Page 46 of Crucified By the Dark
She’d known that this was inevitable. She knew it, and she still made a move, so she had no one to blame but herself for the stab of pain she felt in her chest. Marching across the floor, Morry pushed through the first large door and then the second that took her into the bike storage and mechanic’s area. Judd was helping the driver of the bus back into place. Waiting until it was parked, she walked over, and he smiled widely.
“Hey, sexy boss lady.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug. “I hope you haven’t been too lonely without me,” he said. This was his standard line to all the women. The only difference was that he addedbossto her title.
“I need to speak to you over here for a minute.” She nodded toward the back of the shop area as a couple of others milled around to work on their bikes.
“Oh, now we are talkin’,” he said and slapped her ass.
She glared up at him. “Don’t fucking do that again,” she growled through her clenched teeth.
There was no reason to feel bad. Jeremy had decided that she was not enough, but she couldn’t just fuck someone else for the sake of it when she had emotions involved. Stupid fucking emotions. This was why she didn’t want to get involved. There was no time to worry about relationship drama in her life.
“Sorry, bad habit,” he said, but his tone was way too jovial for an apology.
Leaning her shoulder against the wall, she waited until he mirrored her position and stopped waving or winking at whoever wandered into his line of sight.
“Earth to Judd,” she drawled, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. I need a coffee, way too much sex, and booze.”
“Too much info. Look, I need to ask you for a favor,” Morry said, and of course, Judd’s face lit up, and he put his hand on her shoulder.
“Of course. Where do you want it?”
Morry glared at his hand, and he quickly removed it.
“Not that kind of favor. I swear you have a one-track mind sometimes.” She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I need you to head out tomorrow on a mission for me.”
His face sobered. “Mission. What kind are we talking?”
Judd knew what she did for the Righteous, though he didn’t know their names or who was involved. She’d taken him for a few tougher jobs that needed a wall of muscle and a mouth that would stay shut. Those were two things Judd was good at despite his other shortcomings.
“Not for my other job. This is a personal favor. Remember Maeve?”
“Um, I remember hot ass better than anything else. I’m still pissed I couldn’t get inside her pants. That girl has the perfect bubble butt that I want to…sorry, too much info. Yes, I remember. Go on.”
She lifted a brow at him. At least he had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed as his cheeks reddened.
“I need you to go to Vegas and see if you can pick up her trail.”
“What?”
“Look, she was supposed to be back weeks ago, and it has been radio silent. Maeve can handle herself, and I know she tends to go off the rails and party too hard, but this is different. She never misses this many check-ins, and I’m concerned.”
Judd rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit, boss. Are you just trying to get rid of me? I promise to play nice with the kid.”
“His name is Jeremy, not kid, and that’s not the reason.”
Morry pictured what Jeremy was most likely doing inside the bar with those two sweetbutts and her hands clenched into fists. She needed to wipe the idea that Jeremy was more than a few nights of amazing sex, or blood would be spilled. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she wrangled in the out-of-control rage. Judd placed his hand on her shoulder again. When she looked up into his eyes this time, all she saw was concern.
“You okay, boss?”
“I will be. Look, this would alleviate a shit ton of stress for me. I know you’ve got friends all over the place, and I could use someone I trust on this.” She sighed, and Judd’s hand slipped from her shoulder.
“Okay, but I can’t leave tomorrow. Remember, I have a meeting with the Desert Devils, and I’m booked to have…you know…that test you need to have done every couple of years,” Judd said, his voice no more than a whisper.
“You mean a physical?”
“Shhhh, don’t say that too loud. Don’t need the guys thinkin’ I have shit wrong with me.” He puffed out his chest and grunted to one of the guys pushing his bike to the service area.
