Page 79 of Loco

“I’ll grab us a chair at one of the tables,” Lissa said.

I made my way through the room toward the restroom, smiling and greeting several familiar faces along the way. Both clubhouses were there for the wedding, but other than Bull and Frenchie, I didn’t know many of the other members. Everyone seemed friendly though.

I pushed the ladies’ room door in and almost knocked over a woman who’d been on her way out.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Surprise kept me from saying anything else. It was Leslie, the server from the restaurant, and I could see from her expression that she recognized me, too. What was she doing here? Was she a friend of Annabelle’s? “Hi. I know you from the restaurant, right? Leslie?”

“Yes,” she acknowledged in a sharp tone. She was already on the defensive.

She was dressed to kill, and looked more like a woman going out for the evening than to an afternoon wedding. She was really trying to impress someone, and I had a sneaking suspicion of who that someone was. I kind of felt sorry for her.

“Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?” I questioned out of curiosity.

“If it’s any of your business, I’m a friend of a friend.”

“Oh, so you’re someone’s plus one.”

She furrowed her brows, clearly not understanding. I had to wonder if she was a wedding crasher. But then, who in their right mind crashed a wedding at a biker’s clubhouse located out in the desert?

“Excuse me.” She pulled open the door to leave, but then paused to look back at me. “You might as well know, Loco and I have fucked. He’s mine.”

With that, she left. Well, that was interesting. I wondered if Loco knew he was hers. I shot down the jealousy that threatened to ruin my day and prayed that I didn’t run into anymore of his conquests. I didn’t need a reminder of what he’d been before he’d met me. I did my business, washed my hands, and went back out into the bar.

I spotted Lissa right away. She was sitting at a table, and she wasn’t alone. There was a redheaded man next to her, wearing a Desert Rebels’ cut. My gaze darted to the bar, but Frenchie and Loco were nowhere in sight.

“Hey, honey.” Lissa motioned me over. “Come meet TJ, he’s LD’s vice president.”

Green eyes a shade lighter than mine met my eyes. TJ wasn’t as tall as some of the others, but I could tell that he was built. He looked solid and powerful, and the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes showed that he had a little age on him. He had a nice smile, and I found myself returning it easily.

“TJ, this is Millie. She and Loco are together.”

“Hi.” I sat down between him and Lissa. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” he responded. “So, you and Loco, huh?” Amusement danced in his eyes. “He’s one brother I never thought would settle down.”

“That seems to be the viewpoint of everyone who knows him,” I responded dryly.

He nodded, a look of understanding in his eyes. “So you know about his history.”

I cleared my throat. “More than I’d like to.”

“I’ll be right back.” Lissa got up from her chair. “I’ve been summoned by my man.”

I glanced in the direction that she was looking and saw Frenchie and Loco at the bar with some of their brothers. How had I missed them coming in? They must have come in through the back. It apparently hadn’t taken them long to deal with the two people at the gate, and whatever it had been about hadn’t left them in a bad mood.

“Brothers are dropping like flies.”

TJ’s comment drew my gaze back to him. His smile was half-hidden behind the glass at his mouth. “Do you have someone, TJ?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, but I’m looking.”

By the way he was looking around the room, I wondered if he meant that he was looking right then. But it wasn’t the look of a man on the prowl. His narrowed scrutiny was more like someone assessing his surroundings. Was he looking for trouble? Because that was the impression he was giving me. Maybe he was used to being on guard. From what little experience I had with the Desert Rebels, I’d found that most of them remained watchful of their environments.

I laughed. “That’s a switch! From what I heard about some of your brothers, they tend to go down kicking and screaming.”

“True. We’re a hard bunch and we’re set in our ways. Takes a special woman to break through the walls we have surrounding our hearts. Even more special if she can accept and deal with the way we live our lives.” His eyes met mine. “Looks like we’re about to have company.” His smirk seemed more like a warning.

I glanced up to see Loco storming in our direction, and he was not happy. He had that possessive, territorial look in his eyes, and it was directed solely on TJ, as if to say, “Back off.” He was practically snarling like a rabid dog, and I recognized that I was seeing a very jealous Loco. As much as it frightened me, I felt a rivet of excitement flutter in my core.

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