CHAPTER ELEVEN

Elaina—

We drive into the hills outside of town where it's more woods than neighborhoods. Eventually, Baja turns off the highway into a gravel lot and parks in front of a log structure with a porch running across the front.

A row of bikes is parked near the porch, and there are several other cars and pickups.

"This is it," Baja says, turning off his engine.

It's not at all what I was expecting. "This is your clubhouse?"

"Yep." He grins. I'm busy counting the bikes when he comes around and opens my door and helps me out, then opens the rear door for Rosie to jump down.

We move onto the porch and through the door.

Inside opens to a great room with leather couches, seating and pool tables on one side and a bar area on the right. All the walls are made of log and give a welcoming warmth to the place that puts me at ease. Music is playing, but it's not loud.

The place is filled with about two dozen people, some bikers and some women and even children, which is not what I expected. Streamers and balloons hang from the ceiling. A sign on the wall reads, Happy Birthday, Princess .

The children run around the room, playing, some just toddlers, some looking as old as six.

Rosie wags her tail, but I hold her close to me. I'm afraid the children will run over, and their parents may not be too sure of a German Shepard.

"Come on." Baja leads me to the bar where a man sits at the end. He's middle-aged with long blond hair and pretty eyes. Baja passes him the bag of kettle corn. "Don't say I never bought you anything, Prez."

The man's eyes light up. "I love this stuff." His gaze narrows. "What'd you do?"

"What do you mean what did I do?"

"You tryin' to suck up for some screw up I don't know about yet?"

"Nope. Just being nice." Baja throws his arm around me. "Rock, this is Elaina. Elaina, this is Rock, our president."

"Nice to meet you, Elaina." He offers me his hand, then motions the man behind the bar over. "Prospect, get them anything they want."

I get the feeling Rock has already heard about me.

Baja squeezes my shoulder. "What'll you have?"

"Screwdriver," I tell the prospect. "Light on the vodka, please."

"Yes, ma'am. And you?"

Baja orders a beer.

"Pretty dog," Rock comments, his eyes dropping to Rosie. "How old is she?"

"Two," I reply.

"She safe to turn loose off that leash?" he asks.

"She won't bite anyone, if that's what you mean," I reply.

"Good to know. Let her wander around."

I bend and do just that, scratching her ears. "Be a good girl."

Soon the children run over and ask if they can pet her. I smile and nod. "Her name is Rosie.

"Hi, Rosie," one of them says.

A man I recognize from the burger place flings his arm around Baja's neck. "Hey, brother. Glad you made it."

"Wouldn't miss your sister's birthday, would I?"

His eyes drift to Rock. "Not if you want to live."

"Where is she?" Baja asks.

"Over there with the girls." The man locks eyes with me and grins, unwrapping his arm from Baja and extending it to me. "You must be Elaina. I'm Trez, Rock's son. Nice to meet you."

"Hi," I mumble, trying to diagram a family tree in my head. Rock has a daughter and son.

Trez gestures toward Baja. "Has my man here been treating you right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Glad to hear it." He shakes Baja's shoulder. "Go introduce her to my ol' lady and the birthday girl. I'm sure they'll hit it off."

"Thanks, man. I will. I just wanted to introduce her to Prez and VP."

"Right." He moves to sit on a barstool, and Baja introduces me to a man sitting next to Rock.

"Darko, this is Elaina. Elaina, this is our VP."

I shake his hand. He's got dark hair with a bit of gray at the temples, about the same age as Rock. His eyes are a dark brown, and he has a warm smile.

"How are you, darlin'?"

"Fine, thank you. Nice to meet you."

"If you need any work on your car, he's your man," Baja says.

Darko grins. "True, but I mainly work on classic cars."

"That's fascinating. What kind? Like old fifties models?" I ask.

"More like American muscle cars. Mostly from the sixties and early seventies. Dodge Chargers, Pontiac GTOs, Chevy Camaros, Ford Mustangs, that kind of thing."

"Wow, that's really cool."

"Yeah, he finds them, works on them, and sells them for a mint," Baja adds.

I hear a sharp whistle from across the room, then someone calls out Baja's name. Turning I see a girl waving him over. It's not the girl who came to the house. I really hope she's not here.

Baja hooks an arm around me. "Come on. That's my cue; they want to meet you."

As we approach, I see they are all beautiful. Several children play on the floor nearby. Rosie's tail wags as they chase her around in circles, squealing in delight.

"Elaina, this is Lola. She's Rock's daughter and Trez' sister. She's with Memphis." The woman is a stunning blonde, tall and lean with hair down to her waist.

"Hello, Lola."

"And this is Trez's ol' lady, Isabella." She has long copper curls and vivid green eyes.

"How do you do?" I ask.

"And this is Kate, Utah's ol' lady." She's a pretty woman with a long blonde braid and golden-brown eyes. She's wearing ripped jeans, glittery sneakers, and a ball cap. I like her right away.

"Hello." I nod.

"Ladies, this is Elaina. It's a long story of how we met. I think I'll let her explain." With that, he abandons me to them, with one last bit of warning. "Be nice to her, ladies."

I stare open-mouthed as he walks to the bar. At least he has the decency to wink at me. Still, I want to kill him.

"So, how do you know Baja?" Lola asks, and I get the feeling she's kind of the Queen Bee of this group.

"Well, um, I married his brother. He came to the wedding." That statement, of course, throws them for a loop, and heads cock all around.

"What?" Kate asks. "You're married to his brother?"

"Well, sort of."

" Sort of ? What does that mean?" Isabella asks.

"We went through with the ceremony, then he did something horrible at the reception, and I ran from the ballroom in tears."

"What did he do?"

I proceed to tell them the whole story.

"That's horrible," Lola snaps. "I'd have punched the son-of-a-bitch."

"Baja was the only one concerned enough to see if I was okay," I admit.

"That's the kind of guy he is. He'd never stand for anyone mistreating a woman," Lola says.

"So, then what happened?" Kate asks.

"Well, I changed out of my ruined dress, and we went to the bar on the top floor of the hotel. He told me about Elliott and what kind of a brother he'd been to Dylan. I mean, Baja. It's hard getting used to calling him Baja. I didn't even know he was in a motorcycle club until just today. Anyway, he told me if I don't file the marriage certificate, I'm not actually married. He suggested I take a few days to think about it."

"What about Elliott? Has he apologized and tried to win you back?"

I huff a laugh. "You'd think so. But no. Instead, he spent the night with one of my bridesmaids."

There's a collective hiss of indrawn breath.

"I'd kill him," Lola spits.

"How did you find that out?" Isabella asks.

"Dylan, actually. I mean, Baja."

"Huh?" Kate asks. "I'm confused."

"I spent the night in Dylan's room. He had two beds. Nothing happened," I quickly add. "But at the crack of dawn the next morning, he snagged my room card and went to the suite Elliott and I were supposed to be sharing. I'm not sure if he knew what he'd find. He took a video of the two of them passed out in the bed, her bridesmaid dress crumpled on the floor."

"What a bitch," Lola hisses. "Who does that to their friend?"

"Actually, we were more than friends. She's my cousin."

"Oh, you poor girl." Isabella puts her arm around me.

"Sounds like that asshole needs his balls cut off." Lola's hands hit her hips.

A tall, attractive man comes up behind her and puts his arm around her shoulder. "Whose balls are you cutting off today, babe?"

She twists and kisses him. "Baja's brother. He cheated on his bride on their wedding night."

"What a bastard," the man responds.

"This is Elaina. Elaina, this is my ol' man, Memphis."

He reaches across to shake my hand. "Nice to meet you, Elaina."

I'm so embarrassed that I want to melt through the floor boards. The last thing I want is every guy in the place knowing what a fool I've been.

"Excuse me a minute," Lola says, and hauls Memphis toward the bar.

"So, she's the birthday girl?" I ask the other two.

"Yep," Isabella says. "And here's Evelyn. She's with Rock."

A dark-haired beauty with chocolate eyes walks up. She's tall and slender.

"You must be the woman staying with Baja." She extends her hand, giving me the once over. "Hello, I'm Evelyn."

I shake her hand. "I'm Elaina."

"How do you like Durango, Elaina?"

"It's a beautiful town. So different from Denver, which is really all I've seen of Colorado since I moved here."

"It's definitely different from Denver," she agrees. "I came from Utah. Truly the middle of nowhere. So, I guess we both kind of moved in the opposite direction, didn't we?"

"Well, I'm only here temporarily."

She nods slowly. "Right. Well, while you're here, you need to have some fun. We're having a Halloween party next Saturday. You have to come. I insist."

"A Halloween party?" I repeat.

Isabella elbows me. "Evelyn loves Halloween. She got Rock to start the tradition. Now we have one every year."

"You love them, Isabella. Don't lie."

"I do. I'm going to be Gamora this year."

I turn to her, my eyes shifting between the women. "You mean you dress up?"

Evelyn smiles. "Absolutely. That's half the fun."

My chin pulls to the side. "And the guys go along with this?" I can't imagine a bunch of tough bikers in costumes.

Isabella leans to me and whispers quietly. "Rock makes them. What Evelyn wants, Evelyn gets."

Evelyn shrugs. "What can I say? My man loves me. And it's so much fun to torture the guys."

Isabella whispers again, "She's got Rock wrapped around her finger."

"Let's just say I make him happy," Evelyn replies with a wink.

"Well, I don't know if Baja is planning on bringing me to the party, or if I'll even be here next week," I reply.

"Oh, please say you'll stay. I haven't seen a smile like the one Baja has on his face tonight since…" Isabella trails off, like she realizes she's about to say too much, and I can't help but wonder what it is she almost revealed.

Evelyn cuts in. "In a long time."

"I don't know…" I glance toward the bar. "I don't have a costume or anything."

"We were all planning on going to the Halloween store next week to pick them out. You'll have to come with us." Evelyn sounds insistent, and I really don't want to insult her.

"Well, if you really want me to, I suppose I could stay until the party."

"It's settled then," Evelyn says. "We'll shop, have lunch, make a whole day of it."

My eyes are drawn toward the bar. Baja stands next to Lola and Memphis. A young girl runs over, and Baja ruffles the hair on her head, then squats to tie her shoelaces. When he stands, she hugs his waist. A three-year-old boy walks over, and Memphis scoops him in his arms. Baja grins and tickles him.

Baja laughs, and Memphis passes the child to him.

Something about seeing Baja holding the little boy sends warmth through my heart. I've noticed the little ones in the clubhouse. How could I not? But I've tried to avoid looking at them. In this situation, in front of all these strangers, it's almost a protective measure I take. I know that every time I see children, I feel that hollow, empty feeling—that longing that eats at me until I can't stand it. But I can't look away from Baja, and seeing him smiling at the boy takes some of the sting out of the pain.

He'd be a good father. I can tell by the way he is with them.

I can tell by the way he is with me.

He may be a member of this club, and I know better than to sugarcoat any of what that means. But underneath, at his heart, I just know he's a good man.