I smiled, pride filling me, and studiously ignored the way the big biker’s eyes were glistening. Manic may be a big son-of-a-bitch, a badass biker, and I didn’t want to even think about the shit he’d done for his club, but the guy had a heart as big as the rest of him.
“Glad you’re happy.” I smeared on the ointment and dressed the large piece.
“More than happy, babe.” He climbed off the table and pulled up his jeans. “You up for The Mule? Wanna buy you a drink, sweetheart, as a thank-you.”
“I would love that, but I need to get home. I’ve worked a few late nights in a row and Jimmy will make his displeasure known if I don’t get back to him soon.”
Manic grinned. He really was a handsome devil. “Another time?”
“Absolutely.”
He took his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, handing it to me.
“Whoa, that’s way too much.”
He stuffed it in my hand. “You earned it.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but the hard look he gave me said to shut up and take the damn money. So I took it. “Thanks.”
He shoved his wallet back in his pocket and gave me a chin lift, then swaggered out the door. I glanced at the clock. Shit. It was already 10 p.m.
Jimmy would be hungry, and my dog was a world-class sulker when he felt neglected. I brought him to work fairly often, especially in winter. But with the hot weather and a nice secure backyard with plenty of shade, I’d been leaving him at home to enjoy the outdoors.
By the time I cleaned up and drove home it was 10:30.
And there was no sign of my dog.
“Jimmy!” Panic rose inside me instantly. “Jimmy! Where the hell are you?”
The back door of Mase’s house opened, and the man himself filled the doorway—
Jimmy was at his side, tail wagging, tongue hanging out. Happy as a clam. My dog liked Mase, a lot. It was getting more obvious by the day. Jimmy looked at me, then back at Mase with big happy eyes, like the guy beside him was doggy heaven in man form. I mean, I got it. I totally did.
I rushed over. “Sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late.” I stared down at my traitorous dog and patted my thigh. “Come on, bud.”
Mase crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Think he just wanted some company.”
My spine straightened. “I don’t usually leave him on his own so long, and with the warmer weather I didn’t want to take him to work…”
“Wasn’t implying anything, Trixie. Retract the claws.”
I shut my mouth, especially at the mention of claws. That just made me think of the name he’d given me, the one he’d used while he was on top of me, inside me. While he held me down. “Sorry, I guess I’m feeling guilty for leaving him on his own again…thank you, for watching him.”
“Don’t need to apologize and nothing to thank me for.”
I bit my lip and glanced into the kitchen. There was a pizza box on his table. My mouth watered. I hadn’t eaten since lunch.
“You want some?” Mase asked.
I obviously hadn’t been as subtle as I thought. “No, it’s fine. I’m not really hungry.” My stomach chose that moment to growl, loudly. My face heated.
His gaze hit mine. “When did you last eat?”
“Um…lunch, but it’s fine, honestly. I have food at home.”
“You look like you’re about to fucking collapse from hunger.”
I was about to collapse from hunger. But eating with him wasn’t such a great idea. “I couldn’t…”
“Come in and eat, Trixie,” he said in a low, deep voice and a surly look that did not invite argument.
My belly squirmed and not from hunger.
He pushed the door wider, indicating I should come in. Arguing now would seem overly dramatic or petty. We’d decided to put the past behind us, and we were basically neighbors. He’d looked after my dog all evening and was apparently unconcerned with being in my company.
I was obviously the only one struggling with an abundance of graphic flashbacks from that night whenever we were in the same room. And okay, when we weren’t. And maybe when I was asleep as well.
“Sure, if you insist.”
His expression didn’t change. “I do. Go sit in the living room. I’ll heat it up.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that…”
“Go take a fucking load off, and I’ll bring you pizza, Trixie,” he said as he flipped the lid open on the pizza box.
Okay, then. I hustled to the living room before he picked me up and carried me there. That look in his eye…I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he had planned next. I also ignored the way my belly fluttered at his bossy, grouchy tone. Because, goddamn, it did things to me.
There was an open beer by the recliner, so I took the couch and waited, Jimmy at my side.
This is a bad idea, get up and leave.
Jimmy nudged my hand with his nose, and I looked down at him. “Now you want to hang out with me, huh? Well, too late now. Look what you’ve gone and got me into.”
Mase walked in carrying a plate with two slices of pizza and another beer. He handed them to me. “You say something?”
“Oh…just talking to Jimmy.”
Mase’s lips twitched, and I quickly looked away before I swooned. The guy spent most of the time scowling or frowning, but when he turned it on, I lost all ability to think straight. I lifted the drink to my lips—
“So you’re old enough to drink that?”
I lowered the bottle. “I’m twenty-five. I’ve been old enough to drink for a while now.”
The muscle in his jaw jumped.
My eyes went wide. “You thought I was under twenty-one?”
“No,” he said, though the word was more a grunt. “But it pays to check.”
“We met at a bar, Mason.”
His throat worked. “True.”
I stuffed pizza in my mouth. Why the hell
