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Marcus stared down into the glass of whiskey sitting in front of him on the table as his club partied around him. It was the usual Friday night revelry, another long week in the books, but he wasn't feeling celebratory at all. His mind, as it had been for the better part of a week, was on Dani. He grinned and shook his head as the image of her violet eyes sparkling with humor danced through his brain.
How one small woman, whom he had only met twice now and not for more than a few minutes, could have embedded herself into his thoughts so deeply, he'd never know, but she had, and he couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to be important to him. His grin turned into a smile as he remembered how right it felt to have her on his bike, pressed up against him.
His smile dropped and he sighed heavily as he remembered what Trixie had said to him the last time they had met. He knew without her having to remind him that it would be next to impossible to have Dani as his. Even though their clubs were now allies, there was a lot of water under that bridge and he was sure that her brother would take offense to her having a relationship with a Mayan, not to mention the president of the club.
He would just have to wait and see what the fates had in store for Dani and himself.
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"Dani! Earth to Dani!"
Dani turned her head and blinked at Trixie, who was sitting beside her on one of the couches in the clubhouse. "I'm sorry, what?"
Trixie rolled her eyes and shook her head as she grinned at the other woman. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you? You're a million miles away. What are you thinking about?"
Dani blushed and shook her head. There was no way that she would tell Trixie that she had been thinking about Marcus Alvarez. She'd been doing that a lot lately, but she didn't really understand why. She wasn't new to the world after all, and she'd certainly seen good looking men before. There was just something about the club president that held her interest. He oozed power and confidence like he had born into the role of leader. Some men had greatness thrust upon him, but he seemed like the type that wore it with pride.
She shrugged and grinned. "Nothing much, really. What was it that you were saying?"
Trixie just grinned at her like she knew something that Dani didn't. "I had asked you how you ended up here in Charming?"
Harmony nudged Dani from her other side. "Yeah, I've been wondering about that too. Not that we aren't glad that you're here, but we're just curious."
Dani took a deep breath and slowly let it out, deciding that she would be honest with them about her reasons for moving to Charming. Of course, that didn't mean that she couldn't leave a few things out.
"Well, you know that I was working for an accountant." When the other women nodded, she continued. "I was also running bootleg booze to Kentucky on the weekends. Some of the moonshiners took offense to me bringing more alcohol into the state, so I came out here for a new view."
Harmony chuckled as Tig and Opie sat down in chairs by them. Her dad cocked a brow and grinned at Dani. "I didn't think bootlegging was still a thing."
Dani chuckled and nodded. "Oh yeah. See, in Kentucky, there are still dry counties where you can't buy alcohol." She shrugged. "I would transport whiskey and beer from Tennessee into the dry counties and sell it."
Opie chuckled and shook his head. "I'm guessing that the shiners felt that you were taking away from their monopoly."
Dani smirked. "You guess correctly." She sighed, shaking her head. "It's a real shame too. I made really good money doing that on the side."
Juice snorted as he came to stand beside Tig, holding Philip in his arms. "Yeah, and could have had your ass thrown in prison for trafficking."
Dani waved a dismissive hand at him, making the other women laugh. "Yeah, well, that didn't happen, so why dwell on it?" She winked at her younger brother as he handed her the baby. "Besides, no police cruiser could catch my Charger."
Tig and Opie laughed as Trixie nudged her and leaned in closer. "You sure nothing's on your mind? Or nobody?"
Dani shot her a look and shook her head. "Wouldn't matter if there was."
Trixie snorted. "Of course, it matters. He seems interested in you too."
Dani shook her head. "Don't. Before you even get started, don't. I'm not interested in romance right now."
Trixie just grinned and shrugged. If Dani had known her better, she'd know that just telling Trixie not to do something never ended well. She did what she pleased, and usually, the way to get something done was to tell her not to do it.