Texas Pride. Gerry Bartlett

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СКАЧАТЬ rode the roller coaster twice before she finally took pity on him. The bungee jump? Well, there was no way she was going to fall for that, she told him. Ha ha. Anyway, she was having fun. It impressed her that Billy had gone to so much trouble to get to know her, to please her. By the time he slung his arm around her and walked her toward the parking lot and that ridiculously loud motorcycle, she had to admit she was forgiving him for the booze ban. Then he stopped in his tracks and put her behind him.

      “Stay here.”

      “What is it?” She looked around him. There was a cluster of motorcycles parked next to theirs now and men, big men, standing next to them. A couple of women too.

      “Trouble.” Billy turned to her. “Maybe you should duck into one of those restaurants, wait for me there.”

      “Are you kidding? I’m not leaving you to face whatever this is alone. Come on.” She grabbed his hand. “I can call the police for you if nothing else.” She pulled her cell out of her cross-body bag.

      “That’s a last resort. Keep the phone out of sight. Let me do the talking.” He frowned. “Hey, you can go to the bar in the restaurant, have a drink.”

      “Damn, you’re really desperate to get rid of me.” Shannon kissed his frown. “Maybe I should go ahead and hit 911.”

      “No.” He tucked her against his side. “Just follow my lead.” He grabbed her hand and stalked over to the motorcycle.

      “This is Slash’s bike. Who the hell are you?” A huge man with a denim vest and sleeves of tattoos stepped forward from the group.

      “I’m Billy Pagan, a friend of Slash. He loaned me his bike for the night. What business is it of yours?” Billy let go of Shannon’s hand and put her behind him again. He seemed to swell before her eyes, becoming bigger, mean.

      “You sure you didn’t steal it? I never heard of him loanin’ his bike before.” The man looked it over, then raked Billy with a contemptuous gaze.

      “You’re welcome to call him. Far as I know, he has no beef with the Skeleton Cruisers. So why are you looking into his business?” Billy didn’t seem worried that he was outnumbered four to one.

      Shannon jumped when the two women with the group sidled over to inspect her. One had on the tightest jeans she’d ever seen and a tube top that was overflowing with breasts with a firm up-thrust that couldn’t be natural. Her dark skin was flawless and she had braids woven with colorful beads. She was beautiful. The other woman obviously was as fond of the tattoo parlor as the man talking to Billy. Her T-shirt advertised a popular motorcycle rally in Utah. The shirt was about two sizes too small and straining to contain her double Ds.

      “Those are the ugliest fucking shoes I’ve ever seen,” T-shirt woman said. “Where’s your pride?”

      “I worked all day in Prada heels. My feet fucking hurt.” Shannon whirled, ready to start something.

      “Give her a break, Goldie.” Tube Top pushed her friend back. “Waitress? I feel your pain, sister.” She looked down at her own feet. “Get you some gel insoles, girl. Makes all the difference.” She grinned. “But men do like those high heels.”

      “We’d better shut up, Stan’s staring a hole in us.” Goldie, whose hair was a rather startling shade of gold-blonde, waved them quiet.

      “So what do you want?” Billy was getting to the point.

      “Tell Slash that one of his crew, the guy who rides that vintage flat head, owes money. He’s been playing poker in our clubs and losing. He needs to clean up his debts or collection’s going to get ugly.” The man put his fist on the handlebar of the bike Billy had borrowed then shoved it over until it hit the ground. “Do I make myself clear?”

      “What the fuck, man!” Billy moved toward the jerk, fists raised.

      “Don’t even try it.” The big guy’s pals grabbed Billy’s arms. “Now pass on that message.”

      “Messing with Slash’s bike was a mistake. This sounds like someone else’s problem.” Billy strained against the men holding him.

      Shannon gasped and moved toward Billy or tried to, but Goldie and Tube Top suddenly grabbed her arms, holding her still.

      “Slash knows how the clubs work. He needs to keep his men in line.” The man rested his boot on the fallen bike, pressing down hard on the tailpipe. “You’re on our turf. Next time, watch where you ride alone.”

      “Watch it yourself, you dumb fuck. You trying to start a war?” Billy glanced back at Shannon. “I’ll pass on your message. Tell your women to leave mine alone.”

      The leader laughed. “But it would be fun to watch a cat fight.”

      Shannon stomped Goldie’s foot and sent an elbow into Tube Top’s soft stomach. They hadn’t been expecting it and she got free. “Billy!” She ran to him. “Let him go! I called 911 when we saw you waiting, assholes.”

      “Shannon, get back.” Billy shot her a warning look. “The Cruisers were just leaving.”

      “You called the cops?” The leader signaled his men who released Billy. “We’re out of here. Deliver the message, Pagan.” The big man pulled a card out of his vest. “Here’s where we can be reached. I wrote the amount of the debt on the back. That little shit is not welcome in our game rooms. He comes anywhere near one, he gets a beat down. Is that clear enough for you? Or do we need to make our point another way?” His hard eyes travelled over Billy then raked the bike. “I have a feeling Slash wouldn’t give a shit if we touched you, but when he sees his bike, he’s going to know we mean business.”

      “I’ll carry the message. Now move along. My lady and I are leaving before the cops get here.” Billy smiled. “Of course, maybe you want to have a talk with them.”

      Shannon looked back at the two women. “Thanks for the fashion advice.” She took her helmet from Billy, relieved that no one tried to stop them, and pulled it on. “Come on, let’s go.”

      Billy had managed to get the bike up and was frowning at the bent tailpipe and a scrape along one fender. He gave the group around them hard looks.

      “Get on the damned bike, Billy.” Shannon shoved his helmet at him and got on the back. To her relief, he did just that as the rest of the bikers backed out of the way to watch them leave the parking lot. They hadn’t gone far when Billy pulled into a convenience store parking lot and jumped off the motorcycle.

      “Shit! Come here, Shannon.” He pulled her off the bike and into his arms. “Are you crazy? Taunting those bikers?”

      Shannon pulled off her helmet and stared up at him. She let her lips tremble then couldn’t help herself, she laughed out loud. “Billy, I’ve never been so insulted in my life. Those women disrespected my fashion sense.”

      “Laugh all you want, woman, but we could have been in real trouble.” He had pulled off his own helmet and kissed her hard. “I give up. I wanted to show you I still have a wild side but I’m too conventional now. All I could think about when I was talking to those assholes was that I never should have brought you where someone could hurt you.”

      “Stop it. I’m fine. Nothing happened, except I may have a СКАЧАТЬ