by Dahlia West
“So you keep saying.”
Tildy gaped at him. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say to me?” She slapped his arm harmlessly. “I just said-”
Hawk surged forward, seized her around the waist with both hands, and spun her until she was pinned against the wall. Daisy almost dropped her wine glass. Tildy wasn’t hurt at all, but Lord above she was shocked as hell and nearly hyperventilating. Hawk pressed his crotch between Tildy’s legs and Daisy got vicariously wet just from watching.
“I heard you,” he said quietly. “You said you want my mark on your ass and my seed in your belly and since you’ve already got one, I guess that means we need to work on the other one.”
Tildy made a kind of mewling noise and closed her eyes.
“Daisy,” Hawk said, a bit more loudly.
“I’ll show myself out,” she replied, finishing off the glass and setting it down on the counter. “You two have fun!”
She slipped out the front door and closed it softly behind her.
Chapter 18
Easy finally finished the lawn and wrestled the mower back into the corner of the garage. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and headed for the cool air-conditioning of his house. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to an entire summer of this, but it wasn’t like he had a choice, either. He grasped the handle of the large bay door and pulled. When it met the concrete of the driveway, he bent to twist the handle and lock it into position.
“Nice view.”
He jerked his head around to see Daisy standing on the sidewalk, eyeing him appreciatively. He stood up and shielded his eyes with his hand. Ignoring her comment, he said, “What are you doing here?” It was a slight moment of panic or maybe just irritation. Surely she didn’t think they had some kind of relationship, not just because they’d screwed a couple of times. He certainly hadn’t meant to leave her that impression.
She grinned at him. “I was visiting Tildy.”
He sighed inwardly and relaxed his guard a little. The last thing he needed was some chick breaking into his house or telling everyone they were getting married. Granted those things had worked out for Tex and Hawk, respectively, but Easy wasn’t headed down that road.
“But if you’re going to walk around shirtless,” she told him, “bending over all the time, I might visit more often.”
He frowned. There didn’t seem to be anything to say to that without putting ideas in her head. “Don’t you have to work tonight?” he asked. Truthfully, he had thought to seek her out after her shift. Last night had been good, better than he’d been hoping for actually. The look on Daisy’s face as she’d laid on the bed was all the evidence he’d needed to conclude she’d enjoyed it, too. She wouldn’t be telling anyone else that story about the bathroom. He felt confident that he’d fucked the memory out of her pretty little head.
She was cute, he had to admit. Cover up the tats and take out the nose piercing and she’d be just his type. In the looks department. In the sex department she was pretty good, too, but that mouth of hers- yikes. He sure as hell didn’t need a woman like Slick, picking fights and winning them, too. Even Abby, who no doubt used her mouth for something other than sassing Tex, at least in the bedroom, was too high maintenance with Dom/sub bullshit and constantly needed tending to. Tildy would’ve been perfect, if he’d met her in basic or on R&R and hadn’t been blown to shit right after.
A beautiful, polite, nice girl who would move into a house on base and fill it up with kids while he earned his commission. But that possibility was long gone. In its place would be other women, a lot of them, for the rest of his life, which wasn’t a bad way to live, he realized, now that he knew he could do it. At least he wouldn’t have to settle for his hand anymore. As he looked at her now, he imagined her bent over again, her golden curls moistening as he used her in all kinds of filthy ways. It seemed dangerous to try that now, though. This was his place, and she’d caught him off guard. Everything about this moment had him off balance.
“My shift starts pretty soon. You could give me a ride,” she suggested.
Easy frowned harder. One, he wasn’t comfortable with trying it, and two, she might get ideas in her head. Before Hawk met Tildy he never let a woman share the saddle. “They get territorial,” he’d explained.
Easy shook his head. “Can’t. Got to shower.”
She smiled at him again. “Me, too. Want to do your part to save the Earth and invite me in? I’ll wash your back, if you wash mine, okay and your front, if you’re nice. And maybe-”
Easy shivered at the thought of her seeing his stump and of having to explain the white, plastic stool. Nothing about showering with him would even be remotely sexy. He turned and walked toward the front porch. “Later, Daisy,” he said as he mounted the steps.
She sighed dramatically and turned away. “Later,” she mumbled and started walking.
He wasn’t willing to give her the upper hand here, but he had to admit he was grateful that she’d gotten him over the hump, so-to-speak. He could fuck her again tonight. One or two more practice sessions couldn’t hurt. When he was safely inside, sitting under the hot shower spray, he ignored the fact that his cock had wanted desperately to take her up on her offer. He could stroke it now, he supposed, but he’d see her again in just a few hours, and a few hours after that he’d have her bent over again, screaming in pleasure. At that point his dick would forgive him for blowing her off.
He felt confident that, after last night, Daisy would forgive him, too.
Chapter 19
Daisy kept walking and didn’t look back. She sighed to herself again. Jimmy Turnbull was a scorching hot mess. He wanted her- that tent in his pants made it more than obvious- but he’d turned her down anyway. Between the bomb and Brenda, he may never get right, she admitted to herself. She couldn’t really think of a way to help him no matter how much Sarah wanted her to.
She dropped off her sketchbook at the Rainbow and trudged down the road to Maria’s, vowing not to think about it anymore tonight. One look at Milo’s face as he sat at the bar told her she wasn’t the only one with problems.
“What’s wrong, old man?” she asked, filling up his glass.
He sighed. “The interweb.”
Daisy laughed and wiped down the counter in front of him. “Free porn isn’t free, Milo. You ought to know better.”
He shook his head. “Had three women,” he told her. “Three hens in my hen house. I was cock of the walk,” he said, squaring his shoulders. Then his face darkened. “But they all friended each other online. And now they know about each other. Turns out that’s why they were ducking my calls.”
Daisy tossed the towel onto the bar. “That’s your problem? Seriously? That you were three-timing a bunch of women and got busted?” Daisy rolled her eyes at him. “Unbelievable.”
“I’ll one-time you,” offered a scruffy looking guy Daisy had never seen before.
She rolled her eyes at him. “No thanks,” she replied.
“What time do you get off... so you can get off?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.
“I’ve never heard that one before,” she said dryly. “Why don’t you-”
As she spoke, the door opened and Hawk strode in. Daisy felt her cheeks flush as she remembered him pressing Tildy into the living room wall. The guy she wanted to go full-on cave man on her entered the bar right behind him. Maintaining his position as the King of Mixed Signals, he gave her a slight smile as he passed by the bar.
Daisy wasn’t sure if she wanted to smack him or fuck him, probably both but one more than the other.
“Why don’t I what?” the barfly asked, giving her a smile that wasn’t nearly as sexy as the one she’d just gotten.
“Shut up and order another drink,” she told him and stacked a tray with the shots and beers she knew Hawk and Jimmy would want.
She took off toward their table and rested her hip against the edge as she set down the drinks. Easy’s hand brushed hers as he
took the shot from her. It was obviously deliberate, and if she doubted it, the look he was giving her confirmed it.
“Thanks,” he drawled.
Daisy looked away and set Hawk’s beer down in front of him. “Where’s Tildy?” she asked.
“Sleeping,” he told her with a smirk.
Daisy ducked her head and laughed. “I bet.”
“What time do you get off?” Easy asked her.
So I can get off? she thought, but didn’t say.
“Early,” she replied. “Which is good, ‘cause I have plans.” She picked up the tray and walked away. Truthfully, the only plans she had involved a shower and a semi-comfortable bed, but he didn’t need to know that. Only one of them was nicknamed ‘Easy’.
At the bar, the fly reached out and took hold of her arm. “You never gave me the drink I ordered,” he told her. The way his eyes glittered told her he was one drink away from failing a sobriety test. She sighed and figured it was way too early to start arguing with drunks.
“Last one,” she told him as she filled a glass from the tap. It was light beer, but he wouldn’t notice.
“Much obliged,” he replied and tipped the glass, a little too hard because the foam went everywhere.
Daisy cleaned up the mess and hit the other tables. There were some Badlands Buzzards, the local MC she guessed, getting rowdy at the pool tables, but she brushed away wandering hands and ducked intense gazes as she served them. When she got back to Easy and Hawk’s table, she briefly considered swatting his wandering hand when it touched her leg above the knee.
It was under the table where no one could see unless they were looking. Daisy got distracted by the memory of those hands and forgot to tell him to stop. She hustled back to the bar, just wishing it was already time to leave. She had twenty minutes left to go, though.
She tossed the empties and grabbed a rag.
“One more,” said the fly.
Daisy shook her head. “Nope. You’re done.”
He grinned at her. “Just one,” he countered.
“You already have to call a cab,” she told him. “Or walk. You had your last one.”
He grabbed her wrist and held it tightly. “I’m paying; I’m drinking,” he said.
Daisy tried to step back, but she had no leverage. She glanced across the bar at Easy’s table. He was looking her way, his face growing darker by the second.
She pulled on her arm and tried to wiggle free.
“Hey now,” said Milo, but he was twice as old as the fly. Milo also weighed more, but his pounds were in all the wrong places.
“Let go,” Daisy demanded.
“Not ‘til I get what I want,” he said, and Daisy wasn’t sure he meant another beer.
She looked back across the bar to see that Easy had risen from his chair and was headed their way. She sighed in relief. “Now listen,” she said loudly. “You see that guy over there? The one who looks pissed as hell? Yeah, he’s coming over here and if you don’t let go and leave...”
Her words trailed off as Easy reached them... and walked right past. She watched in disbelief as he strode toward the opposite side of the bar. “Get your hands off her!” he shouted and Daisy’s face felt flushed and prickly as she, and everyone else, turned to look.
Brenda had apparently shrunk a black mini skirt in the laundry that day until it was the size of the thong Daisy had on, the thong she’d just bought with the hope that someone might see it, the same someone who was now coming to another woman’s rescue.
The fly let go, thankfully, but only because he was more interested in the argument at the jukebox than Daisy.
“What’s your problem?” asked a long-haired biker as he had one arm wrapped around Brenda’s waist.
Easy gave him a shove. The guy might’ve retaliated, but Hawk appeared directly behind Easy, and suddenly it wasn’t such a good idea to continue arguing.
Easy grabbed Brenda’s arm and pulled her to him. He bent his head and said something to her, but between the music and the crowd Daisy couldn’t hear it. He turned and led her toward the door.
Daisy scoffed in disbelief and pushed off the bar. Turning, she stalked past Hawk, who’d convinced the biker to have a seat. She made her way to Maria while already untying her apron.
“Can I go now?” she asked.
Maria didn’t look at her but nodded. She was too busy keeping an eye on the potential problem by the jukebox. Daisy hung her apron on the hook in the office and clocked out. She couldn’t win for losing, it seemed, and slunk toward the door.
She was resolved to go home and cry in her non-existent beer, but when she stepped outside she spotted Easy and Brenda just a few feet from the door, and suddenly she didn’t feel like crying anymore.
She turned away from the Rainbow and toward the arguing couple. Easy had let go of Brenda at this point, but instead of leaving, she was up in his face, tottering on four inch heels.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Brenda cried. “You can’t do a god damn thing.”
Daisy came up behind her and planted her feet on the loose gravel. “He can’t, but I can.”
Brenda turned, and Daisy waited until her nose was in full view before she swung. Her fist connected squarely with the other woman’s face. Brenda stumbled back into Easy, who caught her.
“Jesus, Daisy!” he shouted over Brenda’s howls.
Daisy ignored him and glared down at the woman. “You oughta stop running your mouth,” she told Brenda. “It’s caused enough problems. If you need me to duct tape it shut for you, I can do that.”
“What the hell?” said Easy, trying and failing to put Brenda back on her feet.
Daisy was about to tell him that Brenda wasn’t worth the effort when she heard a pair of boots behind her.
“Daisy Mae Cutter,” came Adam’s voice, as rough as the gravel he was standing on. He looked at Brenda, amusement playing on his lips, and back to Daisy. “You are a bundle of dynamite in one tight, little package.”
Daisy grinned at him and shrugged. At least someone appreciated her efforts.
“You done for the night?” he asked her, noting her missing apron.
“Yeah. Just had a little business to take care of now that I’m off shift,” she replied.
Adam smiled again. “Need a ride?”
She sighed and smiled back at him. “I sure do. Bye,” she told the other two and then followed Adam to his bike a few spaces away.
Easy was still tending to the wounded Brenda. Daisy tried to pretend that it didn’t irritate her. He shouldn’t care so much about that bitch. She swung her leg over Adam’s bike, settled her feet onto the pegs, and willed herself not to look back as he pulled onto the road. Easy had been flirting with her all night then Brenda waltzed in and it was like she didn’t exist anymore. For a guy who said he was over her, he sure didn’t act like it. Daisy refused to wonder what was so wrong with herself that he preferred a woman who’d insulted him so horribly over her.
Chapter 20
Daisy stepped out of her clothes and into the shower, which was lukewarm on its best day. But it was hot out, so she didn’t mind. She washed the stink of beer and fries out of her hair and was determined not to think about asshole Army Rangers or bitchy bar bunnies for the rest of the night. She’d dry her hair and crawl into bed and that would be the end of that. She hadn’t even finished the hair drying part when someone pounded on her room door, startling her.
She slung the towel over her shoulder and checked the peephole. It seemed the rest of the night was shot as well, at least as far as forgetting about assholes was concerned.
She unlocked the door and opened it. Easy swept into the room like he was the one paying for the place.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded.
She shrugged, not feeling conversational.
“Running her mouth? What did you mean by that?”
Daisy sensed she was on dangerous ground here. Easy had a lot of pride and it wasn’t smart to stomp all
over it by admitting that she knew the real reason he’d broken up with Brenda. She threw the damp towel onto the bed and crossed her arms in front of her. “Well in case you forgot, she called me a slut in front of the whole damn bar. And she took a swing at me first! I don’t know who she thought she was coming back to Maria’s after all that, but I’m not about to let that shit stand.”
He seemed to consider this at length, and if he doubted her, he didn’t say anything. Instead he moved toward her and took hold of her hand. He turned it over in his, inspecting her knuckles. Angry that he only cared about her now, as an afterthought, she jerked it back. “I know how to throw a punch, Turnbull. Been doing it all my life.”
“You’re right,” he told her. “She shouldn’t have come to the bar.”
Daisy glared at him. “And maybe if you weren’t gawking all over her, exactly like she wanted, she would’ve just left.”
His gaze darkened. “That guy she was messing with is bad news, a one-percenter. She was in for a whole lot of trouble with someone like him.”
Daisy let out an exasperated breath. “Oh, so you just had to be the one to save her. Good thinking. Maybe she’ll give you a Thank You blowjob once she can breathe through her nose again!”
“It wasn’t like that! She was going to get hurt. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Daisy turned away and, for lack of anything better to do, pushed a sketch around on the table next to her. “No, but you’ll let me get hurt,” she said quietly.
There was a long silence between them before he said, “You don’t need my help. You can take care of yourself just fine.”
Daisy scratched the surface of the table with her thumbnail. Of course she could take care of herself. That wasn’t the point. The point was to have someone who cared enough about you to fight for you. She’d taken Brenda down a few pegs for insulting Easy, that’s what you were supposed to do. She sighed to herself. He didn’t know that’s why she’d done it and she could never tell him.
