Page 148 of Fury

I took in the high beamed ceiling of the old church. I didn’t believe much in God. I’d never even been inside a church before this. There was never much talk about Him when I was growing up, or any reference except for the tiny gold cross my grandma wore around her neck and never took it off. Sometimes I caught her murmuring to herself, hands clasped together and I’d watch her in these peculiar, intimate moments. I never asked, and she never shared, but I knew it was special to her, meaningful.

At the front of the church, Grace and Lock exchanged vows and rings under the guidance of a pastor. All their friends and family leaned forward, listening, participating in the ritual. Simple, beautiful. A stop in the daily grind of life to be thankful, and to mark that thanks forever with a blessing.

There was a strange harmony at work in the world to have gotten me here to this very place with these people.

I clasped my hands together like Grandma used to do. “Thank you,” I whispered. I scanned the crowd. I had braced myself for seeing Tania at the wedding, but she wasn’t here. I’d been looking forward to it, actually. I missed her. I missed Beck, I missed—

My gaze caught on a pair of velvety brown eyes that smiled at me.

Tricky.

I returned his smile.

Tricky was a One-Eyed Jack who worked with Lock at the club’s car and bike repair shop. He had a thick mass of dark hair which usually fell in his brown eyes, giving him a sultry, but innocent look. I squirmed on the pew. He was maybe fifteen years my junior which put him in his late twenties. Whenever we saw each other, our exchanges usually segued into flirting.

After the ceremony, the celebration continued at Dead Ringer’s Roadhouse, a historic and favorite biker haunt off the highway in between Rapid and Meager. Once she arrived, Grace immediately tossed her high-heeled sandals at me, Dee, and Alicia, and gleefully slid on her new western boots Dee had ready for her in a shopping bag. Grace jumped to her feet with a loud, exultant “Yes!” Lock came behind her and swept her up in his arms, kissing her hard as he took her over to the huge dance floor. We whistled, clapped and hooted as they took their first dance as husband and wife.

We drank, we danced, sang along to old and new hits. I met Grace’s dad and her brother-in-law, Alex. I explained a couple of my tattoos along the insides of my fingers to her adorable nephew, Jake.

“Hey, Lenore.”

I swiveled around in my seat. “Hey, Tricky.”

Up close, Tricky inspired a little flutter in my tummy. Along with his toned body, he had a weary swagger to his step which gave his cute features a harder edge. He wiped his hair back as he settled into the chair next to mine. A white scar gleamed on his forehead, a scar from a knife fight when he was a prospect from what Mary Lynn had mentioned to me. Cute met sexy on a ledge.

“You having fun?” he asked.

“I’m having a great time. You?”

“Me too. You look fantastic, by the way.” His gaze trailed down my body.

“Thank you.” I crossed my legs, revealing them in the long split up my midnight blue dress that had a halter top along with a tiny silver shrug.

His finger traced over the skin of my shoulder, revealed by the thin cashmere shrug that had fallen back. I held his molten gaze.

“Aren’t you warm?” he asked.

“Getting there.”

“Oh yeah?”

I giggled. “Yeah.”

He leaned in closer to me, his lips tipping up into a grin, inches from my own. “How about I help get you there?”

It had been a while since I’d kissed a man, been touched, had sex. I would indulge in the odd one night stand here or there, when the mood struck, when I’d meet someone I was attracted to. But that was that, and I preferred it that way. Uncomplicated. Live it, then keep moving on. Leave nothing behind.

After my divorce I was mentally exhausted, and I’d decided to not get emotionally involved again. I didn’t have anything to give anyhow. Ask Eric. It was just as well. My heart was a particular bitch. I couldn’t kid myself about that.

Tricky’s coffee brown eyes gleamed at me, not in a predatory way, though. Eager. Anticipating.

“I bet you would,” I replied, my fingertips tracing his jawline.

He kissed me, and I kissed him back. Tequila and beer flavored my tongue from the warm, slick slide of his. Arousal pitched inside me.

His hand went down my side, curving gently over my lower back, heating my flesh through the thin material of my dress. “Dance with me,” he whispered against my ear, and a shiver shimmied over my skin.

I rose from my chair, and taking his hand in mine, led him to the dance floor. We stayed close for the rest of the evening. Hours later, he took me home, and like overheated teenagers, we made out in his Jeep the second he’d parked in my driveway.

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