Fuck.

“Son of a bitch. AJ Dunn. I thought you were dead or in prison.”

AJ flipped around on the bar stool, then slid off and enveloped Teresa’s brother Joey in a bear hug. “You asshole. I thought the same about you. I even brought flowers for your grave.”

Joey Oliveri took a step back and smirked. “Prick. What the hell are you doing here?”

“Riding through. Teresa’s been filling me in on what’s been going on around here since I’ve been gone. I hear you’ve done well.”

“Yeah. Pretty good.”

“This is my friend Pax. Pax, this is my former best friend Joey.”

Joey snorted and shook Pax’s hand. “Any friend of AJ’s should have his head examined.”

Pax laughed. “I hear you. But somebody has to look after him. Nice to meet you.”

“You’ve gained weight,” AJ said, looking over Joey’s stomach. “Too much pasta?”

“You know how Italians are. We can’t resist spaghetti.”

“Doesn’t seem to have affected Teresa any.”

“She burns off calories working this bar. Me, I just sit on my ass and drink beer and ride.” Joey patted his protruding belly.

Joey and Teresa were twins, though you couldn’t tell it by looking at them. Same hair and eye color, and that’s where the similarities ended. Where Teresa was slender, Joey was filled out all over, and not all of it was muscle. But then again he’d always been a little on the heavy side, and the guy liked his beer.

“So what is this I hear about you leading a club?”

Joey grinned. “Yeah. Imagine that, me at the head of the Thorns. Pretty cool, huh?”

“It is. Teresa told me you have some trouble with a rival gang.”

Joey narrowed his gaze. “Yeah. The Fists are in our business, trying to take over our territory.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re dirty motherfucking drug runners and they want some of the action here.”

AJ stilled. “You aren’t...”

“Nah. No illegal stuff here. We keep it clean and have a good relationship with the law. But our presence keeps the Fists from gaining control in this part of the county, and they see it as a prime opportunity to expand their drug distribution operation. Plus we’re situated near the river, which is good for shipping. We have the best territory and the Fists know it. They’ve wanted it for a while now, but they’re not going to get it as long as the Thorns are here.”

AJ didn’t like the way that sounded. “You need to be careful. Some of these gangs will stop at nothing to get what they want.”

Joey nudged AJ on the arm. “I’m not a moron. I’ve got it covered.”

“You and your guys armed?”

Joey nodded. “We’ll use ’em if we have to. We protect what’s ours.”

Pax slanted his gaze at AJ, a look of concern of his face.

Yeah, AJ knew. In their line of work with the Wild Riders they’d infiltrated plenty of gangs looking to distribute anything from drugs to guns. And once these gangs wanted something, they’d let nothing stop them, including people.

“So what are you up to these days, AJ?”

AJ slid his gaze to Pax, then back to Joey and shrugged. “Nothing much. Odd jobs here and there. Pax and I just ride.”

“Yeah? Thinking about settling back here in town again?”

AJ noticed Teresa watching him intently. “No. Just passing through.”

Teresa averted her gaze and moved down the bar. AJ wondered what her life was like now. Was she married? Did she have kids?

“Teresa’s done well. I can’t believe she bought this place.”

Joey grinned. “Yeah. She’s always been damn smart. Smarter than me, that’s for sure. When Todd got out, she stepped in and scooped this place up, cleaned it up, hired the sexy bartenders, and bikers started coming in here by the hundreds. She made enough money to expand and it’s still going strong.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” He hesitated, but something drove him to know. “She ever settle down and get married, have any rug rats?”

“You want to know about my personal life, AJ, why don’t you ask me directly?”

AJ did a half turn on the bar stool to face Teresa, hadn’t realized she’d moved back into earshot again. Shit. “Just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

“I’ve always been okay. Since the day you left ten years ago, I’ve been just fine. I didn’t need you then and I don’t need you now, so you can quit worrying about me.”

TWO

TERESA WANTED TO WINCE, TO TAKE BACK WHAT SHE’D JUST said. She’d wanted to be cool and calm and unaffected by AJ, not take a bite out of him with her words. She’d wanted him to see her as a success, a woman who met life on her own terms, a woman who didn’t need a man—especially him—to be happy. Because, dammit, she was happy. Most days.

She’d never expected to see AJ again, figured when he left town all those years ago that was it, the end. When she looked up to see him at her bar tonight, her heart had done a flip-flop, her pulse double-timing it so fast she’d gotten dizzy. For years after he’d left she’d imagined what it would be like if she ever saw him again, had played the scenario over and over again in her mind. And each year that went by she thought of him less and less, until finally he’d disappeared from her thoughts. He was the past and he was supposed to stay there. Until tonight, when he showed up again, and everything they’d ever been to each other came rushing back, bringing with it a tidal wave of emotion.

But she could handle it. She wasn’t eighteen anymore and a lot had happened in the ten years since they’d last seen each other. What they’d meant to each other back then meant nothing now. She could smile and be nice to him and eventually he’d leave and everything would go back to the way it was.

She’d been doing just fine until she overheard AJ asking Joey about her, asking if she’d ever gotten married or had kids. Pain had ripped her inside and out, just like it always did when someone mentioned marriage and children, normal things a woman her age should be experiencing. Except there was nothing normal about her life. It brought back memories she fought hard to keep buried.

She pinned AJ with a hard stare, making it clear she didn’t appreciate the end run.

“Sorry,” AJ said. “I was just curious.”

“Not married. No kids. Satisfy your curiosity?”

He didn’t answer, just looked at her with sadness and regret in his storm gray eyes. She didn’t want his regrets, didn’t want to remember how simple and beautiful her life had been when he’d been in it, and how ugly it had gotten after he’d left.

“I didn’t mean to pry. It’s been a long time, Teresa. You look good.”

“She looks better than good,” Pax said, focusing a smile on Teresa. “She’s damn fine.”

Tingles skittered up her spine at the way AJ’s friend Pax looked at her. It had been a long time since she’d felt . . . anything. Pax didn’t know her past, didn’t know what had happened to her. He didn’t have preconceived notions, so he couldn’t have pity or remorse or revulsion. He just saw her as a woman. A desirable woman. She liked that look in his dark eyes. She liked the way he looked, period, with his spiked dark blond hair and his chiseled features and goatee. He was every inch a rugged, sexy biker. Who didn’t know a damn thing about her.

She winked at him, surprised to feel a little rusty in the flirting department. She flirted with her customers all the time, but that was meaningless. This . . . wasn’t. It felt like an awakening, which shocked her. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“I’ll bet you get them all the time.”

“I might. But I don’t necessarily pay attention to all of them. Or any of them.”

“Can’t say I’m unhappy to hear that, as long as you pay attention to me.” Pax’s gaze was intense. A woman could get lost in those whiskey-colored eyes. He could very well make a woman believe she was the only one for him.

“He’s full of shit, you know.”

Her gaze skirted to AJ, then back to Pax, and she lifted her lips. “I don’t doubt that for a second.”

“I’m crushed,” Pax said. “And AJ lies.”

“I don’t doubt that, either. And I can already tell you two are dangerous together.”

“Darlin’, you have no idea.” Pax picked up her hand and electricity sizzled up her arm. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of her wrist, then folded her hand between both of his very large ones.

Her belly fluttered, and that long-dormant area between her thighs sprang to life and dampened.

I’ll be damned. She might not be dead down there after all. That was the first honest sexual response she’d had since . . .

She slid her hand from Pax’s. “I have work, and playing with you boys isn’t on my list of things to do.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” AJ said.

That was too bad. Having AJ back in town was bad enough. Even worse would be dredging up memories of what she’d once had . . . what they’d once had. Having Pax with him was a double whammy of testosterone and chemistry that had slammed into her and gotten her attention despite running around tending to her customers and taking care of business.

And if it happened while she was 90 percent distracted, what would happen if she gave them her undivided attention?

Scary. And interesting, too. She really hoped they’d decide to hightail it out of town before her turn on top of the bar tonight.

PAX WATCHED TERESA TEND BAR. SHE SEEMED TO ENJOY HER customers, gave them her attention, laughed with the other bartenders.

That laugh—wow. It was full-on throaty and loud, as if she enjoyed life. And Pax liked a woman with passion.

But there was also something guarded about her, a shadow that crossed over her face in the midst of those happy moments, after she turned away and she thought no one was looking. Pax was always looking. He didn’t know what had put that shadow on her face. Maybe AJ had.

And maybe it was none of his goddamn business. They were just passing through. Teresa was part of AJ’s past, not part of their future. Playing with and sharing women was a fun way to pass the time for Pax and AJ, but Pax didn’t think this woman would be one AJ would want to share.

But Pax sure would. Her first smile had struck the match and lit his fire. Too bad she was AJ’s old flame, the one he’d told Pax about, the one woman AJ’d had real feelings for.

And AJ didn’t get “feelings” for women any more than Pax did. He liked them and respected them just fine, treated them all good. They both did. But loving them? Pax didn’t do the love thing. He enjoyed his freewheeling lifestyle way too much to fall in love with one woman. Not when there were so many women available. Monogamy just wasn’t his style, which was probably why he enjoyed sharing women with AJ. Less likely to fall in love with someone—or have a woman think you were going to go one-on-one with her—if you were doing two-on-one.

But he wasn’t going to get to do two-on-one with Teresa, so he settled against the bar and just watched her, his gaze flitting to the two other bartenders. They were fine, too. One with short brown hair and a full curvy body, the other a curly headed blonde with big tits and a low-cut shirt that clung to those babies like she was damn proud of them. The blonde gave Pax the once-over . . . more than once.

But Pax’s attention kept moving to Teresa, watching her work the bar, her brows knit in concentration as she poured shots or popped open the tops of beer bottles. She laughed with her customers, was good-natured about it when she had to push away guys who got too close, moved in a rhythm that said she was comfortable with who she was. And okay, he liked watching her h*ps move, the easy way she swayed across the floor. He liked her ass and the sweet spot where her jeans met the skin of her lower back, that pretty tattoo there where he’d like to press his lips.

His jeans tightened as his c**k twitched to life.

Down, boy. He took a long cold swig of beer to douse the heat.

“Don’t even think about it, man. We’re not going there.”

He slid his glance over to AJ and grinned. “I know we’re not going there. But I’m still going to think about it.”

“Yeah,” AJ said, shifting his attention to Teresa. “Me, too. But too much history there. It wouldn’t work.”

“Too bad. Because she is sweet.”

“That’s the problem. Too sweet for you and me.”

Just then the sounds of women squealing and men hollering, clapping and catcalling drove Pax’s attention to the bar, where the beer bottles were being cleared from one end to the other. A new song came up, something sexy with a hard rocking beat, and the blonde climbed up onto the cleared-off bar top and sauntered down to the end, swiveling her h*ps to the music. As soon as the beat picked up, she headed their way.

The bar soon crowded in with guys pressing up to see the blonde dance in her cutoff denim shorts and cowboy boots, her feet stomping on the scarred wood. She shimmied down to a squatting position, then back up again.

The girl could move her ass. She moved from one end of that bar to another, leaving dragging tongues in her wake as she slid those tanned legs out and shook her ass in front of some hungry faces. Then she jumped off the bar.

And Teresa jumped up.

Though the music was deafening and the noise of the other bikers clapping and shouting around them drowned out just about everything, Pax was sure he could hear AJ’s hard swallow as Teresa made her way down to the other end of the bar.