And there was a lot to take in.
“Well, hey there, yourself,” she said, offering him her most flirtatious grin.
“I haven’t seen you ladies here before. Can I offer you a drink?” he asked, his attention firmly fixed on my best friend.
I shook my head, but by the look on Autumn’s face, she was going to accept the drink and whatever else he was offering.
“Name’s Maverick,” he said, offering her his hand. She took it and their eyes remained glued to each other as he slowly raised it to his lips. Lust sparkled in the space around us.
Great. In the space of two minutes, I’d become the third wheel.
I glanced around the room looking for a familiar set of blue eyes and a head of dark hair. Across the room, a woman who looked like Cher in her “Turn Back Time” days was doing shots with an older man in a wheelchair and a tall bald man who looked like he’d stepped straight out of the Israeli army. He towered above them and had muscles. Muscles for miles.
Farther along in another booth, a formidable looking biker in dark sunglasses smoked a cigarette while talking to another biker who looked as out of place as I felt. Clean cut and with Coke-bottle glasses, he looked more like a singer from an 80’s boy band, although he did look cool and relaxed, his geeky image slightly tarnished by the Kings of Mayhem cut. In the booth over, two blonde girls laughed and flicked their hair, trying to get their attention.
Autumn and I followed Maverick to the bar. He and Autumn did a shot of tequila followed by a beer chaser, while I nursed a Coke.
“You want whisky in that?” Maverick asked.
I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m good with just Coke.”
“You driving or somethin’?”
Again I shook my head. “Nope.”
He gave me a strange look, like me not drinking a beer was the weirdest thing in the world. But then he shrugged. “S’pose you’re not the only babe in here not drinking.” He nodded to a beautiful blonde girl who was heavily pregnant, standing across the room. She was with another biker in a Kings of Mayhem cut, and for a moment my heart stalled because he looked just like my one-night stand. Tall. Big. With mesmerizing blue eyes and tattoos down his arms. But it wasn’t him.
“Indy’s full of arms and legs,” Maverick said, taking a sip from his beer bottle.
“Who is that guy she’s with?” I asked.
“That’s Cade. He’s our VP. You know him?”
I shook my head. “No, he just reminds me of someone.”
“A King?”
“Yeah, I believe he is. I don’t know his name. But he looks like your VP.”
“Cade’s got two brothers, Chance and Caleb,” he said, glancing around the bar. “Chance is still deployed overseas, but Caleb is around here somewhere.”
Caleb.
The name played over in my head, and anticipation tingled in my stomach.
That was him. I was sure of it.
Caleb.
“Hey, Mav.” A girl wearing the smallest pair of Daisy Dukes leaned across the bar and tapped Maverick on the shoulder. “Can you give me a hand? I need one of the beer kegs from out of the back? We’re running low.”
“Sure, babe.” He put down his bottle of beer and looked at Autumn. “Don’t you run off, darlin’. I’ll be right back.”
We watched the big sexy biker walk off to help the girl from behind the bar, and Autumn nudged my shoulder. “I’ll be honest with you, Honey. I’m going to get me some of that tonight.”
That was my best friend. Straight to the point.
“Is that such a good idea?”
She gave me a very pointed look. “I haven’t had sex in months. Not since that loser from the PE department at school.”
“The one with the little dick?”
“No. That was Roger from the AV department. No, the PE guy was Joey. He was the one who wanted me to call him Daddy when he was fucking me from behind.”
Autumn didn’t have much luck with men. She also struggled with commitment. So the two together meant she had never had a long-term boyfriend.
“Don’t you worry about me,” she said, bringing her bottle of beer to her lips. “I’m a big girl. I’m going to get me some action tonight. And I’m getting it with him.”
Maverick walked back into the bar carrying a keg of beer. Massive biceps bulged and flexed as they worked hard, his rugged face barely showing any effort as he carried the keg and put it down behind the bar. Autumn gobbled him up with her eyes and licked her lips like she could hardly wait to put her mouth on him. Judging by the attraction crackling between them, they would be naked within the hour.
“But first, we’ve got to find your baby daddy,” she said. “You want to circulate the room?”