The Bad Boys' Reluctant Woman (4 page)

“Stop,” she said to herself.

After several minutes passed she
felt better. Zoe ran her fingers through her hair and moved through to her
bedroom. She needed a shower and some sleep. Everything would make sense to her
after those few things were taken care of.

****

Connor locked the doors to his truck
and stared up at her floor. He didn’t like where she lived. Nothing bad ever
happened in Law Castle, and yet, this place was the worst neighbourhood. He saw
the trailers around the back where people lived who couldn’t afford to live in
housing.

He shook his head. The recent
downturn in the markets had hit everyone hard. This was his town, and he loved
it, but there were parts he wished he could change. Law Castle still had an
array of people he didn’t agree with from drunks to drug users.

Between the Bad Boys and the
Sheriff’s department, they tried to keep the town clean. Some things were
harder to do than others. He loved a drink, but he never craved the
consequences. The number of times he’d seen his old man off his face and then
not remember what he’d done in the morning was too often for his own peace of
mind. Connor drank in small doses, a couple of beers here or there.
Never enough that he wasn’t in control.
Control was what he
craved the most.

When the sun began to rise he
started his truck and made his way back to his own house. The truck sounded in
need of repair. He enjoyed working on his truck when he wasn’t in the kitchen
baking.

He parked the car round back before
walking the short distance to the front door. Jake and Brent were already
moving around. Connor went into the kitchen and put the oven on followed by the
coffee machine.

Connor grabbed his food mixer and
placed it on the counter next to the socket. Once he set it up he washed his
hands then moved to the pantry to grab a few ingredients.

“You’re only getting started on the
baking?” Jake asked as he came into the kitchen. The coffee was finishing
percolating.

“No. I’m making a batch of cakes to
take to Zoe. I don’t like the thought of her being alone. Have you seen where
she lives?” Connor asked. He measured out ingredients, placing each one in
order into the bowl.

“No, I haven’t seen where she lives.
I’ve heard about it and know it is in the rough part of town. I don’t like it.
Were you out all night again?”

Connor shrugged his shoulders. “I
couldn’t sleep. She didn’t leave work ‘til late, and I waited for her. I gave
her a lift home and stayed until I was sure it would be safe enough for her.”

“She won’t like you hounding her,
Connor,” Brent said, stretching.

“I don’t give a fuck what she’d
like. I’m doing what I think is necessary.”

Brent nodded his head going for the
coffee. Connor ignored them both and started the mixer. He never could get over
how much he enjoyed baking. It was a strange comfort considering
his own
parents were never inside a kitchen.

He supplied the local bakery and
helped with the fun fairs and carnivals that came to town, anonymously, as he
didn’t want everyone to know what he did in his spare time.

Once the cakes were in the cases and
baking in the oven he poured himself a generous amount of coffee into a mug and
waited for the cakes.

Connor felt his other two friends
staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re not sleeping again, and
usually that ends with you taking a woman until you fuck whatever problems you
feel out of your system,” Jake said.

He sighed. “That’s not going to
happen this time.” They did not look convinced. “I’m not going to ruin any shot
we have with Zoe. She may seem like a bitch with an attitude problem, but I
know she’d be hurt if we went with other woman. I’m not going to risk it.”

“You could talk to us,” Brent said.

Connor shook his head. “I love you
guys like my two brothers. Don’t worry about crap that doesn’t exist. I’m
fine.” He pulled the cupcakes out of the oven and placed them on a cooling
rack.

“Fine, I’m going to get ready for
work. Noah and Drew wanted us to open the shop again. I’ve got two engines on
the blink with two older guys who refuse to pay,” Jake said after he drained
the coffee from his cup.

“I’ll be along in a minute.”

Connor watched his two friends leave
while he made the icing. He’d set them in the fridge, and at lunchtime he’d go
over to Zoe.

Chapter Four

Jake opened the mechanic shop and
wished for the third time in the same day that he was doing something else.
Working with cars was fun, but he just wished there was something else to keep
him occupied.

“I don’t know about you, but these
cars are looking in piss poor condition,” Brent said, slapping him on the
shoulder. They walked together to the changing room that their boss kept in the
back. Jake was sick and tired of the cost of replacing all the jeans with car
grease on them.

“Well, write a decent book and make
it so we all don’t have to work.”

“Why would me getting rich, stop you
from working?” Brent asked.

“I could be your advisor and Connor
your cook. It would be perfect.”

“In your dreams,
Jake.
I’m happy
with the life we’ve got, fixing cars and constantly being rejected by our
woman. It makes a guy feel young.”

Jake heard the humour and the pain
in his friend’s statement. They all wanted Zoe, and yet they were all growing
weary of her pushing them away. The only time he’d seen her walls crumble was
last night. He knew she wanted them. What Jake didn’t understand was why she
kept pushing them away.

They changed quickly and made their
way back to the front of the shop. The town was beginning to wake up. Several
people walked past giving them a wave before moving on. Jake liked knowing the
people. There were times he wanted to get out of Law Castle, while at others he
wanted to do nothing but stay and make his own traditions.

Drew and Noah walked in after nine
looking very happy and well fucked. Jake knew they’d dropped Cheryl off at the
local bakery. He envied their happiness. When he saw all three together as a
family, the way they all were, it was as if the whole world didn’t exist for
them. He wanted that kind of relationship. Jake hoped Zoe would be that woman
even though he had his doubts.

“What have we got today?” Noah
asked.

“The same crap as yesterday.
A couple of cars with cheap ass owners.
They don’t want to
believe their thirty-year car is ready for the junk heap.” Jake grabbed a
wrench from the wall where they kept their tools.

Noah shook his head. “Then I guess
we fix the car up to the best of our ability and hope the owner changes his
mind.”

Connor walked in several minutes
later. Jake stared at his youngest friend. He was really worried about him. The
quieter Connor got, the more he’d learned to worry.

“You’re late,” Noah said.

“Bite me.”

Noah went to say something else, but
Jake gave his boss a warning nod. He waited until Connor was out of ear shot
before talking to Noah. “He’s not sleeping again,” Jake said.

“Fucking great.
I don’t need a temperamental
mechanic in my place. He either sorts his shit out or he’s gone.”

Drew and Noah were two of the few
people who knew about Connor’s anger and attitude. Connor would start with the
insomnia. That would eventually turn into anger, which made him lash out at
anybody who got in his way. Then the fucking would come into it. It was the
main activity that Jake hated. He loved sharing a woman with his two friends.
When they were all in their right minds it was amazing to watch a woman come apart.
When Connor was in one of his moods, it was not fun. Jake knew his friend was
trying to forget his past or whatever shit was going on.

They were best friends, and he still
did not know everything that went on behind closed doors in the Andrews household.

Jake watched Connor get to work and
decided to not worry about anything until he needed to.

****

Zoe groaned as she rolled over in
bed. A squeal left her as she rolled over too much and ended up on the floor on
her ass. Her face flamed even though she was in her own company. “Great wake up
call, Zoe.
Real smart.”
She untangled herself out of
the sheets then made her way into the bathroom.

She flushed the toilet, brushed her
teeth, washed her face and then walked into the kitchen. Glancing at the clock
she saw it was past ten. She rarely slept for long periods of time. A yawn
escaped her as she filled up her small kettle.

While it began to boil she moved
back into her bedroom. She glanced around at her small space and winced at the
lack of furnishing. The money wasn’t a problem. She’d saved enough to put down
her roots, but she didn’t know what was stopping her from taking the next step.

She changed out of her shirt for a
pair of jeans and long shirt. No matter how many times she’d tried to buy shorter
shirts to show off some of her breasts, she chickened out at the last minute.
Long shirts and baggy clothes were what she wanted in order to make herself
feel comfortable.

After brushing her hair, she moved
to the kitchen and poured herself a coffee. Zoe glanced out of the window and
saw several children alone on the park around the back of her building. She let
out a hiss of annoyance. Where were their parents? Didn’t they care?

“Fucking figures,” she muttered to
herself. On her way out of her apartment she grabbed a book.

Once she locked her door she made
her way to the stairwell. She paused for a second when she saw Bill handing
over some foil packet to another guy.

Closing off her panic signals, she
walked down the stairs hoping Bill would leave her alone. She didn’t know
anything else about him other than the fact his name was Bill. Zoe knew he was
dealing drugs. She wondered if the Sheriff’s office knew about any of the
goings-on over here.

When she’d moved to Law Castle the
town had seemed sweet and peaceful. Like most sweet and peaceful places it had
a bad side to it as well. The customer Bill was dealing to left. He turned
round to her. Bill wore an expensive suit, which was totally out of place where
they lived. She knew he wore it in order to make the rest of them feel small.
It was his calling card to tell the rest of the world that he owned this side
of Law Castle. The Bad Boys owned the good side, while Bill and his thugs owned
the part no one cared about. Like her. She was a nothing and a no one.

“Zoe, I was hoping to see you
today,” Bill said, stroking her arm. She tried not to vomit from his touch. He
was a total creep and a douche-bag.

“Bill,” she said. One of her hands
held the cup of hot coffee while the other had her book. Neither looked like a
weapon, but she knew if the need arose she’d use them as one.

“When are you going to give it up
and be with me?” he asked.

“Never,” she said. He caught her arm
as she made to move away. “Let go of my arm, Bill.”

“You’re playing hard to get. I get
it. You’ll fall for me. They all fall for me sooner or later.”

Zoe turned around and glared at him.
“I’m not just some woman, Bill. I’ll never be yours, so back the fuck off.”

She stamped on his foot. The action
made him curse and let go of her arm. “This isn’t over, Zoe!” he shouted to her
back.

Ignoring him, she made her way over
to the swings and sat down. Several children ran over to her. She smiled at
them,
then
opened her book to read. Every now and then
she glanced up to make sure all the children were fine.

Her fears were probably paranoia.
Living in the foster care system had given her world a massive wake up call.

She placed her cup down on the floor
next to the swing. The time passed pleasantly. Her tummy began to growl with
the warning she hadn’t eaten.

A dark shadow fell over her. Zoe
gazed up, fearful in case it was Bill coming back for another round.

“Hi, Zoe,” Connor said.

“Connor, what are you doing here?”

He took the swing next to her. She
stared at him as the swing didn’t seem large enough to take on his weight or
width. “I made you something.” He handed her a cardboard box. Frowning, she
handed him her book, then opened the lid on the box he’d given her. There were
at least half a dozen cakes she could see in the box. The scent of chocolate
wafted up to her.

Her stomach growled, which made
Connor chuckle. “I guess you didn’t eat anything before coming out to watch the
kids.”

“How do you know that was the reason
I was sitting here?”

“I just do. Eat up.”

She lifted out a cupcake, tore the
wrapper off and took a bite. The cake melted on her tongue, and the frosting
was sheer heaven. Her moan alerted the children playing at the park. They
walked over. One by one, she handed each of the kids a cake.