She stood there dumbfounded for a moment, unable to speak.

The man, he had disappeared and had barely acknowledged her existence, but she had seen him, and she had taken him in. She had taken all of him in.

He was older than her.

Much older, maybe in his very early forties, and his hair had a smattering of gray from how it appeared, but it was also closely shaved and difficult to distinguish.

He was muscular and tall, and he looked mean and dangerous. But not only that, seeing him sitting astride that bike had made her heart race, her pussy ache, and her mind spin into overdrive because she could tell exactly what he was… and now he was there in her life, working for her dad.

She knew just by looking at him that he was a biker.

A Forsaken Rider.

A tingle rolled up her spine and the tiny hairs on her arms seemed to stand on end.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Huh?” her pop asked as he looked back over his shoulder at her.

“Nothing,” she said, as she picked up her grocery bags and held them tightly under her arms.

She looked over at her dad and was desperate to ask him a million questions…

Where had he found him?

Why had he chosen him to come to the shop?

Why would a badass and lawless biker want extra hours working at Durrett’s?

And not only that, what the hell was his problem?

Why had he barely even acknowledged her?

She found herself pouting and feeling agitated and fidgety.

“Are you sticking around?” her dad asked as he looked at her with confusion.

She knew she was staring off into the distance, in somewhat of a daze, so she finally shook herself back into the present and nodded her head before she shook it and said, “No, no, I’m going to get going.”

“Okay, sweet pea,” he said as he waved to her from the other side of the truck.

It was then as she looked back at it that she realized what was different about the truck and the back window.

It had a Forsaken Rider’s patch logo emblazoned across it.

She swallowed and felt her heart race again.

A goddam biker…

 

There were a few things Jessica knew about the legendary bikers that had run her little home town since what could easily have been the dawn of time.

One, they were involved in everything. Like literally everything. Most of the buildings up and down Main Street were property of the brotherhood and they kept Slate Springs ticking over.

Two, they were fierce advocates for the locals and their businesses. With them owning the majority of commercial property in town, they kept their rent rates low to ensure the people of Slate Springs could thrive and keep the town going.

Three, recently, things didn’t seem to be going so well on that front, and there had been rumors of another town from a few miles away trying to muscle in on the action. Some of the stores had closed down and people had shut up shop. The motel on the side of the highway had been dark and not offering vacancy, but it had recently reopened and stayed relatively quiet.

Four, they were dangerous as hell.

She swallowed and stared into space as she listened to the clock ticking on the wall in her kitchen. She felt like she was almost in a dream. Had her father really gone into a business arrangement with the Forsaken Riders? And if he had, what did this mean for them and their family business that had been self-sufficient and run without a hitch for decades?

Maybe the guy… Tank… maybe he just needed some extra money? Surely, there had to be more to his story, and maybe her father hadn’t entered into any kind of business deal at all.

She took a deep breath and sighed.

Worrying about it wasn’t going to do her any favors. She may as well push it to the back of her mind and wait to speak to her dad later on that night.

She put away the rest of her grocery shopping and then she stretched her arms up high and heard her elbows click. She winced.

It was still early and all she could think about was a coffee from the diner on the outskirts of town. She swiped up her laptop and held it pinned underneath her arm as she headed for the door.

 

It had been a while since she had been into the diner, but it never failed to disappoint on predictability.

Arlene, the ancient waitress who had worked there for as long as Jess could remember was on shift, and she had her usual smattering of exaggerated make-up plastered onto her sun damaged skin. Her dirty blonde hair was piled up high on top of her head, and she had the usual look of disgust etched on her face and deep in her soul.

Jessica stood in the doorway nervously, just hoping that Arlene was in a fairly decent mood and wouldn’t be looking for someone to spar with. With Jess having avoided the diner for so long, she’d be the ideal candidate for Arlene to pounce on, but then she remembered her dad… and how Arlene had always held a torch for him.

She tried not to roll her eyes as Arlene caught sight of her and began to walk toward her. Jess moved her weight from one foot to the next and then she forced herself to smile.

“Jessica Durrett,” Arlene said with a sneer as she reached for a menu and passed it to her. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in here. Anyone would think you’d been avoiding us.”

Jessica tried not to laugh, she couldn’t have been more right.

“Of course not,” she smiled sweetly. “And how are you, Arlene? Is life treating you well?”

Arlene didn’t answer, she just glared at her before she turned and began to walk toward the booths along the outside of the diner next to the windows. She stopped by the one in the corner and held her arm out as if she were a butler. Jessica slid into the booth uncomfortably and set her laptop down.

“Ooh look at that,” Arlene said without missing a beat as she stared down at the computer. “Maybe that’s why you’re never around here no more… busy with all your important work. I bet you’re far too good for us diner folk now.”

She let the statement hang in the air between them and Jess looked up at her with pure contempt.

“I’ve been busy, yeah…” she said deadpan and then she looked away from Arlene and down at the menu in front of her.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Arlene bit as she reached into her hair and pulled out a pencil.

“Sure, can I get a large Americano, please?” Jessica still didn’t look up to her, but she didn’t want to be overly rude.

Arlene wandered off and Jess breathed a sigh of relief. How that woman made it through life being so hideous, she would never know. And it was even more concerning that Arlene had always had her sights set on her father. She remembered how, a few years after her mother had died, Arlene had started bringing things to the house for them. It had started with cherry pie on his birthday and then had escalated to random drop offs of full-on home cooked meals or leftovers from the diner.

Her father had almost been sucked in by it for a moment by all accounts, but then Arlene’s mask had slipped and she had gone back to being just as awful as she had always been. The town bitch was never going to change. She was always destined to be alone and unlucky in love. But she only had herself to blame.

Jessica’s eyes settled on the club sandwich and she felt her stomach growl. Even though she had eaten the mother of all meals the evening before, it was almost as if that had just been a warm up, and now all she could think about was devouring something big and full of carbs. She closed the menu and opened her laptop, just as Arlene retuned with her coffee and let out a snort of laughter that screamed, I knew it, look at this little princess.

“Did you want to order some food?” she asked.

“A club sandwich and fries, please, Arlene,” Jess forced herself to smile as she handed back the menu to her and made eye contact.

It felt as if she were looking into the eyes of Medusa herself.

She shuddered.

“Sure thing,” Arlene said with a growl before she spun on her heel and slinked off back toward the kitchen.

Jessica breathed yet another sigh of relief and sunk down in her seat slightly. And just as she closed her eyes, she heard the bell on the door ting. She opened them and looked across to the door, and in that moment, she had never been more startled in her entire life.

It was him.

The man from the garage that her dad had hired.

Tank.

She pushed herself up to sit straight and pulled her coffee toward her. Her heart was beating faster and suddenly, she wished she hadn’t ordered all that food. What if he was staying for something to eat? He would think she was a right glut and that was the last thing she wanted him to perceive her as.

She turned back to her laptop and tapped it to make it come alive while she tried to think of what to do.

Should she acknowledge him?

Should she ask him why he’d taken the job?

Even though it was none of her business really, she couldn’t help but feel protective of her father and of their bread and butter. Surely, she had every right to try and find out what he was all about.

She looked back up toward him as he started to make his way toward a booth and he stepped in her direction.

“Hey,” she smiled, before she even knew the words were coming out of her mouth.

He slid into the booth behind hers but on the side so that they were staring directly at each other, without anyone to be a screen between them.

“Hi?” he asked, as if he didn’t understand why she was speaking to him.

“Erm, it’s Tank, right?” she said hopefully and with wide eyes.

His brow furrowed, and he nodded his head slowly.

“The one and only,” he said cockily and with a wry smile.

“I’m Rich’s daughter,” she smiled. “We met earlier at the car shop…”

He waited a moment before he let his brows rise and then he nodded his head.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I remember.”

Jessica smiled, and she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. He was making this incredibly difficult for her and he wasn’t giving her anything. It was almost as if he was actively trying to avoid having a conversation.

She chewed her bottom lip and looked from one side of the room to the other. They were basically staring right at each other, there was no way they weren’t going to be able to avoid each other’s eyes.

“When did you take the job?” she asked sweetly as she looked back to him.

Tank breathed in heavily and sighed, and then he closed the menu that was lying open in front of him. He leaned forward and locked his eyes with hers.

“I’m sure you already know that,” he said. “If your dad owns it?”

Jessica felt her face burning red with embarrassment, but she shrugged her shoulders and tried to remain calm.

“Sorry, I can tell you don’t want to talk to me,” she said as she raised her hands in surrender. “I’m just being friendly.”

His cold façade cracked slightly and he sat back and leaned against the rest behind him.

“I don’t mean to come across as stand offish,” he said genuinely. “It’s just been a long ass day, and I have to pick my kids up by four,” he rubbed his hands over his eyes and then ran them through his hair.

Jess couldn’t help but stare at his hands, how big and rough looking they were. It was as if he had been a hard worker his entire life and was desperate for some love and attention. Her heart did a little dance all over again and she felt a little smile flicker across her lips.

“Oh wow, you have kids?” she grinned.

Tank nodded his head and smiled back at her. She found herself instinctively scanning his knuckles for a wedding ring, but all she could see was a smattering of silver skulls. She felt a rush of relief.

No ring… Maybe that meant no wife?

“Two of them,” he said. “They’re five and seven.”

Jessica felt a little more warmth spread through her, this was music to her ears. A man like him raising two children? The idea was so incredibly romantic. He looked so rough and ready, as if he had seen all the bad that there had ever been in the world and had taken it all on board. How he could be the kind to also raise children just made her even more intrigued by him, and made her want to ask more questions she was sure he wouldn’t want to answer.

“Boys or girls?” she asked.

He’d been looking back down at his menu, but his eyes flicked up to meet hers and she saw a brief look of annoyance flash across his face. He was trying to have some quiet time, and there she was staring directly at him and grilling him.

She smiled and shrugged.

“A boy and a girl,” he said without breaking eye contact.

Jess opened her mouth to ask the next obvious question, but he cut her off before the words had a chance to fly out of her mouth.

“Ella and Jacob,” he said and glared at her with a there, are you happy now kind of expression.

She smiled at him nervously and nodded her head.

“Lovely names,” she said quietly.

And he smiled back at her for the first time and nodded.

He seemed warmer in that moment, as if his hardened exterior was just about to crack, if only he would let it. He held her eye contact for a moment more, before Arlene came blustering over with a huge plate of food and slammed it down on the table in front of Jessica.

“There you go, princess,” she sneered, before she turned her attention to Tank and glared at him. “And you, what do you want?” Her voice was so cold it could have cut ice.

Tank whistled, and his eyes widened.

“I see some things never change around here,” he said as he glared back up at her. And then he looked across at Jess and at the huge club sandwich on her plate and the big stack of fries. “I’ll have what she’s having,” he said and then he slammed closed the menu and passed it up to Arlene.

Arlene snatched it from his hands and then she shot both of them a look that could have been venomous. When she stalked back to the kitchen, Jess couldn’t help but crack a smile and laugh to herself and when she looked over at Tank, he was doing the same.

“She’s such a bitch,” Jess whispered, and Tank laughed and nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ve never known anyone quite like it,” he smiled. “A Slate Springs legend, right there…” he trailed off and then he looked down at her food again. “Good choice, by the way,” he said as he motioned toward her plate. “I never would have picked it, but it looks too damned tasty to ignore.”

“They are pretty good,” she said, still nervous to even reach for a French fry while he was looking at her in that way that could easily make her bones shake. She was going to have to try and calm herself down and act normal around him, he was making her feel so nervous and she didn’t know why.

“They look very good,” he smiled.

She forced herself to stay calm and let her shoulders relax as she nodded her head. “Well, I hope you won’t be disappointed,” she said genuinely.

His eyes seemed to flicker with fire for a moment, and he held her gaze so easily it was making her pulse race even faster.

“I’m sure I won’t be…” he said, and their eyes didn’t leave each other’s.

The air between them was filled with something raw and electric, and Jessica’s heart was racing hard, her fingers practically trembling as she reached down to try and pick up her serviette.

He leaned back in his seat and smiled wryly at her and then he nodded in her direction before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

“Enjoy anyway,” he smiled, his attitude a lot softer than it had been when he had first walked in. “I’ll leave you to it.”

She nodded her head slowly and smiled back at him, as she watched him pull his leg up into the booth next to him and turn to face the window. He held his phone up and tapped at the screen and Jessica couldn’t help but be entranced with him for a moment before she shook herself back to reality and finally allowed herself to eat.

But she couldn’t stop herself from letting her eyes skim him every few moments. She looked at him whenever she had the chance and savored every little detail of him. She drank him all in and committed him to memory.

Tank was trouble, she could tell.

But he was the kind of trouble she knew would be fun.

She didn’t truly know why her dad had hired him, and she didn’t know what exactly Tank hoped to gain from it either.

But what she did know, was that he had two children, and even though he was stand offish, he also had a warm side.

It was also evident that if he wanted to be, he could be a killer flirt.

Please don’t have a wife or girlfriend… she wished as she smiled to herself and bit the tip off a fry.

She had the feeling she was going to enjoy spending some extra time around Durrett’s Motor Inc for a change. And for the first time in forever, she couldn’t wait to get up and go in there early to help her dad with the accounts.