For a quiet summer night, the roads seemed unnaturally busy coming in and out of town. As Kady approached the diner on the side of the highway she could see that the motel sign was flashing NO VACANCY and she furrowed her brow. She literally couldn’t remember a time when that had ever happened, and she wondered if there was some kind of big convention happening in Vegas and it could have been suppliers passing through.

She climbed the steps to the diner and felt a pang of disappointment when she didn’t see any bikes parked out front. She knew it had been a long shot, but she also knew that if she had been out of town for six weeks, the first thing she’d want was one of the diner’s legendary burgers.

She stepped inside onto the black and white checked floor and saw the miserable face of the waitress looking up at her.

Arlene.

Would she ever be friendly? Or was everyone in town always going to be destined to walk in to service with absolutely no smile?

“Hey,” she said as she popped a bubble and walked over to greet Kady.

“Evening, Arlene,” Kady said with a raised brow.

“Take your pick of tables,” Arlene said as she held out her hands. “We’re slow tonight.”

Kady looked around and couldn’t believe, considering the motel was fully booked, that the diner was as dead as it was. Normally, it was one of the busiest spots along the highway and was popular with truckers and the town’s folk alike.

Kady chose a booth in the corner and looked out across the parking lot and over to the motel. For a place that was fully occupied, it sure didn’t look very busy and Kady found herself full of confusion as she scratched the back of her neck and stared off into space.

Within a few moments, Arlene sauntered over with her pen and notepad and Kady tore herself away from the menu.

“So,” Arlene sighed wearily. “What can I get you?”

Kady already knew what she was going to order, because she had it every time she was in there, a large diet coke and a cobb salad. She told Arlene and then she pointed over to the motel.

“Any idea what’s going on over there?” she asked curiously. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen it look so quiet, but then it says no vacancy?”

Arlene snorted and leaned in closely so the other couple of people inside the deserted diner wouldn’t hear them speaking.

“Sarah’s closed up for a few weeks,” she whispered. “Something about the bikers telling her it had to be done.”

“What?” Kady asked with confusion.

She had never heard anything like it before. The bikers had never shut someone down out of the blue. So there had to be a good reason.

“Weird,” Kady continued.

“Very,” Arlene agreed as she raised her eyebrows. “But I guess something pretty big must be going on if they’re getting involved.”

She tucked her pen behind her ear and then sloped off toward the kitchen.

Kady’s mind started to work overtime. She had never in her entire life seen the motel close down. It was such a good source of revenue for the town and with it being such a popular stopping place for both tourists and truckers, it seemed absolutely unthinkable that The Forsaken Riders would want to halt it in anyway.

She thought of the little old lady, Sarah, who had ran it since back in the eighties and Kady hoped she was all right, and that whatever was going on didn’t directly concern her in any negative way.

She sat and watched the world fly by. The highway had always had a calming and hypnotic effect on her, and it wasn’t long before her mind drifted from the potential reasons behind the closure of the motel and went back to herself, her own business, and how she could jazz things up a bit.

For a while, she had been debating hosting pamper parties, and now, with summer almost gone and the festive season approaching, she couldn’t think of a better time to plan and try to get something off the ground. The women in Slate Springs deserved something to look forward to. And she wanted to help them feel their best.

She started to doodle ideas on a serviette and lose herself in her thoughts as she sipped her drink and picked at her salad. And she became so engrossed she didn’t even notice the line of bikes pulling into the parking lot and around the back of the diner. The noise from the highway and the trucks that thundered by mixed in and drowned out the roars from the bikes as they swooped around the corner and out of sight.

It wasn’t until the bell tinged above the doorway and she was aware of more than one person walking in that she realized The Forsaken had descended.

She looked up, her mouth hanging slightly open and her heart pounding in her chest.

The men were all so big and broad, with heavy leather jackets slung across their shoulders and rows of silver rings adorning their knuckles. Kady nervously sipped her drink and looked down at her table. She didn’t know exactly who was there, but she sensed that he was. It was as if she could feel his presence without actually having to see him.

The bikers swarmed around the counter and then slowly filtered out into the main body of the diner. She barely dared move and she dared even less to look up and make eye contact with any of them. Suddenly, she was completely shy and introverted, curling in on herself and wishing she had just stayed home.

As they filed past her, she suddenly just knew that he was there and that he was coming. She flashed her eyes up and they caught on his and he smiled back at her, bright and beaming.

“Hey,” he mouthed as he walked by her and he reached down and touched her hand lightly.

Kady’s heart skipped a beat and she bit her lip as he continued on to sit with the rest of The Forsaken Riders.

And suddenly, all of her anxieties fell away, and she was full of hope and possibility once more.

She finished her food and drink and waved Arlene over to ask for the check. The bikers had all sat out of ear shot from her and she had kept her back to them, making sure she wouldn’t be tempted to turn around and glare at Flash like she wanted to. Just knowing he was so close to her made her skin tingle with anticipation. She had waited so long to see him again, and after she had bumped into him on Main Street earlier that day, he had been all she could think about.

“Here you go,” Arlene said moodily as she slammed the little silver tray down with the bill on top.

Kady delved straight into her purse and pulled out some cash. She placed it down for Arlene and then she was just about to grab her bag and stand up when she heard those all too familiar steps coming toward her again.

She couldn’t help but smile.

She took a deep breath and braced herself.

“You leaving?” he asked as he slid into the booth opposite her and smiled at her so warmly it almost made her break out in a sweat.

“I am,” she said coyly but with an equally friendly demeanor.

Flash cracked his knuckles and leaned back away from the table. He smiled back at her and took her all in.

“It’s been a while,” he said.

And Kady nodded.

It sure had.

“Where’ve you been?” she asked him.

Flash shrugged and she saw the tattoos on his forearm ripple with the muscle underneath. He’d removed his heavy leathers and was sitting there in a tight black t-shirt and scruffed up black jeans. They were split open at the knee and he had a big, silver eagle belt buckle shining at his waist.

He looked so goddam good.

It was hard for her not to dive across the table and straddle him. She knew now what he was capable of… and she wanted more.

“Some stuff’s been going down,” he said as he looked out the window towards the highway and sighed. “We had to lay low.”

Kady didn’t even dare ask what he meant by that. She just nodded and gave a weak smile.

“I’ve thought about you, though,” he said warily as he stared back into her eyes. “I thought about calling you… but…”

Her heart skipped a beat.

“But?” she asked, half with hope and half with dread.

“I didn’t think you were interested,” he said as he leaned forward and grinned at her. “You certainly didn’t seem it that morning anyhow.”

Kady felt herself blush.

He had regained his confidence with her, that was for sure. And it was sexy as hell.

She smiled and brushed her long dark hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. She noticed his breath catch in his throat.

“I’m sorry about that,” she admitted as she looked back up into his deep, dark eyes. “I don’t know why I was so cold with you.”

Flash took it all in and nodded his head slowly.

“Okay,” he said as he licked his bottom lip and reached into his back pocket for a packet of smokes.

“Okay?” she asked with confusion.

“Yes, okay,” he winked at her and then he clamped a cigarette between his teeth and lit up.

She knew Arlene was about to storm over and protest but he waved her away before she even had the chance.

“Come outside,” he said as he sucked in on the cigarette. “We can’t talk in here.”

Kady nodded her head slowly and got to her feet. Behind her, she was aware of all the eyes watching them, but she didn’t care. Being there with Flash was what she had been yearning for without even truly knowing it, and now she wanted to set the record straight.

Outside by the highway they sat down out of sight on top of a long rock while Flash smoked slowly. Kady wanted to say something, but she didn’t want to break the silence. There was something very relaxing about just being there with him, and after how she had offended him the last time they had been alone, she didn’t want to risk saying something dumb or that she didn’t mean again.

A truck thundered past and sprayed up a cloud of sand and dust as it went. Kady shielded her eyes and Flash looked down at her with a playful smirk.

“Am I torturing you?” he asked with a grin.

“Just a bit,” she said and smiled.

“I should have called,” he said.

“I shouldn’t have been such a cold bitch,” she admitted.

They both looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes and started to laugh.

“I’ve been away since then,” he said honestly. “And things have been pretty unsettled, to say the least. I didn’t want to start anything like that, you know?”

Kady nodded. And she could do nothing but respect him for that.

“Well, absence made the heart grow fonder,” she admitted. “I’ve been pretty thoughtful since.”

Flash smiled and nodded his head as he took another drag and then ground the smoking butt out into the dirt.

“I know the feeling,” he said as he cupped her cheek and stared deep into her eyes.

Her heart was hammering away in her chest and picking up speed with each passing second. It was so strange to think that they hadn’t seen each other in six weeks, but the moment they had run into each other again was as if they had been taken straight back to that night. Straight back to being in each other’s arms. It was both exciting and terrifying.

Kady leaned back and looked out toward the setting sun.

“You’re a tough nut to crack, Kady,” Flash half-laughed. “But I’d like to give it a go.”

Kady smiled and twirled the tassel on her bag.

“How about I take you out?” he asked her cheekily. “No pressure, just as friends and all that. Let’s have a real conversation and get to know each other. What do you say?”

Inside, she was screaming with glee, but she tried to make him sweat. She tried to pretend as if she were mulling it over for a few moments and then she couldn’t help but smile.

“Of course, I’d like that,” she said. “I’d like that very much.”

“Well, at least we’re off to a better start than last time,” he teased. “At this point, I would have been shown the door.”

Kady rolled her eyes, but she knew he was right. She had literally turned him down and let him leave after they had had such a great time together. She had bailed out of fear, and she had regretted it ever since.

“Very funny,” she smiled as she nudged his shoulder.

She got to her feet and Flash stood too. He towered over her and she almost gasped as she saw how truly big and tall he was. He was so muscular and intimidating, but she liked it. She felt tiny next to him and it only made her remember how dominant he had been with her. How he had thrown her around her bedroom like a ragdoll and made her feel things she didn’t know were possible.

“Well,” she said as she looked off down the highway toward the direction she would need to walk for home. “It was good to see you, Flash,” she smiled.

“It was really good to see you, Kady,” he said as he took a step back and began to walk toward the diner.

She didn’t want to let him walk away again, but she wasn’t going to run after him either. He had asked her out, and she would have to wait for his call.

As he jogged up the steps of the diner he turned and smiled at her again. He really was something else. Like nothing she had ever known before, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before her feelings intensified.

They had already sealed their bond in other ways. Getting to know him was going to be the icing on the cake.

She hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and waved as she started to walk down the road.

Inside her, butterflies raged and swirled, and she felt a happiness she couldn’t describe. She felt electric and alive, excited and full of hope.

Her day had gone from good to amazing, and now she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

Flash was back. And she hoped that this time she would get to know him on a much deeper level.

When she arrived home, she went straight to her bedroom and changed into her black lacey camisole and shorts set. She sat at her dressing table and removed her make-up and applied her concoction of creams until her face was pinkish and fresh looking. She rubbed lotion into her hands and climbed underneath the covers and picked up one of her favorite books before she had to put it down from her mind racing so much.

Not even her ex had made her feel things like this. It was as if she and Flash had done things the wrong way around, but it was making it all the more intense and exciting. And now, she couldn’t wait to see him again.

As she lay in bed and turned out the light, she suddenly became aware of her cell phone lighting up on the nightstand. She leaned over and picked it up and when she saw a number she didn’t recognize crossing the screen, she instantly knew it was him.

She held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” she whispered.

“I said I’d call,” his deep voice came through from the other end and it gave her the shakes. Her whole body tingled and she bit her lip, trying to contain her smile.

“I like that you know how to keep a promise,” she teased.

“I’m a man of my word,” he retorted.

The silence hung between them and she tried to listen out for sounds in the background to try and figure out where he was, but it was so quiet she knew it was pointless.

“Where are you?” she asked him.

“Back at the clubhouse,” he said as there was a noise of a door closing behind him. “Where are you?”

She could sense the amusement in his voice.

“It’s late, where do you think?” she said cheekily.

“I think you’re in your bed,” he replied.

“Correct,” she rolled over onto her side and tried to suppress her grin.

“Good to know,” he said. “I remember it well.”

“Very funny,” she mused. “Don’t think that you’ll be seeing it again any time soon.”

“Of course not,” he said sincerely. “I just wanted to make sure you were home safe.”

“I am, thank you,” she smiled. “And I’m glad you are too.”

“It was really good to see you today,” he continued. “If you’re free tomorrow, I’d love to take you out.”

Kady felt like punching the air in celebration. She tried to hide the happiness from her voice.

“I’d like that,” she said calmly. “I’ll be working during the day, but tomorrow evening I’m free.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at eight?”

“Sure,” she grinned.

“Good night, Kady,” Flash said, and then the line went dead.

She looked at the screen to make sure he had really gone and then she lay back down, grabbed her pillow, put it over her face and screamed into it.

She had a date with a goddam biker.

How the hell was she ever going to get to sleep now!?