She gave him her own sultriest smile then and watched his pupils expand. She tipped the bottle to her mouth and swallowed, icy cold beer tracing a path from mouth over her tongue and down her esophagus. Maybe she wasn’t the only one affected. Interesting.
“Hey, Tommy.” Vince approached them and gave Ryan a slap on the shoulder. “What’s up, man?”
“Not much. Hey, you remember Sara?”
Vince eyed her and Sera smiled. “Hi, Vince.”
“Hey, Sara.” His eyes moved between them and he smiled then winked at Ryan. “Good work, man.” He tilted his chin toward the back of the bar. “Carly’s back there, she’ll be happy to see you again.”
Sera wondered if that was her clue to send her off, but Ryan pulled her against him and wrapped his arm around her. “You can go talk to her in a few minutes,” he said.
Vince grinned. “Uh-huh.”
“Hey, thanks again for saving my ass the other night,” Ryan said to Vince. “I owe you big time for that. Chomp would’ve killed me.”
Vince rolled his eyes. “He was fuckin’ hammered. Nice guy, but turns into a mean drunk. Good thing you’ve got your own babe tonight.”
“He here?”
“Not yet.” Vince slugged back some beer. “Probably later. So I guess you don’t want to meet my cousin Maria, huh?”
Sera frowned and gave Ryan an evil look. He grinned, squeezed her waist. “Nah. Thanks anyway.”
“You coming to El Mirage this weekend?” Vince was looking at her. She looked inquiringly at Ryan.
“I don’t know,” she said flirtatiously. “Am I, Tommy?”
He scowled. “Don’t push me, babe. I said we’ll see.” He looked at Vince and shrugged.
“Bring her,” Vince urged. “It’ll be fun.”
“Maybe.”
Sera pouted, but sipped her beer.
“Let’s go talk to A.J.,” Ryan said and pulled her along. Vince followed them down the length of the bar to a table in the back near the pool table, where A.J. sat with a group of guys.
They took up so much space, all of them big, in black leather. And there was Manny, just as big, bald headed and mean looking. Sera ignored him.
As they pulled chairs up to the table, the men all gave Sera a good looking over. She ignored them too, as she took her seat. Ryan sat close to her and leaned in. “You have just been eye-fucked, sweetheart,” he murmured. “How was it?”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “I’ve had better.” She tossed her hair back.
“You got nice tits, honey!” one of the guys called to her across the table.
Sera sent a look his way that she hoped was sufficiently badass and said, “Thanks. So do you. Only, yours are bigger.”
The guy looked down at his chest and she saw Ryan roll his lips in to keep from laughing, because it was true. The guy’s beer belly was only marginally bigger than his man boobs. Everyone at the table hooted with laughter.
“She put you in your place, asshole,” Vince said with a snicker. “I like this girl.”
She and Ryan shared a grin and she thought she saw a flicker of admiration on his face.
She mostly sat and listened as Ryan talked to the guys, sipping her beer. She waved at Carly at the next table when they made eye contact. After a while she said to Ryan, “I’m going to talk to Carly.” She paused a beat then added, “Okay?”
“Okay.”
She pushed back her chair and strolled over to where Carly sat.
“Did you come with Tommy?” Carly leaned over, eyes wide and eager.
“Yeah.”
“He’s so damn hot.” Carly sighed then glanced around. “Oops. Gotta watch what I say around Vince. He’d be pissed if he heard me say that.”
“He didn’t hear,” Sera assured her.
“Is this the first time you’ve been out with him?”
“Second. We went out last night. I gave him my number the other night.”
“I thought you two looked like you were interested!”
Sera smiled smugly. “Yeah. I like him.”
“Cool. So maybe next weekend you’ll come to El Mirage?”
“Is that all anyone ever talks about around here?” Sera pouted. “Tommy’s not sure if he wants me to go, but the more I hear about it, the more I want to.”
She snickered evilly inside. She’d force his hand and give him no choice in the matter. Ha!
“It’s so much fun! We just party all weekend, lots of booze and dope and smack? You’d love it. People come from all over for this trip?”
Carly ended every sentence as if it was a question, which made Sera want to roll her eyes with irritation. “Big party, huh?” she said.
They talked on, Sera wondering how she steered the conversation in the direction she needed it to go. Ryan had told her they were interested in any details about some motorcycles that had been stolen from a bar a week or so ago. Apparently some DAs had been drinking there, and when they came out they saw four chromed-up Harleys that they decided to take. The DAs weren’t known for stealing bikes, but this seemed to be their doing, and Ryan, being in the parts business, wondered when the broken-down bike parts were going to make it to the market. But much as Sera liked bikes, she had a hard time getting the conversation to go that way.
Instead she got an earful about Zocco’s drug business and how he had this fantastic new drug that helped you lose weight.
“Not that you need to,” Carly said, looking enviously at Sera’s slim body.
“I’d like to lose a few pounds,” Sera lied. God, she’d be a stick if she did, but Carly accepted that statement. “Where does he get it from?”
“He gets it from a guy in Oakland.” Carly put her finger to her chin. “He’s a DA too.”
Too easy.
“Really.” Sera nodded. “I’d like to try it.”
“Let’s go find him.”
Ryan could almost tell time by how drunk and stoned everyone was. He could handle quite a few beers himself, being a big guy, but he’d gotten really good at making it look like he drank more than he really did.
Everyone got louder and sloppier and clumsier, beers spilling, tempers flaring. A fight broke out up front, but was quickly split up by the bouncer. Ryan met up with Sera again, stood in front of her, pelvis to pelvis, looking down at her. She was probably a bit over average height for a woman, and her posture and strength made her appear taller, but he had a good six inches on her, and four-inch heels brought the top of her head only up to his eye level. He curved his hands around her hips, pulled her body into his. “How’s it going?”
“Good.”
She pressed herself against him, sliding her palms up his chest. Damn, that felt good. She tipped her head back and shook her long hair down her back. He wanted to tangle his hands in that hair. Hell, why not?
He wrapped the silky strands around his hands and tugged. Her pupils exploded, darkening her eyes, and her lips parted as she gazed up at him. The scent of her hair drifted to him, fruity like strawberries or something faintly tropical, startlingly fresh in the stale air of the bar.
“We can talk more later,” he murmured. She nodded, eyes fastened on his. He lowered his head, inhaled that sweet scent. Their faces almost touched and he watched her eyes study him, eyelids heavy. Then she took a step back.
Which was just as well. He had to maintain his awareness of what was going on around them. Their eyes met and held as he communicated a wordless message to her. I want you. Now. She licked her bottom lip. Jesus. His cock thickened, heat sliding up from his groin all the way to his face, and all the way down to his toes. He swallowed through a tight throat.
Her throat moved too, and then her gaze tore away from his and she dragged trembling fingers across her mouth. She was just as affected as he was.
Shit. He had to get a grip, here. This was just an act. He was not really attracted to her. No fucking way. He pushed down the heat and aching need ruthlessly, but tried to keep the expression on his face
the same–hot, interested, aroused. It was all an act.
She stared back at him, and those long lashes framed her eyes like starbursts. She was so confident, so in control, so composed, but at that moment, he could almost believe he had her befuddled with sexual longing and heated arousal. But she was just acting too. And doing a helluva job at it.
He had a job to do, and he was going to do it. And he was going to do it right this time. No emotional involvement. He could take advantage of the sexual heat simmering between them and use it, and that would be it.
It was just a job.
His gaze lowered to her mouth. Her lush, pillowy bottom lip parted slightly from the bow of her upper lip, the corners tilted up a bit even when she wasn’t smiling, giving her an appealing, sexy look. He lowered his face closer, watched her eyelashes drift down, her lips quiver. He felt her sigh of breath against his own mouth, and his lips parted, brushed over hers. The sweet fruity scent of her surrounded him and he felt the warmth that shimmered off her body.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered, not sure why he felt he had to give her the warning. It just seemed the thing to do. Given that this was work.
Chapter Six
When his mouth covered hers, gently, slowly opening over hers, Sera slid her hands down his arms to his biceps and held on. Her stomach muscles quivered beneath his thumbs and her mouth opened for him and moved against his, warm and wet and delicious. He drew back, his tongue sliding across her bottom lip. Their eyes met. And held.
Pale blue zircons sparkled back at him. “Wow,” she said.
“Mmm.” And he dipped in for another kiss, this time pulling her up against his body. Her slim, strong shape molded into him, soft breasts pressed into his chest. Heat sizzled over him.
“Nice,” he finally murmured against her lips. “Very nice.” He brushed his mouth over hers once, twice, then took a step back.
She nodded, looking bemused. He wanted to shove her up against a wall, yank her clothes down and fuck her hard, and the intensity of his desire for her shocked him.
He swallowed hard, fought for a grip on his emotions. This was crazy. A kiss, just for show, so everyone would know she was his. He hadn’t planned to get himself heated up to the point of volcanic explosion. His cock throbbed painfully behind the zipper of his jeans and heat cascaded through his body in scorching waves.
Loud cheering and hooting drew him back, drenched his arousal with cold reality. He blinked then grinned. “We’re putting on quite a show.”
“Mmm. We sure are.” She laid her palm on his cheek, brushed her mouth across his one more time, then turned to the bar. “Two more beers over here!”
He had to give her credit. She’d thrown herself into that in a very convincing manner, yet seemed to have maintained her wits. He, on the other hand, was breathing hard, throbbing behind the fly of his jeans. Physiological reaction. He couldn’t help it. And hell, it just made the situation that much more believable.
He took the beer, tossed another bill onto the bar and turned back to the room, arm wrapped around Sera. She snuggled in against him. Hell, this was a lot more fun than the other nights he’d been here!
They meandered over to Vince and Carly and were talking to them when voices behind him rose and he heard some shouts. They all turned to see what was going on.
Jesus Christ. It was Zocco, high on god knew what yet again, and he’d pulled a knife on some guy Ryan didn’t recognize. “I want my fuckin’ money!”
Drug deal gone bad.
“I told you I’d kill you if you didn’t pay up tonight!” Zocco raised his hand to the guy’s throat.
Ah hell. A string of curses ran through Ryan’s head. He couldn’t let Zocco kill someone. He had to stop him, but how? If he interfered, he was interfering with biker law. This was how they settled disputes. He started forward, but Sera put a hand on his forearm. He paused, looked down at her. She gave him an intense look but he couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell him. Was she trying to stop him? But she had to know that as federal agents they couldn’t stand by and let someone be killed. Even if it meant the end of the whole operation.
He shook her hand off and started forward again, but he was too damn late. Zocco’s blade had sliced the guy’s neck and blood spurted. Female screams and the bang of chairs hitting the floor filled his ears, everyone else trying to get away. Ryan grabbed Zocco’s arm and wrestled with him. “Stop, Zocco! Are you crazy? All these witnesses, you’re gonna end up in the slammer for sure. Stop!”
Zocco was so drunk it wasn’t that hard to disarm him and the knife dropped to the floor. So did the man he’d just attacked, clutching his neck, gasping, blood seeping between his fingers. Sera rushed to the guy and knelt at his side. Ryan wanted to yell at her–no, stop! Be careful! Human blood. Jesus, she had no protection, what the hell did she think she was going to do?
Zocco was fighting with him maniacally, and Ryan struggled to hold him back. “Look, Zocco, he’s still alive, it’ll be okay, just settle down.”
Ryan desperately fought Zocco so he could turn around to make sure Sera was okay. Fuck, a little help here! Where was everyone else? They were just going to let Zocco do the guy in.
Finally Ryan landed a punch to Zocco’s jaw that dazed him, and he slammed Zocco down into a bar chair. “Stay there!” he snarled, and he turned back to Sera. She’d grabbed a bar towel and had pressed it to the guy’s throat, staunching the blood.
“Sara…”
“It’s okay.” She looked up at him, smiled reassuringly. “He’s going to be okay, it’s not as bad as it looked.” She turned back to the man. “You still gotta go to the hospital, though. You might need stitches.”
“Shit,” he muttered. “Hurts like a son of a bitch.”
“It’s not as bad as it looked,” she assured him, taking his arm to help him sit. “Here you hold the towel. Press hard. Think you can stand up?”
Ryan moved around to take his other arm, and together they helped him up. “Get the hell out of here,” Ryan muttered to him. “If you’re okay, get out, now.”
The guy didn’t need to be urged twice and he disappeared through the crowd and out the door.
Ryan stared at Sera as she brushed her hands together. “Well, aren’t you just little Miss Florence Nightingale.”
Ryan followed Sera into her room at the Palms Motel and shoved the door shut behind him. She turned to face him.
“You took a big risk back there tonight,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.
“What are you talking about?” She stared him down, although she looked a tad pale. Actually, very pale. “The guy had a little cut, I grabbed a towel, stopped the bleeding.”
“You can’t expose yourself to bodily fluids like that,” he bit out.
“I didn’t touch any blood. I used the towel. And since we’re yelling at each other,” she continued, hands on hips, “what the hell was with all the manhandling back there?”
“Manhandling?” His mouth dropped open. “Manhandling? We were supposed to be acting hot for each other. That’s what that was all about. And besides…” He tilted his chin. “It seemed as if you liked it, babe.”
“Don’t call me babe,” she snapped. “And I didn’t like it. I was acting. I had no choice. Next time, tone it down a bit.”
They faced each other. Ryan’s hands clenched into fists at his side and he fought to control his breathing. There was no fucking way she had faked the way her pupils dilated, the way her nipples had gotten hard. He watched her breasts now, watched them rise and fall quickly as she stood there, every muscle in her hot, little body as tight as his. Blood surged in his veins and heat cascaded over his body. Jesus Christ. She was going to drive him insane. He was going to kill her.
“There was blood,” he said, not sure why he’d gone back to that topic. “You had no protection. Are you crazy?”
“What was I supposed to do? Let the guy bleed out? Ask for gloves? I don’t have any open cuts or sor
es on my hands. I’m fine.”
“You’ll be filling out forms and reports for the next week,” he continued savagely.
“I don’t care.” She looked bewildered. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Whatever.”
They stood there, eyes locked, breathing heavily. Tone it down. Yeah. Sure. He wanted to turn her over his knee and tone her down with a few smacks to her cute little ass.
“Are you worried about me?” she taunted.
“Hell no.” He clenched his jaw, forced the words out between tight teeth. “You want to risk your life, go ahead. Just don’t risk mine.”
“How was I doing that, exactly? You were the one stepping into the middle of a fight like some big hero.”
“We can’t let people kill each other,” he said, jaw tight. “Even if they are criminals. Was I supposed to stand there and watch a guy get murdered?”
“He probably wasn’t going to get killed.”
Ryan could only shake his head. “Yes. He was.” Incredulity sharpened his tone. “Those guys don’t mess around. Zocco was high on something and pissed as hell. That guy owed him money. He had nothing to lose.”
“Except going to prison.”
“You think he was thinking of that? That’s what I was trying to tell him. He wasn’t exactly in a rational frame of mind.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay. Fine. You saved the day.” She massaged her forehead with her fingertips, a frown creasing the skin between her brows.
Jesus, she was even paler now. Concern tugged on his eyebrows. “Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m okay,” she snapped. “I have a little headache, that’s all.”
“You look pale. You’re probably running on adrenaline after that.”
“I’m fine.” She squeezed the words out between clenched teeth. “Are we done? I’m tired and I need some Tylenol.”
“Yeah. We’re done.”
He yanked open the motel door and would have slammed it behind him except it was on some spring mechanism and it just bounced open again. Shit. He stomped over to his Harley and, with a rattling roar of the engine, he headed back to the house he and Manny were renting.
Hot Ride Page 5
