Out of the Ashes (Marked as His Book 1)

by Rossi, Monica

  “Excuse me,” she said, scooting by a woman who seemed to be walking slightly faster than paint drying. If she hurried she’d be right on time, maybe even a couple of minutes early, and she intended to be on time.

  Leaving her daughter had been easier than expected. The neighbors in the apartment next door had a little girl only a year older than Katy and the mom worked as a call center associate from home so she’d agreed to keep Katy on the days Fern had to work. The kind woman had said she wouldn’t charge her anything, but Fern was going to make sure she gave her something, even if it was just returning the favor of keeping her daughter on her days off.

  Sometimes Fern was overwhelmed by the kindness that had been shown to her since she’d left Tim. Seanna was her savior, of course, but from her neighbors to Miss Lola, these people had surrounded her and offered a helping hand.

  She hadn’t known people could be like that. Her family had been cold and distant. Providing support in the only way they knew how, with money. The only warm spot in her childhood had been her grandmother, and she’d died before Felicity had even turned ten.

  That left her with a father who she didn’t see for weeks at a time, a mother who walked in and out of her life complaining and criticizing when she had time to be with her at all, and a sister that felt like anything Felicity got was being taken directly from her, and blamed her for it.

  It was sad to say that when her parents had died what she’d felt hadn’t been grief due their deaths, but rather grief at what she’d never had.

  And then there was Tim, and he surely hadn’t shown her much kindness. At least not after they were married.

  No, these people who had next to nothing had given her more than anyone else ever had.

  She looked at her watch again and quickened her step even more. She was ready to get there and get started.

  “Well hey there,” Cora said from behind the counter. Her words were bright but there was something in her eyes.

  “Hello!” Fern said back, just as brightly. She hoped it really was ok and that she wasn’t stepping on anyone’s toes by working there. Sometimes the hierarchy in family owned businesses was weird.

  “So, I hear you’re going to be taking my job?” again, Cora’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “Uh, well, I don’t…” Fern didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Ma, don’t tease Fern on her first day,” Dax reprimanded his mother, coming out of his office looking like something out of one of her naughtier dreams about him. She’d just had one the night before.

  They’d been together in his studio and he’d ripped her shirt off of her, his mouth hot on her body, his hands roaming across her bare flesh and…

  She blushed, realizing where her thoughts had gone immediately after seeing him. This was not the beginning she’d had in mind when she’d promised herself she was only going to think of him as a coworker.

  “I’m only kind of joking. But I’m not mad at her, I’m mad at you. Especially because you decided to spring this on me twenty minutes before she showed up.”

  “You didn’t,” Fern said in horror, looking between Dax and the older woman.

  “He did,” she said, doom in her voice. “But it’s ok. I’m going with it. I might even like the idea once I get used to it. But it doesn’t mean I like the way you threw it on me, without even asking me first.”

  “Ma, I…”

  “No, save it for later. I thought I was going to be a bigger person about this, but I’ve decided my feeling are hurt.” Cora grabbed her purse from under the counter and fluffed her hair with one hand. “It’ll be ok, but I’m going to take a little break and chill out by myself.” She patted Fern’s shoulder on her way out. “I’ll be back darling and I’ll show you how everything is done in a bit. Just answer the phone for me till I get back.” And then she was gone.

  Fern was stunned, she turned to look at Dax and he looked just as stunned as she felt.

  “Well, I knew she wasn’t really going to like it but I didn’t know she was going to take it that bad.” He shrugged, “And when I told her earlier she seemed fine.”

  “Maybe actually seeing me set something off?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m sorry. This wasn’t how I wanted your first day to start.”

  “Me either, I can go if you’d rather…”

  “No, no, it’s fine, she’ll get over it and come back and it will all be fine. And she’ll find some way to punish me for it. I can guarantee that.” He laughed and the sound of it made something warm travel through Fern.

  She felt the warm sensation move toward her face. Was she ever going to stop blushing around this man?

  “So, um, this is where you’ll work,” he motion to the counter, “Ma normally puts her purse in that bottom drawer there. There isn’t a lock on it but we’ve never had a problem if you want a lock put on it I’m sure we can do something…”

  “No, no that’s fine.”

  “Ok, well, I guess you can just answer phones like Ma said until she gets back to show you everything else. I’d hate to horn in on her training territory when she’s already mad at me, ya know.”

  Fern laughed, “Yeah I get that. So, you just want me to sit here and wait for the phone to ring?”

  “Basically, yeah,” he said.

  “I can do that.” Fern walked around the counter and swung her purse off her shoulder and neatly into the drawer before taking her perch on the cushioned stool.

  “How am I doing so far?” she asked.

  “Perfect,” he said and smiled, flashing her those white teeth that made liquid fire run through her veins.

  She smiled back. Maybe working here wouldn’t be so bad. She certainly couldn’t complain about the scenery.

  The door opened, causing the little bell to chime angrily as a tiny little brown and purple haired woman in all black walked in. She took one look at Fern and said, “Who the fuck is that and why the fuck is she behind the counter on Ma’s stool?”

  Dax watched through the window as Fern swept the floor of the closed shop. He wasn’t supposed to be there yet but he knew she’d get there a little early and he wanted to watch her for a minute without her knowing he was there. He just liked the gentle way she moved, everything she did seemed choreographed. Like a ballet instructor had planned her day beforehand and taught her all the steps. When people were around she seemed to become nervous and self-conscious, but when she thought no one was looking every movement was pure tantalizing magic.

  She’d started coming in early as soon as Ma had given her the key, which Ma had done without asking his permission but whatever, he was just glad she wasn’t taking her ire with him out on Fern.

  It was quite the opposite actually, she had fallen in love with Fern after the first day they’d worked together. He, on the other hand, was still in the dog house. With both Ma and Sandy. But he couldn’t help it now. What was done was done, and he didn’t feel bad about it anyway. Maybe he should have spoken to Ma first, but it wouldn’t have changed what he did. And he hadn’t helped Fern just because he was attracted to her. There was the other thing too, that sense of kindred he felt when he saw her green eyes fog over, remembering something she’d rather not.

  The first few days had been tense for her, he was sure, they were tense for him and everyone there was his family. No one could find fault with her work and even if they had it wouldn’t have done much good, they knew when he wanted to do something nothing got in his way. And the tension between them probably hadn’t made it any easier for her.

  He wasn’t imagining the tension either, and it wasn’t one sided at all, he could feel the lust coming off of her in waves just like he felt them rolling through himself. He couldn’t touch her without feeling the electric shock of need.

  But that wasn’t something he could pursue while she was working for him. It wouldn’t be right. It would be taking advantage of the situation. He didn’t want her feeling like she was beholden to him for the job, which mi
ght be in jeopardy if she didn’t flirt back. Yes, he could sense she felt the same, but he still wasn’t going to put her in that position. Knowing you want something and being able to have it were two totally different things.

  “What are you doing?” Dax startled as Joker punched his shoulder, “Are you watching her clean?” Joker asked, an incredulous look on his face.

  “What’s it to you whether I’m watching her clean or planning my next bank heist?”

  Joker threw his hands up, “Nothing man, if you want to stand out her watching a chick through a window then be my guest. Personally, I find I have a lot more luck when I actually go in and talk to them.” Joker raised one eyebrow and started walking towards the shop, a devilish look on his face.

  Dax realized a half a second later that Joker fully intended to go in and flirt with Fern. Dax knew the effect Joker had on woman and he started forward too.

  “Hey, man, I called dibs.” Dax called from behind his little brother.

  “You can’t call dibs on chicks dude, that’s just not cool. Besides, she’s been giving you fuck me eyes all week and you haven’t made a move. Your dibs have expired.”

  “We shouldn’t man, she’s in a bad position and I don’t want her to feel taken advantage of.”

  Joker paused for a minute, his hand on the door to the shop, “Are you just saying that so I won’t make a move on her while you work up the nerve to do it? Or do you genuinely think she should be off limits?”

  He almost laughed, Joker was eying him hard, as if he could discern any ulterior motives with a stern look. “I really mean it, Honest Abe.” He held his hand up just like Joker had done when they were younger.

  Joker shook his head with a sigh, “Alright man, but that’s asking a lot. Did you see her ass in those blue jeans yesterday? Jesus Lord.”

  “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain you little shit,” Ma came up behind them and slapped Joker across the back of the head with a thwap. “And you stop talking about that girl’s ass, she’s a mother, not a piece of strange to pick up. Hands off! Besides, it’s Dax she’s been eyeballing all week. Open the door stupid we ain’t going to stand in the street and squabble like a bunch of chickenheads. Get in the shop.”

  And with that Ma swept them all into the shop.

  But he had noticed Fern’s jeans the day before and, mother or not, her ass had been distracting.

  Fern brushed her hair up and away from her face, holding it up high while her other hand grabbed a ponytail O. She was trying to create a modified version of the faux Mohawk she’d seen Sandy wearing.

  Though, granted, it wouldn’t look nearly as kick ass on her as it did on Sandy, but then no one could ever look as kick ass as Sandy. As small as she was, Sandy looked like she was prepared to kick ass at any given moment.

  Fern turned her head side to side and studied her reflection with pursed lips. This wouldn’t do at all. She looked ridiculous, like someone’s mother who was trying to dress up as a punk rocker for Halloween. But in her defense, she was someone’s mother.

  She shook her hair out and started again. She still had a few minutes before it was time for her to leave for work. She could play with her hair a little more and attempt not to look like such an upper-middle class housewife. It clashed with the shop.

  “Whatcha doin mama?” Katy asked wandering into the room, her prized Build-A-Bear dinosaur under her arm.

  “Trying to fix my hair sweetie, what are you doing? Taking Fred for a walk before you go over to Mrs. Bethea’s?”

  Katy clutched the stuffed animal tightly, “No, I’m trying to love him until he’s all better. That bad Trey made him fight his dinosaurs yesterday and they beat him up, but it wasn’t a fair fight because Trey had 4 dinosaurs and I only have Fred and they shouldn’t have all been allowed to fight together. It wasn’t fair.”

  Trey was the neighbor’s little boy and while Katy loved playing with their little girl, Trey had been a daily source of woe.

  “Well, today you tell Trey that Fred isn’t a fighter, he’s a cuddler, and just ignore him if he says anything else, ok?”

  “Ok. Are you going to have to work every day for the rest of forever mama? I miss you at supper and bath time and bed. Can you come back for those things?”

  “Oh baby, come here,” she swung the little girl onto her lap, “That’s just for this week, next week I only have to work for three days and then I get four days off, how about that?”

  “Awesome!” The little body jumped up and off her lap, running out of the room at break neck speed. She’d only sat in her lap for a second but it had been a sweet second. And her heart ached for a moment at having to leave her for even another minute.

  It had been a rough week, and she had missed seeing her daughter’s sweet face every night before tucking her in to sleep, but she kept telling herself that it was for a reason.

  She was doing this for them and their future, so that one day she wouldn’t have to worry about looking over her shoulder. And when Katy told her to check for monsters in the closet her brain didn’t conjure up the picture of a man that was all too real.

  And it wasn’t like it had been hard work. She had kept the shop clean, made appointments for the three artists, taken payments, ran a couple of reports off the system when they opened and when they’d closed. That was about it.

  Nothing hard at all, except for one thing, well two really. One, having to interact with all the clients was more difficult than she had anticipated but she was getting used to them, even if some of them did still give her pause when they came in. Tattoos, piercings, weird hair and ‘different’ clothing were all just things she was going to have to get used to. And even the weirdest client she’d dealt with had been super nice. But even so, for a girl who was naturally shy and reclusive anyway, having to be so…. available to people was just out of her comfort zone.

  But that wasn’t even the hardest thing. The hardest thing had been having to be so close to Dax all day and the constant throbbing need that seemed to follow his every movement.

  Even when he wasn’t in the room with her she was anticipating when he would be, wondering what he’d say to her next, remembering the exact shade of his eyes as he’d laughed at her pitiful attempt at humor, how his shirt looked as it tugged gently across his back when he’d picked up the box of paper, how his arm had tensed and released as he worked the needle with precision across someone’s skin.

  Fern watched as the flush spread across her chest and ran up her neck, finally blooming across her checks. She hadn’t even gotten to the shop and already she was getting worked up about him.

  Yes, that was the hardest part of the job by far, the constant arousal. But it was a small price to pay for the piece of mind that came from having a steady job.

  ***

  Fern pulled the last few pages of the nightly report out of the printer and placed them into a folder that was marked for that specific purpose.

  “See ya later sweetheart,” Joker banged his hand against the counter and then saluted her with two fingers as he made his way out the front. Joker was just loud, but somehow she didn’t mind it. The tattoo artists always cleaned up their studio space before leaving for the night, but Joker was always the first one done and out. From what she could tell he had a lot of extra nightlife to attend to after work. Fern couldn’t even imagine. All she did when she got off was blindly fall into a cab and then straight into bed when she got home. If she wanted to spend any time at all with her Katy then she had to be up with the birds in the morning, otherwise she wouldn’t get to see her all day.

  Fern wasn’t complaining though. Things could be worse, and they had been before.

  It wasn’t too long before Sandy came out of her studio, earbuds in, listening to some band that Fern had probably never even heard of before. Today her clothes were all greys and blacks, not her usual bright turquoises and fuchsias. And her face matched the hue of her clothes. Without saying a word, she flipped a washed out hoodie up and over h
er head, waved to Fern and headed out the door. Fern waved back, and smiled, even though Sandy was already gone.

  Fern had tried to form a connection to the younger woman but Sandy, while being polite and friendly on the surface, had seemed completely uninterested in having much to do with Fern. Fern knew she was moving, so she just guessed that Sandy just wasn’t interested in making any new friends.

  “About finished up?” his deep voice sounded from right beside her, startling her. For such a large individual he really was able to move quietly. He’d been able to sneak up and startle her several times since she’d come to work there.

  “Yes,” she handed him the cash till with the folder of nightly paperwork in it on top of it, giving him a flash of smile as she did.

  This was always the worst part of the night. When everyone else had left and she and Dax were alone together. Their close proximity behind the counter had their bodies brushing up against each other every time they moved. She spent the entire last 15 minutes of her day, every day with her insides churning like molten lava.

  It was annoying to say the least. She wished she could have worked for a 60 year old man who smelled like the tuna melt he’d had for lunch and had long white wiry hairs sticking out of his ears. But that wasn’t the way things were, so she just had to make the best of it.

  She watched him slip the cash into a bank bag and then take it into his office to place in the safe. Within moments he returned with an envelope in hand.

  “I’d normally pay you by check, but something tells me you’d rather have cash.”

  She flushed in embarrassment but took the envelope anyway.

  “I didn’t think I’d get paid until the end of next week?”

  “Well, I figured since I don’t have to cut you a check I also don’t have to wait until I work on payroll to pay you. Unless you want to get paid every two weeks, in which case I can just take that back.”

  He held his hand out and gave her a heart stopping grin. But instead of handing him back the envelope she put her hand in his.