“No, I haven’t. Satisfied?” She believed him.
Winter gave him a smile that lighted her face.
“Yes,” Winter answered. Viper smiled at her being sweet.
It didn’t last long. “Now about me being responsible for your punishment. Was it me being a smartass, calling the women whores, and hurting Beth?”
Reluctantly Winter admitted. “No, but you made me so mad, I lost my temper.”
“Then the punishment will make sure that you don’t open your mouth when you lose your temper again.”
Winter’s lips tightened. He was being a hard-ass.
Unfortunately, that mood lasted longer than his sweet one. “We done?”
“Yes.” She was more than ready, it was freezing outside.
“Good.” Viper took her arm leading her back inside.
Winter sat back down at the table, watching as Viper went into the large room connected off the kitchen. Cash handed him something, Winter saw it was a red cloth bag.
“Bliss,” Viper called.
Bliss got up from the table going to Viper. He held the bag out to her. Bliss put her hand out and dug inside the bag. When her hand came out she was holding a folded piece of paper. She returned to her seat.
“Rider.” Rider who was leaning on the kitchen counter walked to Viper. He also pulled a piece of paper from the bag.
Viper repeated the procedure five more times. Winter was surprised when Shade’s name was called. No one else seemed surprised in the room.
“Winter.” Winter got up from the table walking to Viper. Hesitantly she reached inside the cloth bag; there were several pieces of paper left in the bag. Winter picked the first piece she touched and hoped for the best. She walked back to her chair self-consciously because everyone’s eyes were on her.
“Natasha.” Natasha grinned as she picked her punishment. Winter liked Natasha, she was always upbeat and was ready to do anything anyone needed help with around the club. She came to the table and sat down across from her.
“That’s everyone.” Viper handed the bag back to Cash before going to the counter to grab himself a beer.
Winter watched as those that picked a punishment opened their slips of paper. Hesitantly Winter opened her. Relief washed through her.
“I got the worst one,” Bliss complained.
“What did you get?” Natasha asked.
“Laundry for two weeks,” she pouted.
“That’s not bad. I got dishes for three weeks. Want to switch? I don’t mind the laundry if it’s for two weeks,” Natasha bargained.
“I don’t want to pack everyone’s laundry up and down the stairs for two weeks, I may be willing to switch.” Both women stared at Winter. Belatedly getting the message, Winter opened her paper and read out loud. “Seed inventory.”
Natasha and Bliss switched papers.
“Mine seems the easiest.” She was actually glad that they didn’t want to switch. She would get it done in a few hours and put the punishment behind her. Neither woman answered drinking their beer.
“Dinner’s ready,” Evie called. Winter waited until the line died down before getting her plate. Viper sat down next to her with a huge plate of food.
“What did you pull?” He asked curiously.
“Seed inventory, seems simple enough,” Winter said concentrating on her dinner and missing his conniving grin.
“You going to stay until you finish the inventory?”
Winter didn’t tell him that she had brought another suitcase full of clothes and had already decided to stay for a while longer.
“Of course,” she said staring down at her food.
Viper leaned back in his chair after he was done eating. Winter noticed how tired he looked. He always seemed so invincible, but Winter knew how well their business was doing and knew that he was going to have to be realistic.
“You’re going to have to hire some more help Viper, you can’t keep up this pace. Sooner or later you’re going to get orders that you will have to turn down until there are more people to help fill the orders.”
“I know. We’ve been talking about it, right now we’re trying to figure out how many and which positions to hire for. Once we come to a decision I’ll put a notice in the newspaper.”
“The jobs are going to be a big help to the community. Even if you offer twenty jobs, that’s twenty families that will have a decent income coming in.”
“We aren’t taking it lightly Winter. We’re trying to figure out whether to offer more jobs at a slightly lower rate or fewer jobs at a higher wage. We’re going to give them a benefit package also,” Viper said ruminatively.
Winter smiled at Viper. Many of her student’s parents desperately needed jobs. The Last Riders were really going to provide an economic boost for the area.
Shade and Rider came to the table.
“What punishment did you get?” Rider asked. It was obvious what the two had in mind.
“What did you get?” She asked first, Winter was a fast learner.
“Cooking, two weeks,” Rider answered. Winter looked at Shade.