one of those taxis,” he says, nodding to the far right of the parking lot. “I can’t be fucked waiting for one of my men to come and get us.”
“Must be good to be king,” I tease, hiccupping. “Okay, I’m getting really hungry.”
“Me three,” Tia adds.
We get into a taxi and head for the diner, where Talon pays the taxi driver, then opens the door for us.
“I’m paying for the food, since you paid for the taxi,” I tell him.
He glances down at me with a scowl. “Don’t insult me, Bails.”
“See, gentlemen do exist,” Tia pipes up. “And they happen to wear leather. Who’d have thought?”
Talon chuckles and slides us a menu each as we sit down. “What are we having?”
“Anything with potato,” Tia says, scanning the menu. “Fries. Lots and lots of fries.”
“I’m getting a burger and fries,” I say, rubbing my eyes and not caring if my makeup goes everywhere. “Thanks for bringing us here, Talon.”
He smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners. “It’s no problem. I actually had a pretty fun night.” He pauses. “First time I enjoyed women’s company knowing I wouldn’t be going home with them.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Nice.”
He grins.
“Is my makeup all over my face?” Tia asks, looking at me.
“Yup,” I reply.
She looks at Talon. “Don’t judge me by what I look like right now.”
He rests his arms on the booth, studying us. “Yeah, you both look pretty different from how you looked at the start of the night.”
I roll up a napkin and throw it at him.
We order our food, stuff our faces, and then go home.
All in all, a pretty good night.
ELEVEN
THE banging on my front door makes my head pound. I force myself to lift my face off my pillow and open my eyes. Pushing myself up on my knees, I yawn and stretch.
More banging.
I see the blond hair on the pillow next to me and smile, poking Tia in the back.
“Someone’s at the door,” I groan.
She lifts her head. “What’s the time?”
I grab my phone off my side table and glance at the time. “Seven a.m.”
“Mom said she’ll bring the kids here at nine, after breakfast, so it isn’t her,” she says, scowling. “It better be a food delivery of some kind.”
“Yeah.” I roll my eyes. “Trust me, we’re not that lucky.”
Thump, thump, thump.
“For fuck’s sake,” Tia growls, getting off the bed and tightening her ice-blue robe around her. “Can’t a woman sleep off her hangover in peace? I’ll get it.”
“You’re the best,” I tell her, sinking back into the mattress and kind of feeling sorry for whoever was at the door.
I close my eyes and am about to go back to sleep when I hear her call my name.
“What?” I call back, eyes still shut.
My door opens, and suddenly the air in the room gets sucked out. I slowly open my eyes and then sit up when I see who is in my bedroom.
What the hell?
“Have a good night?” Rake growls, storming inside my room and starting to pace.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to tame my hair with my fingers. I probably look like utter shit right now. Do I still have makeup smudged all over my face?
Probably.
Great, just great.
“What the fuck are you thinking, hanging out with fuckin’ Talon and Slice? Do you want to fuck a biker so badly? Is that it?” he yells, his face going red, hands clenching. “You turning into a biker groupie? Do you know how fucking dangerous it is?”
Tia steps into the room then, looking like a fucking ice queen, before I can even answer.
“How dare you talk to her like that? You don’t even fucking know her at all, do you? And you have no say over what she does. Why don’t you just get out of her house until you learn some motherfucking manners?”
Yeah, only Tia would tell off a six-foot-something biker.
I stand up and make sure my boobs aren’t on show. “We went out; they were there. We had a couple of drinks, then we went home. I don’t know why I have to explain that to you, but there it is.”
They’re his friends after all, or whatever they are.
I look to Tia and give her a small smile. “Give me a second, honey.”
She nods, gives Rake the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen, then slams the door behind her. Rake stands in front of me, simmering in anger, but I’m not scared. He might be an ass, but I know this man’s soul, and