“Your gal sure is something tonight,” his father said as Manny came over to serve them.
“Yeah, she is, and so is yours. Look at Mom out there,” Dare said as their mother shimmied with the girls.
“I haven’t seen my wife and daughters dance like that in years,” Manny said. “That’s all you, Dare, and I sure do appreciate it.”
“I didn’t do anything but open a door. Billie’s the one who had the courage to walk through it.”
“Well, thanks for opening it, son,” Manny said. “You’ve been on that dance floor all night. You ready for a cold one yet?”
“Nah, I’m not drinking tonight. I’ve got our girl on the back of my bike. How about some ice water?”
“You’ve got it.” Manny took the other guys’ orders and went to fill them.
Dare couldn’t take his eyes off Billie. It wasn’t just her sexy moves or how incredible she looked in that slinky little outfit. It was the joy and freedom she exuded that held his rapt attention.
“Man, it’s good to see her out there with the girls again, isn’t it?” Doc said.
“You have no idea how good.”
Manny brought their drinks, and they talked while the girls danced. When “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” came on, the girls squealed again and continued dancing, except for Billie, who made a beeline for Dare.
“Make a hole, boys,” his father said loudly. “Let the lady through.”
The guys stepped aside, but Billie didn’t go to Dare. She winked at him, took two big steps, and hoisted herself onto the bar, causing everyone to cheer as she started dancing. Dare cheered the loudest.
Billie pointed at him and crooked her finger. “Get your ass up here and dance with me, Whiskey!”
“That’s my girl.” He climbed onto the bar, matching her sexy moves one for one, earning more cheers, hoots, and whistles. He heard someone ask Manny if he was going to kick them off, and Manny said, “Not on your life. We’ve been waiting years for this.”
When the chorus came on, Billie threw her hands up, turning in a circle as she danced, and the whole bar joined in singing the song.
As Dare sang the last chorus to Billie, telling her to shake her body for him, she didn’t just shake it. She worked those luscious curves, rubbing and grinding against him, driving him out of his fucking mind. When the song ended, he dipped her over his arm and kissed her. The bar erupted in cheers, whistles, and applause.
When their lips parted, Billie was beaming. “Take me home, Whiskey. I’m done giving these people a show. Now it’s your turn.”
She didn’t have to ask twice.
As they climbed down from the bar, she pointed at Kellan, who was laughing and shaking his head. “I’m still your boss, and you still have to respect me.”
His face went serious. “I’ve got more respect for you now than ever.”
“You damn well better, dimples,” she said.
They said their goodbyes and left the bar arm in arm, kissing on their way across the parking lot. It was a beautiful, clear night, and as Dare drove toward the ranch, with Billie warming his back, her arms wrapped around him, he didn’t think life could get any better. They stopped at a red light, waiting for the green turning arrow, and she put her hand between his legs. Soon, baby. He put his hand over hers, giving one firm squeeze, and lifted it, pulling her arms tight around him and pressing her hands to his stomach. The light changed, and he turned left. He was halfway through the intersection when he saw headlights speeding toward them on the road he was turning onto. He veered right, trying to avoid the car, but it clipped the back of the motorcycle, sending Dare airborne—Billie!—his body flipped head over heels, and he landed hard on the grass beside the road, tumbling and skidding to a stop. His ears were ringing as he tore his helmet off, hollering, “Billie!” He gritted his teeth against the stabbing pain in his chest and tried to sit up. His entire body screamed in pain as he searched the ground, spotting her lying by the bushes a good distance away. “Billie!” He tried to stand but crumpled to the ground, pain searing through his leg as he gasped for air. “Billie!” She wasn’t moving. He dragged himself along the grass, shouting. People were running from their cars toward her. “Billie!” Tears blurred his vision as he dragged himself farther, fighting off people who were trying to help him. Billie’s leg and arm were cocked at horrible angles, her helmet was gone, and his beautiful girl, his love, his life, lay lifeless and bleeding. “Nononogodno. Don’t you leave me!” He scooped her body into his arms, telling the people who were saying not to touch her to fuck off, as he cradled her against him. “Billie. Wake up, baby, wake up. Come on, baby. Wake up, Mancini.” Agony raged through him, and he buried his face in her bloody hair, “Nooooo!” bled from his lungs as two people pried him away from her, and he struggled to break free. “Leave me the fuck alone! I gotta be with her!”
“Dare, we’ve got her. She’s breathing. It’s me, Hazard.”
The cop’s face came into focus. Hector “Hazard” Martinez, Maya’s brother, a Dark Knight. “She’s…” Excruciating pain seared through Dare’s chest.
“Yeah, man. She’s alive but unconscious. The paramedics are with her. We’ve got to get you to the hospital. You’re in bad shape.”
“I don’t give…” He tried to drag air into his lungs. “A fuck.” Gasp. “Need to be…with her.” He tried to throw himself in the direction of the paramedics loading Billie onto a stretcher, but Hazard held him back as more paramedics appeared and started pawing at him. “Get…off me…Help her.”
A paramedic crouched before him, getting right in his face. “Listen to me, man. They’ve got her, but we need to help you. Your leg is broken, and you’ve got a chest wound. Now lie the hell down and don’t make my job harder than it needs to be.”
Chapter Eighteen
COWBOY AND DOC stood on one side of Dare’s hospital bed, his parents on the other, and his sisters and Rebel by his feet. Many of the Dark Knights and their wives had shown up, but he’d sent them upstairs to be with Billie’s family in the ICU. The doctor had said they were lucky they were turning a corner and not driving full speed when they were hit, or things could have been a lot worse. Dare had a concussion, three broken ribs, his left leg was broken and casted, and his right shoulder was fractured. His right arm was in a sling/shoulder immobilizer. He had a bandage over a stitched-up chest wound, and he had so many other cuts, abrasions, and stitches, he felt like a freaking pin cushion. His body and head hurt like a son of a bitch, but it was his heart that felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. Manny had given them an update on Billie about an hour ago. She had broken her right arm, left leg, collarbone, and ribs. She had a punctured lung, a body full of stitches and abrasions, and she was still unconscious. They were running more tests, and damn it, he needed to be up there.
Birdie looked at her phone. “Bobbie said there’s still no word. But don’t worry, Dare. She’s going to be fine.”
He gritted his teeth, knowing she meant well, but if one more person told him that Billie was going to be fine, he would lose his mind. They were checking for swelling and bleeding in her brain. Christ. Her fucking brain. He couldn’t lose her, not after all they’d been through. She didn’t deserve that. Her parents didn’t deserve that. Fuck. He didn’t deserve it, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to lie there doing nothing. He threw his blanket off and tried to sit up, wincing in pain.