Page 23 of Ace of Spades
CHAPTER EIGHT
Tonight belonged to the Cubanos Motorcycle Club. Nate sat at the Aces & Eights bar, nursing a beer while listening to the rumble of a few dozen bikes pulling into the parking lot. He hoped Hector Ramirez was with them.
As he waited for them to come in, he read the text from Taylor for about the tenth time.
Alex invited me to go riding with you guys on Sunday. Sounds like fun. What time should I come over?
Damn his matchmaking brother for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. Unless it was raining or too cold, every Sunday he, his brothers, and their wives would ride somewhere for lunch. Court and Lauren wouldn’t be home until Sunday evening, so Nate hadn’t planned to go, giving Alex and Madison a day alone.
Taylor had hinted in the past that she’d love to go with them sometime, but he’d never invited her. There wasn’t any question in his mindthat he’d like having her ride behind him too much. Better to just avoid the temptation. Now Alex had gone and taken that decision out of his hands. Baby brother was going to get an earful when he showed his face, which should be any time now.
Nate had avoided Taylor for the past three days, only talking to her on the phone when they needed to discuss the case, which left him feeling like a coward for hiding out. He had needed a little time to put that kiss out of his mind, but so far avoidance wasn’t working. All he’d thought about, night and day, was how much he wanted to kiss Taylor Collins again. And that was just for starters.
He sighed in defeat, then texted her back.
Be at my place at 10
Awesome?
Like an idiot, he smiled back at the smiley face.
“Bro, what’s up?” Alex said, coming up behind him and slapping him on the back.
“Besides your murder?”
Alex slid onto the barstool next to him. “If you’d stop being so stubborn, I wouldn’t have to arrange a date for you with the lady of your dreams. You’d be doing it yourself.”
“Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“You pull another stunt like that, and your lovely wife will be without your services for the next year.”
His idiot brother laughed. “You can try, but I feel compelled to remind you that I’m a black belt and you’re not.”
“Which is why I’m going to kill you while you’re sleeping.” He eyed the door. “And the gang’s all here.” Hector Ramirez was one of the last to come in, and while most of the club made a beeline for the pool tables, Hector headed for the bar, choosing a stool next to the far wall.
“I’ll get him a beer,” Nate told Riker, their bartender. He poured a draft, then took his bottle of beer and the mug over to Hector. “Dude, you look like you could use a beer. This one’s on me.”
“Thanks, man.” Hector lifted the mug to his mouth, downing half the contents.
“Want to talk about it? I’m a good listener.”
“No.” He drained the rest of the glass.
Nate refilled Hector’s mug. “Heard you had a visit from the FBI about a girl you dated. She was murdered, huh?”
“How’d you hear that?”
“You know these club dudes gossip worse than a pack of twelve-year-old girls. I had a girlfriend who was murdered.” A lie, but who was counting? “We’d broken up, but for a long time I thought I should have done something to save her.”
“You ever stop thinking that?” Hector said, his gaze intent on Nate.
“Not really.” Nate shrugged. “But she should have been smarter about who she hung with.”
“Yeah. She should’ve been.”
“Are we talking about my ex-girlfriend or yours?” Nate said, fully aware they were talking about Hector’s.
