Page 3 of Giving It to the Man-Whore

“I’m not an actual boss, you know. I’m just a guy that gets things done.”

“Through torture?”

He sighed. “I’m not a bad man.”

“You’re a good man that does bad things?”

“Something like that.”

She smiled.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

Mel shook her head. “I’ve done nothing to threaten or harm your family. I know how the whole mob thing works, and I’m good.” She winked at him, noticing that he was sad. “What’s wrong, Ricky?”

“I guess I’m used to women pandering to my every need rather than cower or look afraid.”

“Do you take your gun around with you everywhere?” She nodded to his holster, which was placed inside his suit. “That’s going to get you a lot of attention.”

“I have no choice but to take it with me.”

“Then that’s your problem. Women won’t really give you the time of day if you’re carrying a gun around with you. It’s scary, and Sinners’ Corner, the latest scandal here was about salt being used in place of sugar in cupcakes. Not a whole lot happens here.”

“You’ve got an MC.”

“Exactly, they tend to keep the crap out.” She pointed behind her as she said this. “Want a cracker?”

He took a cracker, and she nibbled on a second one, hoping it was going to calm her stomach.

“It’s nice not having someone whimpering whenever I raise a hand,” he said. “I went to the diner, and I honestly thought they were all going to duck for cover.”

Mel laughed. “I can imagine something like that happening. I wish I could have been there. It would have been so funny.”

She sipped at her water and watched as he glanced around her space.

“You have a nice home.”

“This is your way of making small talk?” she asked. She did have a nice home. It was quite funny really. She’d been told by a couple of her former lovers that she was the perfect wife. She kept a beautiful home, and was a lady to the outside world, but a whore in the bedroom.

She grabbed another cracker, and took a bite.

“So rumor has it that you’ve got a thing for Prudence Anderson. The librarian. Have you gotten anywhere with her yet?” She took another drink of water, and saw that she’d surprised him.

“How do you know?”

She laughed. “It’s the only thing that makes you less scary to this town. You’re always at the library, and I bet you’ve got much better things to do than sit around at a library.”

“You’re refreshing, you know that?”

“I’ve been called that a time or two.” She ate her fourth cracker, and finally her stomach began to ease.

“It’s nice talking to someone who’s not afraid of me.”

“I don’t really talk to a lot of people.”

He sat back, watching her. “I’ve heard a lot about you and your marriage.”

“Now that doesn’t surprise me. A heads-up, Ricky, if you live in this town for long enough, they seem to think they’ve got some right to talk about you. I’d ignore it. I do.”

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