Author: Jaci Burton

“Darlin’, you have no idea.” Pax picked up her hand and electricity sizzled up her arm. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of her wrist, then folded her hand between both of his very large ones.

Her belly fluttered, and that long-dormant area between her thighs sprang to life and dampened.

I’ll be damned. She might not be dead down there after all. That was the first honest sexual response she’d had since . . .

She slid her hand from Pax’s. “I have work, and playing with you boys isn’t on my list of things to do.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” AJ said.

That was too bad. Having AJ back in town was bad enough. Even worse would be dredging up memories of what she’d once had . . . what they’d once had. Having Pax with him was a double whammy of testosterone and chemistry that had slammed into her and gotten her attention despite running around tending to her customers and taking care of business.

And if it happened while she was 90 percent distracted, what would happen if she gave them her undivided attention?

Scary. And interesting, too. She really hoped they’d decide to hightail it out of town before her turn on top of the bar tonight.

PAX WATCHED TERESA TEND BAR. SHE SEEMED TO ENJOY HER customers, gave them her attention, laughed with the other bartenders.

That laugh—wow. It was full-on throaty and loud, as if she enjoyed life. And Pax liked a woman with passion.

But there was also something guarded about her, a shadow that crossed over her face in the midst of those happy moments, after she turned away and she thought no one was looking. Pax was always looking. He didn’t know what had put that shadow on her face. Maybe AJ had.

And maybe it was none of his goddamn business. They were just passing through. Teresa was part of AJ’s past, not part of their future. Playing with and sharing women was a fun way to pass the time for Pax and AJ, but Pax didn’t think this woman would be one AJ would want to share.

But Pax sure would. Her first smile had struck the match and lit his fire. Too bad she was AJ’s old flame, the one he’d told Pax about, the one woman AJ’d had real feelings for.

And AJ didn’t get “feelings” for women any more than Pax did. He liked them and respected them just fine, treated them all good. They both did. But loving them? Pax didn’t do the love thing. He enjoyed his freewheeling lifestyle way too much to fall in love with one woman. Not when there were so many women available. Monogamy just wasn’t his style, which was probably why he enjoyed sharing women with AJ. Less likely to fall in love with someone—or have a woman think you were going to go one-on-one with her—if you were doing two-on-one.

But he wasn’t going to get to do two-on-one with Teresa, so he settled against the bar and just watched her, his gaze flitting to the two other bartenders. They were fine, too. One with short brown hair and a full curvy body, the other a curly headed blonde with big tits and a low-cut shirt that clung to those babies like she was damn proud of them. The blonde gave Pax the once-over . . . more than once.

But Pax’s attention kept moving to Teresa, watching her work the bar, her brows knit in concentration as she poured shots or popped open the tops of beer bottles. She laughed with her customers, was good-natured about it when she had to push away guys who got too close, moved in a rhythm that said she was comfortable with who she was. And okay, he liked watching her hips move, the easy way she swayed across the floor. He liked her ass and the sweet spot where her jeans met the skin of her lower back, that pretty tattoo there where he’d like to press his lips.

His jeans tightened as his cock twitched to life.

Down, boy. He took a long cold swig of beer to douse the heat.

“Don’t even think about it, man. We’re not going there.”

He slid his glance over to AJ and grinned. “I know we’re not going there. But I’m still going to think about it.”

“Yeah,” AJ said, shifting his attention to Teresa. “Me, too. But too much history there. It wouldn’t work.”

“Too bad. Because she is sweet.”

“That’s the problem. Too sweet for you and me.”

Just then the sounds of women squealing and men hollering, clapping and catcalling drove Pax’s attention to the bar, where the beer bottles were being cleared from one end to the other. A new song came up, something sexy with a hard rocking beat, and the blonde climbed up onto the cleared-off bar top and sauntered down to the end, swiveling her hips to the music. As soon as the beat picked up, she headed their way.

The bar soon crowded in with guys pressing up to see the blonde dance in her cutoff denim shorts and cowboy boots, her feet stomping on the scarred wood. She shimmied down to a squatting position, then back up again.

The girl could move her ass. She moved from one end of that bar to another, leaving dragging tongues in her wake as she slid those tanned legs out and shook her ass in front of some hungry faces. Then she jumped off the bar.

And Teresa jumped up.

Though the music was deafening and the noise of the other bikers clapping and shouting around them drowned out just about everything, Pax was sure he could hear AJ’s hard swallow as Teresa made her way down to the other end of the bar.

“Oh, shit,” AJ whispered, his voice hoarse.

Pax just grinned and enjoyed the show. Where the blonde used her sexuality as a lure, Teresa was more natural when she moved, like she felt the music inside her. She didn’t play to the crowd, but kept her focus straight ahead as she swept her hips from side to side, knocked her boots hard on the bar, and stormed her way toward Pax and AJ.

It was only when she got to them that she tilted her chin and looked down, a wicked smile on her face. Pax looked up and grinned at her, letting her know that he liked the show just fine. He’d like to feel her moving against him like that, wanted to feel her hips sway from side to side while he held her against his throbbing cock.

AJ tilted his head back and stared, his expression unreadable.

Teresa cocked a brow, kicked up her heels and shimmied down the bar, lifting her arms over her head and turning her back on the crowd, sliding her ass down to meet the heels of her boots, then jumping off the bar to let the brunette take over and finish the song.

“Damn” was all AJ said as he kept his gaze glued on Teresa. “Never seen her do anything like that before.”

“She was a kid when you left here before. She isn’t now. Lots of things change when you’re gone for ten years.”

THREE

ALL AJ WANTED TO DO WAS FIND OUT EVERYTHING TERESA HAD been doing in the ten years he’d been gone. Everything about her was different, from the way she looked to the way she talked to the way she danced to her expressions and demeanor.

Did he seem that different to her? He wanted to ask her. But what did it matter? He and Pax weren’t staying. He wasn’t taking up with her again, couldn’t. He and Pax had places to go after their vacation was over, and that didn’t include coming back home and settling in with Teresa, who hadn’t made any moves in his direction anyway. She’d been friendly, but wary, just like she would be with any customer.

And what had he expected—for her to scream and cry with joy because he’d finally returned, then throw herself in his arms and declare her undying love?

Yeah, right. Nice fantasy, but what he wanted and what he was going to get were two different things.

Story of his life.

He and Pax finally shoved away from the bar and played pool with Joey and Russ, Joey’s good friend and the second in command of the Thorns. AJ had known Russ when they were younger, too. Good to see he’d stood by Joey all these years. Russ hadn’t changed much since high school, either, though he was the polar opposite of Joey. Where Joey was short and round, Russ was tall and rail thin, with freckles on his face and his hair a mixture of strawberry blond and brown. Russ still looked like a kid even though he was pushing thirty.

Pax sank the last ball, and AJ grinned at Joey. “You still suck at pool.”

Russ snickered and patted AJ on the back. “Some things never change, do they, AJ?”

Joey glared. “I don’t suck at pool. Obviously you and your friend have careers as hustlers. And since you and Pax won all our money, you can buy the next round of beers.”

AJ laughed and bought beer. Having a pool table at Wild R iders headquarters meant they got a lot of practice. And AJ was pretty sure Pax had hustled pool when he was younger, though Pax denied it. Probably so he could win every time they played.

“Is that how you guys earn a living, sharking us poor unfortunates?” Joey asked as they sat at one of the tables eating pretzels and drinking beer.

Pax raised his brows and, with a smile, tipped the bottle of beer to his lips.

“I thought so.”

“And how about you, Joey?” AJ asked. “What are you doing these days?”

“I own that garage down on the corner of Munich and Davis. Russ and a few of the other guys who ride with us work there, too.”

“I can’t believe you’re still at Smitty’s Garage. That was the first place you hired on when you were a punk.”

“Yeah, and now I own it. So who’s the punk?” Joey laughed.

“Did you change the name to Oliveri’s?”

“Nah. Everyone around knew it as Smitty’s, so I figured I’d leave it. Good for the old-timers who might not take to something different.”

“See, and I always thought you were dumb,” AJ teased.

“Har har.” But Joey laughed and downed the rest of his beer, frowning as he laid it on the table. Russ stood and moved to Joey’s side.

AJ turned in the direction of Joey’s frown. The door to the bar had opened and a horde of bikers spilled in, all decked out in leathers, the backs of their jackets bearing a fist crushing a bleeding heart.

“Fists, I presume?” Pax asked.

“Yeah. And they don’t belong here.” Joey kicked back his chair and stood. Russ followed, and they were flanked immediately by two beefy members of their gang. The rest of the Thorns moved with them toward the front of the bar.

The tension in the entire place thickened so deep you had to wade through it. It emanated off everyone wearing leather. You could see it on all their faces, bikers gearing up for battle. AJ looked to Pax, who nodded. They stood and moved behind the crowd of bikers. AJ slid his hand up under his jacket, reached into the back waistband of his jeans, and released the safety on his pistol, saw Pax do the same. They might be on vacation and always undercover, but they were still federal agents. If shit was going to go down, they had to put a stop to it. Or at least put a well-timed call in to the local police. He hoped this would be nothing more than a standoff and that it would just blow over. Or maybe just hand-to-hand combat, not knives and guns.

Teresa didn’t need a brawl in her bar. AJ took a sidelong glance at her. She and the other bartenders stayed behind the bar, but Teresa had placed both hands, palms down and fingers wide, on the bar, her jaw set firmly. AJ made a move back with his head, and Pax took a look at Teresa, then back at him.

She looked mad as hell. The one thing they’d learned working cases for the Wild Riders was to watch out for someone with a hair-trigger temper, and the tension in Teresa’s locked arms and the tight set to her jaw gave AJ the impression she might climb right over the top of that bar and go after those guys.

“That’s not good,” Pax whispered.

“No, it’s not.” AJ skirted in front of Teresa, and Pax followed, making sure the both of them covered the women behind the bar.

He half turned to Teresa. “Relax. It’s going to be all right.”

Teresa’s focus stayed on the action at the front of the bar, but she gave him a curt nod, effectively dismissing him.

“Get out, Larks, and take your Fists with you,” was all Joey said to the guy standing at the front of the Fists.