and her shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “FINE! Let her wear her own clothes. But please don’t say another word to the Crowns. They’re eating their food now, and since six more Judgment have walked in the door, I doubt they are going to stick around long.”

  Micah smirked. “I expect several more will arrive before they’re done eating.”

  Pepper rolled her eyes. “Figures. They’d just better all order lots of drinks and food.”

  Micah nodded. “They will.”

  She pointed to the door. “Get out so she can change.”

  Micah frowned. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, Pep, but I’ve seen her naked.”

  Pepper held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t. I know that. I also know the moment I walk out of here and she starts to undress, you’ll fuck her in my office. One”—she held up a finger—“that’s not an image I like to dwell on.” She held up a second finger. “And two, I need her out there, waiting on tables. Now, get out.”

  Micah grabbed my chin and tilted my head back before pressing a kiss to my mouth, then turned and walked out the door.

  Pepper looked at me and shook her head in exasperation before following him.

  32

  Dolly

  Thanks for last night. I needed that more than you know.

  Those words kept replaying in my head. I could even hear them said in her sultry voice.

  I stared at the cup of espresso I had made, but the thought of actually drinking it made me feel nauseous. Setting it on the bar, I walked out of the kitchen. The world that had been so bright and full of hope just an hour ago when Micah woke me up, kissing down my body, now felt as if it had no oxygen left in it. Everything that made me smile had been snatched away so quickly.

  The sound of the shower cut off, and I stared toward the bathroom door. Micah was in there. After we’d had sex, he’d kissed me and held me, then said he needed to get a shower. He had to head back to Ocala today but would be back late tonight. We had been in a bubble of perfection—or so I’d thought. Instead, it was my own delusional bubble. One I had created in my mind.

  I wasn’t sure how I could face him now. Did I confront him? Ask him what the text from Calista meant? Maybe there was a good explanation that I needed to hear, and then this devastation that I was experiencing would go away. I’d have my bubble back. The one that I shouldn’t have started to feel secure in.

  Micah hadn’t said he loved me. He hadn’t called me his girlfriend or labeled what we were. He basically lived here now. We were together every chance we got. Sex was amazing. The thought that he was seeing Calista…it felt almost unreal.

  The faucet turned off, and I knew he was finished brushing his teeth. He would open the door and walk out at any minute now. His towel would be wrapped around his waist. All of his beautiful body on display. It was one of my favorite morning views.

  Except now, all I could think was, had Calista seen it too? What had they done last night? What was it she had needed that he had supplied?

  My stomach rolled, and I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply through my nose. Even if Micah didn’t love me, he cared. He’d called me his. He wouldn’t betray me that way. Would he? Could he do that? The man I loved didn’t have that kind of cruelty in him.

  The door to the bathroom opened, and the moment he saw me, he smiled that slow, sexy grin that usually made my heart flutter. This morning, it didn’t flutter. It cracked.

  Asking him was the only fair thing to do. For me and him. I was going to dwell on it, and this would just get worse if I didn’t know.

  “You already had your espresso?” he asked me.

  I couldn’t smile. I didn’t even try. I shook my head. “No.”

  He studied me for a moment, and a frown creased his brow. “What’s wrong, Tink?”

  Knowing the truth was better than making up my version of it, I had to hold on to the hope that there was a reasonable explanation.

  Dropping my gaze to the floor, I took a deep breath before asking, “Where were you last night?”

  He didn’t respond right away. Dread, fear, loss—it all began to uncurl inside my chest. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

  “I told you, I was at the club. We had some issues to handle.”

  I swallowed hard. He was evading the answer. I could hear it in his voice. There was more, and he didn’t want to tell me. Too bad. His phone had lit up when I was getting out of bed, and the text had been right there on the screen for me to see.

  “Calista texted you.” I lifted my eyes back to look at his face. I needed to see it. If he was lying, I’d be able to tell.

  His nostrils flared. “You reading my texts now, Tink?” he asked with accusation in his tone.

  I thought I’d have preferred he slap me across the face. It would have been less painful.

  “Not exactly. I was getting up, and you got a text. I glanced down and saw it. Not on purpose, but then I hadn’t thought you had anything to hide.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t,” he replied. “But it seems like you’ve already made your assumptions.”

  I shook my head. “No. That’s why I am asking you what it was about.”

  Micah let out a hard laugh. “I don’t answer to anyone. You can either trust me or not.”

  I refused to cry in front of him. He wasn’t giving me anything here, and it sounded like he wasn’t going to.

  “I trust you. But I don’t see why I can’t ask what you were doing with Calista last night.”

  “That isn’t your business. Don’t make this something it isn’t, Dolly.”

  Dolly. Not Tink. To think, once, I had hated the name Tink. Hearing him say my name now was like an insult. As if I had been knocked down on the ladder of importance to him. Did he have a nickname for Calista? Had he called her by it last night?

  “I see,” I managed to get out past the agony gripping me by the throat.

  He shook his head. “Whatever. I can’t deal with this shit right now,” he said, sounding annoyed before walking into the bedroom.

  Unable to move, I stood there, battling on what to do now. Did I apologize? Or did I go in there and demand he tell me? This was my business. We were…together. Right? It felt like we were. He had called me his. That made us a couple. Didn’t it?

  I flinched at the sound of him slamming a drawer shut. He was angry. Why did he get to be angry? It was me who should be slamming drawers. Not him. Nothing had been done to him. I hadn’t caused him to question me. I had been here last night. In my bed. Sleeping. Trusting him.

  He walked back out of the bedroom, shrugging on his vest over a black T-shirt I had washed yesterday for him. When he got to the door, he grabbed his keys from the table and paused before turning his gaze to me. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said simply.

  Nothing more.

  I nodded, and then he opened the door and left. It was the first time he’d done that without kissing me in a month. Since we had become whatever it was we were.

  My vision blurred as the tears filled my eyes, then began to slide down my face. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Loving someone shouldn’t be like this.

  I stared at the door, waiting, praying it would open back up and he’d walk back inside. The rev of his motorcycle was faint, but I heard it in the silence of the apartment. He was really leaving me like this.

  Loving someone enough for both of you wasn’t easy. It seemed I was about to find out just how hard it could be.

  Turning my head toward the kitchen, I let my thoughts go to the paring knife. The relief that would come from that would be instant but fleeting. The shame would come shortly after. It always did.