The next day flew by as Star unpacked the rest of her things. She called her old landlord and told him that she wouldn’t be staying another month in that hell hole, then left to shop around Main Street for as many new bits of furniture as she could find.
She had made it back to the house around two in the afternoon. She was so exhausted she flopped down on the couch and put her feet up.
She had slept soundly the night before and had woken early with the feeling of now knowing where she was and wanting to explore. There was so much space around her that it felt almost like a crime to not really dig around in every room and memorize each nook and cranny, even if there wasn’t any furniture in the rooms.
She had thought of Chains when she had woken up too. He had been such a surprise the night before that it had left an impression. She had vowed to never get romantically involved with any of the bikers, but there was something about Chains that had caught her attention. He seemed different and interesting. He was dark and brooding, while also seeming to have a good sense of humor. And, he had offered to help her too.
The offer had been playing on her mind. She had debated all day whether she should cross the street to number eight and see if it was still on the table, but she didn’t want to hassle him.
She had never known The Forsaken Riders to bring in a newbie. So it seemed a little strange to her for Chains to suddenly be on the scene. She couldn’t help but wonder who he was, where he came from, and what he had done to secure himself a spot in one of the most notorious bike gangs in the West.
As she sat on the end of her bed and started to get ready for work that night, she kept finding herself looking over to the window to try and catch a glimpse of him. She hadn’t seen him all day. The bike was nowhere in sight, and there were no other vehicles on his driveway. As the sun started to go down, she looked out for lights on behind one of his windows but everything stayed dark, so she eventually gave up and concentrated on picking her outfit for the night ahead.
She chose a black bikini and a silk robe which she could wander around the club in and give the customers something to think about. She packed it into her bag and then pulled on a pair of jeans, t-shirt and cap before she headed out. It felt good to know that only had half the distance to travel. As she wandered down her street, she allowed herself the luxury of glancing up at Chains’ new home.
“No one is inside,” she whispered to herself as she looked down at the road and kept on walking. “So maybe he’s in the club.”
She bit her lip to try to hide her grin and picked up her pace. For what exactly, she wasn’t sure.
As she walked past the diner and approached Tanner’s, she could see that the parking lot was quiet and felt a rush of relief. After having the majority of the weekend free and being sent home early on Friday, she had been dreading walking back into a hot, sweaty, packed club was full of horny truckers.
All she wanted was an easy night, a chance to catch up with Jill and Renee, and the opportunity to fill them in on her new bachelorette pad, along with potentially finding out as much as she could about the latest addition to The Forsaken Riders.
She walked around the back of the club and went inside. The hallway was dark as ever, but the bright lights shone out from underneath the door of the changing rooms. She headed inside and saw Renee sitting at her mirror, curling her hair with tongs and chatting away to Candy who was dancing around in the corner.
“Hey.” Star grinned when she saw them.
“Hey doll.” Renee smiled. “Long time, no see.”
“I know,” Star agreed. “You won’t believe the couple of days I’ve had.”
“Oh, we’ve heard,” Candy chipped in as she bent over and started to slip her feet into her high, Perspex shoes. “Jill told us you’ve moved?”
“Yep,” Star said, beaming. “I’m finally out of the hellhole that was the apartment.”
“Good for you,” Renee said to her, watching her via the mirror. “I’m glad you’re out of there, it sounded like the worst.”
“It really was,” Star agreed. “And now I’m in one of the biker’s places. I’m renting from my employer, which sounds like a nightmare, but Ax has sorted me out with a really good deal, so I can’t complain.”
“Nah, they’ll look after you.” Candy smiled. “They prefer to have people in their properties who they know.”
Star nodded.
“So, no sign of a new girl I hear.” Renee raised her eyebrows. “Word around the club is it’s a new biker who’s come to shake things up?”
Star nodded slowly, unsure of how much they knew.
“Did you see him the other night?” Candy asked. “He hasn’t been around here since.”
“He was here,” Star confirmed. “But I didn’t speak with him. Not then, anyway.”
“When did you speak to him?” Renee laughed, not missing a beat.
Star tried not to grin from ear to ear.
“When he turned up on my doorstep last night,” Star finally said after she had left them in suspense long enough. “Turns out we’re going to be neighbors. Can you believe it?”
Candy and Renee looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Oh, this is too good, you move to get some peace and quiet and then a Forsaken Rider moves in next door.” Renee cackled. “The irony!”
Star rolled her eyes, but she nodded her head in agreement.
“Just my luck, huh?” she shrugged as she turned around and placed her bag down.
She hadn’t thought of it like that, which surprised her, in fact, it surprised her in general that she didn’t mind that he was there at all.
Candy sighed as she fluffed up her bouncy blonde hair and pursed her glossy lips in the mirror. “Right. Well, I better get out there. I have a room to work, drinks to sell, and men to exploit. You know the drill.” She winked at Star before she disappeared out into the hallway, and the door closed quietly behind her.
“So, spill the beans then,” Renee wiggled her eyebrows. “What’s he like?”
“The new guy?” Star asked coyly.
“Yes, the new guy! You’re the only person I can ask who’s actually had a conversation with him. Jill said he’s hella handsome.”
Star thought back to when she had first saw him walk into the club and the impression he had made on her. Sure, he was ridiculously good-looking, but that wasn’t enough. Now she’d spoken to him and knew he had a sense of humor, she was beginning to see something much more in him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to admit it.
“He seems… you know, just a normal guy.”
“None of these fucking bikers are normal, doll.” Renee laughed. “He’s got to have something going on with him, one way or another.”
She raised her eyebrows and began to line her lips with thick, plum lipliner. Star began to get undressed and change into her working outfit.
“His name is Chains,” Star offered as a consolation for not spilling any gossip. “I wonder what that’s all about.”
Renee shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” she said as she placed the liner down and started to smooth lipstick over her lips.
“I’m not going on stage tonight,” Star said. “I just want to work the room. Is that okay with you?”
Renee looked at her in the reflection of the mirror as if she were trying to figure her out.
“Are you okay?” she asked her.
Star nodded. “Of course I am, I just don’t fancy it, it’s been a busy couple of days.”
She thought back to all the manual labor she had endured lugging her belongings across Slate Springs to her new home. The last thing she wanted to do was physically exert herself any more. Her arms and shoulders were aching, and she didn’t want to make them any worse by lifting herself up on the pole and twirling within an inch of her life.
“It’s fine by me,” Renee smiled. “See if any of the boys have an issue with it.”
Star sighed. She would deal with them if it came to it.
“Thank you so much.” She blew a kiss across the room to Renee, who pretended to catch it in the palm of her hand.
Star pulled the robe around her shoulders and looked one last time at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t help but hold out a small whisp of hope that Chains would be out there.
As she walked down the hallway, she felt the familiar thump of music beneath her feet and felt herself getting psyched up. She had a long night ahead of her, but she was ready for it, and she was actually looking forward to having some fun conversations and being around people after her few days of practical solitude.
The only person she really had any contact with for a decent length of time was Chains, and that had been so unexpected she had thought about it pretty much constantly since it had happened.
She was trying to push him to the back of her mind. She didn’t want him to dominate her thoughts, and yet he was. He had worked his way in at every available opportunity and was becoming a regular feature. Even in the middle of the night when she was in the depths of sleep, his face had appeared in her dreams. When she awoke, he had also been the first thing she thought about.
“You don’t want to go down that road,” she whispered to herself as a warning as she approached the swing doors that led outto the club. “It could surely only end in disaster.”
It had been a long time since Star had dated anyone. She had promised herself the next guy who came along would have to be pretty damn special to make her give up on the single life.
She had always been secretly drawn to the idea of settling down and having a family, but had always seemed to end up with the wrong men. Her track record wasn’t great when it came to that. She had dated liars and cheats, con-artists and sociopaths, and it had put her off the idea of ever finding someone for keeps. She had thrown her energy and efforts into the other side of life. She had focused on finding her place in the world, of settling into Slate Springs and building herself a home. So far, it had all been a good distraction from the main thing she was missing, but also the thing she would never admit she truly needed.
Love.
Star knew it was absent, and yet she still refused to acknowledge the fact.
She pushed through the swing doors and the heat, music and smoke hit her once again. She smiled her well-practiced smile and held her shoulders back as she walked tall and proud across the room toward the bar. She could already see Jill and saw Ax leaning over the countertop, whispering into her ear. She regularly saw how affectionate he was with her, but it still would never change Star’s mind.
Bikers were bad news... she had to remember that.
She reached the bar and gave them both a wave. When Ax saw it was Star, he grinned widely and turned to face her.
“So, I hear you met our new guy last night,” he said with a small smile. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Star said genuinely. “I appreciate you helping me out. I just feel awful for him. I hope he wasn’t disappointed he didn’t get the house.” She wondered if she should offer to move and let him have it instead, but the moment quickly passed.
“Nah it’s cool,” Ax said before he took a sip of his whiskey. “It was just a misunderstanding, but it’s sorted now.”
“So I believe,” she agreed. “He said he was going to be taking a house across the street?”
Ax nodded. “The club house is full,” he said as he clicked his teeth. “That place will do him for now, but eventually he’ll come and be with us up at headquarters.”
Star felt a little pang of disappointment. She secretly hoped that he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
“Right, I’m heading out back,” Ax said as he winked at Jill and slid away from the bar.
Jill watched him leave and smiled coyly, her heart obviously full of affection and love.
“You two are far too cute,” Star said as she fluttered her eyelashes playfully. “I can’t wait for the wedding.”
“Hey,” Jill said as she threw a bar mop across at her. “Don’t joke. I’m holding out hope he’ll propose soon.”
Star raised her eyebrows approvingly. “Really? Well, that’s great!”
“Shh,” Jill whispered. “I don’t want him to know I’m thinking that. He has to come to the conclusion on his own.”
Star clapped her hands together with excitement and then sat down at the bar, reaching over to grab herself a bottle of water.
“So, what has Ax said about this new guy then?” she asked nonchalantly.
Jill noticed her interest in him straight away and turned to face her with a look of amusement playing across her face. “Interested huh?”
“I’m interested in his back story, yeah,” Star said. “The guy turned up at my house late last night and now he’s living right across the street. I want to know I’m not neighbors with some kind of maniac.”
“Woah, relax.” Jill laughed as she shook her head. “I’m pretty sure he’s decent, don’t worry.”
“What’s Ax said about it all?” she probed.
“Nothing much.” Jill scrunched her lip up to her nose. “But I think he’s here as some kind of secret muscle.”
“Secret muscle?” Star asked with confusion. “What the hell does that mean?”
Jill leaned over the bar so only the two of them could hear what she was about to say. “You know they’re still freaking out over these Russians?” Jill asked with wide eyes.
Star nodded and urged her to continue.
“Well, with them all going quiet, a few of the bikers think something big is up and want someone unknown to come in, someone with a fresh set of eyes. Someone who might look less threatening than the rest of them but is actually more dangerous than a few of them combined.”
Star felt her heart race.
“More dangerous?” she asked with a gulp.
Jill’s eyes widened even more, and she nodded her head.
“Apparently,” she leaned in closer. “He’s some sort of physical weapon. But, I don’t know anything else.” She pulled an imaginary zipper across her mouth, then turned and wandered to the other side of the bar to serve a customer.
A physical weapon.
The thought made a tingle run right up the length of Star’s spine and she felt herself growing hot under the skin. His eyes and his looks were so intense, she could already imagine him having power. He was the sort of person who walked into a room and commanded it. He was so striking to look at; it was as if his presence would slice open the atmosphere and make everyone around take notice.
Star thought back to how he had come into her home the previous evening, and even though it should have scared her a little, all she felt was excitement.
There was something about this new blood, this secret muscle, that was peaking her interest in so many ways. She knew it was dangerous. She also knew she was playing with fire, and yet she still couldn’t get enough. She wanted to know all there was about him and wanted to see him again so badly it was alarming.
She turned around and looked out into the crowd and felt herself becoming annoyed with her sudden need.
“You’re a goddam fool,” she whispered to herself. “How can you think about someone like this who you don’t even know? And not even that, but a goddam biker!”
She ran her hands through her hair and looked either side of her to make sure no one had caught her talking to herself.
You’re going to have to pull it together, she thought. You’re going to have to push him to the back of your mind and concentrate on your own life, not what he has going on in his.
She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. She began to work herself up to leaving the bar and heading out into the crowd to try and get some of the truckers to part with their cash.
She took one step forward, then felt a breeze rush against her bare legs from behind her.
She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. She knew it was him.
When she turned and saw him walking in through the main doors, their eyes locked and Star’s heart began to pound, her breathing became short and rapid.
Chains smiled at her and raised his eyebrows. He began to walk toward her.