Kenzie

 

“Last call!”

 

It made for a scramble while everyone sank down one last beer before all the lights came on and the crowd was ushered out the door, but at least it gave Kenzie a moment before she had to keep making inane conversation with this biker. She highly doubted that he really wanted to know anything about her except what she looked like naked.

 

He had been right, though, when he’d pinpointed the man across the bar who was staring at her. Of course he was watching, because he was Angelo, the same man who had just yanked the starter out of her car. The asshole had decided to come in and make sure she was doing what her father had asked. She rolled her eyes when she turned away from Xavier. She didn’t need babysitting. She knew she couldn’t get away from this no matter how hard she tried.

 

After she had settled the tabs with a few customers, she returned to the biker and gave him what she hoped looked like a genuine smile. After all, she was being evaluated. Angelo was probably feeding her father a play-by-play or even recording her. Kenzie was glad she wore full makeup when she worked at the bar; it made it easier to act flirtatious when she felt a little dolled up. “Sorry about that. It gets a little busy this time of night. I’ve been working here for about three years.” She carefully left out the fact that the joint belonged to her father and that she didn’t have much choice. Nobody needed to know that, even those who weren’t currently being targeted for extortion.

 

“You must like it, then,” he said with a smile. He raised a thin eyebrow at her as he took a pull from his mug without breaking his gaze.

 

“I like that the tips are good and that it fits around my school schedule,” she admitted. “Beyond that, it’s just a job until I graduate and get something better.”

 

“What are you going to school for?”

 

It was an innocent enough question and one that she had rehearsed the answer to regularly. Those who knew her at school were aware of the truth, because she couldn’t exactly pursue a degree in criminal justice without the staff and he fellow students knowing. But to anyone else who might be remotely connected to her father, she was in law school. For some reason, though, her tongue had forgotten that when she looked at Xavier. “Criminal justice.”

 

“You want to be a cop?” he asked, leaning forward a little on his stool as his grin widened.

 

Kenzie almost asked him what he was talking about when she realized what she had said. Why had she gone and done something so stupid? If Angelo had heard … But there was no taking it back now. “Yeah. I figure I can get all the dirt on people while I work here, and then I can come back once the force has hired me and arrest them all.”

 

He laughed, a pleasant sound that made her want to get closer to him. “A spiteful cop. I don’t think it gets any better than that.”

 

She smiled even though she didn’t want to. He had a point. “What about you? What do you do?”

 

He gestured to his leather vest, as though it explained everything. “I’m vice president of the Reaper’s Hearts. You might have heard of us.”

 

Just as she would have guessed, he was so damn proud of the fact that he rode a bike with a bunch of other guys who also rode bikes. Like that was so special. Her father had mentioned he was a prominent member, but he somehow hadn’t included the fact that he was VP. That sounded better than just being another follower of the herd. “Oh, yeah? How did you land a gig like that?”

 

“My father was in the club.” Kenzie could swear his eyes turned a different shade of green, like an old glass bottle. “He died when I was young, but I wanted to carry on his legacy. I joined as soon as I was old enough, and it’s all history after that.”

 

She hated to admit she was impressed, but it was the kind of story she could never live out for herself. This man was proud of who his father was, and he wanted to be like him. She wanted to be the exact opposite of her father, and it was something that could get her injured or even killed someday. She brushed the thought aside, cleared her throat, and pushed her lips out into another smile. It was hard to keep this act up, but she knew she had to. Angelo was watching, and her father was waiting. Xavier would have been easy to talk to, though, if this had been her own idea. “That’s amazing. What, exactly, do you do?”

 

“I can’t really tell you that,” he replied mysteriously. “It’s club business. You understand.”

 

“Sure.” And she did. She might not have had anything to do with a biker gang before, but she imagined it wasn’t much different than growing up in the dark shadow of the mob. Her mouth went on autopilot while she asked him unimportant things like what kind of bike he had and how long he had been riding, but her mind was working quickly behind the scenes.

 

Xavier was a sexy guy, there was no doubt about that. It wouldn’t be so bad to sleep with him. He also seemed to be a powerful man, one who might not be willing to give in to her father’s threats. While she had fought against everything in her blood and her heritage, he had embraced his and made something out of it.

 

Kenzie wasn’t even paying attention to Angelo anymore; she didn’t need a reminder to pay attention to Xavier. The other patrons in the bar faded into the background, even the ones she was supposed to be waiting on, as she focused only on the handsome biker.

 

It was finally closing time. The bikers Xavier had ridden in with were starting to filter out the door. He would be going after them if she waited any longer. She reached across the bar and touched his arm gently, noting the tattooed wings that stuck out from under the sleeves of his T-shirt. “Hey, would you be able to give me a ride home? My car’s been acting up a little this week, and I don’t want to get stranded in the dark somewhere.” It sounded so pitiful, so damsel-in-distress. She didn’t care.

 

But it worked. Xavier grinned. “Sure, as long as you don’t mind being on the back of my bike.”

 

She smiled back and found that she meant it this time. “No problem. I’ve just got to sweep up real quick.”

 

“I’ll be waiting outside.” He slid off the stool and strode after his friends, his wide shoulders swaggering. Kenzie couldn’t help but notice the way his jeans skimmed the trim lines of his lower half.

 

Candy trotted up to her as soon as the other customers were gone. “Tell me you’re going home with that hottie!”

 

Kenzie flipped a chair up onto a table so she could clean the floor. “All I can really say is that he’s giving me a ride. After that, we’ll just have to see what happens.” Her heart thumped with excitement, though, and she cleaned up much faster than she normally did. Calm down, she told herself silently as she emptied the cash register into the safe. All he’s agreed to do is give you a ride home. You could just let him drop you off and claim you slept with him.

 

But when she walked out the front door and saw Xavier leaning against his bike, she knew there was no turning back. The muscles of his bare arms were chiseled in the pale moonlight, and his eyes flashed at her. Xavier watched her walk out the front door with an unmistakable hunger. He wanted her, and just knowing that made her want him, too. He was strong and fierce. He could have waited for her near her car, snatched her up, and made her go home with him, but he had been a perfect gentleman about it. Xavier hadn’t even touched her yet, a far cry from the way the other bar patrons treated her. He was persistent, and she didn’t think he would give up until he got his way, but it was just different somehow. He threw one leg over his bike and gestured with his head for her to get on the back.

 

Kenzie was used to riding in the back of luxury sedans and limousines, not vintage Harleys. Her stomach jumped as she climbed on, hoping they made it to wherever they were going in one piece. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands.

 

“Hold on tight,” Xavier warned as he fired up the engine, sending a pleasurable vibration through the bike. “This road is a little bumpy.”

 

She tentatively set her hands on his waist, worried if she was doing the wrong thing. Kenzie didn’t want to anger him and ruin all her carefully laid plans.

 

But Xavier pulled her hands further around him so that she embraced him fully from behind. It felt like such an intimate position for someone she barely knew, but it sent a new thrill through her body as she pressed herself against his back. His body was warm and strong, something firm to hold onto as they bolted out of the parking lot. He smelled of cologne and gasoline, and she wanted him more than ever.

 

He hadn’t been kidding about the road, and she squeezed him tightly as they bounced along. By the time they made it back into the city limits and stopped at a light, she was giggling. Not giggling because she was trying to be flirtatious but giggling because she was actually having fun.

 

Xavier turned slightly in his seat to speak to her, resting his hand casually on her thigh as he did so. “You’ve spent all night serving drinks to everyone else. How about you come back to my place and have a drink for yourself?”

 

She was supposed to say yes because her father wanted her to. She was supposed to say yes because she didn’t have a choice. But when she answered him, Kenzie gave him the most honest answer she had all night. “That sounds great.”