by Cee Bowerman
Bird
Texas Kings MC, Book 3
Cee Bowerman
Cover photography by:
Jessica Johnson Photography of Amarillo, TX
All characters and places in this book are fiction and are figments of the authors imagination. This ebook is for your own personal enjoyment, it may not be re-sold, given away or shared with other people. Please respect the work of the author and help to make sure that her work is shared in the right way.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear reader,
Thank you for your purchase of the next book in the Texas Kings MC series!
Book 1 – Kale
Book 2 – Sonny
Book 3 – Bird
Book 4 will be available in October 2019 on Amazon.
Texas Knights MC series – These books go hand in hand with the Texas Kings, as a matter of fact, Home Forever and Forever Family are where we get our first glimpse into the Forrester brothers and the Texas Kings MC.
Please make sure to like my author page on Amazon and on Facebook to get information on upcoming books and release dates. Also, please leave a review for this book on Amazon! Hopefully your review will help another reader decide if this is a story they would like to take a chance on.
I would love to hear from you personally. Look for me on Facebook, and like my page there to get updates on new releases, sneak previews of upcoming story lines and first looks at new cover art. Send me a message and get in touch with me if there’s something you want to read about, a topic you want me to touch on, or any other feedback you might have. I would love to hear from you, and I will do my best to get back in touch with you quickly.
As usual, all the best parts of the men in my books are taken from the man in my life. B, every day I don’t think it can get better, but a new day dawns and I realize I was wrong. Having my own long haired, bearded, tattooed man at home who loves me the way he does helps me write the books with happily ever after, since I already found mine with him.
Bird is the main guy in this book, and when I was trying to create a woman for him, I realized that the love of his life had to be strong, opinionated, funny, loyal and just downright awesome. All qualities that my very best friend, my own Summer, has. She’s a beautiful woman inside and out. She’s terrified of spiders, has a sarcastic mouth, loves with all her heart and soul, and is a true and loyal friend. Bird is lucky to have found his woman and I’m lucky to have her as my best friend.
**Special thanks go out to my girl tribe – Victoria, Jamie, Judi, Kim and Shannon. They listen to my ideas, help me keep on track, and best of all they aren’t afraid to tell me when I’m wrong. They are the perfect kind of women to have in my corner cheering me on.
***The cover art for this book was taken by Jessica Johnson Photography from Amarillo, Texas. She’s a talented photographer, and you can find her work on Facebook and Instagram. Like her page and let her know I sent you!
d1.
“If they were really trying to prepare high school kids for real life,
they’d have a class called Working With Assholes.”
Summer talking about her boss to Drea
SUMMER
“Well, good afternoon, beautiful.” I closed my eyes as I heard Dan’s voice behind me. As usual, he was standing too close to the back of my chair. I could almost feel his breath on my neck. I started counting backward from one hundred to help myself stay calm. “Any plans for this weekend?”
I took a deep breath and then pushed my chair back from my desk. One of the rollers got his foot, the back of my seat hit him right in the nuts. I’d been practicing that move for almost a year now. I’d perfected it. He still hadn’t learned.
“I do have plans.” I said as I grabbed a stack of papers from my desk. “Are you and your wife doing something special?”
I saw him grimace at the mention of his wife. I tried to sneak her into at least every other sentence I spoke to my boss, a reminder to him that he is married, and I’m not interested. Still, the man didn’t learn.
“She’s out of town with her sister for the weekend. I think I’m going to be working here at the office. I thought you might like to come in and help me out.” Dan reached over and touched his finger to my arm. “You and I could do so many good things together.”
“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response, Dan.” I stuffed the papers into my briefcase and then put the strap of it over my shoulder. I leaned down and opened the drawer to get my purse out of my desk and then snapped off the light underneath the shelf in my cubicle. “Have a good weekend.”
I turned on my heel and moved past him to walk down the little hallway between the cubicles. I heard him step off the carpet onto the tile, but he didn’t follow me. The asshole was probably watching my ass as I walked away from him. I didn’t even turn around to check, I just kept a quick pace to get to my friend’s desk. As I turned the corner, I saw her head rise over the cubicle wall and she smiled at me.
“Running from Dan?”
“Of course.”
“What an asshole.”
“He wants me to come in to work alone with him this weekend.”
“Um. No.”
“You got that right.” I shuddered. “He is so sweaty and gross. I really need to get that transfer.”
“I put the paperwork in this morning. Aaron is out of town until Tuesday, but I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”
“I’ve got to get out of that department, Drea. He’s going to do something stupid and I’m going to end up in prison for murder.”
“I’ll get you a lawyer. We’ll take a pool of money from all the women he’s creeped out here at the office. So many women will be grateful that you killed him, we’ll be able to get you Johnny Cochran or something.”
“I need to get out of here before he comes searching for me.” I adjusted the strap of my purse and my briefcase as Drea grabbed her things and joined me in the narrow hallway. “Do you want to go change or can we just go get a drink now?”
“Wow. He really got you all worked up, didn’t he? Let’s just go straight to the bar.”
I followed Drea out the large entryway and through the glass doors. As we walked outside, both of us gasped at the change in temperature. Going from an air-conditioned office to the heat outside was like walking into a wall of flames.
“July in Texas is not for pussies.” Drea reached up and pulled her hair off her neck. “It’s so freaking hot out here. Jesus.”
“I have two things I can’t live without. My air conditioner and my coffee maker.”
“Same. But I couldn’t live without my vibrator either.” Drea said as she walked to the passenger side of my car.
“True. Okay. So, three things then. AC, Coffee and my battery-operated buddy.”
Drea and I laughed as we got into the car. I started the engine, rolling my window down until the AC could cool the air inside the car.
“So, where are we headed?” I asked Drea as I waited for traffic to clear so I could pull out of the lot. “You’re the bar girl.”
“Head to Kings. I’m not really a bar girl. Although, I do go out a lot more than you do, but it’s to my friend’s bars.” Drea aimed the vent at her face and leaned toward the cold air when it finally started to blow. “What prompted you to come out with me tonight anyway?”
“I decided to quit moping and get back into life. John has been gone for almost three years, and I know he would be pissed to think that I’m still pining away.” I took a deep breath of the cool air. “The boys are at my Mom’s for the weekend. They all headed out of town to see my brother, Atlas. I’m going to jump into the deep end and pick up a man at the bar tonight to have wild, crazy, monkey sex.”
I looked over to see that Drea’s eyes were wide open, her mout
h gaping open in shock. “What?”
“You heard me. Tonight, you get to be my wing-man.”
“Holy shit.”
“If I get lucky, you’ll have to find a ride. You good with that?”
“Uh. Yeah.” Drea laughed. “I don’t think you’ll go through with it.”
“I probably won’t. I’m not exactly the type of woman that men want to sweep off their feet. They would probably hurt their back.”
“Do not start on that shit, Summer. You’ve got curves to die for.”
“I’ve got curves, thighs, huge boobs and a jiggly booty. Not sure they’re dying for all that.”
“Then you should pay more attention. Men flirt with you all the time; you just don’t realize that’s what they are doing.”
I pulled into the parking lot of Kings Bar to see that there were only a few cars outside. It was early in the evening on a Friday, so I was sure the crowd would come out a little later. I pulled my purse and briefcase out of the car and moved back to the trunk. Drea moved in beside me and dropped her things in the trunk as I got my credit card out of my wallet.
“Leave the card in there. You won’t buy drinks here.” I turned to look at Drea with one eyebrow up. “Seriously. My friends own this bar. I have an ongoing tab.”
I shrugged and put the card back in my wallet. If I needed it, I could always come outside and get it later.
I slammed the lid on the trunk and reached to adjust the neck of my shirt. I was wearing black stretchy leggings with a dark pink, flowing top that was long enough to modestly cover my more than ample ass.
“Did you see my shoes?” I asked Drea as I stuck one foot out.
“Those are hot!”
My newest pair of shoes were dark pink, four-inch, peep toe, platform heels with a sling back strap. I was obsessed with shoes and almost always wore a pair of heels and carried a matching purse, no matter the occasion. Considering my house was overrun with bugs, mud, smelly boys and dirty socks, my shoes and purses were the only feminine things left in my world.
“Keep in mind, wingman, whoever we find has to be a big guy. Short men don’t like me anyway but wearing heels I’m over six foot tall.” I started walking beside her to the front door of the bar. “Hook me up with one of those biker friends of yours. Bikers are all about a wild time, right?”
“Well, yeah, mostly.” She eyed me up and down as she held the door open for me. “I think Daughtry would eat you right up.”
“Let’s find Daughtry then!” Once the door closed behind us, I paused to give my eyes a second to adjust to the darker interior inside the bar. Drea passed me and headed to the bar. I walked slowly behind her as I looked around, taking in some of the details of the bar.
The interior was mostly dark, lit with neon bar signs here and there. There were lights on above the bar and I could see a woman and a man working behind it. They looked up and greeted Drea by name as she chose a seat.
A couple sat at a table over in the corner, and it looked like they were having a serious discussion. The woman was waving her hand back and forth, and then she pointed her finger in the man’s face. There was a group of women sitting at another table, their heads leaned toward each other as they were speaking.
Music was playing from the speakers next to the small dance floor. I smiled when I recognized the guitar magic and sexy voice of Stevie Ray Vaughn.
I moved to sit beside Drea and put my elbows up on the bar as I continued looking around. Drea introduced me to the bartender, Jefferson, and then asked him where ‘the brothers’ were.
He pointed up to a mirrored window that overlooked the bar, and Drea waved toward it. She made a motion with her hand, as if encouraging whoever was behind the glass to come down and join us. A light above the mirrored glass blinked green twice before it went off. Drea turned back toward me and smiled brightly.
“The brothers?”
“The Forrester brothers. Some of my friends. They own this bar and a few others in town. Also, a garage.”
“Oh.” I heard men’s voices over the low music and turned to see three gorgeous men walking from the doorway at the back of the bar. “Holy. Shit.”
Drea laughed beside me. “Put your tongue back in your mouth, horndog.”
“These are the brothers?” I couldn’t take my eyes off the men. “Oh, that one there. Good Lord. I want to lick his arm.”
Drea snorted, clearly not as impressed with the men as I was.
The one on the far left was tall and muscular. His brown hair was long, reaching past his collar. He had a full beard that was so long it almost covered the writing at the top of his t-shirt. He was looking to the man next to him with a big smile on his face. He said something and the handsome man beside him threw his head back with laughter.
The man in the middle, the one laughing, was darker than his brother. His hair was almost black, but it was cut short. He had a beard too, but it was closely cropped to his face. When he laughed, his mouth opened and I saw his straight, white teeth. He turned to look at the man to his left.
I moved my gaze back to the third man. The one at the far right of the three brothers. The one with the lickable arms. I felt my breath hitch as I tried to inhale, and I put my hand up to my chest. He. Was. Magnificent.
His long, black, wavy hair fell down both sides of his face. As I watched, he reached both hands up and pulled his hair back behind his head, pulling a band off his wrist with his teeth and twisting it around his hair to hold it back. His beard was full, but not nearly as long as the first brother’s I had noticed. Like his hair, his beard was almost black. I saw that he was the tallest of the three men, and the other two were by no means short.
He shook his head at something the man next to him said and I saw his full lips quirk into a half smile. He said something in return that had the other two laughing loudly.
“Fuck me.” I whispered, and Drea snorted out a laugh. “Please tell me that the one on the right is Daughtry.”
“Nope. Daughtry is on the left, Clem is in the middle and Bird is the man on the right.”
“Bird. Hmm. Jesus, he’s so… lickable.” I moaned and patted my hand on my chest. “I just...”
“Bird is a smart ass. Clem is hilarious. Daughtry is a big, furry teddy bear.” She patted my arm. “I’ll introduce you to Daughtry.”
The three men had made their way around the tables and came to stand behind us. Drea spun her chair around and hopped off it to greet her friends.
She put her arms around the man in the middle and he squeezed her tight as he picked her up off the ground.
“Summer, this is Clem.” Drea motioned to the man she was holding onto. The one with the short, black hair. “This is Daughtry.” She put her hand up on the other man’s chest. He was the one with the long brown hair and beard, the furry teddy bear. “And this is Bird.” She pointed at the dark-haired man as she rolled her eyes.
“Hello.” I was proud of myself. I sounded almost human.
All three of the men greeted me, but the dark haired one, Bird, stuck his hand out to shake mine. I put my hand in his and he gripped it firmly and held on for a second longer than was necessary as he looked into my eyes.
I noticed that his eyes were blue. Bright blue. They seemed to have a dark ring around the outer edges, and it looked like they were glowing in his tan skin. His eyelashes were so thick it looked almost as if he had on eyeliner. He had fine lines on the sides of his eyes; laugh lines, or lines from squinting in the sunlight. His eyebrows were black, and I noticed that one of them had a scar splitting it, making him look a little sinister.
I realized that he was studying my face the same way I had been studying his.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Summer. I’m Bird Forrester.” He was still holding my hand in his and added his other hand to the top of mine.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Bird. Drea has spoken about you before.”
“Don’t listen to her. She hates me because I broke her heart.” When he
smiled this time, I thought I saw something metal winking in his mouth.
I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t know that he and Drea had dated, and I was also very curious if he had a piercing in his tongue.
“It was a dance in junior high school. I took another girl and she’s been pissed at me ever since.” He smiled and the sides of his eyes crinkled a little bit and I had to bite back a sigh.
“Who did you ditch her for?”
“I have no idea. I don’t even remember the girl’s name, but I’ve been paying for it ever since.”
I heard Drea snort from behind me and I turned my head to look at her. She and the other two brothers were watching me and Bird, all three had big smiles on their faces.
