Excerpt of Hard Ride by Opal Carew

Liv sipped her drink as she glanced around the bar, her heartbeat racing. Carl said he would meet her here at midnight and it was now close to one. She glanced toward the bar and the big, scary-looking tattooed guy who kept staring at her.

He saw her glancing his way and smiled, then stood up and started walking toward her table.

She turned away, keeping him in her peripheral vision, hoping he would be discouraged by her lack of interest. But no such luck. He grabbed one of the empty chairs at her table and turned it around, then sat down on it backward.

“Hey, babe. You look pretty lonely sitting here all by yourself.”

She turned to face him. His dark, unsettling gaze locked on her.

“A pretty little lady like you shouldn’t be all alone. Me and my men would be happy to offer our company.”

The scraping of other chairs drew her attention as three other guys sat down. They plunked their half-drunk beer bottles on the table.

“I’m not alone. I’m meeting someone here,” she said.

“ Really?” He glanced around. “I don’t see no one.” He glanced at the burly bearded guy to his left. “Hawg, do you see anyone?”

Hawg shook his head. “No, sir, Crow, I don’t see no one.”

Crow leaned close to her, his sour beer breath enough to make her want to vomit. “I think maybe you’re lyin’ to us. You bin sittin’ here for near an hour and no one’s come by.” He scratched his raspy chin and glanced at the others. “I think maybe the lady thinks she’s too good for us.”

“I think you’re right, Crow,” the tall man who sat across the table from him said. He had a ring in his nose and a tattoo along each side of his neck.

“Hey, leave the woman alone or I’m callin’ the cops again.”

Liv glanced up thankfully at the bartender, who’d stepped to her rescue.

“Danny, why don’t you just stay out of it. It’s no skin off your nose if—”

“Shut it, Crow,” Danny said, cutting off his words. “If you don’t want me banning you from here for good, then get lost. You’re cut off anyway.”

Crow scowled, but pushed himself to his feet. “Whatever.”

The others followed him to the door and they left.

“Look,” Danny the bartender said, “I don’t need you coming in here, causing trouble with my regulars.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

His gaze slid down her body, then back up, and he harrumphed. “Yeah, right.” Then he turned and walked away.

Anger seethed through her. All she did was sit in a bar and be female and she was blamed for the actions of those oafs?

She’d long ago realized that life wasn’t fair, but she hated being reminded of it.

She settled the bill and stood up.

Shock stared across the bar at the woman sitting alone at the table. She had big eyes, a small, heart- shaped mouth, and honey-blonde hair that floated in waves over her shoulders.

“Ah, f**k,” he said as recognition hit him.

Wild Card glanced around from his conversation with Magic and Dom. “What is it?”

“I know that woman,” he said. And, as usual, she was somewhere she shouldn’t be, probably causing all kinds of trouble.

He’d watched as the men approached the single woman sitting at the table, ready to lurch to her aid. She clearly hadn’t wanted their attention, but Danny had stepped in before things had gone too far.

If Shock had known it was Liv, though, he would have been at her side in the blink of an eye. As much as he resented her rejection in college, it didn’t change the intense protectiveness he’d always felt for her.

She stood up and headed for the door.

“Guys, let’s go,” Shock said.

“I’m not finished with my beer,” Magic complained.

“Now,” Shock said.

Magic grumbled, but tipped back his bottle and downed what was left. So did Wild Card and Dom, then all of them stood and followed Shock out the back door, to where their bikes were parked.

Once out on the street, which was pretty deserted at this time of night, Liv started walking down the road. She wanted to grab a cab, but there were no cars at all on this road right now. After a few minutes of walking, heading toward a busier street, she started to get nervous. It was at times like this she wished she still had her car, but with the drain on her finances, it was a luxury she could no longer afford.

There were some men hanging out on the corner ahead. Rough-looking men. Maybe she should go back inside and have the bartender call her a cab.

She turned and started to walk back, but as she got close to the bar, a few more rough-looking types exited the bar and started walking toward her. Their gazes locked on her.

Her stomach clenched and a chill quivered through her.

Damn Carl for leaving her stranded here. Ordinarily, she would never come to a place like this, especially alone, but Carl had insisted the only time he could meet her was after his shift as a bouncer at a nearby bar.

She turned down an alley beside her. She was pretty sure it led to the next block and she could probably catch a cab there. Or at least slip into the all-night diner she’d seen on the way here this evening.

But as she walked down the dimly lit alleyway, she wondered if she’d made a grave mistake. She couldn’t see very far ahead, but shouldn’t she see streetlights from the next block? Or headlights of cars driving by?

She heard a sound behind her and glanced over her shoulder as she picked up her pace. Her breath caught at the shadowy shapes of three men behind her. She lurched forward and ran smack into a big, solid body. She gasped as she pushed herself back from a man with a broad, muscular chest and thick, tattooed arms.

Oh, God, the guy from the bar.

She gazed up at him, expecting to see the leering face of the man called Crow, but her eyes widened. In the dim light of the alley, she couldn’t make out much of his face, but this tall stranger wasn’t Crow or any of the men who’d been with him.

He grasped her arms and propelled her backward toward the building, then she felt the brick wall at her back. All she could see of his face was the steely glint of his eyes. Her heart pounded.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to be walking through a dark alley alone at night?” His words came out low and fierce.

Tears threatened at the dire situation she found herself in, but something about his voice nagged at her. There was something about it that was . . . familiar.

He leaned in closer. “But you always were lacking in common sense.”

Shock vaulted through her. That was it. That voice unmistakably belonged to—

“Devin?”