Page 9 of Brage & Dinah

Chapter 3

Dinah carried two emptytrays behind the counter and returned to Peer's side. Brage texted Roar. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.

When Roar contacted him to come to the bar and oversee a possible new employee for The Fire Ring, he expected—hell, he had no idea what he'd expected. Certainly not to see the woman he'd fucked upside her Jeep trying to get a job through Slag.

"Ja?" answered Roar.

"I have problems with the woman wanting to work at the bar." He opened the door for customers leaving the establishment.

"Speak."

Waiting until he'd stepped back inside, he said, "What brought her here?"

"She lives nearby and is one of Monica's friends."

"Since when?"

"You'd have to ask Monica. I do know she and Joel brought her to the open Slag party. I'm willing to give her a shot if she can do the job. I don't have time to spend interviewing others while we're on high alert."

"Damn," he muttered. "I hear you."

"Tell me what the problem is?"

Dinah glanced over at him. He stared back at her. "I fucked her."

There was no other way to describe his encounter with Dinah. They took what they both were looking for that night. He wasn't looking for anything more. To have her in the bar working wouldn't disrupt his life. He could stay away.

"You're going to have to give me more than that," said Roar.

Dinah looked away from him and walked out onto the floor and picked up empty glasses left on recently vacated tables. Unable to see her with the fire pit in the middle of the room blocking his view, he ran his hand down his beard.

"Brage?"

"Yeah, I'm here. If the bar needs more help and she's taken the load off the servers, she's doing fine for her first night." He walked across the room and pushed through the swinging door into the hallway. "I couldn't find any faults, besides the obvious of not working here before. She's a quick learner. I'll step out to the alley and talk to you."

"Hang on, I'm at the back door already," said Roar.

Roar walked into the back hallway and lowered his phone from his ear. Brage slipped the cell into his pocket, no longer needing to talk over the device.

"I'll let you make the decision." Roar stopped in front of him. "Will she benefit the bar?"

He nodded.

"Are you going to have a problem with her on the property?"

"She's her own woman if you think she's sincere about the job and not trying to hang around bikers." He pulled a cigarette out of his vest pocket and stuck the unlit smoke above his ear for when he could get outside. "It's not like I don't see a woman I've slept with every time I turn around in the clubhouse."

"Speaking of women. A couple ladies were looking for you earlier." Roar stepped away. "Go ahead and take off."

He remained in the hallway. The bar would be closing in twenty minutes. Roar had reminded him that time was short. At any time, Moroad Motorcycle could put the club in a position where they'd need to hunker down.

Striding to the back door, he pushed out into the alley. In his role as vice president, he needed to check in with the members of Slag. There was a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, and he needed to find out the members' concerns ahead of time.

Elling straightened from working on his motorcycle. Blinded by the light rigged up nearby, Brage shielded his eyes.

"Running okay?" He reached up and grabbed his cigarette from the top of his ear, lighting the end.

"Do all pots have lids?" Elling wiped his hands off on a rag. "I'm just changing the oil. I wanted to get it done before I hit the mattress."

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