Burndown (Nitro Crew Book 1)

by Winter Travers

I pushed open the door and shut it behind me without looking in the direction of Roc’s desk.

  “Grain. What the hell are you doing here?” he growled.

  I straightened my shoulders and looked Roc in the eye. He was sitting behind his desk, papers strewn all over it. He looked pissed off like he was ready to spit glass.

  “I want to talk.”

  “There isn’t much to say. You’re suspended. Get out.”

  “No, sir. I’m not here to talk about that. I want to talk about Harlyn and me.”

  He scoffed and shook his head. “There is no you and Harlyn.”

  “With all due respect, sir, there is a Harlyn and me.”

  “Then there isn’t a you and Cummings Racing. You’re fired.”

  I knew he was going to do this. I wasn’t going to give up Harlyn, so he was going to make me give up Cummings Racing. “No, sir. I can’t accept that. I love your daughter, and I love working here. I shouldn’t have to give up one to have the other.”

  “You’re not good enough for my daughter, Grain. You’re going to break her heart, and I’m not going to let that happen. You’re living the same life I did. You find a pretty girl, make her fall in love with you, but then realize you can’t have racing and her. The two can’t coexist.”

  “That was you, Roc. I’m not going to make the same mistake you did.”

  He sat back in his chair. “Sit down,” he ordered.

  This was a good step. He was at least telling me to sit down and not get out of his office.

  I sat down in the chair in front of his desk and crossed my legs.

  He pointed in the direction of Harlyn. “I loved her mother. Loved her more than anything in my life. I didn’t want to choose racing over her, but it happened before I even knew I was doing it. Before we had Harlyn, it wasn’t a big deal if I would be gone for two three weeks at a time. She had her family and friends to hang out with, and I had my pit crew. But as soon as Harlyn came screaming into this world, everything changed. She didn’t want me gone for weeks at a time. She expected me to be home for birthdays and holidays. You know how demanding this job can be, Grain. You worked for two NHRA teams before this. It isn’t a nine-to-five job where you get to go home every night.”

  “I know that, sir.”

  “Then what makes you think you are going to be any different than I was?”

  I leaned forward and rest my elbows on my knees. “Because I know you won’t let me do that to Harlyn.”

  “You’re fucking right, I won’t. That’s why you need to choose either her or Cummings.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going to do that. You can’t fire me for the simple reason I’m dating your daughter.”

  “I run this team, Grain. You can bet your ass I can suspend or fire whoever the hell I want.”

  “You fire me for dating your daughter, you’re just going to put an even bigger wedge between the two of you.”

  “My relationship with my daughter has nothing to do with you.”

  “It does when I’m the one she cries to about it.”

  He sighed and turned to look out the window behind him. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Grain. Marrying Harlyn’s mom was not one of them. That was probably the only good thing I did in my life. I was a shit husband and an even worse father. I know I can’t make up for the past twenty-seven years, but I can do my damnedest to see that she doesn’t hitch her wagon to a guy who is going to end up leaving her.”

  “How can you sit there and tell me what I’m going to do? You don’t know me, Roc. You don’t know how I was raised, or the life I’ve had. For the past ten years, I have watched my mother be loved by a man. A man that is not my father, but became like a father to me. I know what love is, and I know the power it has. My mother was broken by my father, but this gruff-talking MC guy who is nothing like my dad, came into her life and he loved my mother in a way no one ever had before.” I sighed and shook my head. “I love Harlyn more than anything in this world. More than racing. So, you can suspend me, you can fire me, but you can’t make me stop loving Harlyn.”

  Roc slowly spun his chair around and leveled his gaze on me. “If you break her heart, I will break every single one of your fingers and blacklist you so fast, you’ll never be able to get another job on a pit crew. The only job you’ll get is at the go kart track servicing the busted go-karts.”

  He listened. He finally listened to me. “I love your daughter, and I like my fingers the way they are.”

  “Then you better treat her like the fucking princess she is and we won’t have any problems when it comes to you two.” He spun his chair back around to face the window, ending our conversation.

  I had to take what I was given. He was going to let me keep working at Cummings and still be with Harlyn. I made my way to the door but stopped. “Just one more thing, Roc. Are you still going to give me hell all of the time at work?”

  “It’s gonna get ten times worse, Grain.”

  A slow smile spread across my lips. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Roc.”

  I opened the door and ran straight into Harlyn and Jay gathered at the door. I pushed them back and shut the door behind me.

  “Please tell me you’re not fired. If both you and Frankie are gone, that means I’m going to actually have to start working,” Jay complained.

  I clapped him on the shoulder and stepped toward Harlyn’s desk. “I’m still here, Jay, but who the hell knows about Frankie. If she doesn’t come back, you might have to start working a little bit.”

  Jay rubbed his chin. “I can handle working a little bit.” Jay walked into the shop, and Harlyn looked at me expectantly.

  “So, if you still have a job here, does that mean we have to break up?”

  I shook my head and pulled her into my arms. “If we broke up, that would break your heart, and then Roc would break all of my fingers.”

  “But… does…” She pointed at Roc’s office. “You mean you still work here and he’s not going to kill you for dating me?”

  “It’s all good, baby. I get my dream job and my dream girl.”

  Roc’s door swung open. “One more thing,” he barked. “You two may be dating, but that don’t mean you two have to be all over each other all of the time.” He circled his finger around in front of him. “This is my zone. None of that bullshit I walked in on the other day. You hear me?”

  I nodded and looked down at Harlyn. “I’m good with that in about twenty seconds.”

  “Twenty seconds? What in the hell do you mean by that?” Roc demanded.

  Harlyn knew exactly what I meant.

  She reached up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Roc hollered. His door slammed, and I knew he wasn’t going to stick around for the next seventeen seconds.

  I delved my fingers into Harlyn’s hair and thanked my lucky stars for weak car batteries and Harlyn Krinston.

  *

  Chapter 34

  Frankie

  “Frankie, your phone is ringing.”

  I lifted my head from my pillow and saw it was only seven-thirty in the morning.

  Luke was standing over my bed with my ringing phone in his hand. “Doesn’t say who it is.”

  Gah. It was probably Remy or Jay calling from the shop. I grabbed the phone from Luke and swiped right to answer it. “Hello,” I mumbled.

  “Frankie?”

  “Yeah, you got me.”

  “This is Brooks Cummings.”

  The End

  About the Author

  Winter Travers is a devoted wife, mother, and aunt turned author who was born and raised in Wisconsin. After a brief stint in South Carolina following her heart to chase the man who is now her hubby, they retreated back up North to the changing seasons, and to the place they now call home.

  Winter spends her days writing happily ever after’s, and her nights zipping around on her forklift at work. She also has an addiction to anything MC related,
her dog Thunder, and Mexican food! (Tamales!)

  Winter loves to stay connected with her readers. Don’t hesitate to reach out and contact her.

  http://www.facebook.com/wintertravers

  Twitter: @WinterTravers

  Instagram: @WinterTravers

  http://www.wintertravers.com/

  Coming Soon

  Wrecker

  Fallen Lords MC

  Book 4

  July 29th, 2018

  Dive into the First Chapter of Loving Lo!

  Loving Lo

  Devil’s Knights Series

  Book 1

  Winter Travers

  Chapter 1

  Meg

  How did just stopping quickly to get dog food and shampoo turn into an overflowing basket and a surplus pack of paper towels?

  “Put the paper towels down and back away slowly,” I mumbled to myself as I walked past a display of air fresheners and wondered if I needed any.

  “Oh dear. Oh, my. I… Ah… Oh, my.”

  I tore my thoughts away from air fresheners and looked down the aisle to an elderly woman who was leaning against the shelf, fanning herself. “Are you ok, ma‘am?”

  “Oh dear. I just… I just got a little… dizzy.” I looked at the woman and saw her hands shaking as she brushed her white hair out of her face. The woman had on denim capris and a white button down short sleeve shirt and surprisingly three-inch wedge heels.

  “Ok, well, why don’t we try to find you a place to sit down until you get your bearings?” I shifted the basket and paper towels under one arm to help her to the bench that I had seen by the shoe rack two aisles over. “Are you here with anyone?” I asked, as I guided her down the aisle.

  “Oh no. I’m here by myself. I just needed a few things.”

  “I only needed two things, and now my basket is overflowing, and I still haven’t gotten the things I came in for.”

  The woman plopped down on the bench chuckling, shaking her head. “Tell me about it. Happens to me every time too.”

  “Is there something I can do for you? Has this happened to you before?” She was looking rather pale.

  “Unfortunately, yes. I ran out of the house today without eating breakfast. I’m diabetic. I should know by now that I can’t do that.” My mom was also diabetic, so I knew exactly what the woman was talking about. Luckily, I also knew what to do to help.

  “Just sit right here, and I’ll be right back. Is there someone you want to call to give you a ride home? Driving right now probably isn’t the best idea.” I set the basket and towels on the floor, keeping my wallet in my hand.

  “I suppose I should call my son. He should be able to give me a ride,” the woman said as she dug her phone out of her purse.

  I left the woman to her phone call and headed to the candy aisle that I had been trying to ignore. I grabbed a bag of licorice, chips, and a diet soda and went to the checkout. The dollar store didn’t offer a healthy selection, but this would do in a pinch. The woman just needed to get her blood sugars back up.

  I grabbed my things after paying and headed back to the bench. I ripped open the bag and handed it to the woman. “Oh dear, you didn’t have to buy that. I could have given you money.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I hope if this happened to my mom there would be someone to help her if I wasn’t around.”

  “Well, that’s awfully sweet of you. My names Ethel Birch by the way.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Ethel. I’m Meg Grain. I also got you some chips and soda.” I popped opened the soda and handed it to Ethel.

  “Oh, thank you, honey. My son is on the way here, should be only five minutes. You can get going if you want to, you don’t need to sit with an old woman,” Ethel said as she ate a piece of candy and took a slug of soda.

  “No problem. The only plans I had today was to take a nap before work tonight. Delaying my plans by ten minutes won’t be a problem.”

  “Well, in that case, you can help me eat this licorice. It’s my favorite, but I shouldn’t eat this all by myself. Where do you work at?” Ethel asked as she offered the bag to me.

  “The factory right outside of town. I work in the warehouse, second shift.” I grabbed a piece and sat down on the floor. If I was going to wait for Ethel’s son to show up, might as well be comfortable while I waited for him.

  “Really? Never would have thought that. Figured you would have said a nurse or something like that. Seems like you would have to be tough to work in a warehouse, sounds like a man’s job.”

  I laughed. “Honestly, Ethel that is not the first time I have heard that, and it probably won't be the last. You need a certain attitude to deal with those truckers walking through the door. I have an awesome co-worker, so he helps out when truckers have a problem with a woman loading their truck.”

  “Sounds like you give them hell. My Tim was a trucker before he passed. I know exactly what you are talking about.” Ethel took another drink of her soda and set it on the bench next to her.

  “Feeling better?”

  “Surprisingly, yes. It’s a wonder what a little candy can do. How much do I owe you?” Ethel asked as she reached for her purse by her feet.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that I was here to help.”

  “Mom! Where are you?” Someone yelled from the front of the store.

  “Oh good, Lo’s here. You’ll have to meet him.” Ethel cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled to him she was in the back.

  I started getting up off the floor and remembered I wasn’t exactly as flexible as I use to be while struggling to get up.

  “Ma, you ok?” I was halfway to standing with my butt in the air when his voice made me pause.

  It sounded like the man was gurgling broken glass when he spoke. Raspy and so sexy. Those three words he spoke sent shocks to my core. Lord knows the last time I felt anything in my core.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I forgot to eat breakfast this morning and started to get dizzy when Meg here was nice enough to help me out until you could get here.” Ethel turned to me. “Lo, this is Meg, Meg this is Lo.”

  Oh, lord.

  I couldn’t talk. The man standing in front of me was… oh, lord. I couldn’t even think of a word to describe him.

  I looked him up and down, and I’m sure my mouth was hanging wide open. I took in his scuffed up motorcycle boots and faded, stained ripped jeans that hugged his thighs and made me want to ask the man to spin so I could see what those jeans were doing for his ass. I moved my eyes up to his t-shirt that was tight around his shoulders and chest and showed he worked out.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I worked out. Did walking to the mailbox count as exercise? Of course, I only remembered to get the mail about twice a week, so that probably didn’t count.

  His arms were covered in tattoos. I could see them peeking out from the collar of his shirt and could only imagine what he looked like with his shirt off. Tattoos were my ultimate addiction on a man. Even one tattoo added at least 10 points to a man’s hotness. This guy was off the fucking charts.

  My eyes locked with his after my fantastic voyage up his body, and I stopped breathing.

  “Hey, Meg. See something you like, darlin’?” Lo rumbled at me with a smirk on his face.

  Busted. I sucked air back into my lungs and tried to remember how to breathe.

  Lo’s eyes were the color of fresh cut grass, bright green. His hair was jet black and cut close to his head with a pair of kick ass aviators sitting on top of his head. He was golden tan and gorgeous. The man was sex on a stick. Plain and simple.

  “Uh, hey,” I choked out.

  Lo’s lips curved up into a grin, and I looked down to see if my panties fell off. The man had a panty-dropping smile, and he wasn’t even smiling that big. I would have to take cover or risk fainting if he smiled any bigger.

  “Thanks for looking after my ma for me. I’m glad I was in town today and not out on a run,” Lo said.

  Ok. Get it together
Meg. You are a 36-year-old woman, and this man has rendered you speechless like a sixteen-year-old girl. I needed to say something.

  “Say something,” I blurted out. Good Lord did I just say that. Lo quirked his eyebrow, and his smirk returned.

  “Ugh, I mean no problem. I didn’t do that much. No problem.” I looked at Ethel while Lo was smirking at me; Ethel had a full-blown smile on her face and was beaming at me.

  “You were a life saver, Meg! I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.” Ethel looked at Lo and grinned even bigger. “You should have seen her, Lo. She knew just what to do to help me. I could have sworn she was a nurse the way she took charge. She’s not, though, just has a good head on her shoulders and decided to help this old lady out.”

  “That’s good, Ma. You got all your shit you need so we can get going? I got some stuff going on at the garage that I dropped to get over here fast.”

  I took that as my cue to leave and ripped my eyes off Lo and bent over to get my basket and paper towels.

  “Yes son, that’s my stuff right here. I just want to get Meg’s number before she leaves.”

  “Why do you need my number?” I asked, as I juggled my basket and towels.

  Ethel grabbed her purse off the ground and started digging through it again. “Well, you won’t let me pay you back for the snacks you got for me so I figured I could pay you back by inviting you over for dinner sometime. So, what’s your number, sweetheart?”

  “I don’t eat dinner,” I blurted out. I was going to have to have a talk with my brain and mouth when I got home. They needed to get their shit together and start working in unison so I wouldn’t sound like such an idiot.

  “You don’t eat dinner? Please don’t tell me you're on a diet.” Lo said as he looked me up and down.

  “No,” I said. Lord knew I should be.

  Lo and Ethel just stared at me.

  “So, no, you don’t eat dinner?” Lo asked again.

  “Yes. I mean no, I’m not on a diet. Yes, I eat dinner. I just work at night, so I meant that I wouldn’t be able to come to dinner.” I looked at Lo and blushed about ten shades of red. “Why is this so hard?”