Page 11 of Eagle

“Sure, sounds good.”

I wasn’t sure what I’d be walking into, but it turned out not to be as bad as I’d thought it would be. Everyone still had their clothes on except for a dancer doing her routine on the pole. She was in a barely-there bikini. The music was classic rock, and “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns and Roses was pounding through the room. As I followed Val, I noticed that another club was there. Dirty Bandits was the name on the back of their cuts.

We reached a table of women, and three men, one of which was huge. Eagle was also there, sitting between two girls, and I purposely ignored making eye contact with him. Val set the plate of sandwiches down in front of the man I assumed to be Bear.

“Hey, everyone, let me introduce you to Leona. Leona, this is Ella, Lola, Delta, and Jillian.” She went around the table and then came back to Bear. “This big brute is Bear. Eagle you know, and Mac.” She glanced back at Ella. “Where’s Wolfe?” She sat down next to Bear.

A chorus of “nice to meet you” sounded at the table at the same time. I kept the smile on my face. They seemed like nice people, and under normal circumstances I would have welcomed them. Though I was familiar with Georgetown, I hadn’t lived there for very long. Ron had moved here months before to start a new job at Bath’s Iron Works. I’d only joined him recently because I’d broken up with Johnny and had had nowhere to go.

“He’s in a powwow with Drake.”

“Drake’s the president of the Dirty Bandits,” Val explained.

“Nice to meet you, sweetheart.” Mac rose halfway from his chair and reached across the table to shake my hand. “Never seen you before.”

“I, ah, just moved to the area.” I sat down in the only vacant chair, next to Jillian, and set my plate on the table.

“What do you need to drink? I’ll get you something.”

Mac was a charmer, I recognized that immediately. He was handsome, too, with his dark eyes and long black hair. His features screamed that he was of Native American heritage.

“A beer would be nice please.”

He jumped up and disappeared.

“Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mac wait on a woman,” Jillian smiled.

I couldn’t help it. My eyes met Eagle’s. It was clear that he wasn’t happy I was there. “Maybe he knows how to treat a woman,” I said for his benefit. It was clear that my comment was meant for Eagle.

The girls laughed. Bear snorted loudly before taking a big bite of his sandwich. Val playfully punched him in the arm.

“You two know each other?” Lola asked after taking a drink of her beer.

“No,” Eagle said firmly.

“Yes,” I said at the same exact time.

“We’re not friends,” Eagle followed up with a frown.

“You kissed me!”

“To shut you up!”

“Okay, kids, time out!” Jillian cut in with amusement on her pretty face.

I looked at her, wondering why she wasn’t scratching my eyes out for kissing her boyfriend. She didn’t seem the least bit jealous. I felt embarrassed for letting anger get the best of me and forgetting that she was there. Eagle looked like he wanted to strangle me. The others at the table were amused at our banter. Thank God Mac returned with my beer at that moment.

I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, pretty lady,” he responded, sitting back down. “Maybe you’ll dance with me after you eat.”

“I’d love to.”

“Jesus.”

Eagle’s utterance drew my gaze to him. He’d lowered his head and was pinching the bridge of his nose, shaking his head and muttering something else that I couldn’t make out. I smiled, which he caught when he suddenly looked up again. Our eyes clashed, and he shot up out of his chair and left the table.

“Well, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but it’s intense.”

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