eat that much food.
“We work hard and have to refuel,” Brackish told her.
Her eyes widened a bit as she jotted on her pad. They finished their order, all of them ordering enough food for ten men. They were going to make the tired cook earn his money.
“Do you want the sweets with your coffee?” she asked.
“That would be great, sugar,” Green said.
“Okay, it might take a little longer than normal for your meals so I’ll get the coffee and rolls out quick.” She turned and walked away.
The view from behind was even more appealing than the first sight of her. Brackish was more than impressed with the sway of her hips and the swell of her backside. Maybe it had been too long since he’d had a woman because he was thinking of some kinky things the two of them could get up to in the backroom of the diner.
“Hey, Erin,” Green called out as she stepped up to the window of the kitchen.
Brackish’s gaze flew to Green, and he glared, trying to stop him. Dammit, he knew better than to give a woman a look like what he’d been giving Erin. He couldn’t do that around this group of men.
She looked back at their table, not quite connecting with any of their eyes. Damn, they had her flustered. Brackish liked her flustered — she was sexy as hell with color in her cheeks and her chest pushing in and out as she breathed a bit heavily.
“My buddy here wants to know if you’re dating anyone,” Green said, giving her his best smile.
That flush in her cheeks heated up, turning an even more appealing shade of pink. Damn, Brackish could picture her lying beneath him, her mouth open in a pant, her lips wet, her body ready . . .
Whoa, those thoughts had to stop right now! He shifted in his seat. He wasn’t going to be able to walk from this place if he didn’t get it under control . . . not without a very embarrassing display of how much he was turned on.
“Um . . . no, I don’t have a boyfriend,” she finally said before she clamped her lips together, turned away, and practically ran through the saloon style doors into the back of the diner.
“Really, Green?” Brackish hissed at the man who was quickly becoming one of his best friends. They couldn’t do this job together without a tight bond forming, but . . .
“I figured I’d give you a helping hand since you were practically panting as you stripped her with your eyes. I wasn’t the one being oggled, yet I feel violated,” Green said with a laugh.
“She certainly is fine,” Smoke said. All of the men turned toward the door she’d disappeared through to see if they could catch another glimpse.
“I can find my own dates, and right now we have a job to do. She’s the niece,” Brackish said in a hushed whisper.
“Nah, she’s not a part of it. That’s clear. Besides, we can have a little fun while we work. It relieves stress, and there are many good ways to relieve some tension at the end of the day,” Sleep said.
“There are some good ways to relieve stress in the morning, too, so the day starts out right,” Smoke added.
All of the men nodded. It had been a while for each of them . . . well, all of them except Sleep, who was smiling a hell of a lot more these days now that his woman had shown up.
Brackish knew it wouldn’t help to keep protesting. They would simply become more determined to either one-up him or embarrass him, which was virtually impossible to do.
“Ignore these heathens, and go for it if you want,” Eyes said.
The entire team knew Eyes was a good leader. He knew when it was time to work and when it was time to blow off steam. He also knew that all work and no play didn’t do any of them any good. And they all respected him.
“Alright, all of your opinions are noted. Now, can we please get back to work?” Brackish asked.
“No way!” Green said. Brackish had to hold back a sigh.
“We are at a diner,” Sleep said with a wicked grin. Brackish rolled his eyes, knowing something from the gutters was coming. “Why don’t you go on back to the kitchen and check if her melons are ripe. She could check to see if your sausage is hard and salty enough. I mean,