The Biker's Fate Chapter 181

Blurb

Kimberly Church has led a privileged, but tortured life. In an effort to beat back her demons, she breaks away from her villainous family and creates a stable and safe life for herself, shutting all but her best friend out.

Aidan "Knight" Quinn is a well-respected and deeply rooted soldier in the Dogs of Fire Motorcycle Club. His dedication to helping animals leads him to a career as a veterinarian, but meeting the gorgeous and wholly unattainable friend of one of his brothers, threatens to distract him from his current path. Not realizing the dangers that truly lie ahead, he pursues her with an intense passion that surprises even him.

When Kim's deep dark secret comes back to haunt her, will she trust Knight enough to let him save her?

Will Knight be able to beat back the biggest demon of all in order to save Kim's sanity, but most importantly, her life?

Kim

Two years ago(ish)...

ABOUT A WEEK ago my best friend Danielle called to tell me she'd met her dream man. The same dream man who'd just blown up girls' night. Needless to say, I was still trying to decide how I felt about Danielle's new guy, Austin 'Booker' Carver. He was an officer in the Dogs of Fire Motorcycle Club, and although his usual dress was one of jeans, cut, and motorcycle boots, tonight he and his friend wore Armani suits.

Danielle Harris had been my best friend for well over ten years. She was the only person on earth who knew everything about me... and I mean everything. Her family had bailed me out of more situations than I could count, and always made me feel like I was part of their family.

The night started off great. Dani and I were throwing back margaritas and relaxing at one of the most exclusive clubs in Portland. Blush was virtually impossible to get into, but we'd somehow managed to get past the bouncers at the front door. Unfortunately, a couple of Class A douchebags slithered up to our table and refused to leave us alone. This prompted Booker and his biker buddy Mack to "rescue" us. It would have been nice if they'd just removed the douchebags and let us get back to our girl-time, but Booker had to pull the badass card and bust up our night.

That was about an hour ago and Booker's need to play Tarzan now left me seated beside the tall, built, blond piece of deliciousness, Logan 'Mack' Reed, in his very well-equipped BMW, on my way home. I didn't realize bikers owned anything other than Harleys. Of course, I also didn't realize they wore Armani suits (which Mack was certainly rocking), so perhaps my idea of a biker was incorrect.

I knew Mack... sort of. He occasionally came into the bar where I worked, to grab a bite to eat or talk to my boss. I'd never had a conversation with him, just a smile from afar. He was gorgeous, yes, but totally not my type. Don't get me wrong, I was all over tall and built, but I usually preferred my studs dark-haired.

"How pissed is Booker?" I asked Mack as we drove. I was concerned for Dani. She was a little naive, very sweet, and had just gone through a nasty break-up with an asshole who stole all her money, so she was extremely vulnerable. I noticed Booker was somewhat monosyllabic and difficult to read, but he was great at grunting, which only worried me more.

"He's more concerned than pissed," Mack offered.

"He looked way more pissed than concerned," I countered.

"Babe, your girl's in good hands with my brother. He won't hurt her."

Dani had informed me that the club members called each other 'brother,' even though they weren't related, but apparently, a few were actually blood. How that didn't get confusing, I had no idea.

"He better not hurt her," I said. "She's fragile."

"And he's protective. He wasn't happy you were even there to begin with."

"Yeah, I was a little surprised we got in."

Mack chuckled. "You got in because Booker let you in. We've been watching from the second you showed your IDs."

"Figures." I rolled my eyes. "What about you?"

He grinned. "I'm protective as well."

"Yeah, I kind of picked up on that." I laughed. "But that's not what I meant."

"I'm neither pissed nor concerned."

"Well, that's good to know, I guess."

We pulled up at a red light and he asked, "You wanna grab a drink somewhere?"

"I was just doing that with Dani," I pointed out. "You and Booker kind of blew that up."

He nodded. "True, but I figured since I interrupted your night, we could go somewhere else... a little more fun than the places we work."

"As gorgeous as you are, Mack, I'm thinking the two of us wouldn't be a good idea."

"Whoa babe, you're rushin' things a bit, huh?"

I snorted out a chuckle at his joke.

The light turned green and Mack grinned as we moved ahead. "What I'm suggestin' has nothin' to do with sex."

"Hmm," I murmured as I cocked my head. "You have me intrigued."

Mack chuckled. "Trust me. I know how to entertain, even platonically."

"Yeah? Prove it."

Within minutes, Mack pulled up in front of a non-descript building with an old west feel (leading me to believe he wasn't planning on taking 'no' for an answer). He took my hand and guided me to the entrance and into... a honky-tonk. I shook my head and frowned over at him. "You're joking."

"Trust me."

"No way."

He grinned. "Seriously, trust me."

"Ohmigod," I groaned. "I hate country."

He chuckled and greeted the bouncer who waved us in without collecting the cover. We slipped through the darkened room and I grasped for Mack's hand, as if it could protect me from the grating jingle of auto-tuned country music, which was far too loud for my liking.