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“Why do you hide behind your hair?” he asked.
“I’m not hiding,” she lied. She hated her scar. Her only saving grace after her injury was that she had long hair that she could style down onto her face to hide the mark that her ex had left her with. She sometimes forgot that it was even there because no one could see it to make a big deal about it.
“Then, let me see your face,” he challenged.
“You’re being ridiculous,” she insisted. “You can see my face just fine. I like my hair this way.”
“Harlow,” he started. The guard walked out of the backroom and nodded to them both.
“You can go on in,” he said. “Second door on the left.”
“Thanks, man,” Ryker said. Harlow nodded her thanks. Honestly, that guard didn’t know it, but he had saved her from having to explain about her scar to Ryker. They weren’t to that point of their—whatever this was happening between the two of them. One minute, he was shouting at the top of his lungs that he wasn’t interested in her, and the next, he was telling her that she was beautiful. She wished he’d make up his mind because honestly, she was having trouble keeping up with him.
She followed Ryker into the office and saw the very handsome man sitting behind his desk before she even got fully into the room.
He stood and rounded his big desk, holding out his hand to Ryker. “Good to see you, man,” he said, pulling Ryker in for a quick hug.
“You too, Ace,” Ryker said, patting the guy on the back. “This is Harlow,” he said. Ace held out his hand to her and she placed hers into his.
“Nice to meet you, Harlow,” he said.
“I work for Ryker,” she said. God, she was an idiot. Why would she just blurt that out? “Um, good to meet you too,” she blurted out, trying to recover.
Ryker laughed but Ace had the grace to smile and nod. “Please have a seat,” he said, pointing to the chairs that sat in front of his desk. “Can I get either of you a drink?”
“No, thank you,” Harlow said.
“Nothing for me,” Ryker said. “Thanks though.”
Ace sat back down behind his desk as if getting ready to conduct a meeting. “What brings you in tonight?” Ace asked.
“Club business,” Ryker said. “I’m in trouble and could use some help.” She remembered that Ace used to be the Smokey Bandit’s president, from what Ryker had told her earlier. The question was would he care about the trouble that Ryker had gotten himself, and now her into, or would he turn them both away.
“How can I help?” Ace asked.
“You know how we were without leadership for a bit?” Ryker asked.
“Yeah—I’m sorry about up and leaving you guys. Life just got so crazy with my woman, kid, and well, this place. It wouldn’t have been fair of me to hold onto being the Bandit’s Prez too.”
“I’m not here to make you feel bad about leaving, Ace. You did what you had to do, and I respect that. But the place was pretty worn down from not having a leader in place. The bar needed some upgrades when I got it, and well, I went to someone that I shouldn’t have for a loan.”
“Who?” Ace asked.
“Billows,” Ryker almost whispered. “I didn’t want the guys to know that we were in trouble. I didn’t want them to doubt my capabilities as their new Prez, so I went and fucked up. I got the loan to fix up the place—even put in a new kitchen so that we can serve food. Everything was on the up and up, except for how I got the money.”
“Let me guess, now Billows wants his money back and you don’t have it,” Ace said, sitting back in his chair. He wasn’t making any of this easy on Ryker, and that had Harlow worried.
“Yeah, but there’s more,” Ryker admitted. “You see, Billows and two of his goons stopped by the bar tonight to remind me that my final payment is due this Friday. Harlow was in my office when he showed up, unannounced, and he said that he’d take cash or her for payment. He was fine with either.”
“Shit,” Ace said, looking Harlow over.
“Harlow’s a single mom. She’s the first waitress I hired at the Bandits and well, I can’t let her get mixed up in my mess.”
“Agreed,” Ace said. “Why not just come to me in the first place?” he asked Ryker.
“I was embarrassed that I needed help,” Ryker admitted. Harlow knew that had to take a lot for him to say to his friend. “I wanted to do this on my own, you know? I wanted to make something out of the Smokey Bandits—prove to everyone that I could do it.”
“You broke our number one code,” Ace said. “You forgot that we’re all brothers and will have each other’s back no matter what, Ryker,” he reminded.
