by KB Winters
“Why can’t I get enough of you?” His words weren’t happy, they were annoyed. The bastard.
Whatever smartass retort was on my mouth remained unspoken as a knock sounded at the door. Good, because it was my turn to make a clean getaway.
Chapter Nineteen
Gunnar
I wanted to tell whoever it was on the other side of the door to go the fuck away but Peaches slipped away from me and out the door, giving Saint his opening. His gaze darted around the room, probably looking for evidence of another blowout between me and Peaches. When he found none, a small knowing smile touched his lips and that just pissed me off.
“What?” My tone was unnecessary but goddammit, Peaches had run away and evidence of her was all over my mouth and cock.
“We have a problem. The computer system flickered for a second or two, but it was still working. Until about five minutes ago.”
“Shit. Why did you wait five minutes to tell me?” I was being an asshole, luckily Saint didn’t call me out on it.
“Ford did everything Peaches told him to before realizing he couldn’t handle it on his own. He came close a few times but it went completely black.”
“Fuck!” It was the last goddamn thing I needed on tonight of all nights, when The Barn Door was filled with members looking to have a good time. At this establishment a good time meant free flowing drinks, toy and equipment rentals and for some, private rooms where they could act out their filthiest fantasies without a soul ever knowing. And the computer system made all of that happen. “Did you tell Peaches?”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his close cropped brown hair. “She looked like she was in a bit of a hurry, and I figured you’d want to know first.”
He looked nervous but he was right, dammit.
This was my club, my business, and my ass on the line. Something I should have fucking remembered instead of fucking Peaches on my desk.
“Dammit,” I spit out, pissed at myself. I needed to do better. To be better. What the fuck was I thinking, burying my dick into a woman I could barely stand when I should have been mingling with members and making sure everything ran smoothly? Especially tonight.
“Give me a minute and then I’ll be right up.”
“Sure thing.”
“And Saint?”
He turned with a wary look in his dark green eyes. “Yeah?”
“Thanks. You’re doing a great job tonight.”
A small smile touched his lips. “Thanks, Boss. That means a lot.” And then he was gone.
I slipped out of the office soon after and found one of the six private bathrooms to clean up in and make myself look like the owner of this goddamn establishment instead of one of its horny members. It wasn’t helping to beat myself up about it, but I couldn’t help but feel responsible for the system crashing. This was my shit, and it all was on me if it failed or succeeded.
This was my third shot, hell this was Maisie’s shot at a real life, a normal life, and I was already fucking it up. After splashing some cool water on my face and then my hair, I felt almost normal. I made my way up to the security booth where Ford waited with a cautious smile.
“Hey, Boss. Joplin tell you the system is fucked?”
“Yep. What did you do?” He rattled off a bunch of fucking words that didn’t mean a damn thing to me. “In English.”
“I tried to reboot the system like Peaches suggested. It worked but only for a minute. I backed up the footage and deleted it from the computer to see if that helped and it did, but again only temporarily.” He raked a hand through his blond hair and let out a long sigh. “I tried everything she said, even went through my notes and none of it’s working.”
A rock settled in my gut, wiping away nearly all traces of the pleasure I’d felt just a few minutes ago with Peaches’ sweet thick lips wrapped around my cock. She was the last goddamn person I should’ve been thinking about, but the way she let me fuck her face and seeing how much it turned her on was something I wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
“Should we find her?”
I blinked at Ford’s words, realizing I’d all but tuned him out for the last few seconds. “What?”
“Peaches. Should we find her? If anyone can help with this shit storm, it’s her.”
He was right. The whole goddamn system was down, from the security footage, the ID scans, the point of sale systems, every fucking thing.
“Yeah,” I said, trying to get my ass in gear. Ford frowned at my reluctant tone but wisely kept his mouth shut. Of course he thought it was strange I didn’t want the person who’d installed the damn system to see why it wasn’t working. That was the logical choice.
“I’ll do it, you keep trying.”
“Got it, Boss.” He saluted me, and even though I hated it, I decided now wasn’t the time to get on his ass about it. I had more important shit to worry about.
When I stepped back inside the main part of the club, I could see the members getting restless. The music still played, but the Bluetooth connecting the speakers was also fucked so only the front half of the club had a soundtrack. Shit, this was not good. Not at all. If I didn’t get this fixed in the next few minutes, my opening night would turn to shit.
“Jasmine!” She looked up with wide, frightened eyes but quickly masked the emotions.
“Yeah?”
“Free drinks. Get ’em going around. Now.” She nodded, put her head down and got to work. She might be terrified of me, but the girl had a serious work ethic and I respected the hell out of that. Scanning the room, there was no sign of Peaches and I tensed. Had she stopped in one of the rooms to get another fix?
Slayer stood at my side and looked out at all the people milling about. “Gunnar, the natives are getting’ restless.” A few of them didn’t seem to mind that there was no music or no booze, because they had everything they wanted in their mouths already.
“We gotta find Peaches,” I said. “Now.”
“She’s in the coat room.”
Leaving. I could see the unspoken words in Slayer’s eyes. Peaches was trying to get away from me. “Keep an eye on shit while I deal with this.”
“No problem.” His words were filled with amusement and I flipped him off as I walked away, which only made him laugh louder and harder. “Make sure you say please and thank you,” he called out behind me, still laughing his ass off.
Chapter Twenty
Peaches
Somebody was getting it on the coat room. It was cliché as hell but still, it made me laugh. I hoped it was the sweet little coat check girl with the blonde pigtails because she looked like she needed a good hard fuck from the wrong man. I was happy for her, really, I was. But I needed my damn coat because there was no way in hell I’d walk outside in this teddy without a knife, brass knuckles, or a pipe.
That’s right, I was running. Turning tail. Getting the fuck out of Dodge. My body hummed with pleasure and staying any longer would only put a damper on that, so I was cutting out early. Without regard to my safety.
But it sounded like the couple, or maybe thruple, in the coat room were nowhere near being finished, so I turned and went in search of another form of fortification. A cocktail.
“There you are.” Gunnar’s voice was gruff as usual and his face was twisted in irritation.
“Looking for me?” I didn’t mean to sound so flirtatious but every time this man was near, my body wanted him no matter what the rest of me had to say about it.
“Yeah. I need you.”
Despite my better judgment and my wise reminders earlier, a smile curved up the corners of my mouth. “That sounds promising,” I purred.
Gunnar rolled his blue eyes to the sky, and I felt like a fucking idiot. He wasn’t here for me or for more of my hot body.
“What do you need?” Because of course, he’d already fucked me twice today; he was done with me.
“The whole fucking system is down, and Ford has tried everything. Nothing is working. I need you to take a l
ook at it.”
A shock went through me as I realized the significance. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but this was my system. And I was damn good at systems. My reputation was on the line if I didn’t get it up and running. “Okay,” I mumbled as I brushed past him, I ignored the way my nipples tightened to peaks and the low, hungry sensation in my belly.
“He’s in the security booth.”
“I know.” I lengthened my strides to get away from Gunnar and because I wanted to solve this problem quickly and get the fuck to my room where I could be alone with my thoughts.
“What’s up?” I asked Ford who’d been staring a hole into the computer screen.
“Not a goddamn thing is up, that’s what.”
Hearing him curse with that baby face felt wrong, but I wasn’t in the mood to be playful, so I bumped him aside with my hip and sat down. Gunnar and Ford were right, the system was completely and totally down and there was no reason why.
At least not on the surface.
“What is it?” Ford asked.
I ignored his angry tone and just answered. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
Even though I was pissed at Gunnar for not saying one damn word about what had happened between us, this was exactly the distraction I needed. Work was my favorite way to escape when life got too messy because code was straightforward even if it wasn’t simple. With coding and computers, I knew what I was doing. I could figure out any problem. Unlike people, who I could know for a fucking lifetime and never figure them out.
“Shit,” I said, sensing the issue, Gunnar hot on my heels.
“What is it? Tell me,” Gunnar barked, and I glared up at him.
“Calm your tits.” I turned to Ford. “Did you give anyone the Wi-Fi password?”
He blinked and shook his head. “No and I wouldn’t. If I have to use my mobile data so does everyone else.”
There was no hack or attempt to break into the system, so I knew there was nothing to worry about. A few minutes later, I found the problem and a few seconds after that, it was all fixed. “Problem solved.”
“What was it? Did someone try to hack the system?”
“No. Someone used the club’s Wi-Fi and downloaded something they shouldn’t have. It’s fixed and the password has been changed,” I told him as I scribbled the new password on the nearest piece of paper before I handed it to Ford. “Make sure Gunnar and Joplin have it but don’t send it by email.”
He frowned. “So you want to me write it down for them?”
I smiled at his adorable little face and patted his cheek. “Exactly. Is that all?”
“It is from me,” Ford said with a charmingly boyish smile. “Unless you want to buy me a drink?”
I laughed. “Are you even old enough to drink?”
Ford put a hand to his chest and staggered back. “You wound me, Peaches.”
“I doubt that very much. Have a good night.” I had to slide past Gunnar to leave the small room and as I did, I tried my damnedest not to touch him or get a whiff of his masculine scent.
I headed back to the coat room, hoping the coat check girl had gotten hers so I could get my coat and get the hell out of here. A hand wrapped around my arm and even though I knew who it was, I turned, ready to punch the fuck out of him. “What?”
“Whoa, what’s your problem?”
“Don’t sneak up on women in dark halls and grab them.” It was a stretch but it was also good advice and I titled my chin defiantly when he arched a brow at me. “Did you want something, Gunnar?”
“Yeah.” He was nervous, spearing his fingers through his hair a half dozen times before he spoke again. “I uhm, just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
His tone wasn’t that of a man who wanted to drag me to the nearest dark corner and give me another orgasm, but I nodded for him to continue. “Okay.”
“The sex was incredible. Amazing. Hot as fuck. But it was just sex and it can’t happen again.”
It was no fucking comfort at all that Gunnar looked like he didn’t want to be saying the words coming out of his mouth, but he was saying them and even though I hated it, I felt hurt.
Angry.
Not good enough. And that was one emotion I promised I would never feel again so I nodded and took a step back.
“Okay.”
“Don’t be angry, Peaches. Believe me, you’re a great fuck. But I can’t do a relationship right now, not with the ranch and the club and Maisie, there’s too much going on.”
He reached out to me, and I stepped back out of his reach. “Did I ask you for a relationship, Gunnar? Did I even ask you for a repeat performance?”
“No, but—”
“But you think a few good fucks and I’m already picturing you with a white picket fence, don’t you?” I shook my head, hurt and disgusted and pissed off that I felt any of those things where he was concerned. “Don’t worry Gunnar, I got your message. Loud and clear.”
With as much dignity as a girl could muster in a sapphire lace Teddy, I scooted past him and walked out of the club with my head held high, my emotions pushed deep down just in case someone stopped me before I reached my final destination for the evening.
Luckily no one did, and I was able to rinse off all traces of Gunnar and the night at The Barn Door before slipping into a pair of comfortable pajama pants and a plain tank top. I grabbed a bottle of Maker’s Mark from the liquor cabinet in the living room and took it back upstairs to the balcony connected to my room.
I sat out there for hours trying to figure out why I felt anything about Gunnar’s words. He was an asshole, had been from the second I’d met him. He hadn’t treated my girl Vivi like she was worth anything, and he’d treated me even worse, but I fucked him. Worse, I let him fuck me. More than once. And yet, I was the fool who wanted to do it again and again. What the hell was wrong with me?
I had no fucking clue but I had a bottle of bourbon to help me figure it all out.
Chapter Twenty-One
Gunnar
The morning after the opening I woke up early to a pot of coffee on despite the fact that Martha hadn’t come in yet. As Peaches predicted, her trip to the doctor had been a false alarm. I’d offered her a few days off to rest but she’d refused, insisting she was back to normal.
It was too early even for the Bennett women to be at Hardtail Ranch, which gave me time to grab a big mug of coffee, probably made by Peaches, and head to the back porch early enough to watch the sun rise. It was enough to brighten my mood.
At least until I thought about the look in Peaches’ big brown eyes when I told her she was nothing more than a good hard fuck. She wasn’t devastated, but the hurt at my harsh words was pretty fucking hard to miss. And it wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d screamed and told me what a worthless bastard I was. But Peaches didn’t do that. She’d notched her chin up and squared her shoulders before walking away. The strength she showed was impressive and as guilty as I felt, I knew it was the right thing.
I didn’t have time for a woman, especially one like Peaches who brought trouble with her everywhere she went. Hell, even now she had assassins from the government and God knows who else after her. I had Maisie to think about not to mention getting the Opey Chapter up and running now that Cross had given us the go ahead. So yeah, there was too much to worry about to add a woman to the mix.
That didn’t help me sleep last night. Even after all the drama at the club with the computers, the opening had gone even better than I’d expected.
“Gunny, whatcha doing?”
Maisie’s quiet little girl voice pulled me from my thoughts and a smile instantly crossed my face. “I’m watching the sun rise, baby girl, what are you doing?”
“Looking for you. Miss Martha has a doctor’s appointment, and I need to eat before school!” She darted back inside the house, letting the screen door smack against the frame loudly in her excitement. She was excited for her first day of preschool but after a long damn opening last ni
ght all I could think of was who in the hell started preschool on a Friday? Oh, right. Peaches had set up Maisie’s preschool.
Her excitement meant the world to me, especially since it appeared that her sadness over our mother’s death and leaving Mayhem had all but disappeared over the last few weeks, so I stood and took my empty coffee cup to the kitchen.
“Okay Squirt, what do you want to eat? We have cereal or oatmeal.” I groaned at the options because that was no way to start the first day of preschool.
One look at Maisie’s scrunched up face said she agreed. “What else?”
I laughed and sifted through the fridge until I found a few things that could work. “How about a BLT?”
Her smile spread slowly until her blue eyes practically disappeared, but the swinging of her lopsided ponytail made me smile right along with her.
“Yummy!” she squealed.
“Can you get dressed while I get breakfast going?” The bacon would have to go into the oven because whether she wanted it or not, Maisie needed help or else she’d end up wearing her funeral dress with a Superwoman t-shirt on top of it.
“Second thought, go brush your teeth and I’ll be up in a minute.”
“Miss Martha already laid out my clothes, Gunny, so I can do it. I’m a big girl now!” Before I could tell her to stick with washing her face and brushing her teeth, her little feet pounded up the stairs and into her room.
It felt good to see her growing more independent as the days passed, but dammit it made me realize how much time I was missing with her. Since we’d gotten to Texas, our time together had dwindled, with overseeing the club opening and helping the vets settle on the ranch. It was something I made a promise to myself to do as I assembled our BLT’s, got Maisie dressed and fed just as Martha arrived with her demon spawn. “How are you feeling today Martha?”
She smiled and patted my cheek. “Good, thanks. Don’t you worry about me Gunnar, I’ll outlive you all.”