Ignoring whoever is calling, I take Annabelle to her room and change her diaper before I start packing her bag to head out to Marcus’s house later.
“Momma,” she says, reaching for me. A small giggle leaves her as I blow a raspberry on her belly as my phone starts up again.
Quickly changing her, I carry Annabelle out as I retrieve my phone and answer it. “Kat.”
“Yes.”
“It’s Steve.” Steve runs the club where I used to work. “It’s been a year. You coming back? Or do I have to try to replace you?”
“Ummm…”
“And are you coming to see me this week like you planned?”
Now is the time to tell you the club I managed isn’t just a bar, it’s a strip joint. And I loved working there. I’m not a stripper, and I don’t dress like they do. Not that I have anything against the way they dress, because I usually help them choose their clothing, but I prefer pants. Sometimes skirts. Definitely not G-strings and bras. Being a manager has its perks.
“Hopefully.” The week is almost over, but he doesn’t need to tell me that.
“Good. Good. The girls work better when you’re here. They miss you, and quite frankly, I do too. A year is way too long for me to be doing this without you.” Annabelle makes a noise in my arms. “Will you be able to come back to work, Kat? Now you have…” Steve doesn’t say the word, but I know what he’s about to say. Baby.
“Yes, I have a family that helps, so it won’t be a problem.”
“Okay. Okay, that’s good. So, when should I expect you?”
“I’ll try tomorrow, Steve. But no promises.”
“Good. Good. They will give you a pay raise. You deserve it. Fuck knows how you do it all, it’s been driving me crazy.” He hangs up in my ear.
Steve is my second-in-charge and has been helping out while I haven’t been able to work. The girls seem to walk all over him.
My parents think I just run a normal club. They don’t know, and I don’t want them to know. My mother judges me enough as it is.
Making sure I have everything ready, I leave to head for Marcus’s house.
And smile when I remember Blaze will be there.
This should be interesting.
Chapter Three
Blaze
“Fuck! Will you put some clothes on?” I shake my head at Marcus, who has a towel covering him.
“You’re the one who interrupted. You weren’t meant to be here for another hour,” he tells me, walking away to his room and leaving me in the doorway to his house. I go straight for the kitchen and grab a bottle of beer.
It isn’t long before Rochelle walks in and stops when she sees me. Then she blurts out, “My sister is coming!” Her hands going to her hips, and I raise an eyebrow at her. She says nothing more as Marcus walks up behind her.
Fuck! I was trying to get away from the other little redhead. Yet, now it seems I’m going to have to spend another fucking evening with her.
“Why the dinner anyway?” I ask Marcus as he comes around and begins preparing to cook.
Rochelle pours herself a glass of wine and walks over to the barstools, climbing up on one.
“I want to discuss something,” is all he says.
I look over to Rochelle, and she shrugs her shoulders. “Your guess is as good as mine. He won’t tell me.”
A knock on the door is heard, and Rochelle walks away.
“Why am I here, Marcus? We don’t do this. Play family.”
“We are family,” he replies, not looking at me, his attention firmly on his cooking.
“Yes, we are. But we aren’t a conventional family. We are all kinds of fucked-up, and it’s just us two, each one of us more fucked-up than the other.”
Marcus stops and turns to me. “We are. Yet, I’ve found someone who loves all my fucked-up ways. Apart from you. We all know your love for me is undeniable.”
“When did you become a smart-ass?” I ask him as he turns back to the stove.
Heels click on the tiles, and I turn around to see Kat, a baby in her arms, as she looks up at me with a smile on her face.
A baby? What the fuck?
“Blaze, you obviously remember Kat,” Rochelle says, taking the baby who goes to her happily as Kat places a bag down on the nearby table and walks over to where I’m seated, sitting next to me.
“You remember me, don’t you, Blaze?” Her eyes pin me, and I have to look away they’re that intense. Fuck! I don’t like the way she stares at me. “I mean… last time I saw you, I asked you to fuck me.” This woman has balls of fucking steel. “You broke my heart when you turned me down, did you know that?”
The baby makes a loud noise, and I turn in the direction of the sound. Rochelle is now standing near the fridge holding the baby with Marcus standing next to her.
I run my hand through my dark hair, straight unlike Marcus’s curly locks, and cringe when my cock twitches for this fucking redhead sitting next to me.
“Yours?” I ask her.
Her nails, which have changed in color since I last saw her, tap on the counter in front of us.
“Yes, that’s my daughter, Annabelle.” She leans in, whispering, “So, don’t worry. When we do fuck, I don’t want your kids. I already have my own.” She pulls back, leaving her sweet vanilla scent as she gets up to go to her crying daughter. Kat takes her from Rochelle and walks back next to me. It takes everything in me not to get up and walk away.
“Anyone else coming?” I ask, looking to Marcus.
Rochelle leans up against the stove where Marcus is cooking, watching him carefully. I really didn’t think they would work out. Two complete opposites. She is sweet. He is so not. It annoys me because he’s anything but sweet.
“No, just us.”
“Is there a reason we’re here?” Kat asks with her baby on her lap. The little girl is smacking her tiny hands on the counter. I pull my beer away, so she can’t reach it, and when I look up, Kat is smiling at me.
I scowl at her, then turn away.
“Yes,” Marcus says at the same time Rochelle says, “No.”
She looks up at him. “Is there a reason?” she asks, confused.
Marcus walks to the fridge, pulls something out, and hands it to her. She looks at it, as we all do, and then she finally opens it. Her hands start shaking, and she drops the chocolate box to the floor.
“You…” She shakes her head, trailing off.
Marcus leans down, picking up what Rochelle dropped, and when he stands again, I see what it is.
A ring.
A very big, fat ring.
My brother intends to get married.
Well, fuck! Never thought I’d see the day.
“You wanted as much as I could give you, so I’m giving you this. And all of me.”
Rochelle starts crying and slams her body into his, wrapping her hands around his neck.
I pick up my beer and down it, then stand.
Marcus looks my way.
“I still don’t like her,” I say, to which he shakes his head, looking back to Rochelle, who really doesn’t care if I like her or not.
Guess I like that about her, even though I hate her as a person.