Stepping toward a game that required her to throw a ball in the net, she took three turns, failing each time, laughing as she didn’t come close to the shot. The high school teen manning the booth convinced her to have another three turns. She failed the first two and as he went to hand her the ball for her third and final turn, muscular, inked arms surrounded her, taking the ball.
“Let me,” Smokey said.
She tensed up. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene, and he knew that.
Gritting her teeth, she stayed perfectly still, feeling the heat of him surround her. He took aim and landed the ball directly in the net.
“Pick your prize,” the teen said.
She wasn’t picking anything. Smokey nodded at a monkey teddy. It was cute. Ava refused to take it when the teen tried to hand it to her. Smokey took it and she ducked under his arm and moved on.
Smokey didn’t follow her. He held the teddy in his arms.
She refused to participate in the gun shooting water game. Her hand was still her first priority to fix.
Using one hand, she came to a stop at catching some rubber ducks with little hoops on them. The poll was heavy, but she had a few minutes to be able to grab one.
She failed. Her hand wasn’t her strongest. At the last thirty seconds, Smokey took the pole and grabbed one of the ducks with ease.
He was applauded and handed a teddy. Again, he picked one out.
Smokey turned toward her, and she stepped around him. She refused to play this game with him.
She attempted to play two more games, and she failed both of them. Smokey took over and won. He now carried around four teddies. All of them were so cute. She ignored them and went straight to the crazy house. She paid her money and stepped inside.
Ava couldn’t recall a fair she’d ever been to. She’d tried to get Derek to go, but he hadn’t wanted to. Said fairs were for kids.
She enjoyed them. They were fun.
Rounding a corner, she came to a stop as Smokey was there, minus the teddies.
“Stop following me,” she said.
“I’m only doing it for your own safety.”
“I don’t need you to protect me. You’re the problem, remember?” She held up her hand for him to see and he winced.
“I am sorry about that.”
“I don’t care.” She moved past him, and the house had lost its appeal. They had gotten to the crazy mirrors. Their reflections were everywhere. She couldn’t deny having Smokey at her back gave her a thrill. It only served to enrage her even more.
She shouldn’t care about him. He was a monster.
Ignoring the pull he had over her, she took a step forward, but Smokey captured her waist, drawing her back.
“I know you hate me, but I can’t stop thinking about you, Ava. I’m going to help you regardless of whether you want it.”
“Are you interfering with my realtor?” she asked, turning around to glare at him.
“No.”
“So you’re not stopping the interest in my bakery?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Ava, you know I don’t want you to leave, but the truth is that shop had been vacant for fucking years before you came along. I didn’t know what you saw in the place, but believe me when I say this. You were the only one.”
“I don’t want to hear this. I’m tired of hearing this.” She tried to step away, but he still held her.
Even with the slight, dull pain in her hand and her short hair, and all the memories of what Raven and those women did to her, she ached for him. Her pussy grew slick and her nipples tightened.
The want in her body wouldn’t fade, and she hated it so much.
Staring at him now, she wanted to hurt him. To punch him, to do anything that would make him feel even an ounce of what she felt.
Nothing.
“I’ve got to go,” she said.
“I know you feel it too.”
“Yeah, and I still remember what you called me. The horrible words you said to me. I’m not going to fall for this, Smokey. Go ahead, win all the games. Take me around on rides. I don’t care, and I don’t want them.”
This time when she pulled away, he let her go. The house lost its appeal, as did the fair. Being around Smokey was too much. She had to be somewhere else.
He followed her all around the house, and finally, when she got out, she didn’t linger. A couple of his men stood there waiting for him. Hunter and Brick were there, as well as Kinky and Raven.
They looked at her with pity.
She turned on her heel and walked away. Coming to the fair had been a big mistake. She pulled out her cell phone and waited for the cab to come get her. The same man who’d dropped her off collected her.
He drove back to her house. No words, once again. She didn’t want to make conversation. Ava paid him the moment they arrived at her house. After climbing out, she headed toward the front door and came to a stop.
The four teddies were waiting with a card that read: We need a home.
They were the same teddies Smokey had won for her. She didn’t know how he got to her house before her.
She bent down and picked them up. In the back of her mind, she was tempted to throw them out in the trash. She couldn’t do it. When Smokey had won, each time, he’d picked the exact teddy she would have wanted.
That wasn’t really important, though. Sheer coincidence. She wasn’t going to believe he knew her so well as to pick out the right teddy bears.
Even still, she couldn’t help liking that he had picked them out.
****
Smokey was getting antsy. The first run had gone smoothly. They’d picked up the dope at the port and it was waiting in one of the warehouses to be collected. The ride across the county had gone off without a hitch. No interference.
He’d expected Creed and his Twisted Bastards to have interfered. To have done something to make sure it went badly. Nothing. With Creed silent, Smokey knew the bastard was up to something. He just needed to figure out what.
The club was excited for their return.
Club pussy ran into their open arms. A couple of women approached him, but he ignored them, heading straight inside. He went to the bathroom first. After stripping out of his clothes, he took a long shower. Turning it to cold to wash away the fatigue.
Once he was clean, he took off and headed back to church. The money they’d earned was distributed to each member with an amount being put aside for the club. This was how they always did business.
Overall, the club had the highest percentage. In time, it would be invested back into the bank, but at such a rate no one would know where the money came from. Their businesses helped to hide that money as well.
He waited to see if anyone wanted to contribute. Everyone was happy. He slammed the gavel down, and this time, he was the first one out of the room. Women were waiting to party, but there was only one place he wanted to be. Going straight back to his bike, he straddled the machine and took off, heading toward town. The first place he went was the bakery.
No sign of life.
His shoulders slumped. There wasn’t a single buyer.
He’d checked. He hadn’t interfered with this one, but he wanted to. If he purchased the shop, Ava would leave.
She had the means of starting over. His thorough background check of her had told him of her wealth. She didn’t need him or the club. No man. Her money was what lured Derek to her.