“Beezy, I need you to take Franklin and Scar and head over to the warehouse. The truck will be there by noon. Perez and Malcolm are already there but I want to make sure this transfer goes without a hitch.”

“Sure thing. Once it’s unloaded, then what?” Beezy was five foot four in his boots. He and Dax went to school together as kids, and Dax had been impressed with the little guy the first time he met him. He had a form of little man syndrome, the part that compelled him to work out almost compulsively so that what he lacked in height, he made up for in muscle. But he wasn’t quick to pick a fight and prove to anyone that he was just as tough as the guys that stood six-foot-four. He had a good head on his shoulders, and Dax respected that more than anything. A lot of people looked at the members of a motorcycle club and saw the way they dressed and wore their hair, their tattoos, or their facial hair and from that somehow assumed that they were some of the least intelligent beings on the planet. That pissed him off because as far as he was concerned, nothing could be further from the truth.

“Andrew Fish will be there by two with the cash and his own truck. Y’all hang out until he’s loaded and gone and then head back.”

“Alright, boss, you got it.” Beezy grabbed a donut off the tray that one of the club girls was circulating around the great room. Her name was Gail and she was a beautiful woman. She was about forty, with soft brown hair that framed her face and gorgeous dark blue eyes. She had a killer body, nice firm tits, and a small waist that a man could get his hands around. Her hips flared and her butt was just big and round enough to jiggle slightly when she walked. Dax had fucked her more than once, but when he saw that look in Beezy’s eye he almost laughed. Gail was six foot two in her socks. The top of Beezy’s head came up to the bottom of her tits. Dax watched as she bent down and Beezy whispered something in her ear and then smacked her square on the ass. She was smiling and her face was bright red. If Dax hadn’t been looking forward to seeing Angel again since he first opened his eyes this morning, he might just join them, simply to watch.

The two of them left the room together just as Angel stepped into it. She still had on the same clothes as the day before and her face was scrubbed clean of all the make-up she’d been wearing…but she was still abso-fucking-lutely fuckable. Dax felt his cock practically do a somersault in his jeans at the sight of her. He got up and met her halfway across the room.

“Good morning. How’d you sleep?”

“Really well,” she said. “Too well, actually. I guess I had a little more to drink than I realized.”

“That was probably my fault. You want some coffee?”

“That sounds good,” she said. “I just had one cup at the house. At home I’m used to drinking a whole pot by myself.”

“Find a comfortable seat and I’ll get you a cup. You want breakfast?”

Angel patted her flat belly. “Oh, no thank you. The girls filled me up.”

Dax smiled at her and went over to where the large coffee pot sat on a table near the little bar. He poured her a cup and then went back over to the table where she’d just taken a seat. He sat down next to her, placing the sugar and creamer packets down in front of her. She picked up the cup and held it between both of her hands, closed her pretty eyes, and inhaled it. Dax was in awe of the fact that a woman inhaling the scent of coffee might just be the sexiest thing he’s ever seen. “So, what are your plans for the day?”

“I suppose I should go get my car and get back on the road…”

“I thought you didn’t have to be in Hartford until tomorrow? It’s only a few hours from here. Why not spend the day with me…and another night here…and head out tomorrow?”

She took a sip of her coffee and looked like she was thinking about it. Dax wondered why a woman like her was single. He wondered if it was a break-up or a bad relationship that had her packing up and changing her whole life. He wondered more about her than he had any woman in a long time. He’d heard about that instant chemistry that some people have—the kind that made you feel like you had known someone forever—but this was the first time he’d ever experienced it and he wasn’t ready to let it go.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked. “For the day?”

He grinned and let his tongue rake across his bottom lip. He wasn’t sure but he thought he saw her shudder. “How about a ride on the bike?”

It was a beautiful day. Dax had been wanting to get away to the beach for a while, but the timing had just been all wrong. It probably wasn’t right now, but he didn’t care. He wanted nothing more than a three-hour drive with Angel pressed into his back and a walk on the beach…and a hell of a lot more, if she was up for it.

“Okay, where are we going?”

“Wherever the road takes us.” He saw hesitation in her face for just a split second but then she said:

“Okay, but can we go by where my car is so that I can change clothes?”

“Sure.”

“Alright then, I’m ready.” She smiled suddenly, like she was excited, up for an adventure. Dax liked that. He loved spontaneity bordering on impulsiveness. He thought it was probably one more reason that he was so attracted to her.

* * *

Dressed in a sexy pair of dark blue jeans, black boots with no heel, and a long-sleeved black and white t-shirt, Angel climbed off the back of the bike almost three hours later. She looked like she was struggling to hold herself up, and Dax did his best to suppress a smile.

“Legs a little shaky?”

“Um…yeah, just a little. When you said we were going for a drive I had no idea you meant all the way to Mystic.”

“Would you have turned me down if you knew?”

She smiled. “Probably not. My dad used to bring me here when I was little. This seaport is actually one of my favorite places.”

Dax got off the bike and took the helmet she’d just pulled off out of her hands. He hung it over the handlebars and reached for her hand. She hesitated again, just for a second, and then she gave it to him. He’d touched a lot more than her hand the night before on the dance floor, but he suspected she’d been a little too drunk to remember most of that. He was looking forward to giving her a time that she wouldn’t ever be able to forget.

He led her by the hand through the parking lot and down the long sidewalk in front of the shipyard. He loved the look in her eyes as she gazed out at the big old historic boats. She said she went there with her father, but the look in her pretty eyes was one of pure wonder, like a child seeing it all for the first time. They stopped and looked out at the Charles W. Morgan, an old whaleship built in the mid-1800s. It was always Dax’s favorite. His own father had brought him here a time or two as a kid, and sometimes Dax thought about just hopping on one of those big fishing boats and leaving the stress of the life he lived behind. He didn’t think he’d ever do it. He loved his club and for the most part he loved his life. He hated this constant looking over his shoulder they’d all had to do lately, however. He couldn’t wait for that shit to be over with.

“Are you hungry?”

“Surprisingly, three hours on the back of a Harley sped up my digestion or something. I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week.”

He laughed. “Good, I’m starving too. Have you ever been to the Steak Loft?”

“That big barn-looking place in the village?”

“Yep.”

“No, but I love the building.”

“You’re going to love the steak too.” They walked down the quaint old cobblestone sidewalks through the historic village until they came to the giant old barn that housed the best steakhouse in Connecticut, as far as Dax was concerned. Once they were seated and had their drinks and their orders in he said, “So tell me, Angel, how does a woman like you not have a man in her life?”

“Who said that I don’t?”

“I guess I just assumed. You talk about leaving Boston and moving to Hartford, but you don’t mention anyone else moving with you.”

She made a face and then said, “My fiancé and I broke up about six months ago. It was kind of a rough break-up and I haven’t really dated much since. It’s actually another reason that I’m looking forward to a fresh start. Things went all bad there at the end.”

“Sorry to hear that…shit, what am I saying? I’m not really sorry to hear it at all. I mean, I’m guessing that breaking up sucks, but you being single works for me.”

She smiled and shook her head. Ignoring that last statement, she said, “You’re ‘guessing’ that breaking up sucks? You’ve never been through a break-up?”

He shrugged. “Not really. I mean, there have been women that have gotten too attached and…”

She laughed. “They’ve gotten too attached and you had to let them down gently?”

Grinning, he said, “I do my best not to leave a string of broken hearts across the East Coast.”

“You’re a prince.”

“I like to think so,” he said, taking a sip of his beer. “I am royalty, after all—MC royalty.”

“Does that mean you were born into it?”

“Yep. My old man was the president for over twenty years.”

“Wow. So did you live on the farm when you were growing up?”

“For the most part. My mother moved to Jersey and for a while I went back and forth…but that got old. She was more interested in her new husband than she was me and I was a defiant pre-teen who was determined to get as much of her negative attention as possible. The last time I went out there I was fourteen and I got arrested for shoplifting. My dad came out and bailed me out of jail and after two trips back for court and sentencing I never went back again.”

“So does that mean you haven’t seen your mother since you were fourteen?”

“No…I saw her once more, at her funeral.”

“Oh shit. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. It’s okay now, though. At the time the guilt just about ate me up. I told myself for a long time that I should have made more of an effort to know her. But then I get pissed and remind myself that she was the adult.” The waiter interrupted as he brought out their lunches. Dax had ordered the Angus beef burger and Angel got the pulled pork. As they began to eat she asked him:

“So no brothers or sisters?”

“I have a stepbrother that I only met once, and that was at my mom’s funeral. He’s nine years younger than me and we couldn’t be more different. That whole side of the family acted like they were afraid I was there to steal the good silver. I paid my respects and got the hell out of there as quickly as I could. What about you? Any annoying siblings?”

“Nope. I’m an only child. Or, I guess now I’m an orphan. My mother died when I was six years old of breast cancer and my father died about six months ago.”

“Shit. That sucks.”

She nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. After she swallowed she said, “It was hard losing my dad. But that was the point when I realized that he was really the only thing tying me to Boston, and I was free at that point to get up and change my life. I’d already broken up with my fiancé and I’ve just really been itching for a change.”

Dax was just about to ask her if she planned on staying in Boston if she didn’t get the job in Hartford when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. He cringed slightly when he saw that it was Scar calling and it was about twenty minutes after twelve. Something had undoubtedly gone wrong with the truck.