Page 11 of Mace

Another knicker-melting moment.

I want what she has. I want someone to look at me like I’m worthy of dating, not that I’m…fucking adorable. Who the hell wants to be adorable? I want to be sexy and tempting. I want a guy who can’t keep his hands off me.

My heart is heavy. I’m lonely. It hurts to admit that, but it’s true. I have Ivy—for now—and Toby, but it’s not the same as having intimacy with someone.

Who in their right mind is going to want to date a twenty-two-year-old virgin with all the complications I have?

My smile falters as I go to the fridge, needing something to focus on other than my ugly self-loathing. I grab a cold Coke from the back, and when I emerge, Steve and Bella are no longer touching each other.

I hand him the Coke over the top of the bar. He takes it from me with a muttered “Thanks” before adding, “You’re a good girl, Maylie.”

Adorable. A good girl.

All things I don’t want to be.

Even so, it’s high praise from Steve. He barely speaks two words to me outside of work conversation, so my throat tightens at the compliment.

“I need to work on changing that. No one likes good girls.”

“You couldn’t be bad if you tried,” Bella pipes up, grabbing the chopping board and the bowl of lemons.

I couldn’t, mostly because I don’t have time to be bad.

Playing with the ends of my wig, I purse my lips together contemplatively. “Maybe I’ll give it a go. I like the idea of being a little naughty.”

Steve opens the can and takes a swig. “I got enough problems with this lot causin’ trouble. You’re the only one I don’t worry about.”

“Hey, I’m an angel.” Bella’s indignation makes me giggle.

In the time I’ve been working here, she’s had three boyfriends, all of which have been nightmare fuel. The last guy would come to the bar and kick off anytime another guy so much as looked at her. One night, he used his fists against Bella in a fit of anger. Steve lost his shit when he saw those bruises the following day and gave the boyfriend a few bruises of his own. When Bella got home from the hospital, Steve told her since she couldn’t pick a decent boyfriend, he was going to date her himself.

Swoon.

“You are an angel,” Steve says to Bella, earning a sweet smile from her, but it quickly morphs into fear as her eyes lock onto something behind me.

Instinct has me turning to see what it is, and as I do, three hulking men cross the floor towards us. Each of them is wearing a leather vest, and when one of them—a blond guy with a tattoo running up the side of his face—turns to examine the room, I glimpse what’s on his back.

The words ‘Untamed Sons’ are arced over the top of a skull with angel wings wearing a crown. Beneath it is the word ‘Birmingham’. There are other patches, but I can’t make them out as his position shifts.

“Fuck,” Steve grinds out, and the tone of his voice sends a shiver skittering down my spine.

The air is so thick, it feels hard to breathe. I don’t know what’s going on, but the way everyone else is acting has me on high alert.

So much for feeling safe at work. The security I felt when I walked into the building tonight is completely stripped back. The way Steve and Bella are both reacting is heightening my own apprehension.

“Why are they here?” Bella asks, her gaze darting between him and what I’m guessing is a threat.

“I don’t fuckin’ know.” He shakes his head, his throat corded as if every part of his body is wound tight. “If anything happens, you girls hide, okay?”

Hide? What the hell?

“What about you?”

“Don’t argue with me, Bella.” His tone is not playful, and she doesn’t retort back, which tells me how serious this is—whateverthisis.

Swallowing hard, he pushes off the bar, shaking his shoulders out as if preparing for a fight before he walks over to them.

I shift closer to Bella, realising the music Stella was practicing to is no longer playing and she’s not on stage either. In fact, the room has completely cleared out other than the men, the bouncers, and me and Bella.

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