Free Petals and Chrome: A Biker Erotic Romance (Flowers of Hell MC) by Alicia Pierce Page B

so?” the old man mumbled, nodding to himself. His fingers looked like gnarled old branches, and wiry white hairs sprouted in patches from his thin scraggy throat, where he’d obviously forgotten to shave.  
    “Is there anything fun to do around here?” Julie chipped in.  
    “What kind of fun?” the old man said.  
    “I don’t know,” Dave said. “Maybe a bar or a restaurant or something?”  
    “Well …” he said, not looking any of us quite in the eye, his tongue moistening his thin, chapped lips before continuing, “there’s the roadhouse back about a mile down the way. But I don’t suggest you kids go down there.”
    At the word roadhouse, I felt something tighten in my chest.  
    “Why not?” I asked eagerly, my curiosity suddenly piqued by the mention of this place.  
    “Well, let’s just say that they don’t take kindly to kids like you there,” the old man said, grinning for the first time since we’d stepped into his cabin, his teeth a rotten nicotine yellow color.  
    “Thanks for the advice,” James said, pocketing the change and leading us all back out into the muggy evening of the RV park.  
    “Well, I guess that’s that then?” Dave chipped in. “Another night of cards in the RV it is!”
    “Let’s go to the roadhouse,” I said, freezing in my tracks.  
    The others all stopped walking too, and turned to face me, their eyebrows raised.  
    “Rose, you can’t be serious,” James said sternly. “You heard what that old guy said. It sounds really fucking dangerous there.”  
    “Fine,” I said, hearing my own voice coming out of my mouth in a shaky tremble of nerves and excitement, “then don’t come with me.” I could feel my heart absolutely pounding as I spoke, realizing right there and then that I was going to go to that bar tonight, no matter what.  
    “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” James said, holding his head in his hands. “You’re being serious, aren’t you?”
    “Deadly serious,” I snapped back. “I’ve been fucking bored all holiday, James, in case you hadn’t noticed. And tonight, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to that bar.”  
    I started walking, pushing past the three of them and leading the way back to the RV. I could hear them whispering behind me, Dave murmuring something in agreement with James, and Julie telling him not to worry, and that she’d have a go at trying to talk me out of it.  
    Fat chance! I thought.  
    My mind was made up.
    I was going to that roadhouse tonight and there was nothing anyone could do to stop me.  

    §

    “So, you’re actually serious about this?” James asked, a little while later, after I’d had a shower and put on fresh clothes. I was dressed in a simple white cotton sundress and my scruffy old Cons, and I’d done my eyes in thick black mascara, finishing things off with a liberal amount of my deepest red lipstick. I gave myself a final pout in my compact mirror, then turned to face him.  
    “I’m going to that bar, James,” I said, trying to keep my voice as cool and level as I could, not wanting to betray just how nervous I secretly was about my new plan. “You can come with me if you like…”  
    I watched his face as he thought this offer over, his brow furrowing and his teeth chewing, a slight blush rising to his pale cheeks. His Adam’s apple bobbed wildly in his thin neck as he swallowed back his nerves in an audible gulp.  
    “Fine,” he said. “Give me a minute to get ready.”  
    “How about you two?” I asked, turning to Dave and Julie, who’d started a listless game of cards over at the breakfast nook, their cups of tea steaming in little red travel beakers.  
    “No thanks,” Julie said, smiling a tight, thin-lipped smile at me.
    “Yeah, think we’re gonna have an early night,” Dave said. “But you guys have fun…”  
    James shot me an icy look. I could tell he was trying to call my bluff; he still didn’t think I was actually going to go through with my