Lynch's Rule (Ruthless Sinners MC 9)
“I don’t look that great.”
While I hated that Conor and his brothers had to deal with an altercation, I was grateful that it wasn’t very crowded. It gave me a chance to get used to being around all the naked women—something Rebecca and the ol’ ladies said would take time. Haleigh was clearly struggling in that area, so I tried to redirect her focus. “Well, Locke seems to disagree.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do. I mean, look at him.” Locke and Conor were over at the bar getting us another, and just as I’d expected, Locke was staring directly at Haleigh, and rightly so. She looked amazing with her hair pulled up and her cute, little, black halter top. “He can’t take his eyes off you.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
Haleigh glanced over at him, and a smile swept across her face when she noticed him staring back. Her eyes remained fixed on him as she leaned over to me and asked, “So, what do you think about Locke?”
“He seems great, but it doesn’t matter what I think about him. The question is, what do you think about him?”
“I really like him… like, a lot, and that scares me a little.”
I understood that fear. I’d felt it myself, but when I peered over at Conor, I knew in my heart that he was worth the risk. I hoped, in time, Haleigh might feel the same way about Locke. “Just give it some time.”
Locke and Conor brought our drinks back to the table, and Haleigh’s eyes lit up when he sat down next to her. “Are you two having a good time?”
“We are.” Haleigh smiled as she told him, “I think we’re finally starting to get used to the whole strip club thing.”
“I still can’t believe neither of you have been to one.” Locke turned to me and added, “Especially you.”
“Why me?” I shrieked. “Do I seem like a strip club kind of girl to you?”
“No, nothing like that.” He shrugged. “It’s just Haleigh told me some stories about you two, and I figured you’d get a kick out of it or something.”
“Stories, huh?” I gave Haleigh an appalled look. “And what exactly did the little gossip tell you?”
“It was nothing,” Haleigh quickly answered. “I just mentioned a little about your bucket list and how it’s kind of the reason why we got arrested.”
“Yeah, that was my fault, but I’m done with the crazy stuff—at least for a while.” I took a sip of my sangria, then added, “My father will have a coronary if I get arrested again.”
“I’ll have one, too.” Haleigh rolled her eyes. “I’d be okay with never being arrested again. It’ll take us months to get in all our community service hours.”
“Yeah, but at least we get to hang out with puppies while we’re doing it.”
Haleigh giggled. “This is true. I just hope I can get out of there without one of us bringing any home.”
“You can say that again,” Lynch scoffed. “Rae tried to get me to take one yesterday, and she was pretty damn convincing.”
“You’re going to get one of them?”
“Umm, nooo.” Lynch chuckled. “She wasn’t that convincing.”
“Then, I’ll just have to try harder next time.”
Before Lynch could respond, one of his brothers walked up to the table and pulled back a chair. He was tall and broad-shouldered like Conor with long, dark hair, pretty, brown eyes, and the kind of smile that immediately drew you in. He pulled back a chair, and once he was seated, he turned his attention to me. “You must be the little jail-bird I’ve been hearing so much about.”
“Maybe.” I smiled. “I guess it depends on what you’ve been hearing.”
“Something about you being a bit of a daredevil, and one of your stunts landed you in jail.” A wicked grin slipped across his lips. “That sound about right?”
“Yeah, I’d say that was pretty close, but like I was just telling them, I’m done with all that.”
“You sure about that?” He motioned his head towards Conor as he asked, “’Cause you’re taking a pretty big risk getting tangled up with this guy.”
“You think so?”
“Oh, yeah.” His grin grew even wider. “Lynch is a real ball-buster.”
Conor gave him a hard shove. “Fuck you, Country.”
“See!” Country whined like a kid, “He’s mean, and he’s been battling erectile dysfunction for years.”
Conor looked positively livid as he growled, “Country!”
“I appreciate your warning, but I’m good.” I glanced over at Conor and smiled. “I think he’s definitely worth the risk.”
“Okay, suit yourself.”
“Don’t you have some place to be?” Conor asked. “Like at home making up with your girl?”
“You’re probably right about that.” Country stood, then patted Conor on the back. “You guys try and behave yourselves.”
As soon as Country left, I leaned over to Conor and teased him, “So, how long have you had issues with erectile dysfunction?”