Chapter 4

Brazen Baiting Methods

"You're back," Haven groaned as he straightened up from where he'd been bent over the transmission of the Electra Glyde, back protesting how long he'd been in that position trying to extract a severely dented gear. Not only was it mashed on one side, but several of the teeth had broken and the ring on the inside had snapped, meaning the force of the impact had to be significant. It was only a miracle that he hadn't detected anything wrong with the frame yet. The machine was in sorry shape, and with his morning full of other repairs and interviews for the two people who'd applied for the office manager position, it had been nothing but bullshit before he'd been able to immerse himself in the bike.

Neither applicant was acceptable, something he'd made clear to Meadow and River the moment the second one had walked out the door.

"Look, no offense, but I need someone in here who knows at least a little bit about cars, not a glorified secretary," Haven explained. "That first one didn't know anything about the repair process and had never used this type of inventory software before. The second one talks too fuckin' much. I do not need a manager who is going to waste all my time peppering me with questions when I need to be under the hood working shit out. And seriously, what the fuck was she wearing? Who comes to a job interview dressed like that? This isn't club night at The Cuff, this is a fucking workplace. Could you imagine what mom would have done if Pops had hired someone like that when this was his shop? She'd have gone ballistic."

"Okay, but they were married, and this isn't Pops' shop anymore," Meadow pointed out. "It's yours, though I've gotta agree about the outfit, it was a bit much, as was the way she kept asking you questions that had nothing to do with what her duties would be. The first one was teachable though."

"I don't want teachable," Haven grumbled. "I want someone who can handle the customers and leave me the fuck alone. Is that so hard to understand? I need someone who knows what questions to ask when it comes to turbo boost systems and Anti-lock brakes."

"Fine. I'll tell the paper to keep running the ad," Meadow relented. "But you're going to have to start dealing with the purchase orders this week and help River man the gas station after four. Breezy starts dance class on Tuesday and August's after school Lego group is about to start up again. I don't know how I'm going to be in two places at once, but I know I can't be in three, so you need to figure this office manager thing out."

"I'll ask around and see if anyone knows someone with some mechanical knowledge who also needs a job," River offered. "Maybe one of my regulars can point us in the right direction."

"Thanks. I've got to hit Jeremy's old man up about a couple parts, so I'll ask him to keep an ear out too," Haven said. "With any luck, he already knows somebody."

"Just make sure they're not going to scare the crap out of the clientele," Meadow remarked.

"You mean like Vampzillia, ‘cause that was a whole ass heart attack waiting to happen if one of the older ladies had gotten a look at her."

"Okay, you may have a point there," Meadow conceded. "Just keep in mind that skull tattoos and mohawks tend to have the same effect."

"Point taken," Haven grumbled, before turning and heading back to the relative silence of his shop, pausing only to rub the ears of the black and white tuxedo cat who was once again sprawled across the table where he kept his work orders.

That was hours ago.

His lower back cramped and protested every effort he made to straighten up completely, until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and another right in the center of the sore, throbbing area. He hissed and tried to twist away as Maddox began rubbing.

"Easy now," Maddox muttered as he continued to work out the tight kinks along the base of Haven's spine. "Just relax and let me help before you hurt yourself more than you already have."

The big tuxedo cat hissed in his direction, its green eyes blinking around sleepily as he sought out what had disturbed his slumber.

"Right back at you," Haven grumbled.

"Where'd he come from?" Maddox asked, his voice low and rumbly in Haven's ear as he continued to rub his heel in a slow circle, loosening up the muscles in his lumbar area and allowing him to straighten up a little more.

"Fucked if I know, but he seems to like being in here than he liked being out there, so I guess the shop has a new mascot."

"With wicked murder mittens for claws if the back of your hand is any indication."

"We had a brief tussle over a tuna fish sandwich."

"I see," Maddox replied. "Who won?"

"It was a tie. He got half and I got half. I got him a couple cans of sardines and some tuna of his own for supper along with some catnip toys and that seemed to mellow him out some."

"You have a name for him yet?"

"Sort of," Haven admitted. "I'm stuck between The Notorious S.O.X. since it looks like he's got white socks on each paw and he sure as hell has an attitude, and Tux, since it kind of looks like he's wearing a tuxedo."

"You name him Tux, and everyone will think you named him after a hemorrhoid product," Maddox pointed out. "Talk about giving the cat a complex."

"Dude, the cat wouldn't have a clue what the hell anyone was talking about."

"Do you really wanna take that risk?" Maddox asked as he glanced over at the big cat who was currently licking his tail. "He already looks like he might scratch someone's face off at the slightest provocation."

"Guess you'd better not provoke him then."

"Just keep him away from my paintjob."

Haven snorted at that and turned his head, trying to meet Maddox's eyes, but with his hand still holding Haven in place, all he managed to do was crack his neck in a very satisfactory manner.

"Ouch," Maddox muttered.

"Naa man, that felt good," Haven admitted with a low, rumbling sigh.

The massage was seriously starting to feel good too, so he braced his arms on the table and let Maddow continue to work his magic, even angling his head a little, so Maddox could work his way up to his achy shoulders and neck.

"Your paintjob is already seriously fucked," Haven murmured. "Anything he does to it is likely to be an improvement."

Chuckling, Maddox couldn't deny that he had a point there. "Yeah, it's gonna be a bitch to find someone who can restore her colors."

"Not necessarily. I know a guy who might be able to help with that, I just need to talk to him first and see if his old club brother still handles custom paintjobs," Haven said. "If you've got pictures of her from before she was wrecked, it would help if you sent them to my phone, that way I can show Dizzy what you're looking for."

"Old club brother, huh?" Maddox murmured. "Does that mean your friend is an outlaw?"

"Sometimes."

"What club?"

"Why?"

"You're really going to ask me why I want to know the affiliation of the person you want to have mess with my ride?" Maddox asked, hands stilling on Haven's body.

"Guess I'm curious as to why it matters," Haven asked. "I don't see any ink on you."

"And you won't, unless I want you too."

"Ohh."

"Yeah, so before you go getting me mixed up with someone who might have beef with my old club, I've got questions."

"Fair enough. He was in the Disciples of Destruction."

"You know his road name?"

"Chaos."

"Yeah, okay, I know the name. I know the club, there shouldn't be an issue," Maddox replied. "You can show him the machine but hold off on telling him whose it is. I want to have a face to face with him and his buddy before any work gets done."

"I'll see what I can arrange," Haven offered. "Gotta find a few more parts first or there won't be anything to paint but some twisted metal."

"That's not a good look on her."

"No, it isn't. She just looks sad right now and that's a real shame. An old girl like this should be treated like the piece of art she is, not a punching bag."

"Now that we can agree on," Maddox said as he resumed rubbing, even though Haven could stand fully now and no longer felt like his back was about to snap if he twisted wrong.

Maddox radiated warmth, his body so close that when Haven shuffled back a half a step, Maddox's hand moved from his back to his hip, his fingers splayed against Haven's side. It was almost intimate. His abs clenched as his heartrate picked up, his thoughts drifting to wicked, filthy things he hadn't done in years.

"Have you eaten anything today besides half a tuna fish sandwich?" Maddox asked while Haven's mind spun through the gutter like a twister in a trailer park, a million desires raising up to crash over him like a wave.

"Meadow threw a bag of nacho chips at my head when I was working on a Chevy Malibu," Haven admitted. "I ate it while I finished up the paperwork on this afternoon's vehicles. Guess that was a while ago though."

"Yeah, that's healthy."

"Meh," Haven grumbled. "It's not like there's a bell to announce that it's lunchtime or a guard to escort me to the cafeteria. When I'm here it's like time doesn't exist. I don't even think about eating until my stomach rumbles loud enough that even The Notorious S.O.X. gets annoyed with me."

"Looks like you've decided on a name."

"Not that you left me much choice after your hemorrhoid comment," Haven said. "I didn't even know that was a thing, but I guess an older guy like you has to worry about stuff like that."

Maddox snorted, his hand quivering against Haven's side like he was fighting down the urge to laugh. "Oh, you think you're funny now, do you?"

"Maybe," Haven drawled. "I'm pretty sure you do too."

"You shouldn't give someone shit when you're in a position like this," Maddox cautioned. "A massage can easily become a spanking when someone doesn't know how to keep their mouth in check."

"You just try it, and you can forget about finding out what else my mouth can do."

"That you claiming to have some talent?"

"You wanna fuck around and not find out?"

When Maddox yanked him back flush against him and his growl reverberated through Haven's body, there was a moment, just one, where Haven dared to squirm and heighten the sensation of the man's cock, thick behind the zipper of his jeans, pressing into his ass and enticing him to beg for all the things he'd spent six long years missing. Only he was supposed to be an adult now. He barely knew this man and Maddox was a customer to boot. There were probably rules or something that he was about to fuck up, which was the only thing that gave him pause. He needed to do better than teenage him would have done, but goddamnit, Maddox was tempting and hot as hell and Haven's hormones still raged like he was sixteen and under the bleachers, tonguefucking Jeremy while they'd groped one another and hoped no one caught them.

"Looks like I've found a way of controlling that mouth after all," Maddox murmured, his breath hot against the pulse point beneath Haven's ear.

Before he could say anything, his stomach growled loudly, and Maddox chuckled and finally let him go.

"Looks like we're going to have to feed you before we can explore things further."

"And what, exactly, do you think we're going to explore besides the inside of your transmission?" Haven asked, feigning a hell of a lot more bravado than he felt in the moment.

Not only did Maddox turn him on, but the man unnerved him and triggered every Daddy fantasy he'd had since the first time him and Jeremy had watched kinky porn together and admitted they longed for a hot, biker Daddy to pin them down side by side and fuck them stupid. Hell, Haven's first Daddy crush had been Jeremy's old man and damn, had that been embarrassing the time they'd been fucking around, and Haven had accidentally called out Cade's name.

Jeremy had only laughed and admitted that his dad's road dog, Grayson, was the man he tended to fantasize about. Holy shit, he was a walking wet dream. It had only been the knowledge of Jeremy's secret feelings for the man that had kept Haven from giving in and fucking him when they'd been cellmates. That Grayson had protected Haven without pushing the issue had made it easy, but once he'd confided in Gray that his friendship with Jeremy meant too much to him for him to go there, the man had not only understood, but he'd made comments about looking Jeremy up when he got out, just to see if the little shit was really interested.

Eleven months, that's how long Gray had left. Haven would be lying if he said he didn't miss him. He hoped Grayson kept his word about returning to Foggy Basin once his time had been served. While Haven didn't see him and Jeremy playing out that old fantasy together, there were still times when he longed for the way things used to be, the dreams they'd had, the fantasies they'd shared, and the feel of their bodies pressed together as they'd shared a tent or bed.

"You give the word, and we can explore anything you wanted."

Haven shuddered at that, Maddox's words blending with that old fantasy and damn it all, he really needed to get himself under control or get laid. Maybe that would purge the whole fuckin' erotic storyline out of his head before he blurted something out to the wrong person. If there was one thing prison had taught him, it was to guard his thoughts well and keep his own counsel, even when someone tried to give him every reason in the world to trust them.

"How about a meat lovers pizza from The Crispy Crust?" Haven suggested. "I'll pay if you'll go."

Maddox chuckled at that. "Not sure if I should take that as you being hungry or you looking for every excuse to be rid of me?"

"A little of both, though hungry is edging out everything else right now," Haven admitted. "It'll give me a chance to finish taking this apart so I can start rebuilding it tomorrow, unless you'd like to delay having your baby back beneath you a little while longer."

"I get the hint," Maddox replied as he stepped away. "But the pizza is on me. You just focus on my Harley, and I'll get you fed."

"Fine, but if you start feeding me pieces, I'm going to take that as an invitation to show you just how good with my lips and tongue I can be when properly motivated."

Maddox's chuckle sent a shiver of electric pinpricks dancing along his skin.

"In that case," Maddox murmured. "Game on."

"Shit," Haven groaned, realizing exactly how that had come off as Maddox headed for the door, laughing all the way.

"Fuckkkkkkk," Haven groaned once Maddox left, and it was just him and The Notorious S.O.X. in the room.

The kitty's bored meow was almost as bad as Maddox's laughter, especially when the cat lifted a paw and began cleaning it like he didn't have a care in the world. Haven wished he could feign half as much detachment, because he was really coming to crave these evening visits from the gruff, grumpy bastard, despite his protests whenever Maddox showed up.

It wasn't that he didn't want Maddox there, but ever since the man had come barreling into Haven's life, alternately flirting with him and giving him hell, all he could think about were the possibilities. His moments of half sleep and daydreams were filled with fantasies of what it would be like to have Maddox's hands on his body with nothing between them but time, opportunity, and Juicy Pineapple Fuck Sauce, which was hands down the best lube he'd ever come across.

Now he was left wondering if they still made it and whether he should order a bottle and buy one of the big boxes of condoms his sister stocked behind the counter in the gas station. She wouldn't have to know he was getting them; he could just buy it during one of the times he was keeping watch over the place for her and smuggle it up to his room the first chance he got. At least he'd be ready if he decided to jump on Mr. Growly, Grumpy and Smokin' Fuckin' Hot like he was itching to do. Maybe it would lead to something, maybe it wouldn't, but at least he'd get Maddox out of his system.

That…or wind up with a broken heart.