Page 16 of Outlaws' Dirty Secret

A knock on the window saves me from having to make any decisions here and now. We both turn to see Blackout looking in, and Dragon checking out the yard. He looks curious, but not enough to make me think he saw me about to crawl right into Skyhigh’s lap.

“Just think about it, Willow. Real hard.” His voice drops lower, and turns raspier. “It’ll be quieter at the club tonight. We can come by and pick you up, show you around without all the distraction.”

“Maybe, I’m not sure.”

He cocks his head and raises an eyebrow at me. “You got plans?”

“No, I just?—”

“Then we’ll see you about eight.” He winks, and then he's out the backdoor, leaving me breathless, confused and horny.

“What just happened?” I ask the empty kitchen.

9

WILLOW

“Oh my God,Grace. What do I wear?” I have my phone propped up on my dresser so she can see me while I go through my closet.

Her annoyed harrumph comes clearly through the phone speaker. “I haven’t decided if I want to help you or not yet.”

“I said I was sorry for not telling you I went over there last night.”

“Yeah, and I reserve the right to not forgive you yet. And even if I did, I think this is a bad idea. This isn’t like when I visited you in New York and we met those metal guys with the cool tattoos at the bar. I know they look good, I’m married, not blind, but it’s theOutlaw Sons. Just in the past couple years I’ve seen so many articles about investigations into what they’re doing. Not that long ago a whole ass boat exploded off the coast and everyone knows it had to do with them.”

“I…” I can’t defend what I’m doing. She’s probably right, but… “You haven’t met them. They’re nice!”

“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

“No.” I hold up a flowy blouse with embroidered flowers to my chest and look in the mirror.

She snorts. “This isn’t Coachella.”

“Fine. What about this with jeans?” I swap it out for a tight, hot pink baby doll tee.

“Better. What did you wear last night?”

“The black dress I had on at dinner, and my chucks.”

“Only you would land a date with a bunch of bikers dressed like a middle schooler.”

“It’s not a date. It’s a tour.”

“Yeah, right. That’s why it’s happening in the middle of the night and you’re freaking out about your outfit.”

“Okay, so I’m having a little fun with it. Is that a crime? Hanging out with these guys is getting me back my mojo, Grace. I know they aren’t marriage material, but it’s giving me all sorts of inspiration for the book, and that’s good, isn’t it?” I wiggle into my favorite boot cut jeans that show off the tiny dangling jewel in my belly button.

“Yeah, Lo, it is. I’m happy you’re happy. I know last year was rough, with Keith cheating on you and then losing your grandma. If banging a biker is what it takes to move on, then do it, but just be careful, okay? You haven’t been around much to see what it’s like.”

“Have you had any bad experiences with them?” I ask straight out. “Because if you tell me that they’ve been sexist, or racist or just plain horrible to you or anyone you know, I swear I’ll cut contact right now.”

Her whole face scrunches, putting folds in the moisturizing skin mask she’s wearing. “No. As far as I know they keep to themselves and they never threatened anyone on the street or made us afraid ofthem.But at the end of the day, they’re a criminal gang and if you stay near them, trouble will find you.”

“I worry about that, too,” I admit. “But I think maybe I’ve been playing it too safe and I need this to remind me I’m only twenty-four. In fifty years, this’ll be a great story I can tell my granddaughter, you know?” The summer I had a fling with the dangerous bikers in my backyard.

I grin.

“Fine, but text me when you get home, alright? I want proof of life before you go to bed or I’ll drag Terry over there so we can rescue you, and if you forget and I see a naked biker butt bouncing in your front window, I will take pictures, put it on a mug and never let you forget.”

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