Page 69 of My Temptation

“And adding in another week or two so people stay even longer,” the woman added with obvious disgust.

“We don’t mind the bike week as much,” the man continued. “They come, they ride, they eat, and then they leave. But the festival brings all kinds of other shit we don’t care for.”

The woman jerked her chin in Ethan’s direction. “You ride?”

“Used to,” he replied, and I tried very hard not to change my expression at all, although it was hard. I’d never pegged Ethan as someone who rode a motorcycle, but maybe he was just pretending to as part of our cover. These people obviously preferred bikers to tourists.

“What’d you ride?” the bartender asked, and when I rolled my head to face him, I noticed he was drying a glass.

“Had a Kawasaki Ninja for about a year.”

“Wasn’t even broken in yet. Why’d you get rid of it?”

“My sister got pregnant. Needed shit for the baby. I wasn’t makin’ enough at the time to take care of that, so I sold my bike.”

The bartender nodded slowly. “Any regrets?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “I’ll get another one when the time is right.”

He gestured toward me with the towel in his hands before he tossed it over his shoulder. “You like bikes?”

I almost said I’d never been on one, but then quickly changed my mind. My instincts told me I needed to play up my time with Nick a little to gain more traction with these people. “Love ’em.”

The bartender studied me closely. “You ride your own?”

“No way.” I giggled. “Not sure I could handle it myself, but my last boyfriend was in a club and rode.”

“Motorcycle club?” When I nodded, he continued. “Which one?”

“Black Widows,” I answered casually. “I was hired as a dancer at the club. Met when I was workin’.”

“You still dancin’ there?”

“Nah.” I shook my head. “My ex got killed in a raid. Decided I didn’t want to go down the same way, so I moved on.” I smiled. “Sure do miss ridin’ on the back of that bike, though.”

The bartender grinned slowly, and the knot in my stomach untangled. That story helped us more than anything else. “Sounds like your man is gonna fix that.”

Ethan chuckled and tightened his arm around my waist, but his eyes stayed on the bartender. “You ride?”

He nodded. “Got a Kawasaki myself. Been thinking lately about getting a Harley, though.”

“Can’t go wrong with a Harley,” Ethan agreed.

Shifting, I smiled at the woman I’d been talking to. “Can you tell me where the restrooms are?”

She glanced at the bartender, which I found odd, but then gestured toward the hallway across the room. “Back there.”

“Thanks.” I slid from the stool and patted Ethan’s leg. “Be right back.”

After he nodded, the bartender started talking about motorcycles, and I moved away. Crossing the room, I walked slowly, hoping to spot Samson, but besides the few people sitting at the bar, the room was empty. Where the hell did he go? We watched him walk through those doors, but there wasn’t a sign of him anywhere. Stepping into the hallway, I saw the doors to my left marked with women and men, but a quick look down the hallway in the other direction showed two more doors without any markings.

“To the left.”

I was careful not to show she startled me when I heard the voice behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I smiled. “Thanks.”

A little surprised the woman from the bar followed me, I made my way into the restroom with her hot on my heels. Something was definitely going on in this place. There was no reason for her to follow me to the bathroom except to hide something they didn’t want us to see. Closing the stall door, I pushed down the lid on the seat and sat, watching her through the crack. She stayed in front of the sink as if she were washing her hands, but she never reached for the soap.

Not really having to pee, I waited a minute and then flushed the toilet before standing and waiting as if I had to fix myself. Then I walked out and stood in front of the sink beside her.

---