Wild Card had said to her and he would have sworn that was Laurie’s laugh.
Fuck, he had it bad.
Wild Card’s gaze lifted from the woman he seemed intent on charming to them.
“Steele, hey, look who I ran into.”
The woman turned around and … fuck, it was like a slam to the chest. It
was
Laurie.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
At his sharp words, the soft, enchanting smile that had spread across her face at seeing him faded.
“I wanted to see you again.”
“Laurie, you and I are done. There’s no reason for you to be here, so why don’t you just go back to your cozy little town house and—”
“I’m selling it.”
“What?”
“And I’ve quit my job.”
“Why the fuck did you do that?”
She shook her head. “Donovan got me that job. It was with one of his companies. And he got me a good price on the town house because his business had dealings with the builder.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford it without the job anyway.” She stared into Steele’s eyes. “Everything there reminded me of Donovan. How I’d allowed myself to be convinced he was good for me. That he cared for me. Then later, how I allowed him to control me.” She sipped her drink. “So I walked away.”
“I’m sorry. I got the impression you loved that place.”
She nodded. “I did.” And she locked gazes with him. “But I’ll love again.”
His chest tightened, but he took a deep drag of his beer. “So what are you going to do now?”
“I was hoping that …” She pursed her lips. “Well, that I could ride with you.”
He shook his head. “I already told you. You and I can’t be together.”
“I know,” she said hesitantly, “but I really think riding with you, all of you, would clear my head and help me figure out what to do next. Wild Card said I could ride with him.”
Steele glared at Wild Card, who simply sipped his beer innocently.
“I think we should let Laurie ride with us.” Dom’s eyes glinted as he stared at Steele, his lips turning up in a grin.
“It’s not your call,” Steele said, his fists clenching at his sides.
“Now, wait,” Rip said. “As much as you’re the leader, Steele, and we all respect that, what the rest of us want should count for something.”
Steele’s gaze shot to Rip. What the hell was he saying?
Rip rested his hand on Steele’s shoulder and guided him a few steps away.
“Look, you say you aren’t in love with her, and you ended things on good terms. If that’s all true, then you shouldn’t have any problem with her riding with us.”
Blinding anger flared through Steele, but he knew he wouldn’t win this. The men were clearly hatching a scheme to get him and Laurie together again.
“Fuck, do whatever the hell you want.” He turned on his heel and stormed toward the door.
He just hoped the guys wouldn’t be flung off his fists before this whole thing was over.
*
As Steele sped along the highway, he was totally aware of Laurie only yards away. She was riding with Wild Card, her arms around his waist, her body tight against him. He remembered how that felt, and longed to feel her soft warm body against him again. And not just on the back of his bike. His cock twitched.
When they got back to the cottage where they were staying, at a friend of Magic’s this time, Steele went straight up to bed.
He could hear the others laughing and drinking. At one point, he heard splashing in the lake, which was right near the cottage and he itched to look out the window and see if Laurie was skinny-dipping with Wild Card. But she was just riding with Wild Card. They weren’t together.
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t fuck him. She wasn’t still with Steele. She could fuck anyone she wanted. Maybe she was out there fucking all of them.
His gut clenched. He knew his imagination was just going wild. Because he missed her. Because he wanted her to be his.
He tried to ignore his raging emotions and closed his eyes.
For
Massimo Carlotto, Anthony Shugaar