Page 29 of Clashing
“Got it.” I snatched the coffee-ring-stained folder. “I’ll take care of it.”
“What’s going on with you?” Conrad reclined in his office chair and clicked his pen.
“Nothing. Just didn’t sleep much last night.”
He smirked. “Another girl?”
“Something like that.” I pulled at my collar and stood. This office was stuffy, and he never wanted to open a window. “You got my check for the last one?”
He nodded to the plastic bin on the right of his desk. “In the bin.”
I picked up the envelope with my name and inched toward the exit. “I’ll call when I have him.”
“Take it easy, Ryker. Get some sleep for Christ’s sake.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved at him as I exited.
Conrad paid each time I brought a criminal in after they skipped out on a court date. I worked with others, but Conrad was the most consistent and bugged me the least.
I stuffed the file in my jacket and zipped up before getting on my motorcycle and heading to the bar. Going there was always something I looked forward to, drinking and hanging out with the few people I tolerated, and sometimes taking someone home.
Now, though, my shoulders tensed because Scarlett was there, and I had to tell her no more hooking up.
I didn’t want to. I wanted to have her several more times. I wasn’t sure what it would take to get her out of my system. If a whole night with her didn’t do it, what would? She was still on my mind too much.
It had to stop. I only hoped she wouldn’t be pissy about it. I parked in my usual spot and went inside, bracing myself to see her. Except, Tammy was at the bar, and Scarlett was nowhere to be seen. Tammy’s eyes lit up, and she waved me over.
I nodded to her. “What’s up?”
“There’s something wrong with the light in the storage room.” She drummed her fingers against her tattooed arm. “Scarlett’s been trying to fix it, but we can’t get it to come on. We already tried a new bulb.”
Alone in the dark with Scarlett. That felt like a fucking trap. I’d have to keep the door open.
I shoved open the saloon doors leading to the kitchen. “I’ll take a look.”
“Hey, Ryker!” Dave, the cook, yelled as I passed by.
“Hey, man, how’s it going?”
“Good. Gonna fix the light?”
“We’ll see.”
Continuing, I turned the corner and came face to face with the storage room door. It was already open a crack, so I slipped inside without much noise. Finding Scarlett bent over a counter, watching a tutorial on her phone about lights, stopped me in my tracks. She had a little lantern in the center of the room that provided light for me to appreciate and curse the vixen. Her forearms rested on the counter, her ass sticking out of her booty shorts, waiting to be smacked and mounted.
She didn’t notice me when she paused the video and climbed a stepladder. Flashlight in hand, she studied the socket. As she reached up, her shirt lifted, and I wondered if God existed and was fucking with me.
No. Be strong.I could do this. She was just a woman. I’d faced worse than a woman. I paused behind her and frowned at her attempts to identify the problem.
I rubbed my jaw. “What are you doing?”
She gasped, and when she spun around, lost her balance. I reached out and caught her before she fell, which brought her tits right into my face. Yeah, some deity was fucking with me. “Happy to see me?” I asked, looking up at her, leaving my chin between her tits.
“It—” She licked her lips. “It was an accident.”
“Hmm.”Let her go. Get your face out of her perfect tits.Instead, I kissed one, then nuzzled between them and kneaded her ass.
“Ryker,” she mewed, her hands knotting in my hair. “I’m working.”
