Burning Ember (17 page)

Taz stares daggers at me.

“Nothing.”

Dozer must see some of the fear I’m feeling flash over my face, because he growls to Taz, “Mav put you up to this, didn’t he? Where is he?” Dozer pushes Taz aside and leaves the doorway. Boots pound on the hallway floor.

Taz tells Dozer, “Door was open. The stray wanted company.”

Then banging sounds from down the hall.

“Mav! Get out here, asshole.”

A few seconds later, I hear Mav’s unmistakable voice. “What?”

“You sic your fuckin’ dog on her? You kiddin’ me with this shit?” This is followed by a few seconds of silence.

Then in a thickly accented voice, Mav says, “What the fuck’s goin’ on?”

“I’ll tell you what the fuck. Your pit bull here broke into my fuckin’ room, like that.”

Taz leaves the doorway and joins the argument. “I told you. The door was fuckin’ open. Looked to me like she was wantin’ a visitor.” There’s a pause and then. “Is she or is she not supposed to be cookin’ fuckin’ breakfast?”

Another pregnant silence. “Why was the door open?” Mav growls the same time Dozer says, “The door wasn’t fuckin’ open. Lyin’ motherfucker. I locked it last night when I left her.” After that, I hear grappling noises as if they’re going at each other.

“I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a fuckin’ liar,” Taz growls.

Mav barks, “Cut it the fuck out.”

“It was! Fuckin’ ask her,” Taz shouts.

“Just stay the fuck away from her. Both of you. And you, you gave me your word this was done until the party.”

“Jesus, man. One day and she’s got you by the balls, huh?” Taz mutters.

“Shut the fuck up before I knock your ass out.”

“Name a time, brother, and I’ll be there.”

Mav hollers, “What the fuck did I say? Cut it the fuck out!” I hear curses and more scuffling.

A few seconds later Dozer comes into the room. Slams the door. He’s panting and his face is tinged red. He doesn’t look at me. But grates out, “You okay?”

“Yes. I’m sorry about the door. I heard a noise and peeked out to see what it was last night. I must have forgotten to lock it.”

His eyes meet mine. An incredulous look flashes over his face. “You forgot? In a clubhouse full of drunk bikers? After what you saw goin’ on last night?” There’s doubt in his eyes.

But I nod weakly.

I stayed up for a few hours after he left. I was tired as hell, but couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t breathe. I needed to know that I could leave at any time. So I opened the window. When that wasn’t enough, I opened the door just barely. Then I tucked myself into a ball and fell asleep on Dozer’s bed within seconds.

“Tell me the truth. What did he say to you?”

I shake my head again. I don’t want to be the cause of more drama between them. That’s not going to buy me any points with the members if I pit them against one another. Plus the look Taz gave me promised retribution if I ratted him out to Dozer.

“Not really anything before you came in.”

“Threaten you?”

“No.”

He pulls in a couple of breaths and turns away, rolls his shoulders as he does so. Then he walks across the room to the closet. A moment later, he peers out and says. “Just gettin’ some clothes, I’ll be out of here in a sec and then you can shower.”

“Okay.”

His eyes roam around the room. “What the hell happened in here?”

At first, I’m confused and then it dawns on me what he’s talking about. “I cleaned.”

He snorts. “Huh. Nice. Thanks.” When he walks up to me a minute later, he says, “Listen, I’m gonna run to the gym for a bit. But I’ll be back. I have to put in a couple of hours at the gym and then at the hospital. I’ll have Rigor watch you every second I’m not around, okay?”

I know this is partially his way of protecting me, and part of the deal with Mav, but I can’t help but have a sour rumbling in the pit of my stomach.

He must see the idea of a babysitter slash guard doesn’t please me, because he says, “I promised I’d have someone watchin’ you. It’ll be a while until everyone here learns to trust you. And it’s for your protection. Just because Taz didn’t do anything to you this mornin’, doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have. Be smart and steer clear of him, yeah? Don’t get caught alone with him again.”

“Holy shit, girl. That’s the best fuckin’ bacon I’ve ever tasted.” Bodie groans as he chews on a mouth full.

Three other brothers grunt in agreement. The guys are sitting at the bar top shoveling in the breakfast I made them.

“
Nothing special
if you ask me.” Taz looks directly at me as he says it then drops a piece of bacon back to his plate as if it’s the worst thing he’s ever tasted.

I know it’s delicious. The only way he wouldn’t think so is if he had absolutely no taste buds whatsoever.

“Goddamn, these eggs are fuckin’ tasty. You got any more of them ready, sweetheart?” Griz smiles up at me.

“Yeah.” I grab the bowl and head back into the kitchen. I scoop up more eggs and grab some more muffins. I had no idea the guys could eat so much. I’m used to cooking for kids and old people though, so I guess I’ll have to make extra from now on.

As I reenter the lounge through the doors that connect to the kitchen, I hear Taz complain, “Shit tastes like fuckin’ tar. You sure she didn’t dig this shit out of the garbage?”

His words bring back the insults Mav threw out about me yesterday. I’m stunned, but I force my feet to move and I bite my lip.
Just ignore it.

Taz is definitely not my number one fan. He’s been giving me the evil eye all morning. But I keep reminding myself that if he wanted to hurt me, he could have easily while I was sleeping.

While I cleaned last night, my mind kept thinking back on Mav, and what went down between us in his office. I concluded he was doing his best to scare me off. How he pushed me up against the wall, frisked me, and then told me to get on my knees. The way he bolted. I doubt he ever planned to let me go through with it.

But what has him so bothered? The idea that I’m possibly a rat for the GBs, whoever they are, or that I’m a reminder of the girl who broke him. Maybe both. I don’t know.

If anything, I’m under his skin.

Good . . .

Because he’s definitely gotten under mine.

Lily and Goose walk in. They take up some recently vacated seats at the bar. I fill two plates and hand them over, getting a growl/groan out of Goose when he takes his first bite.

“Okay, spill it. What in the hell did you do to the bacon?” Rigor asks from down the bar. “It’s never tasted like this when I fry it up.”

“Um, just a little brown sugar.”

In an amazed tone, Lily says, “How in the hell do you get the eggs all fluffy like this? You gotta teach me.”

“Hell, yeah. I’m onboard with that. Lil’ learnin’ how to cook.” Goose turns to her. “I love you, babe, but you can’t cook to save your life.”

Lily slaps his shoulder playfully.

Goose catches her hand, brings it to his lips, and plants a kiss on it before dropping both their hands into his lap. “But you have many other talents, so I’ll keep ya.”

“Shit, man. Lil’ Bird learns how to cook and we ain’t ever gonna see her sexy face. The only reason you guys come up for air is to eat,” Griz teases.

Lily replies, “And he wants to put a fridge in his room so we don’t even have to do that.”

Snickers breakout down the table.

Then suddenly everyone goes quiet and the air in the room changes. Heads turn and eyes shift to the hallway. When I follow their gazes, I find Mav walking in to the room.

My pulse quickens.

Black and gold have never looked so good together, as they do on him. His gold eyes. His inky hair. His tan skin. His black, long-sleeve Henley and leather vest. He’s wearing dark jeans, and the front of his shirt is tucked in just enough to show off his belt buckle.

Mav clears his throat and I look up to his face. One of his eyebrows is arched. Heat flushes my cheeks and I avert my gaze.

He takes a seat at the bar.

It takes everything in me not to steal glances at him. I have to remind myself to breathe evenly. Funny how my body can’t remember to do that on its own when he’s around.

After making a plate for him, I lay it on the bar top in front of him and then gesture to the orange juice. He nods. I pour him a glass and get a muttered “Thanks” when I set it in front of him too.

Going back over to Lily, I say, “Rigor’s going to get what I need to make a roast, potatoes, and rolls for dinner. You can help me if you want. If you have time. It’s real easy.”

“Fuck, I think I’m in love,” Bodie moans.

“Too bad you’re already married, asshat,” Taz replies.

Bodie glares at Taz.

Goose loudly licks his fingers. “Fuckin’ fantastic, cherry girl. You teach my woman here how to make this shit and I’ll owe you fuckin’ big time.”

At the word cherry, Mav starts choking and Griz slaps him on the back until Mav brushes him off saying, “I’m good.”

Mav’s eyes flicker up to mine. There’s something in those maple depths that I can’t read and too soon, he looks away from me. He eats everything on his plate.

When he looks up at me again, I motion toward his plate. “You want more?” I notice that the room goes a little silent or fades away. I’m too focused on him to know which it is. Mav nods once. I put more on his plate and hand it over.

For the next ten minutes, I feel his eyes on me every time he looks my way. But I stay busy, as I play waitress to a clubhouse full of bikers and the clubpieces, Jade, Noel, Lo, and Lita, who live at the clubhouse.

“Is someone gonna turn on the tube?” one of the bikers that I haven’t been introduced to yet asks.

Rigor shakes his head. “Already tried. Fuckin’ thing won’t work. Told you all that it was on its last leg.”

I force my face to stay blank. Hoping no one will see the guilt flooding through me.

“Last night, took a ride,” Mav speaks, after he finishes. I try to make it look like I’m not hanging on his every word and busy myself with cleaning the bar and a few glasses. “Saw Davis parked down the road.”

I pause for a second.
Davis.
As in Officer Davis? Every limb in my body tightens up. What is he doing? Waiting to see if I leave the clubhouse? I try to relax and act normal. But it’s weird how knowing Davis is out there, makes me feel caged. Trapped. Like I’m slowly losing what freedom I have all over again. Bit by bit.

“Deputy Dipshit?” Griz asks.

“Yeah.”

Griz sits back. “What the fuck’s he doin’?”

I peek up for a second and catch Lily’s knowing gaze.

“No idea. Gonna make a call to Ortega today and tell him to check his boy scout.”

“Good idea.”

“Spread the word though.”

“Yeah. Will do,” Griz answers. “I’m gonna head out to the casino for a few hours and check on things. Then I’ll make the rounds. Figure I won’t be able to make it to the hospital until around five though.”

“No problem. I’m headed up to Santa Fe with Bodie and Taz. But we’ll be back by then so we’ll meet you there.”

A couple of minutes later, the front door opens and Dozer comes strolling into the clubhouse with a gym bag over his shoulder. He’s in gray basketball shorts and a red Under Armour tank top. “God, it smells fuckin’ good in here.” He smiles at me. “Did you save me some, babe?”

Bodie responds before I can. “Nope. Ate the last piece of bacon myself. And let me tell you that shit”—he pats his belly—“was fuckin’ good. You snooze you lose, brother.”

Dozer ignores him and gives me a questioning look. We talked about this before he left. “Babe?”

“That depends.”

Dozer sidles up to the bar, and takes the seat next to Rigor, whose sticking around though he’s finished eating, because he’s on babysitting duty.

“Oh yeah, on what?”

Mav says something I don’t catch. Out of my peripheral vision, I see him push his plate away roughly.

“Did you pick up a paper so I can look at the jobs section?” I do want to look for jobs, but it also dawned on me this morning that if Dozer got me a newspaper, I’d also be able to check it to see if my story’s still as big as it was weeks ago.

Dozer leans over and I hear him unzip his bag. He places a newspaper on the bar top.

“You a paperboy now, D?” Griz asks.

“Thank you.” I reach for it, and try to pull it away.

But Dozer doesn’t take his hand off it. A cunning smile flashes over his face. “You know, paperboys don’t get paid much, but they definitely get something. Am I right?”

Griz backs him up. “Sure do. I think you owe our boy a kiss.”

I bit my lip. My stomach does a nervous flip. My eyes dart to Mav’s face quickly and then back to Dozer. Was it just my imagination or did Mav look pissed? Why would he be pissed? Oh, right . . . because I’m hands off until the party. It’s hard hiding the fact I’m nervous as hell right now. But I worry that showing a simple kiss makes me uncomfortable isn’t going to prove to these guys that I can handle being here.

“I don’t know . . . these dishes aren’t going to clean themselves.”

“Shit, you hear that? She’s tryin’ to stiff ya, D. You gonna let her get away with that?”

“Jesus H. Christ!” Mav growls and jumps to his feet. “Don’t you all have fuckin’ shit to do today?”