Viper's Demands (Ruthless Sinners MC 8)

“Sure.”

As I got up and started towards the living room, I spotted Cat playing happily with her dolls in the sunroom, and I couldn’t imagine our first night at Thatch’s going any better.

When I opened the door, my heart dropped to my stomach.

A beautiful black-haired, blue-eyed woman was standing on Thatch’s doorstep, and it was clear from her expression that she was just as surprised as I was. Her eyes widened as she stammered, “Oh, hello ... I, um, I was looking for Thatch.”

“He’s here. He’s just out back by the grill.” I motioned for her to come inside. “I’ll get him for you.”

“That’s okay.” She studied me for a moment, then continued, “I’ll come back some other time.”

Her odd behavior was more than a little questionable. I felt like something was going on that I was missing, but I had no clue what that was. I tried not to let it get to me as I smiled and asked, “Are you sure? It’ll only take a second.”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll just catch up with him later.”

“Okay, do you want me to give him a message or something?”

“Just tell him Mia stopped by.”

The second she said her name, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Thatch hadn’t told me much about her—just that she was his old high school sweetheart and that things hadn’t worked out with them, but I knew there was more to the story. I heard it in his voice when he spoke about Mia. “You’re her.”

“Hmmm ... I was just thinking the same about you.”

“I’m Rebecca. It’s nice to—”

Before I could finish the word, Thatch came up behind me. “Hey, babe, who’s at the—”

As soon as he saw Mia, his smile vanished, and his back stiffened. She gave him an awkward smile and mumbled, “Hey, Thatch. I’m sorry for dropping by like this. I didn’t realize you had company.”

He didn’t respond, which made a tense moment even more awkward. Not knowing what to say or do, Mia nervously bit her bottom lip. Hoping to defuse the situation, I said, “You should come on in. We were just about to have dinner.”

“No, no. That’s sweet of you to offer, but I don’t want to intrude.”

“It’s no intrusion.” I turned to Thatch. “Isn’t that right?”

His brows furrowed as he stood there studying me for a moment. When he realized I was being serious, he chuckled under his breath, then shook his head and replied, “Yeah, whatever you say, boss.”

“See? It’s all good.” As she walked through the door, I asked, “Would you like a glass of wine?”

I wasn’t sure what I was thinking by inviting Mia to join us.

Maybe it was curiosity or the need to prove to myself that she wasn’t someone to be concerned about. Either way, I knew it was something I needed to do.

When we got to the kitchen, Thatch had already brought in the steaks. The vegetables were done, and he’d already started making the plates. Mia looked around at all the food, and when she spotted Cat’s birthday cake, she asked, “Are you celebrating something?”

“It’s Cat’s birthday.”

“Cat?”

“Rebecca’s daughter.” Without giving her a chance to respond, he motioned his hand towards all the food. “Dinner’s ready. We just need to set an extra place.”

“Are you sure?” Mia asked. “I really don’t have to stay for dinner.”

“It’s fine. There’s plenty.” Thatch motioned to the cabinet. “Mind grabbing an extra plate?”

“Sure.”

I handed it to Thatch, and once he’d filled it with food, I carried it over to the table. I was about to pour Mia a glass of wine when Cat came into the kitchen. Her nose wrinkled with confusion as she asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Mia ... a friend of Thatch’s.”

“Oh.” Cat looked over to Thatch, then back to Mia. “I thought he just had brothers. I didn’t know he had girl friends.”

“Well, I’m an old friend of his. We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

“Oh.” Cat studied her for a moment, then turned to me. “I need another Barbie.”

“No, you don’t,” Thatch replied before I got the chance.

“But ...” Cat whined.

“You’re gonna have to trust me on this one.”

“Okay.” Cat sat down at the table. Her eyes lit up the second she studied her plate and saw that Thatch had filled it with her favorite chicken nuggets. “Dino-nuggets!”

“Yep.” He gave her a wink, then lowered his plate so she could see them stacked on top of his steak. “I love Dino-nuggets.”

“You do?”

“I couldn’t let you have them all.” He teased her.

Cat scanned the table, then asked, “What about ketchup?”

“Oh, yeah.” He ran over to the fridge, grabbed a bottle, and handed it to Cat. “There ya go.”

We all sat down and started eating. It took Mia and me a full glass of wine to get through the awkward small talk, but after that, the conversation came easy. It didn’t take long to realize that Mia wasn’t just a pretty face, she was intelligent and funny with a good head on her shoulders. It was easy to see why Thatch had been so crazy about her.