“Hi, Mother.”
“I’m cooking dinner, would you like some?” she asks, not even bothering to say hello.
“No.”
“Okay. How is Annabelle?”
Annabelle says my name, and I smile down at her as I place her in the highchair.
“She’s great.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No, Mother.”
“Okay, good.” Then she hangs up.
Gosh.
I feed Annabelle and read to her, and just as I’m finishing, the front door opens, and Rochelle comes in with Marcus behind her.
“What time will you finish?” Rochelle asks, sitting down next to me.
Marcus stays where he’s standing.
“I should be back by four in the morning. Will that be an issue?”
“No. But one day you will have to let me come into this bar you work at and give me free drinks. Why you keep it a secret, I’ll never know.” I look up at Marcus to see him watching me. The look he gives me, which is silent and steady, tells me he knows. It’s not that I’m ashamed of what I do, I just don’t want the judgment that will come with it. And the biggest judgment will be from my parents. I should tell Rochelle, but I just never have been able to.
“It’s easier working knowing I don’t have to worry about people who know me.”
“Sure, sure,” she says with an eye roll. “Marcus has to get back to work and won’t be finishing until late anyway. So, take your time.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Marcus says as Rochelle takes Annabelle. He leans over, kisses Rochelle, and tells her he will be back as soon as he can.
I grab my bag, and he does as he says, walking me out.
“You know, don’t you?” I ask Marcus after the door is shut and we reach my car. He simply nods his head but says nothing. “I will tell her. I just haven’t been able to.”
“She has your back, you know.” It’s all he says before he turns and walks to his own car.
I slide in mine and head straight for work.
When I arrive, I see a line of bikes already parked out the front. The night has already started, and when I walk in, the club is full. Men sit all around the stage as Sparkle dances, and I spot him right away.
Blaze gets up and walks toward me. “We should talk.”
I nod and head off to my office, holding the door open for Blaze to come in. He looks around and I see what he sees. Nothing. Nothing personal. “I see you’ve made yourself at home,” he jokes, pulling out a seat and sitting on it.
“What do you need, Blaze?”
“I need you to move on. This will never work.”
My mouth drops open in shock.
What the actual fuck?
He sits in his seat with a sinister look on his face. And it takes everything in me to not reach across and slap it.
“But why? Why would I do that? You are such a catch, Blaze Stone,” I say while fanning myself. “All that willpower. All those men you command. I mean it can really turn a woman on. And you… on a bike…” I lean forward, my hand waving myself cool. “A girl just can’t contain herself.” When I sit back up, his eyes are boring into me. His lips are thinned, and the scar that’s in his eyebrow is raised.
“You find this amusing?” he asks, all jokes aside. His voice is strong and demanding. “You really do think of me as a joke, don’t you?”
I keep my lips sealed and don’t answer him. Blaze slams his hand on my desk, and I manage to not jump at the action or the sound he creates.
“I don’t play with girls, Katarina. And I fucking don’t play games either.”
“How did you know my name?” I ask him.
Yes, he knows me by Kat, but not by my full name.
Ever since I was ten, I demanded everyone call me Kat. No one is to call me Katarina. Yet, here is an asshole doing just that.
“Goodbye, Katarina.” Blaze stands and turns away. As he reaches the door, his rough hand grips onto it, and he turns back to look at me with his eyebrow raised. “I will be fucking one of your staff tonight, just so you know.”
“As long as it’s consensual, I don’t care.”
“I’m sure you don’t.” Then he heads out of my office, leaving me sitting here confused as fuck.
My phone starts ringing again. Private number flashes. I press ignore and remove my jacket, getting to work.
By the end of the night, Blaze hasn’t left his seat. His men have gone from woman to woman and he’s sat exactly where he is and hasn’t moved one inch. I can see him on my cameras, and believe me, I have watched because he’s intriguing. He hasn’t touched any of my girls, even when they have thrown themselves at him. Instead, he’s sat there watching and not speaking.
The lights come on, signaling the end of the night, and I stay where I am in my office as people are told to leave. I watch as they stand as a group and all head toward the door. I flick my computer off as the door to my office opens.
Looking up, Blaze is standing there.
“You can’t be back here.”
He bites his bottom lip and doesn’t move or speak.
“Leave,” I say, standing and walking toward him. He watches me, and when I reach him, I say, “You hard of hearing now?”
“Do you ever shut up?” he finally says.
I cross my arms over my chest. “When something is worth shutting up for. And you, sir, are not that. Now… leave.”
“How do you know I’m not?”
“Because men like you are all the same. One bastard even made me pregnant,” I say, referring to men who like to take what they can and fuck the consequences. Blaze is one of them! I bet he gets what he wants all the time. He is, after all, the president of the MC. And always with that fucking vest on, which I am sure gets him whatever the hell he wants.
I would burn it on him if he didn’t look so good.
“Weren’t you meant to make me fall in love with you?” he asks.
“I changed my mind. You aren’t worth my trouble.”
“All because I kicked you out,” he says while shaking his head. “You really are highly tempered.”
“Again, you can leave now.”
“After one kiss,” he says with a husky voice.
I back up, my eyes bulging from my head. “Excuse me? I don’t think I heard that quite right.”
“One kiss, and I’ll go. That is, if you choose not to come back with me.”
Holy shit! He did not just say that.
“One kiss?” I repeat. “And you’ll leave?”
“Yes.”
I lean forward, aiming for his lips, and at the last second, move to kiss his cheek. It’s rough against his beard, and I quickly pull back before I have time to smell him.
“Okay, leave, now.”
He nods his head and turns, walking out. He’s gotten what he wanted.
And I got? Fuck! Another confused head.
Has he switched the tables?
And is it his turn to fuck with my head as I have been trying to fuck with his?
Dammit! I sure as shit hope not.
Fred is waiting for me as I close up, and he holds the door open.
“Miss.” I turn to look up at him. “You know who those men are, right?” I nod. “Okay, good. Just wanted to check.” Fred walks me to my car which is parked next to his. “Have a good day, Miss.”