She didn’t know who was who, so she merely smiled and rung up their purchases, being sure to put a discount on them, ignoring Smokey’s stare as she did. He could attempt to boss her around all he wanted to, but she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
Single.
Independent.
And loving every second of it.
His men left the store, but she noted they didn’t go far. They stood right outside the door.
“They’re going to scare off my customers.”
“This won’t take long.”
“I haven’t been here long. I don’t want them to ruin this.”
Smokey smiled. “It’ll take more than them to steer them clear of this place. I’d heard of it before I even realized this was yours.”
Her cheeks heated. “You’re just throwing a compliment at me. You don’t mean that.”
“Sweetheart, you’re going to realize one day that I don’t say shit I don’t mean,” he said. “Which is why I’m asking you to come to a party.”
“A party?”
“Yeah. At the clubhouse. Tomorrow night. I know where you live. I’ll pick you up. I’ll take a muffin.”
She held her hand up. “I haven’t said I was agreeing to go with you.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to come?”
Ava couldn’t think of a single reason why.
“I’m still waiting, darling.”
“My name’s Ava.”
“I remember.”
“Then use it.”
Smokey smirked. “Can’t take some sweet names?”
“They’re empty names. You probably say them to everyone.” She rubbed at her temple. “I don’t think going to a party is a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not the party kind of girl.”
“What kind of girl are you exactly?” he asked.
She stared at him. No words came to her. She was a complete and total blank. “I don’t know.”
“Then don’t you think it will be fun to explore exactly who you are?”
Blowing out a breath, she shrugged. “You’re right. I don’t know. Sure. Who else will be at this party?”
“People.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is it a theme?”
“Wear something sexy. Now, how about that muffin?”
“What kind?” she asked.
“I’ll take a chocolate chip. Do you have a thing for chocolate?”
“Love it.” She wrapped up his muffin. “I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for returning my purse.”
“Do you get drunk like that often?”
“Hell, no. It was a one-off.”
“The divorce?”
“Yeah.”
“And where is Derek nowadays?”
Ava looked at Smokey. “I never told you my ex’s name.”
“You must have.”
She didn’t believe him. “I don’t know what Derek is doing, and to be quite frank, I don’t care. I moved on. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“You sure will, Ava Sinclaire,” he said.
She watched him leave the shop.
Three women paused outside her shop. One look at the angry-looking bikers and they continued to walk. She also noticed they continued to ogle all the men.
Shaking her head, she went back to checking on the remaining baked goods. She didn’t have time to think about her encounter with Smokey straight away as the lunch rush was chaotic.
She sold out of everything and had no choice but to close the shop early.
More often than not, she didn’t stay open for dinner. With the shelves empty, she cleaned up, set about the doughs to make her life easier in a couple of days’ time, locked up, and arranged for a cab to take her to Ryan’s Place.
She hadn’t gotten her car yet, and now that she had her purse, she was even happier.
Arriving at the bar, she paid the driver, climbed out, and saw her car was the only one in the parking lot. She also happened to notice the bar was completely closed. Like dead.
Curiosity got the better of her as she walked up to the main door, and sure enough, stuck on the front was a notice of being closed until further notice.
“What?”
It wasn’t any of her business, so she climbed into her car, started up the engine, and smiled as it purred to life. This was the life. Securing her seat belt, she pulled onto the road and drove the short distance back to her house. With her car parked in her driveway, she grabbed her bag and walked into her home.
The scent of lemon greeted her, such a divine smell. She was a sucker for anything lemon or chocolate.
After locking the door behind her, she placed her bag on the hook, along with her jacket. Reaching inside her bag, she grabbed her purse and took it out. She walked into her kitchen, taking some water from the fridge, and sat at her small table.
She opened her purse and saw everything was as it should be. The money was all still there. Her bank cards and her driver’s license.
Not that she thought Smokey would steal anything. No. It was his knowing her ex-husband’s first name. She hadn’t said Derek aloud. She was sure of it. Even with tequila inside her.
Alcohol wouldn’t have made her that vocal. It just wasn’t possible.
Running a finger across her lip, she tried to think, and there was no way he could have known. Not unless he got all the information from looking into her. People could do that, couldn’t they? Look into people they were interested in? Find out every single little minute detail?
Why would Smokey look into her?
Did she even care that he’d done some kind of background check on her?
She closed her purse and sipped at her water.
Smokey wasn’t a man she was used to. He was powerful, dangerous, and he clearly was used to getting whatever the hell he wanted, no matter what.
“Oh, stop worrying, Ava. Nothing is going to happen. So, he checked you out. Big deal. Get over it and move on.” She finished her water, got to her feet, and ignored the niggling feeling working its way inside her.
****
Smokey knocked on his date’s door and waited.
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She’d love one of these parties, he was sure of it. If not, he’d get his answer about the kind of woman she was. He didn’t want a fucking prude, and no matter how badly he wanted to fuck her, there would be limits to what he was willing to do to get her in his bed.
Like now.
He wanted to party.
The brothers were all back at the clubhouse enjoying good food, sex, and beer. Probably all in that order.
It had been a trying couple of weeks for the club, especially as the Italian mafia picked a new Boss, not to mention the waves that had been caused with the Twisted Bastards MC. The fact Ryan had allowed some of the fuckers into his bar a couple of weeks ago, and was known to have been doing business with them, pissed him off.
He’d been too distracted by shit going on at home to look at the bigger picture. That shit wouldn’t happen again, which was why he’d arranged a meeting with the Twisted Bastards MC President, Creed. Tonight, he wanted to spend time with Ava. The curvy baker had gotten under his skin, and the only way for him to work it off was to fuck her.
Ava opened the door. A fresh smile on her face, and she wore the cutest black dress he’d ever seen. It molded to her curves and flared out at her thighs, giving it a whoosh effect.