Page 15 of Warrant (The Berserker’s Rage MC: Wyoming Chapter #1)

Ainsley

T he next morning, I was getting dressed on my second day off and worrying over what I was wearing.

Not because I actually cared, but I was about to meet up with women.

Usually women cared about things like clothes and shoes.

I didn’t. But I did care about what they might care about, so then I did care about what clothes and shoes I was wearing.

Not confusing at all. I eyed my reflection in the mirror as I messed with my hair.

I sprayed some hairspray on the flyaways on the top of my head and smoothed them down.

It only took me a few minutes to walk to the nearby café and as soon as I stepped through the door I spotted Harlow.

She waved at me, then cocked her head. I was only about halfway across the room, when she exclaimed. “You’re glowing.”

Every eye in the café turned to me as my stride stuttered a little.

Good…Lord… Don’t blush. Don’t blush. Don’t blush.

There was an entire table full of women sitting with Harlow and they were all either smirking or outright laughing.

“Don’t mind her,” Melody, the local town judge said with a laugh. Thank God there was another familiar face here. Though I saw that Rae, the coroner/funeral home director was there, too.

“Hi,” I said, giving them both smiles as I slid into the empty chair next to Harlow.

“What?” Harlow asked, looking over at Melody.

“You don’t point that out,” Melody told her.

“Why not?” Harlow asked, looking around.

“Because if she’s not pregnant, then it means she’s probably been the recipient of some mind shattering orgasms,” a blonde woman pointed out.

My jaw dropped open. One, how the hell did she know that? And two, no. No two. I blew out a breath as the table erupted in laughter.

“That’s Kaisa,” Melody said, motioning to the blonde.

“She’s one of the county commissioners,” Harlow added.

“Oh, so I have you to thank for my job,” I said with a grin.

She laughed and waved a hand. “Trust me, we were desperate to get someone new in here.”

“And get Denison out,” a brunette sitting next to her added. “I’m Maya. Another commissioner. The third couldn’t make it today, but she’s hoping she’ll be available the next time we get together.”

“I’m Ramona, but everyone calls me Mona,” the last woman said with a friendly wave.

“She’s the local reporter,” Rae said, speaking up for the first time.

“If you can call it that,” Ramona said with a laugh. “It’s mostly covering the local kids’ sports and weather. Not a lot happens here in Sentinel.”

“Seems like enough since I’ve gotten here,” I commented.

“True,” Harlow said, though no one elaborated on the loss of the Rices’ son. The town was still trying to move on from that. It was going to take some time from what I could tell.

“So?” Kaisa asked me.

My brows shot up. “So what?”

“Is it orgasms or pregnancy responsible for your glow?”

“Wouldn’t one kind of lead to the other?” Maya asked.

I choked on nothing because my mouth had just gone completely dry. Warrant had worn a condom during our little… I didn’t even know what to call it. It’d been the best sex of my life. None of my previous partners could even compare.

Focus, Ains.

I tracked my cycle like a mad woman, so I knew there was no pregnancy to speak of, but to be safe I should get a damn test. Or five.

“You’ll get used to them,” Rae said, leaning over to pat my hand that was clutching the table for dear life.

“What?” Mona asked, with a twinkle in her eye. “We’ve just all heard the rumors that the new sheriff was spending an awful lot of time with a certain handsome biker.”

“That smile of his,” Harlow said, rolling her eyes and fanning herself.

I gaped at her. I’d seen her around Warrant a couple of times—mostly when he refused to leave my office and she’d stopped by—and she always seemed indifferent to him. “You think he’s hot?” I asked her in surprise.

“Whew,” she said, then winked at me. “Not that I’d fight you for him.” She eyed my arms. “I’d lose that in a heartbeat.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “Let me guess,” I said, looking over at Melody.

She gave me a sheepish grin. “All those men are drop dead gorgeous,” she admitted. “You can’t tell them that,” she continued with a roll of her eyes. “Their egos are all the size of Alaska.”

“Bigger,” Mona said with a snort as she picked up a Bloody Mary and took a sip.

The waiter came by and took our order and I settled back, realizing I was actually enjoying myself.

When Harlow had first mentioned meeting for brunch, I’d cringed.

It was the last thing I wanted to do. But this was exactly what I needed.

Women I could connect with and hopefully we’d all end up being friends.

“What is it about bad boys, though?” Kaisa asked. “Put a cut on a man and suddenly he’s ten times hotter than he was before.”

“It’s the fact that they don’t care about rules,” Rae said. Her voice was soft, so everyone at the table stopped talking and focused on her. “You know they’ll destroy anything in their way to get to you if you’re in danger.” She gave us all a sheepish smile. “The good ones anyway.”

“There’re good bad boys?” I asked, cocking my head. “In my line of work the bad boys end up in jail and aren’t worth much.”

“That’s because those aren’t the good ones,” she said with a shake of her head. Her hair was as dark black as mine, though it had a bit of a wave to it. “There’s a difference.”

“Hmmmm,” I replied.

“Warrant is a good bad boy,” she continued. “He’d protect you from anything.”

“Wouldn’t beat you,” Harlow added. “No way Cypher would ever let a woman beater into his organization… Either of them. He has morals.”

“That’s it,” Kaisa said, snapping her fingers. “They have their own moral code. It’s different from most of society, but it’s there.”

“They protect the innocent,” Mona added. “Those guys have done so much for this town, and others.”

“But they don’t really…abide by the law,” Kaisa added with a look in my direction. “Not all the time anyway. At least, if they do follow the law it’s not on purpose.”

That was exactly why I’d made it clear to Warrant that we couldn’t go anywhere.

And there was no way I could keep sleeping with him and not catch feelings.

A few more orgasms like those he gave me yesterday and I’d be willing to throw all my beliefs and convictions out the damn window.

The man had a tongue that was to die for…

How could I have a relationship with a man who didn’t exactly follow the law?

Well, and keep my job and reputation at said job intact?

It wasn’t possible. So putting an end to it all was my only choice.

The hard part was I really liked him. He was funny, thoughtful, and kind.

The girls were right; he was a good one.

Even if he might also be the bad boy type.

Then I remembered the women saying that they’d already heard I’d been spending time with him. I cringed at the thought of people gossiping about me. I could only hope I hadn’t already done too much damage to my reputation. As the new sheriff I couldn’t afford to be the center of speculation.

“Don’t worry,” Harlow told me.

I arched a brow at her when she didn’t say anything else.

“Everyone here in Sentinel knows the Berserker’s Rage,” Rae continued when Harlow didn’t. “We love them.”

“Well, those of us who are law-abiding citizens love them,” Melody added. “The criminals?”

“Not so much,” Mona tacked on with a laugh.

“Before you came along, the club was the only thing that was really able to keep the low-lifes under control,” Kaisa explained.

“Denison never wanted to do any paperwork, so he kept his deputies busy doing anything except their real jobs. The deputies hated it. The town hated it. Denison and the riff raff loved it.”

“That’s bullshit,” I snapped, then apologized to the waiter—who looked more than mildly startled at my outburst as he set plates down in front of us. I waited until he left. “I seriously hope he doesn’t plan to come back after his tropical vacation.”

“Doubt he will,” Harlow said, digging into her pancakes. “He knows no one here likes him.”

“Too big of an ego,” Rae said with a soft shake of her head. “He won’t be able to handle seeing someone else in charge. Even though he did a horrible job.”

“Not to mention being replaced by a woman?” Melody said with a snort.

Kaisa grinned. “I would’ve given anything to be a fly on the wall when he found out you were going to be his replacement.”

Mona and Kaisa broke into laughter. “I bet he lost it,” Mona said.

“We’re so glad you’re here,” Harlow said, taking a breath from inhaling pancakes.

“Yeah,” was chorused from around the table.

“And not just because you’re a much better sheriff,” Rae said with such sweet sincerity I was worried I might get emotional. “We’re just happy to have you here with us.”

The girl was a toothache waiting to happen. No wonder, despite her emo look, this group of women had taken her in. She had to be the kindest person I’d met. Ever.

“Thanks,” I said, swallowing hard. This was what I’d been missing. Most of the friends I’d grown up with had moved away once we graduated high school. That was what tended to happen in smaller towns. Those who stayed on often were left with no one of their own age to socialize with.

These women were all around my age and I had a feeling we were going to have a lot in common.

Somehow, I’d managed to find myself a group of friends.

I knew I had Harlow to thank for that. I’d been on my own for so long there was no way I’d have gone searching for companionship.

Harlow had sort of just forced her way into my life. Sort of like a certain biker had.

Something told me that despite the amount of trouble both would get me into, I was going to enjoy the ride.