We pull up to a nondescript two-story building with a flat roof and a large gravel parking lot in the front. At first, I have no idea where Gavin has brought me, but when I see the row of motorcycles parked off to one side, something clicks.

“Is this where your club meets?” I ask him after he’s cut the bike.

“Yeah. This is the clubhouse,” he rumbles.

It’s not marked in any way, which I suppose is on purpose. Gavin waits as I climb down from the seat, then stands up himself.

“I figured it was time you meet some of my people,” he says, and catches my hand in his. We walk up to the front door, holding hands, and I’m not sure what to make of any of this. We’ve never had any sort of conversation about what’s been happening between us. And now, he’s holding my hands and taking me to meet his friends.

I raise my other hand and rake it self-consciously through my wind-blown hair. I wish I’d known I was about to be presented to what amounts to Gavin’s family. I don’t have a lot of time to let my nerves get the better of me, though, because we’re already through the door and striding through a large, open bar area. A dozen or more men are there, all of them large, tattooed, and dangerous looking. A handful of women are there, too. More than a few of the crowd stop what they’re doing to look at us as we come in. Over behind the bar itself, a tall, busty blond widens her eyes in obvious surprise.

One of the men detaches himself from a group and comes over to us, an easy, panty-melting grin on his face. He’s drop-dead gorgeous, with short-cropped blond hair and looks that could easily land him on the cover of a men’s magazine.

“Well, well! What have we here, brother?” he says, slapping Gavin on the back. “This is a first! Hello, little lady.” He turns his megawatt smile on me. “I’m Gunner. Brick’s closest friend and fellow Marine. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

I smile at him, suddenly shy but trying not to show it. “Hi. I’m Sydney.”

“A beautiful name for a beautiful lady,” he nods, and winks at me. “How the hell did you end up with an ugly fucker like him?”

“Gunner,” Brick mutters in a warning tone.

“Lighten up, brother. You know you love me.” Gunner chuckles at the storm clouds gathering on Gavin’s face. “Hey, y’all, this is Sydney,” Gunner calls to the room. “For some reason, she’s decided to give Brick the time of day.”

“I’m really fucking beginning to regret this,” Gavin mutters beside me.

Gunner’s general announcement seems to have broken some sort of spell, because a few more people start to come up to us. A strikingly pretty brunette with long, glossy hair approaches, a welcoming smile on her face.

“Hi, there!” she says, holding out her hand. “I’m Sam. It’s really nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I say, shaking with her.

“I’m with Hawk,” she continues, nodding her head toward a muscular, tanned, heavily tattooed man who comes up behind her

“Hi,” I say to the man. He nods once and slips his arm around Sam’s waist.

“Is this your first time at the clubhouse?” Sam asks. “I’m gathering yes.”

“Yeah. Honestly, I didn’t even know we were coming here,” I admit, looking up at Brick and giving him a teasing frown. He shrugs and clasps my hand a little tighter.

Sam laughs. “Trial by fire, huh, Brick?” she chides him. “Well, the men aren’t as tough as they let on, no matter what they like to think.”

“Is that right?” Hawk rumbles down at her.

“Present company excluded, of course,” Sam smirks, leaning up to give him a peck on the cheek.

“Hi, I’m Jenna,” another woman’s voice says. I turn to see a petite blonde with gorgeous blue eyes. “Haven’t I seen you coming out of that new coffee shop in town? Do you work there?”

“Actually, I’m the owner,” I tell her. “That’s how Ga… Brick and I met. He used to come in for coffee a couple times a week.”

“Oh, shit!” Gunner snorts. “You’re the muffin lady! Damn, you seduced him with tasty baked goods!”

A few of the other men gathered around us start laughing uproariously. Gavin looks a little pissed, but seems to take it in stride.

“Okay, okay, you fuckers,” he mutters. “I defy you to resist Sydney’s blueberry muffins, though. It takes a real man to admit when he’s beat by a pastry.”

“Hey, Sydney,” Sam says, “Can I get you a beer or something?”

“Beer would be great,” I smile.

“Jewel!” Sam calls toward the attractive bartender. “This is Sydney! Our girl needs a beer!”

And, just like that, it seems I’m accepted. A cold bottle is handed to me a minute later, and before I know it, I’m caught up in an ever-shifting conversation with all sorts of people who want to ask me questions or tell me embarrassing stories about the man they know as Brick. It’s…

Fun.

Like, really fun. I essentially haven’t done anything except for work and go home to sleep since I got to Tanner Springs. I never bothered to try to make friends — force of habit from my old life, I guess. I didn’t even know I was missing anything, until now.

But here? Laughing and joking with these people I don’t even know — people that most law-abiding citizens would consider scary and dangerous — I feel at home, and safe in a way I don’t ever remember feeling. Back in Atlantic City, I knew a lot of people, but in the circles I ran in, you knew better than to trust anyone but yourself. Here, with Gavin holding my hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world, somehow I feel completely at ease with total strangers who accept me just because I’m with him.

Somehow, Jenna and Sam and I end up over at the bar with Jewel the bartender, talking and laughing over our beers. Jenna and Sam tell me the stories of how they met their men. Apparently, Jenna, who’s married to Ghost, the Sergeant at Arms, had a fling with him a few years back, and then left town for a while. When she came back to Tanner Springs, they reconnected, and they’ve been together ever since. They have two little kids, a boy and a girl. From time to time, she glances over at Ghost adoringly as she tells their story. Listening to Jenna talk about her family, it’s incredibly clear from the look on her face how happy she is.

Sam tells me that she and Hawk have been together less than a year. Funnily enough, they met at Jenna and Ghost’s wedding. Sam’s a photographer, and Jenna hired her to take pictures of the day.

“Holy hell, did the two of us spar when we first met,” Sam’s shaking her head. “He was, and still is, a total pain in the ass sometimes. But even though I never would have believed it in a million years, he’s the sweetest, most loving man I ever met.”

I glance over at the glowering, tattooed man, who’s over by the pool tables talking to Brick and Gunner. “Wow. Talk about not judging a book by its cover,” I chuckle. The other two women laugh.

Just as I’m about to look away at the three men, Gavin glances up toward me. Our eyes lock, and a wave of heat courses through my body.

“Looks like Brick is laying a claim to you,” Jenna remarks. I drag my gaze away from him and look at her.

“What do you mean, laying a claim?” I ask, my pulse speeding up just a notch.

“Well…” Jenna says, sliding her eyes toward Sam, and then back to me. “I’ve known Brick for a while now, and I sure as hell have never seen him show more than a passing interest in any woman. He sure as hell has never brought one here.”

From the other side of the bar, Jewel nods. “The Lords take this club, and this clubhouse, pretty damn seriously,” she tells me. “This club is a family, Sydney. If you’re here with him, it means something.”

Holy hell. My brain starts to feel like it’s spinning in my head. I think back to my conversation with Beverly earlier today in the shop, when I told her what was happening between Gavin and me was nothing serious. The words she said in reply ring in my head.

“Are you sure? Because from the way he looks at you, I’m not entirely convinced.”

“Ready to go?”

I startle out of my thoughts to see that Gavin has appeared at my side.

“So soon?” I ask, a little regretfully.

“I want to show you someplace else,” he murmurs into my hair. “And then we need to talk.”

I turn back to the women, and can’t help take note of their expressions as they look at the two of us. Jewel’s face is full of amused excitement. Samantha is grinning conspiratorially at me. Jenna… well, her face registers something beyond just happiness for a new couple. As she looks between us, there’s a note of tension that appears on her face. Almost as though she knows what Gavin wants to talk to me about.

“You two have a good night,” she says to both of us, reaching out to give my hand a warm squeeze. “It was really great to meet you, Sydney.”

“It was wonderful to meet you all, too,” I say sincerely. Brick puts his hand on the small of my back and guides me back outside to his motorcycle.

“So, where are you taking me?” I ask him teasingly as he puts a leg over his bike and motions for me to get on.

“It’s a surprise,” he growls, starting up the bike.

“Everything about you is a surprise, Brick Malone,” I murmur into his ear, wrapping my arms around him.

It’s true. Gavin has been nothing but surprises since the day we met.

And the biggest one of all? I’m starting to think I like it.