Malone's Fate (Haven, Texas Book 14)

Chapter 9

Lilac looked up at the name of the bar.

Dirty Delights.

Okay. Interesting name. Didn’t have to mean that anything dirty or dodgy went on inside.

And really . . . what choice did she have? There were several businesses in Haven, which was surprising considering it wasn’t a large town, but only one bar.

She couldn’t get a job at the nice restaurant. But maybe she could find a job at the diner. However, waitressing at a bar was really her only experience. Plus, she felt like the owner of a bar was less likely to ask questions. Or want pesky things like a social security number.

You can do this.

You guys need the money.

Especially now since she’d spent most of their remaining money on coolant for their RV.

Please let it work.

It had taken her longer than she’d thought to walk into town and buy the coolant. So now she had to make the walk back when it was getting decidedly warmer.

She wasn’t dressed to go job hunting. Her jeans were old and worn and she’d had to secure them with a belt, or they’d fall right off her. But it wasn’t like she had any other clothes that fit her any better. Buying clothes for herself was the last thing on her list to do.

“While you’re here, you might as well go in,” she muttered to herself.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Jumping, she glanced over to see a beautiful blond woman smiling at her. She had a double stroller that held two gorgeous baby girls. God, Lilac would love to be able to afford a stroller for Kye.

Maybe if the universe would stop punishing her, then she could.

“Um, yeah, I was just going in here.”

“I don’t think it’s open yet.” The woman gave her a curious look as she pushed the stroller back and forth.

“Right, of course. Silly me. I was, um, hoping there might be a job available.”

“Oh!” The woman looked surprised, but quickly hid it. “You live here?”

“Well, um, I thought I’d stop here for a while. Is that not okay?”

The other woman shook her head with a laugh. “Of course, sorry. Small town. Everyone knows everyone else, you know? I just assumed you were passing through. Sorry.”

“It’s all right. I’ll, um, come back later when it’s open.”

“Actually, Devon is probably in there. Let’s find out.”

“Oh, you don’t have to . . .” she trailed off as the other woman reached up and knocked on the front door.

They waited, but nothing happened.

“Thanks for helping, I’ll come?—”

The door to the bar opened and an attractive, muscular man stepped out. He frowned down at Lilac and she felt her insides shrivel.

Yeah. She should have come back when the bar was open. In more appropriate clothing. Now he was annoyed with her.

Not a good start.

Then, his gaze moved to the blonde woman and his whole demeanor changed. His face softened and he smiled.

“Savannah! What are you doing here?” His gaze dropped to the babies sleeping in the stroller. “And you brought two of my favorite people with you.”

Okay, that was kind of sweet. And not at all what she’d been expecting from the grouchy-looking man.

Savannah smiled up at him. “Hey, Devon.”

“What are you doing here this morning, darlin’?” he asked.

Crap. That darlin’ reminded her of her Tanner.

Stop thinking about him. He’s not yours.

Devon gave Lilac an assessing look.

At least he’d stopped frowning at her. So that was a bonus.

“Sorry to interrupt. It’s just that, uh, drat, I didn’t catch your name,” Savannah said to her.

“It’s Lilac. Lilac Masters.” It wasn’t her real last name, of course. Opal had gotten them all fake IDs and she’d chosen her last name for her.

“Lilac is looking for a job and we thought you might have one open,” Savannah said.

Lilac glanced over at the other woman, wondering why she was trying to help her. Why she cared. What was her ulterior motive? She had to have one, right?

“Is that so? Well, Lilac, you better come in, then.”

Awesome.

This was such a stupid idea. What if she went in there and this guy hurt her? No one would know she was in there except this woman, who was a stranger.

But she couldn’t back out or she might miss out on a job. So, she shot Savannah a tight smile.

“Thanks for the help.”

The other woman gave her a cheery smile and wave. “No worries. I better get going. Logan will be waiting for me. Bye!”

She followed Devon into the bar. It was quiet and slightly dark. But surprisingly, there was no smell of stale beer. No mustiness. Or body odor.

Whenever she entered a bar, those were the main smells. Sometimes cigarette smoke too.

In fact, there was a pleasant smell of gingerbread. How odd.

“You okay?” Devon asked her as she paused, looking around.

“It doesn’t stink.”

“Uh, thanks.”

She grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound rude. It’s just that all the bars I’ve worked in have had a definite odor to them even when no one was in them. Maybe especially when no one was in them.”

“Yeah. I have burners with different scents I like to use. Plus, I have a cleaner that comes in early each morning. Come into my office.”

All right.

She followed him out the back into an office, which was the total opposite of the clean and orderly bar.

It was a complete mess with stuff everywhere. Papers and folders covered the desk. There were boxes on the floor and the sofa. Devon moved around behind the desk.

“Have you just bought the place?” she asked.

“Nope. Why?”

“Oh, I thought maybe you were moving in. Moving out?”

“Ah, no. I just . . . haven’t worked out a filing system yet.”

“How long have you owned the place?” she asked, taking a seat.

“Seven years.”

Her mouth dropped open before she could feel herself smiling, unable to help herself.

“I know it’s a mess. It’s just . . . everything has its place, and I don’t want anyone messing with my system.”

Somehow, that admission made her relax around him. He seemed more approachable.

Normal.

“So Lilac Masters, was it?”

She nodded as he sat back and stared at her. “How do you know Savannah?”

There was no point lying, he’d be able to ask Savannah for the truth.

“I don’t. She came up to me as I was standing outside and for some reason, decided to help.”

Devon sighed. “Damn it. She’s got to stop talking to strangers like that. I’m gonna have to tell Logan.”

She frowned, a wary feeling inside her growing. “Who is Logan?”

“Her man.”

“Will he get mad at her?” she asked with concern.

“If you just met her, why do you care?”

She didn’t know. But she wasn’t going to just sit here if the other woman was being abused. “I thought this was a safe place where women were taken care of. Obviously, I was wrong. Where does she live?” She jumped to her feet.

“Whoa, firecracker. Take a seat again.” Something changed in Devon’s expression. She got the strange idea that he approved of her.

Weird.

“Logan won’t harm her. He’d never hurt any woman. Neither would Max.”

“Who is he?”

“Her other man.”

Lilac’s mouth dropped open. Okay. Tanner had mentioned that, but part of her hadn’t believed him.

“Savannah is well loved and taken care of. No man in Haven would hit a woman. Spank them, maybe. Hit them, no.”

Her body grew hot. “He’ll spank her?”

“I can’t say. But whatever happens, it will be with Savannah’s consent.”

Tanner had threatened to spank her . .

“You still want a job here?” he asked.

“Yes. If you have one.”

“Turns out I do.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. “You’re living in Haven?”

“For . . . for the time being.”

“So, at some stage, you might just take off on me?”

“I’ll try not to. We want someplace safe to live. If that’s here, we might stay.”

“We?” he asked.

“I have some friends with me.”

“Men? Women?”

She didn’t answer. “I think I better go.” She hadn’t been expecting people to be so nosey.

“Sit down, Lilac.”

There was such command in his voice that she found herself sitting before she even thought about it.

Darn it.

“Are you in trouble?”

“What makes you ask that?” she asked.

“Many women have come to Haven because they were in trouble, and needed protection.”

“I can protect myself,” she muttered. Crap. She wasn’t getting this job.

He eyed her for a long moment. “It’s eighteen an hour and tips are split evenly at the end of the night.”

Relief filled her.

“That’s fine.” Eighteen was better than she’d ever been paid before. “Do you need me to do a trial?”

“Can you come back tomorrow at five?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll do a trial then. Hours will normally be from five until close, Tuesday to Saturday.”

“That’s fine. I can also fill in if you need me to help on any other days.”

“No working more than five days a week,” he said firmly.

“All right. Thanks. I’ll be back. Is there anything I should wear or . . .”

“Just whatever is comfortable. I’ll order you a shirt if things work out. We don’t have anything small enough for you in stock.” He frowned slightly as he said that.

And she told herself she didn’t care if he didn’t think she looked good.

But she was lying.

“Have you spoken to the sheriff?” he asked.

Lilac straightened. “About what? Why would I talk to the sheriff? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

By the time she’d finished talking, she could feel herself breaking out in a sweat, her heart racing.

“Easy,” Devon said in a low voice. “I wasn’t suggesting you’d done anything wrong.”

She swallowed heavily. He rose and grabbed a bottle of water, handing it over to her.

Lilac just stared at the water. She wasn’t used to being offered things without an ulterior motive. Not from men, anyway.

Unless it’s Tanner.

Because for some reason she’d trusted him.

God. That one night they’d spent together had been such a foolish risk. He could have hurt her. Could have done anything to her and no one had even known where she was.

Sleeping with him had been both stupid and amazing.

“But he can help you if you’re in trouble.”

“I’m not in any trouble.” She smiled. He didn’t look like he believed her, though. Crap. She didn’t have Opal’s ability to lie with ease.

And this guy was good. He knew when to back off and when to press.

“Right. But you want to be paid cash. Because you don’t believe in banks. Is that it?”

Double crap.

“All right. My brother isn’t very nice, and the truth is, I don’t want him to find me. He’s . . . he wants me to do something I don’t want to do. But I’m not in immediate danger.”

Devon watched her. “Jake, that’s the sheriff, he’s gonna want to talk to you. If you’re staying in Haven, you need a guardian. Jake will be that for you if you don’t have anyone else.”

A guardian? They’d heard about this . . . but like other things she’d heard about Haven, she hadn’t been sure whether to believe it or not.

“I can take care of myself. And I might not be here long, um, sorry.” Probably not the thing to tell the guy that had just hired you on.

“I get the deal, Lilac. But if you’re in trouble, you’ve landed in the right place. And if you need help, then you talk to Jake. We take care of our own here.”

That sounded amazing.

But she still couldn’t quite believe in it. And she knew, deep down, that she’d never belong in a place as beautiful and clean and nice as this.

Because at heart, all she was . . . was trash.