“Well, well, well,” Valley cooed as Linc executed a turn that placed his bike—and his general hotness—front and center. He cut the engine just as Valley leaned in closer and murmured, “Aren’t you full of surprises?” I could hear the smirk in her voice, but neither of us was looking away from Linc as he swung a muscular, denim-clad leg off the bike and approached.

He hadn’t worn a helmet, even though I spotted one propped on the back of the bike. His hair was wind-blown, and he looked like he had just walked off the cover of one of my books—one most likely titled something along the lines of Burning Loins and the Badass Biker. I felt my heart rate pick up.

“Good evening, Jenna.” I’d forgotten how deep his voice was. He leaned in, placing a hand on my arm and a kiss on my cheek.

I nearly swooned until Valley put a hand out. “Hi, I’m Valley Archer. I’m a friend of Jenna.”

A twinge of jealousy bit at my spine, even as I told myself it was ridiculous. Valley was happily married; she wasn’t about to hit on my date. She just had a flirty personality. Still, I frowned slightly as Linc pulled back and took in Valley.

“Hello, Valley Archer, friend of Jenna. I’m Linc.” His smile was a bit too bright for my liking.

I shook myself out of my ridiculous line of thinking. “That’s quite a bike,” My voice was a touch too loud. “Now I see why you told me to wear jeans.”

Linc looked back at me and took me in from head to toe. That was more like it. His lips quirked. “I wouldn’t want to risk you burning your leg on the exhaust pipe.”

“There’s nothing wrong with taking risks now and then.” Valley’s voice was practically a purr. Oh my God. She was totally hitting on my date!

“I’m all ready to go!” I lifted my purse in a lame indication of my urgency to get the hell on with the evening.

Linc grinned at me again and turned back to the bike. He pulled the helmet loose and returned to his spot in front of me.

“Have a fun time, you two!” Valley waggled her fingers at us and stepped back to the street, a wide smile on her face.

Huh. Maybe I was going crazy. I felt slightly guilty at my mistaken assumptions and raised a hand to offer a wave.

“Bye, Valley. Bring the kids by whenever you want on Saturday.”

She nodded and kept going. I turned back to Linc and he lowered the helmet onto my head.

“Perfect,” he said as he adjusted it and then let his hands fall to my shoulders. So much for the time I’d spent on my hair. But the new Jenna didn’t give one tiny shit. She was getting on the back of a hot motorcycle with a hot guy.

* * *

Twenty minutes and ten terrifyingly sharp turns later, the gleam had worn off my motorcycle dreams. I couldn’t wait to get off the damn thing. It all sounded so freeing and exhilarating in my books—riding on the back of a vibrating beast with your arms wrapped around a muscular torso and your breasts pressed suggestively against his back. Apparently, none of the books I’d been reading took place in the sweltering summer heat. And the drivers of those motorcycles didn’t have a death wish like my date certainly seemed to.

The ride had started out a bit awkwardly when I’d taken a photo of his license plate and sent it to Jill, explaining to Linc that a girl had to be safe these days. He looked insulted and asked if I thought he was a serial killer. So, yeah, not the best start to the night.

By the time we arrived at our destination—some dive bar out in the middle of nowhere—I could feel my hair plastered to my head with rivers of sweat dripping down my scalp and neck. My shirt stuck to my skin with a layer of perspiration that had formed as I’d done my best impression of human Velcro and attempted to become one with Linc’s back. It was the only reason I hadn’t tumbled to my death off the back of this monster.

Suffice it to say, I was not a motorcycle chick. As Linc cut the engine and my ears rang with the sudden silence, I really couldn’t bring myself to be sad about it.

I unbuckled the helmet and pulled it off, feeling the evening breeze against my damp head and reveling in it. Linc turned in his seat to look at me and couldn’t hide his surprised expression quickly enough.

Shit.

I handed him the helmet and brought both hands to my hair, attempting in vain to fix as much of the damage as I could. It was not good. I gave a weak grin and then gripped Linc’s shoulders to steady myself as I lumbered off the wicked contraption. My thighs screamed at me and I nearly toppled over. Good lord.

Linc swung off easily after me as I continued to straighten my appearance. I needed my purse and a bathroom, STAT. My eyes took in the building before me while Linc unearthed my purse and secured the helmet back on the bike. It looked as if a few good slams of the front door could cause the place to fold in on itself. The paint was peeling, and neon beer signs flickered weakly in the dusty windows. The lot was filled almost exclusively with motorcycles of every size and color. My nerves, which had just begun to recover from the ride of death, clamored once more. I’d never been to a biker bar.

Linc grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. “Come on. The party awaits.” His grin went a long way toward making me more comfortable. Come on, Jenna. This is exactly what you wanted! I took a deep breath, smiled back, and followed him into the biker shack.

* * *

“It was fuckin’ cool, man! I can’t believe you missed it.” A man who’d been introduced as Bellows shook his head of tangled blond hair and smacked a hand to the table. The bottles all shook, and I grasped mine to keep it from tipping.

“Next time,” Linc replied, leaning back in his chair. “I had to work, man. What can I say?” He slipped an arm along the back of my chair.

Not knowing what else to do with myself, I took another sip of my tepid beer and tried not to wince. Linc had apparently missed a party of epic proportions last week, or so the seven or eight people I’d met since we arrived assured us one by one.

When we’d initially crossed the threshold to the bar, several voices called out to us—or, rather, Linc. Although a few people referred to him as Chains, some kind of biker moniker, I surmised. It occurred to me again that I really knew nothing about this man. Sure, he’d told me he worked for the local energy company, but that could be a complete fabrication. He could be part of an outlaw biker gang for all I knew.

Before we made it ten feet, I excused myself to the restroom where I did what damage control I could before returning to the main room to meet Linc’s friends. I spotted him at the bar talking to a couple older guys and I approached, desperate for something to drink.

“There she is!” Linc put an arm out and pulled me against his side. “Guys, this is Jenna. Jenna, meet Tulsa and Bellows.”

I smiled and gave a little wave. “Hi.” They returned my smile and I got a couple chin lifts. Okay. I turned to find the bartender while the guys continued to talk.

An hour later, I was still on my first beer, but Linc, I’d noticed, was on his third. Or was it his fourth? I had spoken a grand total of five words and, apart from a few touches from Linc and some introductions, I’d been essentially ignored. I was calculating how to extricate myself from this date when Linc suddenly pushed his chair back and dropped his arm from mine. “Be right back.” And then he was gone.

I looked over at Bellows as he upended his bottle and chugged the contents. He slammed the empty bottle on the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “So, Jennifer, how did you and Chains meet? No offense, but you don’t really seem like his type.”

I refrained from thanking him for the compliment. “Oh, at a bar.” I kept it short. “How long have you known each other?”

He scratched at his beard and squinted as he performed math with not a small amount of strain. “Eh, we go a ways back. Used to ride together before he cleaned up his act.” I didn’t think I wanted to know what that meant. My eyes searched the room for Linc, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was time I called for backup.

“Excuse me. I’m just going to pop into the ladies’.” Bellows, however, wasn’t listening to me. He was busy gesturing for the waitress to bring another round. I scurried to the back hall, pulling my phone from my purse as I went.

I was dismayed to discover I had no signal. Probably the result of a nice thick layer of asbestos lining the ceiling tiles. A back door stood at the end of the hall, so I pushed through it, hoping to find a signal outside.

Instead, I found Linc handing a plastic baggie to what looked like a high-school kid, exchanging it for a weighty envelope. My mouth opened to say … something. But before I could utter a single sound, the wail of a police siren cut through the humid air around us.

* * *

“All right, Ms. Watson. We’ll call you if we need anything else. In the meantime, take my card and have a safe night.”

Numbly, I reached out and took the card. Then I exhaled and leaned into Jill, completely exhausted and ready to retreat to my bed for a week.

“Thank you, Officer,” I heard Jill say as she practically lifted me from my seat. She took my arm and I followed numbly behind her. Neither of us spoke until we were buckled into her car and the bar was out of view.

“Sooo. I guess that’s a no to a second date, huh?”

I shot daggers at her. She gave a small chuckle and put the car in reverse. “I gotta say, you’re the last person I thought the thug life would choose.” Only then did she take in my expression, doing a double take.

“Too soon?”