AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The blonde—Kasey—lifts an eyebrow. “Why ain’t he here then?”
“You know I don’t fuck on first dates.” Maddie laughs. “Hey, this is my best friend, Rae.” She reaches across and closes her hand around my forearm, squeezing gently.
“Hi.” I lift my other hand.
Kasey smiles. “Hey.” She blatantly eyes me from head to toe. “You’re cute, ain’t you?”
I look to Maddie for guidance on what to do. Is this woman being nice, or is this some kind of underhanded insult?
“Say thanks, Rae,” she advises with a giggle. To Kasey, she adds, “Rae ain’t used to people being nice to her.”
“Sorry.” I tug one leg higher, setting my foot on the edge of the seat and hugging my shin.
Kasey’s pretty in a country princess kind of way. Big blonde waves, kind blue eyes, and a shapely hourglass figure that I’d love to have. She completes the vibe with a soft summer dress that buttons low on her chest, exposing the swell of her breasts, the hemline sweeping around her knees, showing long, athletic legs. The woman gets around dainty in bare feet, padding silently away while I continue to hug my leg as though it’ll save me from the room’s scrutiny.
“They’re just wary,” Maddie offers, gaze roaming the open space also. “We’ve got a lot to protect here.”
“They make me nervous.”
Mads doesn’t get a chance to respond, her father hollering from the far side of the room, “Baby girl! Send Rae over, yeah?”
Her gaze slides to me, lips rolling against one another. “You’ll be fine.” She reaches out and tucks my hair behind one ear. “Be honest and be proud.”
I eye the twenty-odd feet from where I sit to where Maddie’s father stands at the door to the corner room. Rising to my feet, I swallow a deep breath and square my shoulders. It took a good week for the nerves to settle when I started at the diner.I’ve never liked being the center of attention, and as I walk the gauntlet to where her father waits, I’m most certainly that.
The women regard me with a mix of restrained aggression and solidarity, the men with caution. One guy reaches down and rearranges himself. I chance a look at Maddie and get two thumbs up.“You got this,”she mouths, nodding to urge me to turn back around.
I face forward and find the Red River Reapers’ President leaning in the doorway; one hand braced above his head, the other lax at his side. The position stretches his broad build, highlighting the lines of his strong arms and wide chest. For a guy in most likely his mid to late-forties, he’s in pretty darn good shape.
Disarmingly handsome in a way I shouldn’t notice, given he’s my best friend’s father.
“After you.” He twists and gestures into the dimly lit room, a braided silver chain sliding along his wrist with the movement.
I cross the threshold and find the same style setup as in the main room—four Chesterfield sofas all facing one another in a square with a low table the same shape in between. Digger sits to the left, Minion to the right. Two more faces greet me with the same cautious curiosity as the men outside.
Sconces illuminate the space in intervals along the timber paneled walls.
The low ceiling gives an air of intimacy. Of secret deals behind locked doors. Empires forged with steel and blood.
“Take a load off.” Maddie’s dad gestures to the remaining seat on the sofa closest.
I edge around the leather arm, briefly making eye contact with the man who occupies the other half. His brown hair is laced with natural highlights, trimmed short at the side, and worn in a loose braid from his brow to the nape of his neck. The decorative ink at his throat gives off a very Viking vibe.
I settle onto the cushion, stiff as a board, when he leans in and whispers, “I don’t bite.” The man grins, green eyes full of mirth as he adds, “Unless you ask me to.”
“Hammer. Leave the lady alone.” Maddie’s father takes his place at the head of the group, alone in the center of the final sofa. To my surprise, he leans forward and retrieves a notebook off the table. “Maddie told you much about us?” He directs the question to nobody in particular, gazing at the pen in his hand.
“No, sir.”
One eyebrow jumps. “First of all, you can cut that shit right out.” He locks his eyes on mine and sets a hand between his collarbones. “You can address me by my given name—Tyke.”
“Tyke?” I test the unusual name on my tongue.
“I’d say ask my momma why she gave me the name, but you’d have trouble doing that.”
“God rest her,” Digger mumbles.
“You’ve met my brother, Weston. Better known around here as Digger.” Tyke gestures to the man with murder in his eyes to my left. “This brute here is Minion.” The tattooed behemoth nods once. “Next to Digger over there is Turnip.” I offer a smile to the scruffy guy, his messy hair looking as though he had just climbed out of bed. “And beside you, as you’ve probably gathered, is Hammer.”
