“Leave it alone, will you? I’m fuckin’ busy right now. I don’t have time to keep you company anymore, okay? Make the corrections on the lease as I asked you to. I’ll be over sometime tomorrow to review it. Leave it with Jay.”
“Wait a minute. That’s the tenant at your duplex, the artist. You’ve got the hots forher?” Her upper lip curled in disdain.
With his nostrils flaring, he said evenly, “I don’t have thehotsfor any chick.”
“I’m not stupid. I can see you’re attracted to her by the way you look at her.” She lifted her wine glass to her mouth.
“So the fuck what? I always check out good-looking chicks. I’m done here. Go check out some of the guys in here tonight. You might get lucky.” Before she could answer, he walked away.
“Is she giving you a hard time, handsome?” Brandy joked as she nodded toward Deanna. “She’s pretty pissed that you were flirting with the black-haired woman.”
Sweeping his arm out, he blew out a long breath. “Is it a gene in women to see every fuckin’ thing that goes on and then give a shit about it?”
“Why’re you so grumpy?” Jaime asked as she laid her tray on the counter.
“His girlfriend is giving him a hard time,” Skull said as he placed three Coors on her tray.
“Fuck off.” Muerto shot him a sideways look.
“You have a girlfriend? Who is she?” Jaime turned toward the crowd.
“The black-haired one,” Brandy said, picking up on Skull’s ribbing.
“Although I never thought the words ‘girlfriend’ and ‘Muerto’ would be in the same sentence.” Skull guffawed.
“Is it the one in the red top and skinny jeans?” Jaime picked up the tray.
“It’s no one. And if it were, you’d all be the last ones I’d tell.” He threw his rag down. “Fuck this.” He started to walk away.
Brandy went around the bar and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We were just joking. I didn’t think you’d be interested in a woman who didn’t have double-D boobs like mine.” She winked.
“You got the tits all bikers love, darling,” Skull said. She laughed, placed the drinks he made on her tray, and headed over to the table where Raven sat. “I gotta fuck that one. It’ll be worth Steel kicking my ass.”
Muerto chuckled. “Keep your attention on manning the bar. After we close you can go back to the club and have your pick of double-D tits—real and fake.”
“Brandy had a point about the dark-haired chick. You usually go for bigger racks.”
“If I were interested, which I’m not, her tits would fit just fine in my hands, and that’s the way I like them.” He glanced over at Raven, the vein in his neck twitching every time she swept her fingers over Mr. Bourbon and Seven’s forearm. She was flirting up a storm with him, but Muerto caught her sneaking peeks at him at the same time. Wiping down the bar, chatting with customers, and leaning in a little too close to the waitresses, he pretended nonchalance, but a hot fire was smoldering in him.
When they stood up and walked to the pool table, he turned to Skull. “Take care of the bar. I gotta make sure no one hustles anyone.” He strode over to the pool table where the guy was racking up the balls. Leaning against a table, he watched her as she told Bourbon and Seven that she was a pretty good player. They played a couple of rounds which she easily won, and she begged off the next game.
“I’ll play you,” a tall guy in his twenties said to Bourbon and Seven.
As they racked up the balls, she jumped up on the stool, watching them. Muerto came over. “I didn’t think you’d behave, or are you just setting the fuckin’ sap up?”
With a placid face, she brought her finger to her lips. “Shh… I’m trying to watch the game. No one should ever talk when a serious game is on.” Her eyes darted back to the two men playing pool.
Her words were like shards of glass slicing his skin. Roughly, he gripped her arm and tugged her to him. When she winced, a feral smile curled his lips. “No one tells me what the fuck to do,” he said in a controlled tone. “And no oneevershushes me.”
She tried to yank her arm out of his grip as she stared daggers at him. “And no oneevertouches me unless I want them to. FYI, I don’t want you to.”
Bending down, he hissed in her ear, “When you beg me to touch you, I’ll remember that.”
Muerto dug his fingers into her skin, then shoved her arm away from him. He swaggered back to the bar, fuming.She makes me so damn mad. Why the hell do I give a shit?For the rest of the night he made a vow to ignore her, and he did a great job, almost forgetting she was in the place until the end. And when she didn’t even give Muerto a small glance as she and Bourbon and Seven walked out, arm in arm, fire ran through his veins.
He’d never met a woman like her. Women came to him, andhedecided if he wanted them or not. The silver-eyed vixen had his world out of order, and she pissed him off. But she also excited, perplexed, and challenged him. And he planned to see a whole lot more of Raven Harris.
Sneering, he stared out at the dark street.I’m gonna fuckin’ break her.
He had to before she did it to him.
