“Dammit, do you want to go or not?”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll go get dressed.” She took his hand. “Come help me pick out something.”

Ice reluctantly followed her into her bedroom, wishing he could go back to bed and start the day over because he had a feeling this one wasn’t going to end well.

Grace opened her closet, looking at him eagerly. “Pick something out for me. I’ll wear anything you want me to.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, just don’t make me look silly.” She eyed him suspiciously.

Ice looked at the rows and rows of clothes in her walk-in closet. He opened and closed several of her built-in drawers before finding her jean drawer. He pulled out her oldest pair and handed them to her. Then he went to another row of drawers. Opening the first one, he stared down in shock. His hand reached in, coming out with a handful of silky underwear.

“What in the fuck are these?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen women’s underwear before?” she snapped.

“I have. I just want to know why I haven’t seen you in any of these.” He hooked his finger through a sheer black thong.

“My mother likes to buy me clothes. She bought all those.”

Ice tossed the thong to her. “I hate to tell you this, baby, but your mom’s got better taste in underwear than you do.”

He opened another drawer, pulling out a miniscule, silky grey negligee. “I’m throwing away those ugly pajamas of yours.” He put the negligee back in the drawer and was about to close it when he saw a pale pink camisole.

“This is how you wear pink,” he said appreciably, putting it on top of the clothes she was holding.

“Perhaps this was a bad idea.”

Ice ignored her, closing the drawer and opening another. He searched through it and another before he pulled out a white crocheted sweater with rhinestones for buttons. He handed that over, as well.

“You got any boots?” he asked, going to stand in front of her shoe organizer.

“Of course.” She showed him the three pairs of boots.

“You pick these out?”

“Yes.”

“I can tell.” He picked one pair out. “These will have to do.”

Grace was trying really hard not to become angry. This would technically be their first date night out with his friends, and she didn’t want him to change his mind about taking her.

“Get dressed. We need to ride,” Ice ordered.

“Yes, Sir,” Grace smarted off, going into her bathroom to change.

She made a quick call to ask CeCe to check on her dogs later in the evening. After she agreed, Grace hurriedly dressed, not putting it past Ice to leave her behind.

After she was dressed, Ice rushed her out the door, barely giving her enough time to say goodbye to her pets and set the alarm.

The three-hour drive was miserable. The first hour was fun, the second it became boring, and the third was painful on her butt. After that, she was simply miserable. When they arrived at his clubhouse in Queen City, it was beginning to get dark. After Ice parked, the loud, beating music from inside could be heard. There was something inherently dangerous about the building with so many motorcycles sitting out front.

“I see they already started.”

“We wouldn’t have been so late if you hadn’t stopped and bought me a helmet. I feel as if my head is going to fall off my shoulders. I don’t know why you made me wear one tonight; you haven’t before,” she complained.

“Because there’s a difference between driving around your town at slow speed and a long ride where we’re hauling ass,” Ice answered curtly.

Grace set the helmet down on his motorcycle. The evening already wasn’t going as she’d planned. Ice didn’t seem happy she was there at all.

“Let’s go in.” Grace followed him.

When he reached the door, he paused, looking at her with a hard expression.

“No matter what you see inside, you’re not going to stop seeing me. I won’t let you.”

Grace was taken aback by his words, and her doubts about why he didn’t want her there disappeared. He didn’t want her to see what his life was like here then change her mind about seeing him.

When Grace finally nodded, Ice opened the door, taking her hand as they went inside.

To say Grace received a culture shock was putting it mildly. Ice had told the truth when he’d said his friends got wild when they partied.

The huge room was filled with men and women. There was a bar on one side of the room with a pool table in the center and another farther back. There were also several chairs and assorted furniture, and Grace didn’t want to guess how old they were.

“Ice, where you been?” Max came up to them, smacking Ice on the back. He was holding a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

He stared at her hard for a minute. “Is that Ms. Andrews?”

“Hi, Max,” Grace greeted him, smiling. She felt the eyes of everyone on them.

“Let’s get a beer.”

They went to the bar where a friendly brunette was serving drinks.

“What can I get you, Ice?”

“Get us a couple of beers. Crush, this is Grace.”

“Hi, Grace. So, you’re the one keeping Ice busy these days?” She reached under the counter and pulled out a couple of beers.

“I hope so,” she said, taking one of the beers then looking around the room.

“Crush, take care of her for me for a few minutes. I want to go see Stump.”

“He’s in the back bedroom with Rave.” Crush laughed.

Ice turned to her. “Stay here with Crush. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, keeping her doubts to herself.

“Don’t look so scared. We don’t bite.” Crush laughed after Ice left. “Most of us are harmless.”

“Crush, give me a beer.” Jackal’s voice from the end of the bar drew her attention. A young woman who was about nineteen stood by his side. She was wearing a tank top and it was obvious from her pert breasts she wasn’t wearing a bra.

Jackal’s eyes met hers. “Grace.”

“Jackal.”

Crush gave him a beer, then he moved off into the same direction Ice had with his arm around the woman.

“That was Nola.”

“She seems very young.”

“Look around. There are younger ones here. We don’t exactly check IDs, but if Ice catches anyone under eighteen, he throws them out. He doesn’t want any of the men locked up.”

When there was a loud yell from the back, Grace turned to see two men stand up and start shoving each other. Max broke up the fight by pushing one of the men back down onto a chair.

Crush saw her staring. “It’s only going to get worse the later it gets. You sure you’re in the right place?”

“I’m sure.”

Ice came back, putting his arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go sit down.”

After finding a spot on a couch next to a wall, they watched two men play pool. Once they finished, Ice stood up to play the loser.

Gradually, Grace relaxed. She had been to several parties in Paris while she had lived there, and this seemed pretty much the same. Actually, she had attended some much worse, but her brother had not let her stay for long.