“I must have that effect on people,” I reply in a dry tone, still staring at his back. I don’t know what’s up with him, but his energy is all over the place, and he clearly has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to me. I know I only have to put up with him at work, and he’s not terrible to be around, but he just leaves me feeling a little...off-kilter.

   And I don’t like it.

   “He’s a good-looking man,” she continues, sitting down on the edge of the wooden desk and crossing her legs. “You’d be surprised how many times women come in here pretending they are looking at motorcycles to try to get his or one of the other men’s attention. It’s sad, really.”

   I don’t want to ask her the next question, but my curiosity wins out. “The two of you have never...”

   “Me and Crow?” she asks, eyes going wide as she shakes her head. “No. He’s like a brother to me. He took a huge chance on me, giving me this job, and I’ll never forget that. There aren’t many places that want to hire someone who has done time, let alone a woman in a place like this, but the Knights don’t judge.”

   Wait, what?

   Cameron has been to prison?

   She leans down closer and adds, “It’s too bad I have zero attraction to him. He’s hot. Tall, too. Far over six feet, none of that ‘five-eleven, almost six foot in shoes’ bullshit I get when I’m online dating.”

   I burst out laughing, earning a dirty look from the man in question. “Shame he’s an asshole.”

   “The hot ones usually are,” she murmurs. I want to ask her about the prison thing, but I figure if she wants me to know, she will tell me.

   Abbie drops in on her lunch break with her fiancé, Temper. I’m not going to lie, the man looks a little scary with his huge build and dark eyes, but he shakes my hand and welcomes me to the Fast & Fury family.

   “Abbie has been talking about you nonstop,” he adds, glancing down at her lovingly. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

   “It’s nice to meet you too.”

   “I have to head out back to do a few things before we leave, so if you both will excuse me.”

   “Okay,” Abbie says, turning to me with a big smile on her face. “How’s it been? I wanted to text you and realized I didn’t have your number, so I thought I’d drop in and get it.” She holds out her phone and types in the numbers as I say them.

   “It’s been really good,” I say, eyes darting to Crow to see what he’s up to. He’s currently talking to a customer. “Everyone has been really welcoming.”

   Besides Crow, of course.

   “That’s good to hear. I thought they would be. I know not many work here, but I don’t think you could find a better crew of people.”

   “So far so good,” I agree with her.

   “So I was thinking, if you don’t have any plans this weekend, do you want to do something? My friends are dying to meet you, and Skylar of course wants to see you. I’d love to spend some time together,” she says, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

   “That sounds really nice,” I reply.

   How could I not when she is so genuine? I don’t think many people could say no to the woman in front of me.

   “Perfect.” She grins.

   Crow wanders over and casually wraps his arm around her. “What happened to you last night?”

   “I had to finish my assignment,” she explains, crossing her arms over her chest. “So I locked myself away until it was over. Pretty hard considering how loud you all are.”

   Do they all live together? The two of them are obviously very comfortable with each other, something I can tell from their body language. Abbie must be close friends with most of the members in the MC, especially considering Temper is the president. Does that make her a queen of the MC of sorts?

   “We tried to keep it down,” he says, removing his arm and fondly nudging her. “Until Saint started pouring shots. It all went downhill from there.”

   “I don’t know how you can function the next morning.” Abbie smirks, rolling her eyes. “I’d be suffering in bed with a hangover, yet all of you were up earlier than me and ready to start the day.”

   “Our bodies have adapted,” he jokes, turning to me as if only just remembering that I’m standing here. “What about you, Bronte? You much of a drinker?”

   I shake my head. “No, not really.” Which is the truth.

   “What’s your vice then?” he presses, studying me. I don’t miss the look Abbie gives him. It clearly says leave her alone but he simply ignores her.

   “What’s yours?” I fire back, arching my brow. “Just drinking? Or do you have more than one?”

   I bet women is one of them. Lots of them.

   “I’m the one asking the questions here,” he states, crossing his arms and narrowing his blue eyes.

   “Crow,” Abbie interrupts, scowling at him. “She doesn’t have to tell you shit about her personal life. Maybe if you want to know more about her, you should have a normal conversation with her instead of all this weird posturing that’s going on.”

   “I’m not allowed to make conversation?” he asks, her comment now the big elephant in the room. “I’m just trying to get to know our new employee.”

   Abbie’s about to reply when I decide to answer his damn question, just to prove that he doesn’t intimidate me.

   Not one bit.

   “I think shopping is probably my vice,” I reply, shrugging. “Even that I’m always in control of, but I do enjoy it a little too much. But as long as I’m paying for it and maintaining myself, I don’t think it’s a problem. Alcohol, drugs and smoking don’t appeal to me, but I’m not judging people who do what they have to do to fight their demons.”

   I don’t know how the hell this talk turned deep, but here we are.

   “Anyway, I better get back to work. Abbie, text me the details and I’ll see you on the weekend,” I say, smiling warmly, ignoring Crow and leaving my desk to see what Cameron is up to. The guy makes me want to leave my own damn workspace.

   Gritting my teeth, I vow to myself: I’m not going to let a man that goes by the name of a damn bird get one over on me.

Chapter Four

   “Holy shit, you designed this?” I ask Cameron, eying the motorcycle that now looks like a piece of artwork. Red flames come off the matte black in a 3D effect, fading into orange and yellow.

   “I did the design, the artwork, everything.” She beams, circling the bike and admiring it. “Dee, one of the Knights, gave me free rein to do whatever I wanted. I think he’s going to love it.”