His Loyal Rebel - Debra Kayn Page 0,40

were going out with that one rough-looking dude. This one is hot."

She slipped her order pad into the pocket of her apron. Whip was off-topic and someone she wanted to keep to herself. The fewer people who knew about them, the better— since it seemed as if being around him brought all kinds of trouble.

"So...like did you cheat on him with his friend?"

"What?" She gawked. "No. He's someone from a totally different motorcycle club."

"I'm sorry. That was rude." Brandy grinned impishly. "What do you do, go around to each club, looking for boyfriends?"

Wounded by the comment, Twyla pressed her lips together. It wasn't that way. She hadn't looked for a boyfriend or set out to meet Whip. He'd approached her.

"Hey, I'm only teasing. Don't take anything I say seriously. I'm the one without a boyfriend and have no room to talk." Brandy shrugged. "Your guy is sexy. Like, seriously, hunky. Does he have a friend?"

She opened her mouth and couldn't find the answer. There were a lot of Tarkio members, but there were danger and secrets and a lot of things a normal woman wouldn't find appealing.

"Not really," she mumbled.

Whip's so-called friends were more like brothers. They were family to him.

Not having good relationships with her mom, dad, and sister, she envied the closeness and affection she witnessed at the clubhouse between the men and even the women.

Heaviness settled in her chest. She turned away from the window. "I need to use the restroom. Will you cover for me?"

"Sure. It's almost time for your break, anyway. Go ahead and take your time." Brandy caught her arm before she could escape. "I'm sorry. I was being funny about your boyfriend and didn't mean to hurt your—"

"You didn't. I'm fine." She managed a smile, wanting the conversation to end.

Absconding to the back of the restaurant, she dived into the bathroom and shut the door. Because of the way Whip made her feel, she'd ignored a lot of the reasons why she was made to stay at the clubhouse.

She'd easily believed Whip about the danger to her because she'd seen Big's dominating personality herself. But, they were bikers. Personality-wise, Whip and Big was different. But they both worked for their respective club.

For the last couple of weeks, she'd accepted staying at the clubhouse because she had nowhere else to go, and Whip wouldn't let her go look for a place to rent on her own. Leaving the bathroom, she went into the breakroom and got her purse out of the locker.

Pulling out the piece of paper with Ringtail's phone number, she sat down by the phone in the corner of the room and called her sister. Something was bugging her, and she had no one she could ask but Angie.

Hating to make the call, but knowing she wouldn't relax until she found out, she held the receiver to her ear and listened to the rings.

"Yeah?" answered Ringtail.

"Can I talk to Angie?" she asked, clearing her throat.

He paused. "Yeah, hang on."

She tapped her foot. Every time she turned around, she made the wrong decision and got herself deeper in a bind. She hoped asking her sister for help wasn't another one.

"Hello?"

"It's Twyla."

"What do you want?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply before staring at the wall. "Is Ringtail listening?"

Her sister's silence gave her the answer she needed. Twyla lowered her voice. "Can you take the phone somewhere we can talk in private?"

"Just a sec," said her sister.

She waited because there was nothing else she could do. The last thing she wanted was Ringtail running to Whip and telling him she'd called Angie and was asking questions.

"Okay, I'm in the kitchen. That's as far as the cord stretches," whispered Angie.

"Something is wrong. I should've realized this sooner, but I was caught up in...Whip."

"What is it?"

She rubbed her lips together. "Did you really lose the rental house? Is that why I couldn't stay there?"

"Ringtail told me not to pay the rent. You were supposed to."

"But, I didn't get a chance to pay." Her head pounded. "Whip told me the landlord's a jerk and wouldn't rent it to me because my name wasn't on the agreement."

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I paid the rent for the month."

"I'm not trying to do anything." Her voice raised, and she ducked her head. "What I'm trying to say is Whip moved me into the clubhouse because I had nowhere else to go. It was supposed to be temporary, but ever since, he's stopped me from