Heath was a good guy, but he walked a straight line. He’d follow the law, and I knew all too well how easy it was to find yourself as an accessory to a crime, especially with a guy like Randy hanging around. It’d been one thing for me to get wrapped up in that, but if Hannah got arrested, what would happen to the kids? They’d probably haul me off with her, seeing as I lived there and was already on probation. That left Randy’s parents to watch the girls, and they weren’t exactly qualified.

Loving grandparents they might be, but they’d created him in the first place. Throw in the health problems and they were essentially useless. Sad but true.

Randy needed to go away. Preferably Heath, too, because the last thing we needed was a lawman sniffing around. I didn’t care how cute he was.

Fortunately, tonight should be busy enough to distract me from worrying about it. Bone was expecting a decent crowd because he’d brought in a band, something we didn’t see that often in Violetta. That meant both Sara and Suz were working with me.

This turned out to be a very a good thing because right after the second set, the Reapers showed up.

All of them.

Nearly thirty guys, plus their women, liquored up and ready to party. Now we’d be busting ass until the wee hours. Bone didn’t believe in shutting down the bar when there was still money to be made, no matter what the law said. The liquor control board didn’t exactly have a branch office in Violetta.

In a way, this was a blessing.

I hadn’t seen Shade since the night he’d left me the giant tip, and now I could pretend I was too busy to talk to him, which was sort of the truth. It was embarrassing to admit, but I halfway expected him to play the same game that he had before and refuse service from anyone but me. Then Suz went over to take their order and he didn’t even glance in my direction.

He didn’t glance in my direction when the music started, either, or when a group of college girls who’d come slumming went over and started chatting him up.

Nope, Shade was having a grand old time.

Bastard.

You wanted him to leave you alone, I reminded myself. You told him to find someone else to pester because you aren’t interested in him. You even insisted that he take back his five hundred bucks and forget you ever existed, remember?

Except the longer I watched him with those little bitches, the harder time I had remembering why I’d been so hell-bent on keeping him out of my bed. Things got even worse when Sara gave me a pat on the shoulder, along with one of those little sympathy smiles girls offer each other when a relationship falls apart.

“I need a break,” I told Bone.

“We got a full house in here,” he reminded me. “You sure it can’t wait?”

I crossed my arms and glared at him.

“Okay, I guess you’re due,” he said, although I could tell it pissed him off. Tough shit. By law I was allowed a break every two hours, no matter how busy we were. The fact that we usually let those slide in exchange for more flexibility on slow nights didn’t matter to me—I needed to get the hell away from Shade and his harem.

Tossing my apron down behind the bar, I headed out back for some fresh air. There was a small covered porch out there for the staff, along with a few battered chairs and a picnic table that’d seen better days. Slamming the door behind me, I boosted myself up onto the table and pulled out my phone.

That’s when the door opened again and Shade stepped outside to join me.

“What the fuck do you want?” I demanded.

“What’s the matter—you on the rag?” he asked, smiling even though he had to know that’d piss me off.

“You’re such a fucking pig. Where the hell do you get off, coming out here and talking to me like that?”

“You’re the one who bit my head off,” he said, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms. He cocked his head at me, studying my figure. “So what’s the answer?”

“To what?”

“Are you on the rag?”

My mouth dropped and I stared at him, stunned.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I finally managed to ask.

“Nothing,” he replied, giving me a slow grin. “Just trying to figure out how sloppy it’s gonna be.”

Oh, no way. He didn’t just go there…except he had. He totally had.

“Get the hell out of my sight,” I hissed. “Go fuck one of your college girls if you’re horny.”

“But I don’t want to fuck one of them. I want to fuck you.”

“Not happening.”

“We’ll see,” he said, taking a step toward me. “Is that what crawled up your butt and died? Seeing all those girls in there? Or are you pissed that I didn’t make you serve me? Mixed signals, baby. You should really work on that,” he added with a grin.

“I don’t give a shit what you do,” I told him, which was a damned lie. Asshole.

“Yeah, I think you do,” he said, stepping in to me. He put one hand on either side of my body and I leaned back to avoid contact. Shade pushed a knee between my legs, taking advantage as he gave a low laugh. “You can’t stop thinking about me, can you?”

“I’ve been thinking about all the reasons I hate bikers,” I said. “And I’m not for sale. Bone has your five hundred bucks—you can pick it up on the way out. Use it for one of your cheap whores.”

Shade shook his head slowly. “I’m only interested in one girl tonight and I’m pretty sure she’s not a whore. Hell, considering all you went through, I think you earned the money fair and square. Just don’t expect any more after we fuck. You already made it clear you aren’t for sale and I can respect that.”

I raised a hand to slap him, but he caught it, deftly twisting it around behind my back, pushing me forward into his body. Then his mouth took mine, teeth nipping at my lips until I opened for him. His other hand grabbed my ass and then I completely forgot why I hated him so much.

Shade

Watching Mandy twitch her butt and flirt with every man in the whole fucking bar was pure torture. She’d worn a jean skirt so short it just barely skimmed the top of her thighs, practically begging me to jerk it up and bury my cock in that tight snatch of hers.

I remembered how it tasted.

Couldn’t sleep at night without jerking off, that’s how much I remembered it. Nearly killed me, but I’d given her space the last couple days. She was skittish and I knew I’d lose her if I didn’t play the game right.