“So, do you work here for real or did management just hire you to hold the counter down and stare all day at that god-like blond with the mean scowl?”

Lucy rolled her eyes to the side and contemplated Amber who had taken up a perch on the stool next to her, mimicking Lucy’s exact pose of elbow on counter and chin in hand, brow furrowed in concentration. Lucy laughed and straightened up on her stool, sending her elbow lightly into Amber’s side, pushing the woman sideways. Amber was seven years older than Lucy’s twenty-one, but the two women had become fast friends within hours of Lucy’s employment at the small, retro-style diner.

“Obviously, I get paid to look this good,” Lucy said jokingly, tossing her wavy brown hair back and batting her eyelashes.

Amber laughed. “The size of your tips sure makes it seem that way.”

“Oh, shut up. As if you don’t make just as much.”

“Yeah, but that’s due to the short skirt and maximum makeup effect,” Amber retorted as they settled back into their staring-at-Mack-Hudson poses.

They contemplated the sexy-as-sin bounty hunter while he drank his coffee and glared down at his tablet, ignoring his audience of two. His daily trips to Lucy’s place of work had become a habit since he’d found out she started working at Dalton’s Diner. She’d expected a protest from him, given the way he’d reacted to news of her living in Jane’s old apartment, but so far, he hadn’t said anything about her job. Just came in every day, sat in her section and ordered a coffee. Nothing more, nothing less.

“What we all looking at?” Another waitress, a little older than Amber, dropped heavily onto the stool on Lucy’s other side while tying on an apron that matched the cute dress uniforms Dalton asked them to wear. They weren’t sleazy or anything and they matched the old-school vibe of the diner so none of the waitresses objected.

Lucy glanced over at Kendra briefly before returning her gaze to the gorgeous hunk of male exquisiteness in her sights.

Kendra followed Lucy’s gaze and a slow grin curved her generous lips. “Ah, break me off a little piece of delicious cop,” she murmured, settling herself into a similar pose as the other two. Elbow on counter, chin in hand. She’d just come on shift, despite there only being two customers in the shop. The lunch rush would hit soon and the clientele would shift in a flash.

“Bounty hunter,” Lucy corrected her in a distracted murmur.

“Don’t care what kind of law enforcement he is so long as he keeps doing whatever it is that makes him look like that,” Kendra said with a purr. “Man like that looks like he knows what to do with a set of handcuffs, baby.”

“Amen sister,” Amber agreed and the two women high-fived over Lucy’s head.

They all turned back to focus on Mack Hudson, taking a chorus of breaths that slipped out in a sigh of unison as he unfolded his big, tall body from the booth. It was just so hard not to admire that kind of incredible masculine beauty. Every part of him was honed to muscular perfection, from his jean-clad thighs and ass as he bent to retrieve his leather jacket from the booth to the chiseled jaw, intense blue eyes and a face made for the big screen if it weren’t for his perpetual scowl.

He strode straight toward the three waitresses, shoving his leather coat over his broad shoulders as he walked. Kendra and Amber scrabbled off their stools and pretended to busy themselves with nothing in particular in the near vicinity while Lucy remained helplessly rooted to her seat, staring at him as he approached. Wordlessly he handed her a ten-dollar bill, folded into three, same thing he did every day. Lucy reached out and took it, allowing their fingers to touch for those few seconds. Sparks ignited. Warmth suffused every part of her, turning her face a bright shade of pink. She shifted uncomfortably on the stool, aware of the gathering moisture in her panties.

Without a single word he turned away and left the diner. Lucy swiveled on her stool and watched him leave, a sigh of longing escaping her lips.

“I think my ovaries just exploded,” Amber groaned perching a hip on the counter next to Lucy. “That man is hotter than men have any right to be and he only has eyes for you, sweetie.”

Lucy shook her head, her lips forming a small pout. “He’s been coming in here every day for three weeks and he won’t make a move. Besides, there are too many obstacles in our way for any kind of relationship to work between us.”

Kendra laughed, stacking napkin holders on the counter. “Okay, girl. Stop thinking long term. You’re only twenty-one. Believe me, you have plenty of time for fun and games before you go settling yourself on just one man.”

Amber snorted and waved Kendra’s assessment away. “What obstacles, sweetie?”

“Well, besides my Russian babysitter,” Lucy said with a jerk of her head toward the Lincoln Continental complete with a bored looking, tattooed gangster that perpetually took up space in the parking lot on Lucy’s shifts. “I’m pretty sure Mack thinks he’s too old for me.”

Amber nodded thoughtfully. “I have zero doubts Mack Hudson can take care of your bodyguard in a heartbeat if he wanted to. Next issue, how much older is he?”

“Fifteen years.” But who’s counting?

Kendra whistled. “Stay away from that one, he’ll have history! A man that good looking with no woman at home? No way, no how there isn’t a story there.”

“Jesus Ken, go fill the damn napkins and leave the poor girl alone,” Amber growled in exasperation, giving the other woman a small shove. Kendra grabbed an armload of holders and strode away. Amber turned back to Lucy. “Okay, yes, fifteen years is definitely a gap at your age, but it doesn’t have to be the end of something awesome before it even starts! Sometimes you act very mature for your age, and… and maybe he’s very immature for his.”

They eyed each other for a second and then burst out laughing. “Gee thanks,” Lucy said with a roll of her eyes, pushing off her stool. “I’ll hope for an immature bounty hunter, who, at a guess, given his forever frown, has some anger issues.”

“Okay, scratch that,” Amber agreed, blowing hair out of her face and reaching for her notepad to rip off the top page, covered in scrawls from the day before. “I still think you’ll be fine. We just need to teach you how to loosen up and make some moves. The way he looks at you… well, we can’t just let that go to waste, sweetie.”

Lucy gave Amber a small smile, appreciating the other woman’s attempt to make her feel better. “Thanks, Amber, but we both know I’m hopelessly naïve. I don’t think I’m a match for someone that’s probably seen and done the things Mack Hudson has seen and done in his life. I mean, look at him!”

“Oh, I have!” Amber laughed. “Again, and again, and again.”

“Shut up!” Lucy giggled, bumping her friend with a hip. She reached for her apron and wrapped it around her waist.

Miraculously, she put the object of her fascination out of her mind for the next several hours and finished her shift. She really enjoyed the diner. She’d tried working with Jane in the office below her little apartment, but the two sisters quickly determined that, though they were awesome sisters, they were not good co-workers. Lucy wasn’t used to being idle though and had set out to find work, which wasn’t easy in a big city when her only experience was farm work. Dalton had taken a chance on her and she was happily working at the diner now for almost a month.

She was packing her stuff up at the end of her shift when Amber approached her again. “You know what you need?”

“What’s that?” Lucy asked, pulling her short blue-jean jacket over her uniform and buttoning it down the front.

“A night on the town!” she announced, her eyes lighting up. “Come on, Luce! It’s Friday night and you don’t have to work tomorrow!”

Lucy was torn. She really wanted to go out with her new friend and see what the big city was all about, but at the same time she knew Vladimir wouldn’t approve. She bit her lip, should she call Vlad and ask for permission? Then she shook her head, of course she shouldn’t! Rumspringa was not about asking! It was about new experiences. And she was going to have a new one.

A slow grin spread across her lips. “Count me in!”