Iron Angel Read Free

father lied to her; her brother lied to her; her boyfriend, or so she thought, lied to her; and the company to which she had given nine long years of her life lied to her. Everyone lied to her. Everything was a lie. Her entire life was a lie.
     
    Standing on the sidewalk that morning in front of what used to be her office building, she decided that she was going to start her life over. And her new life was going to be based on the truth. She would wipe out her old life by starting over from the beginning. To do that, she was returning to the one place she had ever felt truly at home–Iron Creek, Colorado.
     
    Her first night in town, she came to the Iron Angels Bar because that’s where she had spent a great deal of her childhood. It didn’t have the same name then, but it was still the Angels’ primary hangout. Mom and Dad would put her and James in a corner booth in the back, and then they would drink and dance and party with fellow members of the Iron Angels.
     
    She was sitting at the bar wondering, “What now?” when Maddox Robinson sat next to her and ordered a Double Yu. Her dad loved the taste of Yukon Jack, but would never order it in public because it was a “pussy Canadian whisky.” He always ordered Jim Beam at the bar, even though he preferred Yu.
     
    When she heard Maddox give his order, her first thought was, “Maybe this is an honest man.” Her second thought, after she looked over at him, was “My God!”
     
    Maddox wasn’t the most handsome man she had ever seen, but he was the most... attractive, meaning that she was intensely attracted to him on a physical level — perhaps even on all levels. She had never felt such a strong and immediate attraction to another person before in her life. It was as if her out-of-sync life had suddenly clicked into place. Normally she would have dismissed such a weak and obvious pickup line with a witty put down, but when he asked “What’re you having?” she answered truthfully with the question that was going through her mind, “If I let you buy me a drink, does that mean I have to let you fuck me?”
     
    Now they were walking toward a booth, each with a drink in hand, to talk. Perhaps she would tell him about the lies from her parents, from her job, from her life. Or perhaps she would keep the conversation on him. In either case, she would tell the truth. And he would tell the truth to her or he would be leaving alone.
     
    “The corner booth in the back is empty. Let’s sit there,” she said as he led her away from the bar. Then she added, “It has special meaning to me.”
     
    So far, truth was ruling the evening.
     
    ***
     
    As they slid into the booth, Aimee asked, “So, Maddox Robinson, are you hoping to play me with liquor and get me to sleep with you?”
     
    “I wouldn’t object.”
     
    “That’s not an honest answer,” she replied shaking her head. “Honesty wins the prize. There’s no second place.”
     
    He laughed. “Okay, then. Yes, I was hoping that I could play you with cheap liquor and get you to sleep with me.”
     
    “I might be interested, but I have some rules.” She smiled and looked Maddox directly in the eyes. “Actually, I have one rule: total honesty. If you lie to me, even a little, it’s all over.”
     
    The smile left her face, but her eyes continued to bore into his. “Do you think you can live by that rule?”
     
    “I’ll try my best,” he answered. And then he added with a smile, “And that was totally honest.”
     
    “So, tell me about yourself. Why are you in here tonight downing double Yukon Jacks?”
     
    “I would rather you told me your story first,” he replied.
     
    “Honest answer. You’re getting the hang of it, but I asked first, so you talk first.”
     
    “Short answer to a long story,” he began, “is that I was plotting to overthrow the president of the Iron Angels and take over the club and his woman... especially his woman.”
    He took a long sip of his whiskey.