“You done?”
“Yep.”
The phone went dead.
She fucking hung up on me.
“Son, women are not worth it. They’ll fuck you over every time,” Douglas said.
Douglas had lived in Rocktown his whole life. Had been a deputy here when I’d been a teenager. Which was about the same time his fiancée ran off with his best friend. He’d never gotten over it.
I sipped my coffee and let him go on. It was my own fault, I’d told him Janie had called and left a message for me. We had a few things in storage she wanted, and I hadn’t gotten around to going through any of it yet. She could have it all, or toss it, I didn’t give a shit.
“Don’t get me wrong, you need to dip your wick from time to time.”
Jesus.
“But you don’t need to be tied down to one woman for that.”
I said nothing, waiting for him to get it over with.
He tapped the side of his nose. “There’s a woman in Springhaven…I visit her every couple of weeks, doesn’t charge an arm and a leg. Pretty thing, lotsa tits and ass, knows what she’s doing, if you know what I mean.” Douglas flushed, his eyes getting beady, and he licked his lips. “Yeah, might be time to head back over there.”
Fucking hell, Douglas just admitted to visiting a prostitute regularly and, worse, talking about her had just given the old bastard a hard-on.
“You want, I can give you her number?”
“Thanks, but I’m good.”
“If you change your mind—”
The door opened with a bang, and my small and very pregnant sister stormed into the station.
Douglas took one look at her and rushed off. Wise move. Someone had riled her up, and going by the scowl aimed my way, I’d say that someone was me.
“What the hell did you say to Trix?” she fired at me.
“Not a lot.” She wouldn’t fucking let me.
Quinn planted her hands on the counter between us, unable to get too close due to her rounded belly, and thankfully keeping me out of striking distance. “You know I’m happy you’re home, bro. But if you start upsetting my friends, we’re going to have a problem.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and prayed for strength. “I called to thank her and to apologize. I know I’ve been a bit of an asshole the last few months, and the woman tore me a new one.”
“You told her you hate her dog. How can you hate Jimmy? He’s a sweetheart and you love dogs.”
I sipped my coffee. Cold. And prayed for strength. “I don’t hate her damn dog. I may have said he was weird looking…”
“Mason!”
“This girl’s given me attitude from day one.” Still, why the hell had I said that about her dog? I liked the mutt.
Maybe because you enjoy bickering with her a little too much.
Yeah, I did.
Christ, was I really that fucked in the head? Apparently.
Quinn planted her hands on her hips. “Trix is tough, she’s had to be, but she’s loyal and kind and would do anything for the people she loves. She’s been a good friend, and you know how you’ve been lately…”
“Which is why I called to apologize.”
She tossed a brown paper bag on the counter. “It’s from Addy’s cafe. You’ll love it. Not that you deserve it. And if you don’t want me to come back here and tear you a new one as well tomorrow, go and see Trix during your next break, and grovel. She’s good people, Mase. Make it right.”
I rubbed a hand down my face. This was going to seriously suck. “When does she usually stop for lunch?”
“I’ll call Riff and get him to do some snooping. With how angry she is, she’ll probably leave if she knows you’re coming.”
Jessie “Grifter/Riff” Thomas was the ex-enforcer and current sergeant at arms for the Ramblers MC, a part-time tattoo artist at Rocktown Ink, and Quinn’s friend Lila’s husband. I liked the guy, but I didn’t want him to know my business. “Excellent, I can’t wait to show up like the stalker she accused me of being and then force her to accept my apology.”
Quinn smirked, a curl of her lips that looked so much like our mom’s that it used to hurt to look at her right after she’d died. Now it warmed me.
“Are you really so scared of such a tiny little woman?”
“That tiny little woman has claws and razor-sharp teeth.”
A vision of someone else with claws filled my head. Fuck, you’re so wet, kitten. That’s it, dig those little nails in. Christ, the memory had the hair on the back of my neck lifting. I’d hated it when the scratches she’d left on my back had vanished completely.
“Yo, Mase? Helloooo. Earth to Mason.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Where did you just go? Your eyes glazed over and you got this odd look on your face.”
Shit. “You can leave now. I have work to do.”
She shook her head. “You really do need to work on that attitude. No wonder Trix wants to castrate you with a blunt object.”
I choked on another mouthful of cold coffee. “She said that?”
“Well, not in so many words.”
“Exactly what words did she use?”
Quinn smirked. “That she wanted to ‘hack off your nuts with a rusty blade.’”
“And you want me to go and see this girl?”
Quinn shrugged. “She’d just gotten off the phone with you, and you’d insulted her dog. I’m sure she’s calmed down by now.”
After the conversation we’d had?
Not fucking likely.
Chapter Four
Trixie
My client walked out, and I got down to the business of cleaning off my table, maybe a little to vigorously. Okay, a lot too vigorously. Where the hell did Mase get off, anyway? He’d acted like a dick for almost three months and now he wanted to…what? Be pals? Pretend he hadn’t been an unreasonable, rude jackass nearly every time we spoke?
Well, I wasn’t going to forget. I could hold a grudge, oh yes, I could, just like all the Faraday women before me. It was
