“Hi, Tanya. How’s Tex?” he asked.
Tanya grinned and laughed with wry amusement. “I seem to have suddenly become a biker accessory,” she chuckled. “Tex is fine. I’m also fine, so you know.”
Mark grinned shyly. “Sorry, Tanya. I’m glad you’re fine. Hi, Amelia.” He frowned as if he was surprised to see me frequenting such a place as this. “You also fine?”
I smiled, in spite of the desperate feeling of nerves that had taken possession of me. “I’m fine, thanks, Mark,” I said. “Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I need to find the restroom.”
I stood up on shaky legs and moved to the edge of the bench. At that moment, Carter caught sight of his brother sitting down opposite Tanya. Mark waved to him.
“Carter!” he called. “Come on over. Look who’s here.”
I saw Carter’s eyes fall on me when Mark half-stood, calling his brother again. Carter came straight over. My heart dropped into my shoes. I looked to Tanya for help, but there was no escape—it was too late to run.
11
Carter
I arrived at the table, pinned in at the end, making me feel a little ridiculous. I stood opposite Amelia and felt my body powerfully stir with longing for her. I didn’t know, at this point, whether I wanted to shake my brother’s hand or kill him. How could he make me face her outside of work?
Not that I would want to miss this.
Seeing Amelia every day at work was getting hard. She was so beautiful. Outside of work, she was even more stunning. With her pale hair loose around her shoulders, her soft skin gently highlighted with pink when she blushed, and her pouty lips dropping into a little circle of surprise, she was so sexy. I felt my body respond and wished it was even darker, so nobody would notice the unfortunate bulge in my pants.
“Hi,” I said. After I realized I was staring.
Making myself look away, I greeted the girl Mark had sat down next to, simply to make myself appear cool and disinterested.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Carter Brand, from Brand’s Bike Shop.”
“Tanya Wadley,” she greeted him. “Hi. I’m Amelia’s friend.” She gestured at Amelia, who was at the head of the table, across from me.
“Yes. I’ve met Amelia,” I said. My voice sounded gruff when I said her name, and I cleared my throat. Hell, if I wanted the entire club to know I felt really attracted, I was going about it wonderfully. “Hi, Amelia,” I added in one of the friendlier voices so far with her.
“Hi,” she said. She looked at Tanya, and she seemed almost too afraid to say anything more. Tanya looked at her.
“Sorry,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” Amelia said. She turned and walked swiftly across the room. I stared after her, then realized I was standing while Tanya and Mark stared.
“There’s room for you to sit down,” Mark pointed out, gesturing me to the seat opposite him. I winced. Amelia’s jacket was there on the seat, which meant that, when she came back, I’d end up beside her. I couldn’t exactly keep standing there—I was already looking bizarre.
“Thanks,” I said, and, grunting as my knee cracked, I sat down. I was opposite Mark. He raised a brow. I wanted to punch him.
He is really enjoying himself.
I thought Mark was doing all of this on purpose because he thought I was into Amelia. He hadn’t stopped saying so much since she arrived to work for us. It had taken him a day or so to get over the idea of it being true, but now he just seemed to find it funny to tease me about it. I frowned.
“So,” Mark said smoothly to Tanya. “How’s it going?”
Tanya giggled. Her voice was low and resonant, and I thought that Mark was probably attracted to her a little bit. I watched them as they talked.
“I’m great,” she said. “How’re you doing?”
“Fine,” Mark shrugged. “Work’s good. Isn’t it, boss? Things are much better now.”
“Yes,” I said. “We have a lot of orders,” I added, sidestepping the inevitable commentary Mark wanted to hear. I refused to talk about how efficient Amelia had made the shop and office in the week she’d been working for us. I didn’t want to have to sing her praises in front of her. I would be way too embarrassed, and then there’d be no hiding the way I felt.
“You have?” Tanya sounded impressed. She tilted her glass at Mark, grinning. “Great! You should have lots of work, then.”
“Doing well, for sure,” Mark nodded.
I listened to their conversation distantly, being more interested in the other side of the room, where the doors to the restroom were. I saw them open.
Amelia came out. My body tensed up.
The room was noisy and crowded, the air dingy and the sounds loud and jarring. I didn’t notice. The soft light brought out the paleness of her hair, the grimy interior serving to show off her soft looks. I watched her walk, breathing in sharply with every rise of her breasts and swing of her hips.
“Bro? Carter?”
I jumped. I turned around sharply to face my brother, who was staring at me, stunned. “What?” I said, feeling caught off guard.
I shrugged, acutely aware of Amelia sitting down beside me. She moved her coat so that it was behind her on the back of the bench. Her hand was inches from my arm, and I could almost feel the heat from her body.
“I just asked you if you think we’ll get much custom work during the winter.”
“Oh.” I closed my eyes, glad for the distraction from the girl who sat down next to me, trailing the scent of strawberry soap. My body screamed. I needed her more than I’d ever needed anything. Sitting with her beside me on the bench was torture.
“Well, will you?” Tanya asked expectantly.
“I think the custom orders will decrease,” Amelia murmured. “Most bikers don’t want to risk riding on roads with ice.”
“You’re right there,” Tanya nodded slowly. I noticed that she was looking at her friend with newfound respect. I wondered how much Amelia opened up about her bike knowledge.
Probably not much. Most girls don’t like to let on that they know things like that.
I frowned. There was a lot I didn’t know about Amelia. Suddenly, I felt a burning interest.
“Hey!” Mark called to a waiter, dressed in a black overall. “You got Black Label for everyone?”
“Amelia doesn’t drink beer,” Tanya pointed out. “A glass of house red, and… what… three beers?”
“Thanks,” Amelia said.
Mark looked at Tanya. “I’m paying for this round,” he said.
“Fine.” She raised a brow, exposing a strong temperament. “But I’m doing the next one. So there.”
I bit back a grin as Tanya and Mark squared off about who was buying the next round. I turned to Amelia, taking a deep breath.
“You only drink wine?” I asked.
She nodded. “I was never a fan of beer. There was always beer in the house, but I never drank it.”
“I see.” I nodded thoughtfully. I wondered what sort of house Amelia had grown up in. I imagined a suburban house—ordinary, plain, nothing bad.