Chapter Two

Outlaw

The bar is crowded. Overcrowded even. Drinks clink, voices murmur, and the band that’s playing blends with the sound of the fight on the TV being played overhead. If I’d chosen a place to take a woman on a date, this wouldn’t be where we’d go. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to hear her talk.

Mullet, the guy who owns the place, makes his way toward my table. He doesn’t serve drinks anymore, but he hangs around and makes conversation with folks who come through.

“Hey, man. Haven’t seen you in a while. What’s new?” He lands a pitcher of foaming beer on the table. “You here alone?”

“Not tonight. Meetin’ someone for a first date. You, ugh, you have a packed house tonight.”

“Yeah… folks really like these cover bands. I didn’t think the newer country would get folks as excited, but this is the busiest we’ve been all year. How are things with your MC? I hear you’re doing bounty work now.”

I didn’t want news to travel that we were working up here. “Trying to keep it on the low, but yeah, we’re working. If you see anyone new or anything weird, send me a text—”

“Hey.”Tilly steps into view. She’s wearing a short black dress that clings to her thick hips and her dark hair is curled and rested on her shoulders. There’s no denying she’s gorgeous. It’s more than that. She’s stunning. “Sorry I’m late. I’m not used to getting dressed up and leaving the house. I forgot how long it takes.”

Mullet reaches out his hand. He’s a big guy with a long beard, and well… a mullet. “Haven’t seen your face before. I’m Mullet. This is my bar. You here to see this old bastard?”

She smiles and slides into the booth. “Something like that.”

“Well then, I’ll let you two get to it. If you need anything special, let me know.”

“Actually,” I hold up my hand, “if you still have that private room free, I’d love to use it.”

“Oh yeah?” Mullet tilts his head to the side as though he can’t figure out my angle. “You can’t see the band from in there. You can hear ‘em, though.”

I glance toward Tilly.“Do you need to see the band?”

The color drains from her face and she swallows hard. When she finally speaks, her voice is at least two octaves higher as she squeaks, “No. That’s fine.”

I nod and reach for her hand, helping her up from the booth. She smells sweet, like wildflowers.

“I’ll take you two back there and get you settled with drinks,” Mullet says. “Can I get you anything to eat? We’re doing bottomless salsa tonight.”

“Yes!” Tilly responds quickly. “Nachos. Oh, and whiskey, double the sour.”

“You got it.” Mullet unlocks a back door in the bar and shows us inside. I’ve been back here a dozen times, maybe more. We’ve held MC meetings back here once in a while. The room is large enough. I’d guess sixteen feet by twenty-four feet. It’s painted black and large, leather sofas lining the space. There are two windows on the back wall and a television mounted on the opposite side. I wonder why there’s not a feed playing of the band, but I don’t suggest it.

“Who doubles the sour?” I say, lowering onto the far corner of the sofa.

Tilly laughs, though it seems forced. “It’s good. It’s like lemonade but hot.” She’s nervous. Her shoulders are so tight she’s barely moving.

“I hope you’re okay with this. We can leave the door open or go down to the diner instead. I’m just not a crowd guy.”

This bit of reassurance relaxes her a little. “No. It’s fine. This is good. I… I’m just… nothing. This is good.”

“Please tell me what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. This is good.” She smooths her hand down over dress and Mullet makes his way back in with a grin, a few drinks, and a giant bowl of chips and salsa. It’s the strangest thing to serve in bottomless quantities, but people seem to like it, including Tilly.

“I’ll bring more out. Just push the bell,” he adds before stepping out of the room.

Tilly reaches into the bowl and scoops salsa onto a chip, crunching it down before sipping her whiskey with double sour. Despite the snack, her limbs are bouncing again.

Now, if I didn’t know she was the bounty I’d been searching for, I’d wonder what she was anxious about. Unfortunately for her, I knew Tilly was Faith the second I laid eyes on her at the salon.

She glances toward me. “So… how does someone get a name like Outlaw?”

I smile, filtering through my options as I speak. “Everyone thinks it’s this badass nickname the MC gave me, but my mom started callin’ me Outlaw back before I started school. Apparently, I liked stealing cookies before dinner. So…”

Her face lights and her breathing becomes metered again. I almost feel bad for her. She’s all over the place.

“From stealing cookies to motorcycle guy. I guess Outlaw is fitting. I’ve never been around a guy who rides a bike before.”

“Really? You ever been on a bike?”

She shakes her head, fluffing back her dark hair. I like this version of her better than the one in the picture. In the photo, her hair was blonde, but clearly, she’s better suited with dark hair. It’s more natural.

“Never,” she says. “I think it scares me a little.”

The woman is robbing banks in Montana and Wyoming, but she’s scared of motorcycles?

“I’ll take you for a ride later. I promise to be careful with you.”

She smiles but doesn’t respond. Instead, she takes another sip of her shot. “So, do you like… have a club? You wear the vest, so I’m guessing the emblem means something.”

“Yeah. There’s a few of us. Currently, I’m in charge, but we’re a little less structured than your typical MC. It’s probably on account of the members we’ve got. Not a lot of rule followers in our ranks.” I try to flash her a calming smile. The last thing I want to do is spook her. “What about you? What’d you do before you came out here?”

I’m not sure what the plan is here. I could’ve cuffed her back at the salon. Hell, I probably should’ve. Lucky for her, the longer I look at that face, the more curious I get. Women don’t usually commit crimes like this, and almost never on a scale this large.

Two million dollars. Two banks. Two states. It’s rare for anyone, let alone a beautiful young lady such as herself. She’s an anomaly that I need to understand better.

“Oh. Um… before I came out here?” Her tone is high again.

I nod, wondering how far she’ll go before I need to stop playing with my prey. Momma hated me stealing cookies, but nothing would bring out the strap quicker than me playing with my food.

Sorry, Momma. I’m having too much fun!

“Before I came out here, I was a waitress.”

“Where at?”

They should’ve called me ‘human lie detector’ and not Outlaw, because I’m homing in on everything the girl is doing. Her enthralling eyes are dilated, her naturally elegant skin is now wrought with goosebumps, and she’s letting out the softest pants from her full lips as she tries to collect herself.

“Just at this place is called The Diner,” she finally says.

I laugh. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Her breath quickens, and I feel a sheepish grin on my face. I’ve got her now!

“What? I’m not lying.”

Come on, Faith. We both know that’s not true.

I stand from the couch and shut the door, locking it before pulling the couch in front. “I’m only going to ask you this once, and I expect you to be honest with me. If you are, I’ll have mercy. If not, I can’t help you.”

Tears roll down her face. I get why. She’s busted. She’s going to get what’s coming to her. So… then why do I want to catch them?

I shake my head and look away. Usually, I’m fucking with big, aggressive men who are looking for a fight. Not sweet, little, curvy women with tears.

“What’s your name?” I ask, trying to keep a straight face.

She looks away, then down at the ground. “Faith… Faith Olivia Landry.”

“Thank you, Faith. I like that much better than Tilly.”

Tears fall harder.

Be strong, man! This is your job! You can’t get sidetracked.

“Where are you from?”

“Just outside New Orleans.”

“Family?”

“My mom and my nephew.” She brushes back a strand of hair. “My sister died in a car crash last year.” She wipes away more tears.

I pull the handkerchief from my pocket and hand it toward her. Even before it leaves my grip, I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’m showing empathy and a bounty hunter isn’t supposed to have any. “Do they know you’ve robbed banks in two states?”

She shakes her head. “They think I’m running an Airbnb out in Utah.”

“Utah?”

She nods. “I can’t send them money I’ve stolen, so…” She wipes her nose and swallows hard. “So… I should talk to a lawyer.”

“A lawyer isn’t going to help you at this point, little girl. You’re fucked.”

“Little girl?” Her tone is biting as she says, “Look, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll suck your dick. I’ll clean your house. I’ll make you a sandwich. I’ll do all the filthy, dirty, fucked up things no one else will do with you. You name it, and I’m yours. You can use me however you want.” Her voice lowers to almost a pleading state as she says, “But I can’t go to jail right now. I need more time.”

I’ve been offered a lot of things to let a man go, but never sexual slavery. I have to say, letting this sweet little girl do dirty things to me doesn’t hurt my feelings. In fact, my cock is throbbing.

God, it’s been way too fucking long since I’ve been with a woman. I need help.

“No,” I finally grumble. “As fun as that sounds, it’s not an option.”

“I’m a virgin.” Her tone lightens as though she’s about to put on a show when she says, “I’m really tight. When was the last time you had a tight, little pussy on your cock?”

Fucking hell.The thought of sinking into her for the first time rattles me. My cock thumps at my zipper and the urge to fuck her hard twists in my chest like a knife threatening the dig out my heart.

I reach for the glass of water on the table and suck it back. “You’re tempting, but… no. Why does your family think you’re running an Airbnb in Utah?”

She sighs. “Look, if I didn’t need this money, I wouldn’t have done this.”

“The police report says you stalked the night clerk, held her at gunpoint, and made her load your car with cash. That’s the act of a person who studied the environment. You planned this.”

“I was robbing a bank. Of course I planned it. I chose out of the way banks that had low security.” She swallows hard. “You have no idea the things love can make you do.”

“So, this is a crime of passion? There’s someone else involved?”

“Nope. I did this on my own.”

“Are you protecting someone? You know they don’t love you, right? If they loved you, you wouldn’t have to do this.”

She shakes her head and sighs. “I should talk to a lawyer.”

“You’re not hearing me, little girl. There’s no lawyer in the world that can get you out of this.”

“Stop calling me little girl. I’m a grown woman.”

I laugh. “You’re a little girl. How old are you… twenty-four? You can’t be much older than that.”

“Twenty-two.” She wets her lips and walks toward me.

What the hell is happening?My cock drives hard against the fabric of my jeans and the common sense that should be in my head has emptied into my dick.

Her small hand lands on my shoulders and drags down my chest. She kneels in front of me, her gaze directly in my eyes as she rubs her hand over my cock. “Clearly, you need to be taken care of. So, let’s cut a deal.”

“With all due respect, little girl, that’s not happening.” I hope this last-ditch effort works, because it’s all the sanity I have left. I can feel my willpower unraveling. I’m pretty sure at this point I’m an embarrassment of a bounty hunter.

She rubs her hand down the length of my cock and back again. “I did what I had to do, and I’d do it again.” She unbuckles the top button of my jeans and slides down the zipper.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

I need to be stronger than this.

“At the end of the day, we’re all just animals. Wouldn’t you agree?” She strokes my cock in her hand. “We’re all suffering, desperately stalking our next kill.” Her tongue slides onto the tip and her long hair brushes over her shoulder. “We do what feels good. What we need to for survival.” Her warm mouth drops onto my cock, and she sucks it hard.

Maybe this is all a lie. Maybe she’s not a virgin. Maybe she’s done this a hundred times to a hundred different bounty hunters across every state she’s been in.

I should push her off me and demand respect, but fucking hell she feels good. Her little head bobs up and down on my cock as she licks and sucks with pressure.

My palms ache to touch her back, to run my fingers through her hair, to tug, to spank, to punish her for being so damn naughty.

With her tongue swirling, she pulls off with a pop and glares up at me. “So, can we help each other, or should I stop?”

My heart slams against my chest. Every cell in my body knows I should turn her in. She’s clearly playing me.

“You should sit back down,” I manage, clearly lacking the authority I walked in here with.

She wipes her lips and steps backward, biting back a grin. “Okay, but side note, that’s a pretty impressive dick.”

I swallow hard and tuck my cock back into my jeans. Well, I’m officially mortified. If the guys find out I’m falling for this shit, I’ll never be respected again.

“You need to start at the beginning and go slow. I need every detail. Every breath you took, and every move you made. If you lie, your animal theory will prove right because I’ll throw you to the wolves. Understand?”

She stares toward me and wets her thick, pink lips. “Understood.”