Page 32 of Devil to Pay: Cutter

I have the blinker on and we’re waiting to turn left out of the parking lot when she reaches over to take my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Cutter,” she says soft and seductively.Damn.

“Hmm?” I answer, trying not to let it affect me.

“I really want to fuck you right now.”

That shit lasted for two whole seconds. I’m affected. Totally affected. “Hold on.” I slam on the gas, my truck flying over bumps in the road like the General Lee inThe Dukes of Hazard. She throws back her head to laugh.

What normally takes us over a half hour only takes twenty minutes before we turn onto the compound. I have her out, her legs wrapped around my waist with my lips pressed to hers again long before the time it’d normally take me to round the hood.

Her dainty fingertips touch my cheekbone and chin to keep my mouth positioned where she wants it for maximum lip coverage while I hold her ass to keep her in place.

Once my knee hits my mattress in the room, the brothers don’t see us for another couple of hours.

At least for today, life is good.

11

AJA

Iroll over to kiss Cutter after turning off my alarm. This past month and a half has been wonderful. Working for Dusty—I can honestly say I’ve never loved a job more. It’s satisfying to be doing something I’m actually proud of. My first week of work Dusty had me enrolled in an intensive First Aid class so that everyone in the office can do their part in case of an emergency. Floods and wildfires aren’t uncommon in this region. She told me when that happens, it’s all hands on deck. And then, I took to reception so well that she wants me to take the medical billing class at the local community college so that I can take that over from Betty, who took it over from the woman who used to do it when she’d moved. It’s the circle of life.

As it turns out, I don’t even need a high school diploma to apply to the school because it’s a community college and they have high schoolers who attend. Me, a college student. I never thought I’d see the day.

With his eyes still closed, he hooks his arm around my waist to keep me in place. “Too early, baby.”

“Sorry, Cut. I told you last night the sex-a-thon wasn’t a good idea because of work today.”

“Baby, a sex-a-thon with you isalwaysa good idea.”

I mean, he’s wrong, but he isn’t wrong. I kiss him on the nose and leave to shower. Even after only a month and a half, this has been the best relationship of my life. Isn’t that sad? But no, I won’t dwell on losers past. Not when I have to get ready for a job I like, one I’m actually proud of. Not that I wasn’t proud of myself dancing at the clubs. That was honest money. I just wasn’t particularly proud of the other stuff because I didn’t like it, especially the stealing. That seems like another life now.

Cut lets me use his truck to get to work. Hopefully by the time the weather changes, I’ll be in a place to get my own because I don’t want him chancing the roads on a bike. It takes me forty-five minutes to get ready and another forty-five to reach the office—ten to get down the mountain into Bentley and another thirty to make it to Middlesboro. I stop off to get coffees this morning. We each take a turn. Today is my day. That eats up the last five minutes. I ordered ahead on the app.

Dusty’s office is only a couple blocks down from the coffee shop. I park, then with my bag and tray of drinks in hand, I walk around to the back of the building, where I enter in the morning. She has a coat closet there for us to hang our purses and jackets if we’re wearing one, which today, since it’s summer, I’m not. Then I swipe my ID. Some places still use a punch clock, but Dusty’s practice never has.

“What are you doing this weekend?” she asks when I walk out to the front desk with coffees in hand. She and Betty both descend, grabbing their perspective cups.

“No plans. Why?”

“Because—you know who one of our patients, Donald Oakley, is?”

“I think so.”

“He’s the old guy who looks like a member of The Grateful Dead—”

“With the white, shaggy beard and ripped jeans?”

She shakes her head. “Yeah, him. He gave me tickets to Hippiefest outside Lexington because his daughter, who lives in West Virginia, went into labor early so he and his wife can’t go. He didn’t want the tickets to go to waste if they didn’t have to. Plus, he likes me.”

“And Reaper’s just letting you go?”

Her grin grows wide as she looks on me with amusement, like an older sister who’s about ready to lay down some truths. “Aja, my darling girl,” she starts. “Reaper doesn’tletme do anything. I tell him my plans and he does what he needs to do to feel good about them.”

There it is.

“What made you decide to ask me?”

“A couple of reasons. I want the chance to get to know you better outside of work or the club. You’re very cool and this seems like a good way to do that. You don’t have any kids you need to figure out childcare for or anything.”

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