Burning Ember (20 page)

“Just get your ass downstairs.”

“Okay. Jeez. Can I at least use the restroom first?”

After staring her down for a second and meeting her glare for glare, I give a curt nod.

Then, as she goes to walk past me, I remember the unlocked door. Grabbing her upper arm, I ask, “Did you leave the door unlocked last night?”

Her eyes flit from my grip on her arm to my face. The blue in her eyes seems more dominant today. She tries to pull her arm from me but causes me to hold her tighter. “I did. But it’s not what—”

I growl. Yep . . . like a cave man. My fingers cinch even tighter around her arm.

Her eyebrows furrow as she wilts under my grip. “You’re hurting me.”

“Did I not make myself clear? They don’t touch you and you don’t touch them. That goes for Dozer too. Otherwise, what the fuck are you here for?”

She pushes her hair way from her face now and glowers. “You’ve got me all figured out, don’t you? There couldn’t possibly be another reason, could there? Like maybe . . . You know what?” That fake and innocent shell she was wearing when she came here is slipping. Falling away. The real Pumpkin, Doll, whoever she is . . . is coming out to play. And I’ll be damned if it doesn’t both piss me off and excite the hell out of me.

“What?”

“Things aren’t always so black and white.”

“They are in my world.”

My subconscious adds
, until you came along.

“Then your world sucks,” she snaps.

Yeah, Doll. It does.
But I don’t say that. Instead, I lean into her and point at her face. “This is the last fuckin’ time I’m gonna tell you to watch that fuckin’ mouth. Get changed and get the fuck downstairs.”

Sitting between Goose and Dozer, I eat breakfast. I’m still stewing over what went down in Dozer’s room.

“These pancakes? Or Frisbees?” Taz asks Bodie from two seats away.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Dozer hisses. To Pumpkin, he says, “They’re fine, babe.”

Taz picks up a pancake. “They smell like . . . turpentine.” He sniffs it and then spins it on the end of his fork for a second, before he flings it at Bodie.

Bodie jumps up from his chair. “The fuck?”

Whiz Kid, our newest prospect, busts a gut.

With a bewildered and dejected look, Pumpkin says, “I used the same mix . . .” Her eyes center on Taz.

“Don’t worry about it, babe.” Dozer reaches forward and pats her hand.

He’s lying. The pancakes taste like shit. Like someone thought it was a good idea to put vinegar in them. I’m guessing Taz did something, by the look on her face.

“Knock it the hell off. You guys are cleanin’ that shit up,” Dozer scolds Taz, Bodie, and Whiz, who just joined in.

“They’re not cleaning it up. Not their job,” I state.

“She’s not cleaning up after them when they’re acting like assholes.”

Taz shakes his hair and runs his hand over it dislodging food. He chuckles. “We’re fuckin’ bikers. We’re always assholes.”

I add, “If she can’t handle it, then there’s the door.”

“This is bullshit,” Dozer snarls.

Goose walks into the room alone. I can tell right away by the sour look on his face, he’s pissed. Most likely him and Lil’ had another row either last night or this morning. Those two are either really on or really off.

“Check out what Taz had me make, man.”

Every head turns to Whiz. He pulls out what looks to be a calendar.

“It’s a countdown,” Taz says.

Whiz explains, “You know like at Christmas, only this is a Pumpkin countdown.”

One by one, he flips through the pages. Each page has a picture of a girl. In a few she’s naked, in one she’s wearing lingerie, in another a bikini, and in the last photo she’s wearing a tight, ripped, black dress and straddling a Harley. Whiz loves that techy shit and it looks like he’s photo-shopped each image to have Doll’s face.

Griz mumbles something about not being able to have any pumpkin pie. And that he loves pie.

“You got to be fuckin’ kidding me.” Dozer stands and tries to grab the calendar but Taz keeps it out of his grasp.

The guys utter obscene comments about each photo.

Doll stands there and watches. There’s no emotion whatsoever on her face. Whiz Kid’s calendar and the comments ringing out are a manifestation of what she’s signed up for.

I can’t help but wonder how she’s taking it.

“Can I see it?” she asks tentatively.

The guys quiet down and Taz studies her.

“I’m not going to rip it up. I swear,” she says.

Taz cautiously hands it over. There’s a smirk on his face as she flips through the pages.

All the guys watch her.

Finally, she points at the one where she’s wearing a lacy, light blue bra and panties. “This is nice. Blue’s my best color and I like the garters. The yellow bikini’s not bad either though.”

My cock jumps like it’s in boot camp and got called to attention.

I’d give anything to see her in a yellow fuckin’ bikini. The visual has my jeans tightening to an unbearable degree.

Bodie hits Whiz. “Looks like we’re gonna be doin’ some fuckin’ shoppin’.”

I stand and walk the fuck out of the room, because if I don’t leave right now, everyone is going to see what this girl does to me. How I can’t think or function for one second while she’s around. How I get so fucking turned on by the mere sight of her. How I want to beat all of their fuckin’ faces in for even looking at sexy photo-shopped pictures of her.

My hand stalls on the doorknob when I hear Doll’s hushed voice behind the slightly opened door.

“That’s it. Keep going. It’s okay. Put it all in. It’ll fit.”

Clenching my jaw, I prepare to open the door and unleash hell on her and whoever’s in there with her.

“Okay, I think that’s all of it. Now what?” Lil’ Bird asks.

A laugh. Doll’s. “Now turn that knob, depending on the size of the load.”

“Um.”

“Well, I don’t think you could fit much more in there, so I’d say that’s a large load. If it’s only halfway full then choose medium, and if you’re washing only a couple of items then use small.”

A hear a few clicks. “There. Now what?”

“Now to start it, push that button there.” The sound of the washer starts up.

Lil’ Bird makes a surprised sound. “Is it supposed to do that?” Lil’ asks.

“Yeah,” Doll laughs. “Now add the soap. About a half cup, maybe a little more depending on the load. There’s a line right there. Yep, just like that. Dump it in but try to spread it around in a circle.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, like that.”

I hear clapping and girlish giggles.

“Wow, look at how fast it’s filling up.” Another laugh, Doll’s. The sound runs through me and it’s soothing, like a nice cold beer on a hot day.

“Okay, now shut the lid and in about an hour we’ll come put everything in the dryer.”

I hear a huff, then . . .”Easy. I can’t breathe,” Doll says.

“Thank you so much. Goose is gonna shit a brick when he’s sees me doin’ this.”

I open the door and see Lil’ Bird pull away from hugging Doll.

They both turn their heads toward me when they hear the door open. Upon seeing me, Doll’s smile fades.

What?
Are her smiles only for Dozer? The jealously rioting through me makes me say stupid shit like, “I was going to do a load of my stuff, but since you’re already in here, I’ll just leave this with you.” I drop my hamper down beside the door, and add, “Make sure you bleach the whites, and let me know when they’re done. Oh and . . . fold them before they get wrinkled to shit.”

She bites her lip to stop herself from giving me a sassy retort. I can tell it’s killing her to do so because her little freckled nose twitches.

“You got somethin’ to say, Doll?”

This time she smiles as she places her hand on her hip. “I’ll get right on that.”

“That’s what I thought.” I back out of the room and grin like a fucking idiot. Sassy fuckin’ mouth. She just can’t help herself. And secretly, I love it.

It’s all fun and games until it’s not.

EMBER

I’m gagging, dry heaving every time I come across another clump of God only knows what on this nasty floor. It’s rancid and I’m not entirely sure I have enough cleaner left to get the job done.

Although I’ve thought more than once that it might be better if I was blissfully unaware of what it is I’m scrubbing off the floor.

Uh . . .
My skin crawls when I think about the germs I have all over me.

I’m sweating like mad. I’d give anything to be done and be able to take a shower. But I decided to tackle this project next, now that I’m done with the kitchen, and I’m not one to leave anything half done. Though I’m regretting my decision to get the most disgusting and difficult task out of the way first, before moving on to the easy stuff.

I have rags wrapped around my knees and gloves on. I’m balancing on my left hand, while relentlessly scrubbing with my right.

Taz is watching me work. He’s my babysitter for today. I can tell he’s getting a kick out of my discomfort. Every so often, he’ll complain about the smell, and point out a spot on the floor that I’ve supposedly missed. I just bite the inside of my cheek and keep cleaning.

Bodie is sitting on one of the leather couches and he’s stuffing his face with popcorn. Which couch depends on which way my ass is facing. He’s been moving from couch to couch to get the best view, like my butt is a damn blockbuster movie. It makes me a little sick to my stomach to think he has a wife and kids at home waiting for him,
and yet here he is, acting like he has nothing better to do than watch my butt wiggle with each movement I make.

Dozer’s at the gym. Has been all day. He owns it. Or well, the club does. The club owns a half-dozen or more businesses around town, including a tattoo shop, an auto body shop, a real estate office, and Goose runs the strip club, while Griz and Cap manage a small casino. Yeah, casino. But not the same one Lily and I passed on our way to the clubhouse, which was enormous. None of the guys really work full time. Most of them leave after lunch and are back around six or seven.

Lily is the club’s shopping guru. She’s the go-to person if anyone needs anything. Clothes. Groceries. Alcohol. Smokes.
Condoms.
She also helps Goose part time at the strip club, Wet Tips. He won’t let her on the stage anymore since she became his old lady, but he’ll let her work a few day shifts at the bar.

It’s where they met and why she started hanging around the club.

“Missed a spot.” I look up and see a half smile on Taz’s face. He’s pointing to a spot about a foot to my right.

“That’s a nick in the floor,” I grumble.

“You sure?”

“Yep.

I grind my teeth as he steps down from his stool, and leaves footprints everywhere I just cleaned. He bends down checks the spot, huffs and shrugs his shoulders. “Guess you’re right.”

I swear he does stuff like this on purpose to get to me. I’m sure he’s hoping I’ll crack and leave. It’s worse though when he catches me alone. His taunts turn sexual, and there’s always an underlining threat in his choice of words. So that I’m never quite sure of his meaning.

I exhale and keep working. Making my way over to clean up his footprints.