Page 6 of Moon's Promise

“Unless I got on the wrong plane,” he answered wryly.

Red flooded her cheeks but, undeterred, she kept trying to make conversation. “Were you visiting Carsen City?” Devon felt her eyes travel down from his face to his chest.

“No, I lived there,” he replied shortly.

“That must have been cool.” She sent a glance toward her friend, then looked back at him. “Castlena and I are on vacation.” She nodded her head toward the woman sitting across the aisle from them. “Thought we would visit Chicago before heading to the Great Lakes.”

“Great minds think alike.”

“How long are you staying in Chicago?”

“A couple of days,” Devon answered.

She let the tip of her tongue wet her bottom lip. “We should hook up for dinner tomorrow night. Then see what trouble we can get up to.”

“Maybe. We’ll see,” he answered noncommittedly.

The women were gorgeous, but he was not in the mood to provide the entertainment they wanted.

“I’ll give you my cell number before we get off the plane,” she said as if their hooking up was a done deal. “I am Amanda, by the way. What’s your name?”

His eyes shifted away from the moon he had been staring at and toward her. Reading the sexual interest left him just as cold and alone as the satellite he had been looking at.

Forcing a smile to his lips, he stopped thinking of leaving his mother, knowing he would never step foot in Carsen City again, that he wouldn’t be there to visit Eric’s and Riley’s graves every Saturday, and he would have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life for the crime he had just committed. Joel had told him to move on with his life, and he was going to do that from now on.

“Moon. Everyone calls me Moon.”

CHAPTER ONE

Larissa watched the room full of women talking and laughing as if they were the best of friends and hadn’t been trying to tear each other’s hair out just an hour ago. Standing off to the side at the back of The Last Riders’ clubhouse, she kept the length of the room between her and the two groups of women in case tensions rose again. If they started fighting again, she was out, and her two sisters could find their own way home.

Her younger sister must have sensed what she was thinking because she started making her way toward her. “I think the worst is over.”

Larissa eyed the room of women doubtfully. “Then it’s the perfect opportunity for us to be leaving. I’m ready to go, Priscilla. You can go get Lana and say our goodbyes. I’ll be warming up the car.” She started for the coatrack, where she had hung up her coat, when Priscilla caught her by the arm.

“She wants to stay a little longer.”

Frustrated, Larissa bit her lip. She didn’t trust these women any further than she could throw them. With their volatile behavior, Larissa was afraid a wayward comment would set off Sex Piston or one her friends.

“Listen …” Larissa hissed at her baby sister, “these women are wackos … We’re damn lucky that bartender didn’t call the police.”

Priscilla’s lips trembled in amusement. “About that … I found out why he didn’t. Come to find out, the sheriff’s a member of The Last Riders. Or”—Priscilla shrugged—“he used to be. Depends on who you ask.”

“Oh my God … what kind of town have you and Lana talked me into moving to?”

Her sister’s eyes twinkled. “In my defense, I just found out, too. You’ll have to ask Lana if she knew.”

“This isn’t funny.” Glaring at her sister, Larissa motioned to Lana to come to where they were standing, only to be ignored. Larissa knew damn good and well Lana had seen the gesture.

“I told you she isn’t ready to go yet.” Priscilla reminded her. “Lana is enjoying hanging out with Sex Piston and her friends.”

“We’re just asking for trouble being here.” Larissa went back to eyeing the women warily. “I don’t understand what’s going through her head … We should have left them at the bar when they started in on that poor woman who tried her best to ignore them.”

Lana sighed. “Maybe there’s a reason they dislike her…”

“They acted awful to her.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, Larissa, but I’m trying to be understanding. Crazy Bitch was spoiling for a fight because of the bad news I gave her, and I guess she was taking it out on the woman instead of her friends. I’m not excusing her for the way she behaved, but she got paid back when her face was slammed by the door.” Priscilla covered her mouth as she turned to give the rest of the room her back. “I thought I would die when Lily slammed that door on her.”

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