Page 50 of Burning Ember

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?”

He points at me. “I know for a fact you got shit to do, so stop messin’ around and get to it. You want a fuckin’ list of what needs doin’, I’ll make you one. For now, start in the kitchen. I want that fuckin’ place sparklin’.”

Dozer turns in his chair and glares at Mav. “What crawled up your ass?”

“Is this not what you agreed to?” Mav fires back. Without waiting for a response, he turns and storms out of the room.

People disperse.

I go into the kitchen and pull the plate I saved for Dozer out of the microwave. Coming back into the main room, I place it in front of him. Dozer apologizes and eats his breakfast. When he’s finished, he goes down the hall and a minute later, I hear him arguing with Mav.

I collect all the dirty dishes and take them into the kitchen. Then get lost in my head as I wash dishes. The task is second nature to me. As I scrub I try not to worry about Davis, but how can I not when I know he’ll either lock me up or send me back to Warner.

I decide then and there that it’s in my best interest to get Mav to tolerate my presence, which means trying not to piss him off more than I already do.

Making a deal with the devil is sometimes the best option you have.

MAVERICK

Doll’s bent over cleaning the oven when I enter the kitchen. Her wild hair is tied back in a messy bun. She’s scrubbing the side of the oven furiously, putting her whole body behind the movement. I’d have to be blind not to see how sexy she looks right now. I’d have to be dead not to appreciate the view.

She’s wearing gray heather sleep shorts, which showcase her perfect ass.

For a split second, I picture her bouncing up and down on my lap and me holding on to her hips as she rides my cock. My body instantly responds as a rush of blood shoots straight to my groin.

I stand there for a couple of seconds watching her. Taking all of her in. Though it’s the last thing I should be doing.

Clearing my throat, I say, “Don’t ovens have a self-cleaning mode?”

She jumps, hits her head, and curses under her breath before she sits back and looks up at me. Plastic, yellow gloves cover her hands. In one, she holds a SOS pad. Using her wrist, she wipes a stray strand of hair from her face. Her baby-blue tank top is loose and I can see the top swells of her breasts. She’s worked up a sweat and I’ll be damned if I can look away from her damp cleavage.

“Have you seen this thing? I’m guessing it hasn’t been cleaned since the day it left the showroom floor. It’s ancient. Like the nineteen-seventies called and want their oven back.” She slowly stands and whimpers a little as she uses her forearms to rub her knee.

I fight a smile. First fucking time in years I’ve even been tempted to smile at a woman.

I hold out the piece of paper in my hand. “Here.”

She eyes it while she drops the SOS pad to the top of the stove, and removes her gloves.

“What’s that?” Hesitantly, she takes the paper from my hand. Her eyes lower as she reads it.

“Should keep you busy enough that you won’t have time to fuck around.” Too busy to have time to mess around with Dozer. Too busy to leave the clubhouse.

If she left here under the guise of working a job, we’d have no way of knowing if she was relaying information to the GBs. She can’t have it both ways. Either she’s here or she’s out there.

Her little nose twitches and her lips mash together. I get the sense that she’s biting back a sarcastic comment. “So I won’t have time to get a part-time job.”

Yeah, there’s that little temper she’s hiding.Come on, Doll, let me see who you really are.