Page 56 of Truck Off

But the decree has been made, and Sally will not take a penny from me tonight. He’ll keep our drinks coming even if we don’t order them. No one defies the club president. Not even one as fair and decent as Edge.

The front door opens, and I drag my eyes in that direction. My gaze meets Chase’s. It’s as if all the air is immediately sucked out of the room. His gaze is heated and hard and full of intention.

I turn back to the bar and down half my beer. I knew he’d be here tonight with his brothers, and I thought I prepared myself for it. But I was wrong.

The effect he has on me is intense. I never understood what others meant when they said they could feel someone’s eyes on them. But now I do. I don’t need to look at him to know he’s watching me. I feel everything. It’s like he’s burning a hole right through my thick wall of armor with his fierce stare.

I don’t know how to process this, and even if I did, I’m not sure I can handle the answers I’d find.

* * *

Thankfully, Chase and his brothers headed straight for the game room after they arrived, and I haven’t seen any of them since. As long as it stays that way, I should make it through the rest of this night without seeing him again.

Aside from the brief conversation with Edge, the evening has been fun. The drinks have been plentiful, and Jayla and I have laughed at each other’s antics. All in all, it’s been a good evening.

The bar has picked up since we arrived. The front door opens, and the Koch brothers crowd the entrance. Without bothering to acknowledge the crowd, they file into the game room. That must mean the poker game starts soon.

That knowledge should relax me. That means Chase will likely be occupied watching the game. But I’m anything but relaxed. My senses are on high alert and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as if I’m being stalked.

Jayla’s smile quickly fades as her eyes narrow in on something behind me. Or should I say someone?

“Well, well, well.” Charlie Fisher’s low rumbling voice causes goosebumps to prickle across my skin. And not the good kind. “If it isn’t my favorite beauty from the past.”

“Go away.” I grit out, not wanting my decent mood to be squashed by the likes of him.

He sidles up on the opposite side of me from Jayla and leans close so she can’t hear him. “Oh, now don’t be like that. We both know you want what I’ve got.” He runs his finger down my arm and I swat him away.

“Don’t touch me.”

His smile grows, and it sickens me how relaxed and easy it is. He looks like he’s settling in to have a good time with an old friend. He and I are not friends.

“Why don’t you and me sneak out the back door? I’ve got my truck. We can finish what we started all those years ago. You owe me, sweetheart.”

“Not a chance in hell, and I don’t owe you anything, except maybe a punch in the junk.”

His easy grin turns into a playful chuckle. It’s as if he’s completely unaffected by my words.

“Come on, Lina. We could have fun together.”

My gaze narrows and my nostrils flare. This man has some nerve talking to me like that. Charlie Fisher may have most of this county fooled, but I see right through him. He showed me his true colors all those years ago.

He is not the decent, God-fearing man he leads this county to believe. He’s the devil in an expensive suit and nothing more.

“And what would your wife say if she found out you had fun with another woman?”

His smile fades, but only slightly. It’s the shift in his eyes that has me scooting back in my seat, fighting for distance. There’s a threat hidden behind his smile, and I don’t like that it’s directed at me.

“This isn’t about Hannah. Besides, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. A man in my position needs to have his fun and blow off steam.” His eyes rake down my body, and I suddenly feel naked in my tight T-shirt and ripped jeans. “And I’d really like to blow off that steam with you.”

“Ew, gross.” I wrinkle my nose in disgust. “Go away before I pay you back for what you did to me.”

He holds my gaze and leans in closer. “Can’t pay me back when nothing happened.”

“Is that how you keep your pretty wife in check? Tell her all kinds of lies and hope she believes you? Or do you hit her too?”

His jovial expression turns hard and dangerous. His lips turn up on one side in a snarl and his nostrils flare. “Watch it, Lina.”

“No, you watch it.” I poke him in the chest, effectively pushing him back. I breathe a little easier at the distance it puts between us. “Need I remind you of how you hit me? You gave me a black eye because I refused to fuck you. That ain’t nothing, Mr. Mayor.”

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