by Jenny Penn
That didn’t change the fact that she kind of did.
Chapter Two
The next morning Maryanne arrived at Grits at exactly five minutes before nine. Still, Big Bob managed to beat her. She saw him sitting with a plate full of eggs and bacon and a basket of biscuits already half consumed almost the moment she shoved in through the diner’s main doors.
Of course it was hard to miss Big Bob. Standing at near seven feet tall, he was still taller than most people sitting. He was wide enough to take up most of his half of the booth. As if that didn’t draw enough attention, his shirt was sure to. Big Bob wasn’t just big. He was tacky and known for his outlandishly loud Hawaiian shirts.
Today he was wearing a yellow one decorated with neon-colored leaves that appeared to twinkle in the morning sunlight. They were like a beacon, drawing Maryanne to the side of Big Bob’s booth. He glanced up, those Holmes blue eyes watching her with an astuteness that was what made the man so dangerous.
“Maryanne.” He had a voice to match the size of his body, and it boomed out across the dinner, drawing glances in their direction as he gestured to the bench seat opposite of him. “Please. Have a seat.”
“Morning, Mr. Holmes.” Maryanne greeted him with a formality that had him snorting.
“Please, call me Big Bob. Everybody else does.”
“Of course.” Maryanne forced a smile, not feeling the slightest bit comfortable as she slid into the other side of the booth. Big Bob wasn’t helping her nerves none, not with the way he was studying her.
“So…you are a pretty one.” Big Bob smirked. “Jason and Collin didn’t mean that, but I should have known.”
“Excuse me?” Maryanne lifted a brow at that, unsure of what he meant. Big Bob, apparently, wasn’t going to explain.
“Don’t worry about that none.” Big Bob waved away his comment and her concern even as he signaled the waitress. “Hey, Sue, can you bring my guest a coffee and the day’s special?”
“Not a problem, hon.” Sue, the middle-aged waitress, winked at Maryanne and took off before she could object.
Normally, Maryanne would have, too. She didn’t go in for all that high-and-mighty male crap, but not that morning. A smart woman knew what battles to pick and when. Right then, she just needed to find out what Big Bob wanted. Fortunately, he was ready to talk.
“Now, we have some things to discuss, you and I.” Big Bob leaned back to study her for another long second before cutting straight toward the conversation Maryanne didn’t want to have. “You have cost me a lot of money over the past year. A lot.”
“Well,” Maryanne said, beginning her practiced defense, “I wouldn’t say it like that.”
“And how would you say it?” Big Bob asked, and Maryanne dared to answer with the truth.
“I’d have said that your son and nephew cost you a lot.” After all, Jason and Collin were the ones who’d given her all the openings. Maryanne couldn’t be blamed for taking them.
“Ah, yes. They have made some mistakes, haven’t they?”
“Maybe just a few.”
Big Bob laughed at that, surprising Maryanne when he didn’t take offense. Then he started talking nonsense. “Yeah, well, you can’t blame a man for losing his head over a pretty girl. It happens, don’t it, Sue?”
The waitress, who had reappeared with a fresh mug and a steaming pot of coffee, smiled slightly at that. “More the young ones than the old ones.”
Maryanne bristled slightly at that, though she couldn’t deny that, compared to Big Bob and Sue, she might be considered young. She didn’t feel it. Hadn’t ever really felt it. That was the problem with seeing the world as it was instead of as it should be. The sad, ugly truth of the world had a way of aging a person.
She didn’t dare to point that out as Big Bob and Sue kibitzed about the foolishness of young people in love. Whatever they were talking about, they weren’t talking about her because she wasn’t in love. Of that, Maryanne was certain.
“I can see you don’t have a clue as to what we’re talking about.” Big Bob smiled slightly at Maryanne as Sue moved off, having topped off Big Bob’s cup of coffee and poured a fresh one for her. It sat steaming before Maryanne, but she ignored it as Big Bob continued on.
“That don’t much matter. What matters is why I called you down here today.”
“You want the money,” Maryanne guessed, which was easy enough. That didn’t make her right.
“No.” Big Bob shook his head. “You earned it. It isn’t easy to get one over on Jason and Collin, and you’ve gotten them several times over. That’s just why I want to offer you a job.”
“A job?” Maryanne repeated, as if the very words were foreign. They kind of felt that way because there was no denying her shock at hearing them. Big Bob wasn’t joking, though.
“That’s right.” Big Bob nodded. “I want you to come work for me.”
“And why would I do that?” Maryanne asked, honestly unsure of the answer. “Unless you failed to notice, I’m making good money on my own.”
“Most of which you give away,” Big Bob countered. “And I’d be more than glad to do that for you. In fact, I’ll make you a promise right now to donate half of every bounty you help pull in to whatever charity you want.”
Maryanne considered that for a moment, unable to help but think that she could pull in a lot more bounties working with Big Bob than on her own. There had to be a catch, though. She wanted to know what it was.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re the best, and I’d like to have you on my team,” Big Bob stated simply before smiling slightly. “Oh, and by the way, you’d be the head of the team.”
“The head?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Big Bob nodded. “And the team would be you, Jason, and Collin.”
Maryanne stilled, her heart all but tripping over itself at the very suggestion of being in charge of those two. It was outrageous and so very tempting.
“I just want to get this straight.” Maryanne tried to hide her excitement and forced herself to speak slowly. “I’m going to be the boss, the boss of Jason and Collin.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Big Bob nodded again. “So? We got a deal?”
* * * *
Collin took in a slow, deep breath and slowly pulled his arms forward. Behind him the weights lifted off of the floor, making his muscles strain under the extra load. Strain but not break. He kept his breathing regulated, sucking in a breath as he brought his arms together and then letting it out as he slowly lowered the weights back down.
A second later he repeated the process, over and over again until he’d done an entire set. By then the sweat was beading on his brow and his muscles were quivering. It was time to take a break and grab some water. With that in mind, he grabbed his towel and wiped down the equipment before turning the terry cloth onto his face and drying himself off.
Then he headed out of the small gym Big Bob had built in back of his bonds office and toward the kitchenette where his cousin Tex stood, staring blankly into the nearly empty fridge. Tex glanced up as Collin came shuffling in, heading straight for the water cooler.
“Hey, man,” Tex called out, the amusement as clear in his tone as in the sparkle of his baby-blue eyes. Collin could easily guess what had his cousin on the edge of chuckling.
“Mornin’,” Collin grumbled, counting the seconds until Tex started harassing him. He didn’t even get to five.
“Rough night, huh?” Tex asked, straightening up and slamming the refrigerator door to give Collin his full attention. Collin, on the other hand, ignored Tex, which only egged him on. “Of course it’s probably been a worse morning for you.”
That had Collin shooting Tex a dirty look. “It’s been fine.”
“Oh.” Tex’s eyes widened with growing mirth. “You haven’t heard.”
“Heard?” Collin scowled. That didn’t sound good. “Heard about what?”
Tex started laughing, an evil sound that betrayed the hand he slapped
on Collin’s shoulder. “I just want you to know you have my condolences.”
“What are you talking about?”
Tex didn’t answer. He just walked out laughing as Jason brushed past him looking both horrified and panicked. Collin had a sick feeling that, soon, he’d be both those things, too.
“Did you hear?” Jason asked him, all bug eyed and quivering.
“No, damn it!” Collin snapped back, irritated that he seemed to be the only one out of the loop. “Hear what?”
“Big Bob hired Maryanne.”
Collin froze, feeling a shaft of fear shoot straight down into his gut. “No.”
Not her. Anybody but her. Maryanne was brash, arrogant, and so damn full of herself that he just wanted to…kiss her. God but he wanted her so badly, and he didn’t even know why. He sure as shit didn’t like the woman. He wasn’t desperate enough to be swayed by her looks, even if she did look good as hell.
Good, but not his type. He liked his women taller, fuller, sweeter, and a whole hell of a lot more giving than Maryanne’s with her tight little fists. The woman might be a walking wet dream, but she was a nightmare on the inside. A nightmare that was now about to take over his life.
That terrifying reality came as Jason latched onto Collin’s shoulders and stared deep into his eyes, seeming to try to brace Collin for what came next.
“He made her team leader,” Jason whispered, his fingers tightening down to hold Collin steady when he would have jerked back.
“Team? What team?” Collin demanded to know, fearing he already knew the answer.
“Our team.”
“No.” Collin shook his head as that denial fell out of him in a broken whisper. It couldn’t be. Big Bob wouldn’t be that cruel. “No. This is not real.”
“Howdy, boys!” Maryanne called cheerily out from the doorway. “You ready to get to work?”
* * * *
Maryanne bit back a laugh as Collin went white. His jaw fell open as his eyes damn near bugged out of his head in a look so comical it made her day shine all the brighter. This was going to be fun.
“This is not happening,” Jason whispered, his denial sounding desperate and on the verge of panic.
Maryanne couldn’t help but grin at that. “Oh, but it is, boys. You can just call me boss from now on…or mistress. Mistress, may I? Yes, I like the sound of that.”
“This…this…no!” Collin shoved passed her and took off down the hall, hollering for Big Bob and making Maryanne smile all the wider.
This was a beautiful moment, made all the sweeter by Jason’s growing scowl. The man was moving from shocked to pissed at lightning speed. Boy did he look sexy as hell as his features darkened and he puffed all up. He was big and thick and towering over her, but Maryanne wasn’t the least bit intimidated.
“This is not happening,” Jason repeated, this time sounding a good deal more firm in that conviction.
“Oh, but it is,” Maryanne assured him, delighting in the way the amusement in her tone made his cheek twitch with a tick she’d never seen before.
“I’m warning you now, Maryanne, you’re going to regret taking this job.”
“You going to make my life a living hell?” Maryanne asked, lifting a curious brow.
“That’s the plan,” Jason vowed softly.
“Then bring it, big boy.”
Jason didn’t respond to that taunt. He just glowered at her for a long, tense moment before finally following Collin out the door. Maryanne had no doubt where he was headed. Big Bob was about to get an earful, but she didn’t suspect that it would change the older man’s mind.
“You’re really asking for it, you know that, little girl?”
That question had Maryanne turning to find Tex lingering in the hall behind her. Like all the Holmes’ boys, he was tall, muscular, and way too good-looking with chiseled features. Tex was definitely a looker, one that set almost every heart in town to flutter. Every heart but hers.
Maryanne couldn’t explain it, but she had some kind of natural immunity to Tex’s charm. She wished she could say the same about Jason and Collin, but they were special. Her special secret and now she had the opportunity to mess with them on a daily basis. How could that be bad?
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Maryanne smirked, just imagining all the fun she planned on having. “But I appreciate your concern.”
Tex snorted at that. “I bet you do, but there is something you should know.”
“Yeah? And what’s that?”
“It’s not just you versus them. Us Holmes boys, we stand together.” With that grim warning, he sauntered off down the hall.
Maryanne watched him go, not feeling the least bit concerned about Tex’s threat. She already knew that it was going to be her against every single one of Big Bob’s nephews. That didn’t worry her in the slightest. After all, they were just men.
* * * *
“Maryanne is the best hunter around. You want her gone?” Big Bob smirked. “Be better.”
That was that. Jason knew his daddy well enough to know that there would be no changing his mind. The only hope he and Collin had now was to change Maryanne’s. Jason knew just how to do that.
“You know we’re going to make this girl’s life a living hell, don’t you?” Jason asked, subtly asking for permission to do just that.
If Big Bob was offering Maryanne full protection, now was the time for him to say so. He didn’t. The older man just shrugged and held his hands up in the air.
“That’s her problem.”
That was all Jason wanted to hear. Now all he and Collin needed was a plan. A plan best not discussed in front of Big Bob. With that in mind, Jason nodded toward his dad and slapped Collin on the shoulder.
“Come on. We gotta talk.”
Collin snorted and shot Big Bob a scowl before sulking out the door. Maryanne was waiting for them in the hall. She had a file in her hand and a smile the size of the state of Texas spread across her face. There was something about that grin. It both irritated and excited Jason in ways he’d rather it didn’t.
He liked his women soft and easy. Most importantly he liked them obedient. Maryanne was none of those things, not that his dick cared. It simply saw something it liked and started panting. A fact that only aggravated the sense of injustice Jason happened to be feeling right then.
“We got ourselves a live one, boys,” Maryanne declared with a glee that would normally have amused Jason if he wasn’t so agitated. Jason felt rubbed raw, right down to his last nerve, which Maryanne tested as she snatched the file backward when he went to reach for it. “But I can tell you two are busy, what with needing to have that talk and all. So why don’t I just handle this one myself?”
With that, she brushed right passed them, leaving Jason and Collin glaring at her sweet apple-bottomed ass as it sashayed right out the front door. Both men stood there silently for a long second before sharing a look. Jason knew exactly what his cousin was thinking because he was thinking it, too.
Game on!
Maryanne wanted to play. They were ready and willing to take her down. Collin nodded as if reading Jason’s thoughts, and without a word, both men turned to follow the sassy bitch right out the door. Not that they went chasing after her. Instead, they tracked her all the way back to her place and parked outside, watching her house as they waited to make their move.
They didn’t have to wait long, and when the moment came, both men were left too stupefied to do anything as Maryanne reemerged dressed like a cheap hooker in a pair of five-inch heels and a skirt that barely covered anything at all. The woman looked ready for action, and God, was Jason aching to give her some.
He shook his head, trying to turn those thoughts off, but they lingered as Maryanne glanced across the street at them. The wicked little vixen had the audacity to blow a kiss before turning around to flip her skirt up and moon them. She had a perfect ass, round, smoothed, and tanned. Thanks to the thong she wore, they got the full view before she straightened
up and slid into her car.
It was clear in that moment that, whatever Maryanne was planning, she was up to no good and bent on driving them insane. Jason swore to return the favor as she pulled out of the drive. He fell in behind her, keeping a decent distance back as she took off down the street.
“What are we going to do about this situation?” Collin asked, finally breaking the tense silence filling the truck as they followed Maryanne toward the outskirts of town.
“What are our options?” Jason countered, casting a quick glance at his cousin. “We can’t fuck the sass out of her…much fun as that idea might be.”
That earned a snort from Collin, who shot him a dirty look. “Why does your mind always go straight to fucking?”
“Because I just saw the nicest ass this side of the Mississippi,” Jason shot back, unable to do anything but smile over that memory. It was going to live in his mind for years to come.
“You and asses, man.” Collin snickered and rolled his eyes. “Why is it whenever you see plump globes you get an itch to ride them?”
Because he was a man. Because there was nothing more enjoyable than pumping himself into a tight-fisted channel. Jason knew Collin agreed on that one.
“And you don’t?”
“Shit, man, I love riding a woman from behind in the behind,” Collin assured him with a laugh. “But I ain’t dumb enough to even look at a woman like Maryanne. She probably has teeth in her pussy.”
Jason snorted at that. He doubted it, but he knew just what Collin meant. A man would take his own life, not to mention his dignity, in his hands if he dared to even make a pass at a woman like Maryanne. She made the passes, and she’d never once offered them one. That thought pissed him off just as much as anything else.
“So what are our options?” Jason asked again because he didn’t see many.
Collin did, and he didn’t hesitate to suggest they initiate Maryanne just like they did all their cousins when they started working for Big Bob. Jason didn’t think playing a bunch of stupid tricks on Maryanne was going to work, but he didn’t get a chance to make his opinion known, becoming too distracted by the sight of Maryanne pulling into The Bar.