She stepped up in front of him, her gaze resting comfortably on his face. “What can I get for you?”

“Travis.”

His answer stunned her for a moment, leaving him to explain.

“My name is Travis. Travis Owens.” He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Gracie.”

He was a man with manners. His mother had seen to that, even more than the threat of his father’s anger, but when this amazing woman standing before him asked him a simple question that she’d no doubt asked hundreds of people before, all he could think of was leaning over the counter and covering her gorgeous lips with his.

And those lips were finally moving again. “Grace,” she explained. “My name is Grace. Uncle Eddie still thinks I’m twelve.”

Travis couldn’t help but take a long look at her, including her gorgeous curves. “You don’t look twelve to me.”

She narrowed her eyes, slightly hooding her gaze as she returned the favor. “You don’t look twelve either.” Her smile held more than a hint of sass. “Yes, sir, but I digress. What would you like to order?”

“The special.”

He didn’t even bother to look at the board. Whatever she brought him would be fine. He’d eat it happily… and slowly.

She kept her eyes on his while she brought her pencil to her lips, tracing the eraser along the full lower curve. “Well, that’s refreshing.”

Travis moved closer, drawing in a long breath of her scent. Something floral, old fashioned, but gentle filled him with longing. “What is?”

She waved her pencil in a lazy circle at the rest of the dining area. “They all said the same silly line when I asked them for their orders.”

His jaw tightened, and if he’d had human teeth, he’d likely have shattered a few. “What did they say?”

Rolling her eyes, she sighed and the sound tightened his skin all over his body. It was so close to arousal he felt his heart pound in his chest.

She leaned closer and bit her lips into her lower lip, making pale shadows on her lip. “They said they wanted me.”

He fought down a white rage, having a tougher time of it than usual because his bear was all for a little bloodshed and rended flesh. “Then you’re in luck.” He was proud of himself for managing a tone lighter than a growled warning.

His answer surprised her. She saw her eyes widen and her smile deepened, giving him a delicious view of a dimple in her cheek. “Why?”

“I don’t have to ask.”

Her eyes flashed with a warning and his bear took a swipe at him in anger.

Travis ignored the creature and laid his forearm on the counter, offering her his open hand. “I’m going to do whatever it takes,” he promised her, “to make you mine.”

“Really?” She seemed to recover some of her teasing demeanor and quickly scribbled his order on the ticket. With a rip of paper, she separated the ticket from the pad and clipped it to the spinner. “Order up!”

She set her pad in her apron pocket and reached for the coffee pot. “Just how are you going to do that?”

“Taking you out to dinner tonight.”

Again, surprise. He almost turned to look at the other men in the room to glare at them. Instead, he should thank them for putting the bar so low.

“Thanks.” She moved away, skirting around the counter toward the booths. “But I can’t.”

Can’t?

He was almost on his feet, but he held back. She’d come back. And he didn’t want to give the others a chance to insert their own comments.

She smiled.

She made small talk.

She added up the ticket and set it on the table.

And she avoided the attempts of the other men to ask her out too.

Next, a marriage proposal that almost got the man’s arm ripped off.

Then she was back.

The coffee pot sank back onto the heating pad.

“Is it that you’re working tonight?”

She shook her head, picked up the water pitcher, and refilled his glass. “Nope. I’m off in a few hours when the other waitress starts.”

“Do you already have a date?” The words tasted like castor oil on his tongue.

“I have to make dinner for my aunt. I’m here to visit and help out. Maybe some other time?”

No, now!

Wow, his bear was in a mood, you’d think he was just out of hibernation with the way he was acting.

“Anytime.”

He meant it. “Dessert.”

She laughed and the sound turned every head in the place. “This is the only place in town with dessert.” She gave it some thought. “I think the market may have donuts or whipped cream in a pinch.”

Travis was stuck on whipped cream. There were so many things he wanted to do with whipped cream and they all involved her.

“But if you’re really determined to have dinner with me tonight,” she turned her gaze toward the pass-through and met her uncle’s eyes. The older man gave her an indulgent shrug. “You could come to dinner at the house.”

His bear lumbered forward and brushed his heavy shoulder against Travis’ ribs. A loud chuff of encouragement echoed in his head.

“You’re inviting me home.” He picked up his glass of water and downed it in one gulp. “You’re not afraid?”

“Afraid! Why?” She poured him another glass.

“Inviting someone home that you don’t know.”

She laughed. “This is Grayslake. You’d be in more trouble if you tried something.” She grabbed a napkin and pressed it to the line of her neck under her ear, dabbing at her skin. “Besides, you invited me out, alone. At home I have my aunt and her shotgun.”

The pick-up bell dinged and she turned to grab the food.

He scoffed. “What if I overpower you?”

She turned back and gave him a look as if she could see him from his head down to his feet. “I could take you.”

Travis’ bear nodded his head, a big sweep of motion that threatened to knock him back off of the stool. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on the counter and felt a stab of pleasure go through him, he was hard and his jeans were stretched tight against his skin.

It didn’t help that she tilted her head and raised a perfectly curved brow over her dark eyes.

He worried that she could see right through him and then he hoped that she could. “I’d like to see that.”

She opened her mouth to answer him but stopped when he licked his bottom lip.

Shaking her head, she took the plate around the counter to the far side of the dining area, returning a few moments later.

The bell on the pass-through rang and she darted behind the counter, her ponytail sweeping over her shoulder. Leaning forward he could see the flare of her skirt hem and the creamy skin just above her thigh-high stockings. His instinct was to climb up and over the counter and get as close as she would let him.

He lowered his forearms and felt the cool counter top against his skin. He wrapped his fingers over the back edge of the counter and felt the bite of the textured metal edging on the underside of his fingers. It was all he could do to keep himself in his seat.

He wasn’t going to mess things up, not right now.

If he did, it wouldn’t matter what Ty Abrams said, his bear would probably kill him.

As if the bear had heard his thoughts, Travis felt a rumble of warning echo in his ears. Growling back, he watched her move into the hallway and he told his bear to, “go to sleep.”

The bear turned around, and gave Travis a good kick from a hind leg.

“Smart ass.”

* * *

Grace heard her uncle clear his throat and when she looked at him he crooked his finger at her.

She walked into the hallway and stepped into the kitchen. “Yes??”

His stern look melted at her laughing tone. “Do you know what you’re doing, young lady?”

“Trying to spend some time with gorgeous and ripped out there.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “How do you know he’s ripped?”

Her eyes widened at him and she lifted both hands in a helpless shrug. “With the way he filled out those jeans and his amazing forearms? He must be ripped. I don’t see how you can have arms and legs like that without everything in between. That would be sacrilege to the human form!”

“You know,” his tone softened and he set a hand on her shoulder, “the last time we saw you, you were twelve and-”

“A pudgy little bear with stringy hair and braces.”

Edward’s expression softened and he set a hand on her shoulder. She could smell the fryer grease on his skin and smiled. He never changed. “Sweetheart. Are you sure you can handle-”

He couldn’t seem to finish his sentence and she felt for him. He was right. When he’d seen her last she was climbing trees and begging her mother for a pony as a pet. Boys were on her mind, but not a single one would look at her with anything but revulsion or laughter. It had taken years for her to realize that they were as blind to her charms as most of the pretty girls at school were shallow.

“Uncle Eddie,” she grinned at him and then wrapped him in a big ol’ hug, “I love you. You are the sweetest thing.” Stepping back, she held back a laugh at the shock on his face. “I’m a big girl and I’m not just talking about my hips. I can handle that big boy out there. I have a Taser in my purse and two kinds of pepper spray. If he tries anything,” she lowered her voice and leaned in like it was a secret, “anything, that I don’t want him to try, and he’ll be on the ground clutching the family jewels before he knows what happened to him.”

“Well,” he leaned down and looked out of the pass-through window, “you sound like you know what you’re doing. So, keep your aunt’s shotgun close by and give him both barrels if you need to. Around here folks don’t take kindly to men that hurt women. The Abrams boys won’t haul you in if you do it, they’ll likely help you bury the body in the hills.”

Grace shivered at the thought. “The Abrams brothers? They were all legs and fists back when I lived here. Glad to hear they’re still alive.”

“They’re not just alive,” Edward gave her a big grin. “They’re the law around here.”

That knocked her back on her heels. “The law? My, how times have changed!” Laughing, she watched her uncle spin around to rescue the burger he had on the flat top and slap it on a bun.

She held out a plate and kept it steady as he set the burger down on one side. She reached into the stainless steel containers on the counter and added tomato, lettuce, and their special house-made sauce. Edward put the top bun down and handed her the oblong bowl that went with the special.

Grace scooped up a bowlful of fries and then grabbed the long-handled ladle and put a heaping scoop of chili on the fries before adding a large spoonful of shredded cheddar on top. Taking a big sniff of the bowl, she headed for the door. “Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll have him eating out of my hands.”

His laughter followed her out into the dining room.

Handsome and hungry was still sitting in the same place when she went back out. Setting the plate down first, she smiled. ‘You said the special. Here it is. Eddie’s famous burger and chili fries.”

Some people would grimace at the pile of food in front of him, but not this man. He looked like a little kid on Christmas morning, that is if kids at Christmas looked like they could bench press Santa’s sleigh and melt the North Pole with a smoldering look. And before she could say anything he grabbed one of the fries and lifted it up to his lips. A second later all of that gooey chili-cheesy goodness was in his mouth. Yeah, that was an image she didn’t need in her head or any other part of her body, because that man was fine.

One of the tables got up and headed for the register.

Swallowing hard, she moved away to the register and struggled to keep her focus on her job. She wanted to blame it on the hours and hours she’d spent on buses as she traveled across the states, but really, it was the idea that she’d finally met a man who wouldn’t shy away from her that was really turning her brain to mush.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed your meal.” She listened to the customer and nodded in the appropriate places as he paid her uncle a bunch of compliments. She soaked it up while she made the change. “I hope you’ll come back soon.”

“Me?” The man looked a little bashful as he answered back. “I’m here pretty much every other day when I’m not on duty at the…” he paused and looked at his friend, “at work. But if you’re going to be here-”

“I’ll be here as long as it takes my aunt to get well, so I’ll be here for at least a few weeks.” She reached out her hand to give him his change and he waved it off.

“Keep it for a tip.”

She looked down at the bills in her hand, but before she could look up to argue with him, the customer and his friend were outside on the way to his car.

Folding the bills up she dropped them in the tip jar on the back shelf. The jar was almost three quarters of the way full and Grace blew out a low whistle. Even split with the waitress coming in for the evening shift, she’d have a nice tidy sum to add to her travel money. Before she could decide what to do next the front door swung open with a jingle of the bell turning her head. “Welcome to the diner! Table for four?”