Crossroads (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series) - DD Prince Page 0,21
impact of many people around me realizing that I wasn’t just Prez’s daughter and their de facto kid sister. I was a woman.
Jenna stormed past me from out of the kitchen with a red face and Rider hot on her heels as I went through. He growled at me and I gave him an eyeroll. Ride was typically pretty easy going. Except for in a very few types of circumstances and one of those was when it came to me trying to get noticed.
Dad was already inside his office, arms folded across his chest when I stepped in.
“What I tell you about drawin’ attention to yourself here?”
“What?”
“You’re nineteen, Joelle; you know the rules. You can throw ‘em back at home or here after hours as much as you want. You wanna do it here durin’ business hours, you remember your age means you keep a low profile so that you don’t draw unnecessary attention and cost us our liquor license.”
“Daddy, I haven’t even had a sip.”
My dad cocked an eyebrow at me and then he lit a cigarette. He wasn’t technically supposed to smoke in the building, but he regularly lit up in his office. “So, then what was all that dancin’ about if it wasn’t booze?”
“Me ‘n Jenna were just havin’ a laugh.”
“You ‘n Jenna were getting a whole lot of attention actin’ like a double header act at a strip joint. Surprised you weren’t having singles thrown at the two of ya.”
“We both remained fully clothed,” I pointed out. “And we definitely deserved fives, not singles, Dad.”
He blew smoke out of both his mouth and his nose, looking like an angry bull.
“Shits me that my daughter looks like a supermodel on a regular basis. I worry ‘bout you. You’re here with the club and your family and you’re safe, but it’s not all family and club around us here, Joelle, and you don’t want to put a target on your back for some sick fuck to get fixated and---”
“Point taken, Dad.” I threw my arms around him and gave him a hug. “Can I go?”
He didn’t let go of me.
“Dad?”
“Make me feel better if you shave yer head and wear a burlap sack.” He gave me an affectionate squeeze and kissed the top of my head.
I laughed. “I’d still be a little hottie.”
“Yeah, you would. Fuck my life. Nunnery?”
I laughed some more. “Nope. Not a chance. I do love the lord but I’m gonna marry a mortal man someday Daddy, whether you like it or not.”
He made a grumbling sound, waving his hand toward the door to dismiss me and I didn’t waste a moment getting back out there.
As I dashed back out and moved through the doors, I saw those baby blues on me. Christian was playing pool with Brady, but his eyes must’ve been on the swinging kitchen door waiting for me to come back through it. This was immensely satisfying to me. His eyes stayed on me and then didn’t move away. I smiled and pulled a lock of hair out of my mouth and kept my eyes on him and him alone as I moved through the dancing crowd back to the booth where the girls were.
Okay, so that might’ve been a bit dangerous as I had just let anyone else who watched me know who my eyes were on and, maybe even also who that little dancing show was for.
There were two drinks sitting in front of my spot beside Andie as well as two shooters.
“Drink up!” she ordered. “I guarded your drinks. Well, I drank one, but you still have two. Plus those shooters.” She smiled.
“Andie! Over your two-drink limit already?” I acted fake-shocked. She wouldn’t get drunk in a bar, only if she was at home. She told me bad things happened to girls who drank at bars without having someone watch their back or their drink. She swore me to secrecy and didn’t get into a lot of detail but told me she’d been roofied and had been assaulted a few years ago. She didn’t want to talk about it, and I respected that, but since then, she was uber-careful.
“Guess I’m feelin’ safe tonight.” She shrugged.
“You are safe,” I assured and bumped her shoulder with mine.
Brady was suddenly there, a glass of whiskey in his hand and Christian was behind him with a beer. They set their drinks on our table and then pulled another table to the end of the table that had already been added to our booth.