Chapter 2
S haking off that encounter, Maya headed out to where Livvy and Millie were waiting. She decided not to say anything about what had happened. She didn’t want Millie to worry or blame herself.
“Hey! You ready?” she asked.
They both smiled and all of them headed out. Mr. Fluffy was moving slowly next to Millie. At least she’d gotten him moving.
“I told him he’d get a treat,” Millie said as though reading her mind. “He loves treats.”
She bet he did.
“So how do the two of you know each other?” she asked Livvy and Millie.
“Through our men,” Livvy said. “They belong to the same motorcycle club.”
“Oh, right, what was it called? Iron Shadows?” she asked.
It had been surprising that sweet, lovely Livvy was involved with a scary, but gorgeous member of a motorcycle club. But after seeing Sav with her for just a few minutes, it was clear he adored her.
Still, it was even harder to see Millie, who was carrying a handbag in the shape of a brontosaurus, with a motorcycle club member.
But, hey, never judge a book by its cover. People loved to judge her with her lavender-colored hair and her penchant for dramatic makeup and black clothes. And those people included her own family.
However, few people actually knew the real Maya. The one who liked strawberry-themed pajamas and playing with Lego and slept with a toy dolphin each night.
They didn’t realize that her sometimes prickly exterior protected a soft interior.
It was hard for her to trust anyone. The only person she’d ever fully trusted was her mom.
And she’d left her. Losing her mom at fourteen had shaped her into the guarded person she was now.
It didn’t help that her dad had remarried within a year of her mom’s death.
To a woman she didn’t like and who had had no interest in helping a heartbroken, lost teenage girl.
Yeah, there wasn’t much love lost between her and Kathryn, her stepmother. But Maya had made it through her teenage years. Barely.
And now she was an adult who got to make her own decisions.
“Come on, Mr. Fluffy,” Millie said as the dog attempted to lie down in the middle of the pavement. “We’re not there yet. I’m sorry that mean lady called you the F-word. But you know that the vet said you had to lose some weight so a walk will do you some good.”
He heaved a sigh and stared up at her balefully.
“You can’t get that treat unless you walk to the café and I really want a coffee and a muffin.”
Mr. Fluffy’s ear twitched as though he’d heard the word ‘muffin’ and liked it. Maya thought she might be able to give him another incentive.
“Pretty sure they do pup cups there, too.”
Mr Fluffy sighed and heaved himself onto his feet.
“That did it,” Millie said. “Thank goodness. Pup cups are his favorite. He has a real addiction to whipped cream. I swear, sometimes it takes him twenty minutes to walk from one room to another, but as soon as I squirt cream from a can, he is right next to me with his tongue hanging out. Which might have something to do with the fact that he’s a teensy-tiny bit overweight. ”
Millie whispered the last word as though worried Mr. Fluffy might take offense. From what Maya had seen of the dog, she thought that was a wise course of action.
They reached the café and Millie waited outside while Livvy and Maya went in.
“Are you sure everything will be okay with your boss?” Livvy asked.
“It’s fine, honestly. I don’t care about David. He’s a dick.” They ordered their drinks and food. “And Millie has every right to bring Mr. Fluffy in. He’s a service dog.”
A strange service dog. Usually they were pretty cooperative and well-behaved. Mr. Fluffy had a lot of personality for a dog that seemed very, um, unenergetic.
“Yeah, well, we have a confession,” Livvy said as they sat back down.
Mr. Fluffy was already asleep under the table. He didn’t seem like he was going to move, not even for a pup cup.
“A confession?” Maya asked.
The two other women shared a look, then Millie grimaced. “Mr. Fluffy isn’t a service dog. I lied.”
“You lied?” she repeated.
“Yep,” Millie said. “Totally lied. I didn’t like those women, Mr. Fluffy didn’t like those women. And he didn’t like your boss, either, I’m afraid. He’s a good judge of character and I didn’t want to get any of us into trouble so I lied. Are you mad?”
Maya couldn’t stop herself from bursting into laughter.
“I’m guessing this means you’re not mad?” Millie asked in a hopeful voice.
“Nope. Not mad at all. That was smart thinking, although I should warn you that you might want to write something on his leash or collar next time you bring him by. David didn’t think to check this time and he can’t ask for paperwork, but he might look Mr. Fluffy over next time to make sure he is actually a service dog. ”
“I think next time I’ll leave him at home,” Millie told her as their drinks arrived, including Mr. Fluffy’s pup cup. He heaved himself up, sitting at Millie’s side immediately. Huh, he really could move fast when he wanted to.
“I would have left him at home this time, but he insisted on coming,” Millie explained.
He’d insisted on coming?
Maya loved animals. She had three dogs of her own. And if she had the room, she’d adopt more. So she understood that animals had their own personalities. And quirks.
Mr. Fluffy seemed to have more than most, though.
“When I went to get into the car, he pushed me aside and jumped in. And then he wouldn’t move.
Honestly, once he had a vet appointment and I had to call Spike to come home and help me find him.
He’d hidden in a closet and then refused to come out.
But today, for some reason, he decided he was coming no matter what.
And I thought it might do him good since he's seemed a bit sad lately.”
“Oh no, why?” Maya asked. She hated to think of Mr. Fluffy being sad.
“I don’t know. I’m thinking about getting him a friend. Maybe a cat.”
“Does Spike know your plan?” Livvy asked.
“Oh no, Spike isn’t really a cat person. But what’s he going to do if I come home with a cat?”
“Spank your ass,” Livvy said dryly.
“Oh well. Not like that hasn’t happened before.” Millie waved her hand through the air.
Wait. Really?
She was starting to wonder if Millie could be a sub. Maybe even a Little? She certainly seemed to like dinosaurs.
Not that that necessarily meant anything.
“Here you go, Mr. Fluffy. Your pup cup!” Millie held the cup and Mr. Fluffy let out a huff before his large tongue started licking the whipped cream.
Yeah, he definitely liked that.
“You don’t mind being spanked?” Maya asked curiously, hoping Millie didn’t mind.
Millie shrugged. “Nah. I mean, I know the rules. I break them, I get punished. I agreed to that so it’s not a problem.
Besides, after a spanking everything is forgiven, and I like that.
No bringing it back up all the time, no arguments.
And sometimes Spike’s spankings are more sexy than they are serious.
Those are the best.” Millie sighed. “Oh, and a spanking is way better than some other punishments.”
There were other punishments?
And wow, Millie was really open and honest considering they’d only just met.
“Yeah, like corner time, lines, and orgasm denial. That last one is the worst.”
Livvy nodded in agreement.
Did Sav do that to her? Actually, maybe Maya didn’t want to know. It might make things awkward.
“Um, right, I can imagine,” Maya said.
Millie sipped on her iced chocolate while Livvy had a latte. Maya had ordered some green tea. It was the cheapest thing on the menu. Being a yoga instructor didn’t pay that great and she had a lot of mouths to feed.
“I really enjoyed the class, Maya,” Millie said to her.
“I’m not usually into exercise. If I’m running, then there’s a reason for it and you all better run too.
But I have to set a good example for Mr. Fluffy.
How can I expect him to exercise and diet if I don’t too?
Although this iced chocolate probably wasn’t the smartest choice.
Maybe I should opt for green tea next time.
” Millie’s nose wrinkled as she studied Maya’s drink.
“Even though it tastes like pee. No offense.”
Livvy giggled. “How would you know what pee tastes like?”
“I don’t. But Andrey once had to drink his own pee. Don’t ask, it’s not a nice story. He told me what it tasted like and I reckon it sounds like it tasted how green tea does.”
Right.
And she now wished she’d ordered the ginger tea.
Millie sucked up some more of her drink. “Yep. I think I’m going to become a regular. Reckon Betsy and Sunny might like it too.”
Livvy nodded enthusiastically. “And Tabby and Greer.”
“Totally,” Millie said. “We could fill a class with all of our girls.”
All their girls? She’d heard Livvy talk about her friends, but the only one she’d really met was Ricky, who she owned the hair salon with.
How many friends did they have?
Well, it didn’t matter. If they wanted to fill up her class, she’d take it. Anything that would keep the bitchy besties away. Although hopefully they wouldn’t be back.
“Oh heck! Is that the time?” Millie said with alarm, checking her watch.
“I’ve got to get home before Spike does.
He doesn’t know I was going out this morning.
I forgot to tell him and Spike doesn’t like when he doesn’t know where I am.
I could’ve texted him, of course. But I kind of forgot my phone, too.
” Millie widened her eyes and made an ‘eek’ face.
“Come along, Mr. Fluffy, we’ve got to get home.
” She tugged at her dog who seemed to be in the throes of a blissed out cream coma.
Yep, he even had a happy, canine smile on his face.
“Mr. Fluffy! Spike is gonna kill us!” Millie cried.
Maya gave her an alarmed look. Kill her? Did she need help? Was Spike actually abusive? The way she’d talked about him before, it didn’t seem like the case, but sometimes it could be hard to tell.
“Do you need help?” she asked. “I can get you out of that situation. Just say the word.”
Millie gave her a surprised look.
“He won’t really kill her,” Livvy told her as Millie tried to wrangle Mr. Fluffy. “He actually adores her.”
“If he adored me, he’d let me get a dinosaur blow-up bouncy castle in the backyard permanently. I also wanted to grow some hedging and then get them cut into different dinosaurs, but he wasn’t keen on that either.”
“But he would let you get a bouncy castle for your birthday,” Livvy told her.
“Well, yes, obviously. He’s not a monster.
Here we go, come on, Mr. Fluffy. The vet said you had to walk places so I am not going to get the car and come back for you,” Millie told her dog as he heaved himself up with a sigh and started walking .
. . in the wrong direction. “No, no! Mr. Fluffy, we need to go this way.”
They finally headed off in the right direction, waving back at them. “Bye! Nice to meet you!”
“You too!” Maya called back.
“Is there something I can do to help with your boss?” Livvy asked.
“Don’t even worry about it. David sucks. I only took this job because I want to help the puppies.”
“Puppies?” Livvy asked.
“Yeah, the ones being forced to take part in puppy yoga class.”
“There’s a puppy yoga class?” Livvy asked. “That sounds kind of cute.”
“Sure, it sounds cute. But I’m not sure that David has the animals’ welfare in mind.
What if they’re not in the mood for yoga?
I mean yoga rocks, but they can’t say no.
Right? And David is the type of asshole who will use young puppies and not ensure that they’re properly looked after and not stressed. ”
“This means a lot to you,” Livvy said.
“There’s no other reason I’d work for a jerk like David,” she said. “This is for a greater cause.”
The safety of the animals.
And she would help them.
“Let me know if you need any help.”
Maya smiled in thanks even knowing that she wouldn’t take Livvy up on her offer. It was too dangerous and Livvy had three boys to think of.
Maya had to do this on her own.
As usual.