“Can I get a beer?”
“Sure, can I say something before I get it for ya though?”
“Why do I feel like I am gonna need something stronger for this?”
“Just shut up and listen, okay? I get it, you have this tough exterior but deep down I pick up on something. Kaitlyn, is a good person and for some reason, she is into you.”
“She doesn’t even know me.”
“So why don’t you change that?”
“Thanks all the same but I’m not looking for a relationship.”
“You’re impossible, you know that right?”
“Not the first time I have heard that funnily enough.” Chelsea shook her head before moving away to get me a beer. She came back and opened it, setting it in front of me.
“Look, suit yourself, Kane, but for what it’s worth I think you are making a mistake with her.” She walked off and busied herself behind the bar. I let out a breath and looked over my shoulder. Was she right?
198
(Kaitlyn)
After spending the weekend at home, pretending to play happy families with my mother and father, I waited for my father to leave for work on Monday morning and for Mother to take whatever relaxant she was prescribed this week to kick in before taking the bags I had packed and leaving. Amy was waiting for me downstairs so that they couldn’t track my car. I would moving in with Amy so there would be nothing in my name. I just needed to get a new phone in case they tried to track that and I would be fine. It was next on our list of things to do after getting settled. Amy had done me a huge favor and had spoken to her boss about hiring me. She explained to her what had happened and agreed to bend a few rules about putting my real name on any paperwork. I had to be untraceable. Overkill maybe but I couldn’t go back there. I didn’t belong there and if my father found me, he would drag me back kicking and screaming.
Moving out on my father was going to piss him off worse than anything I have ever done before. He had spent the weekend introducing me to all these eligible bachelors that he approved of, hoping to marry me off to one of them. Too bad I had already met my tall, dark, and handsome. Well kind of. We hadn’t been introduced yet but I was making it my mission to meet him. There was something pulling me toward him. I couldn’t explain it but I didn’t want to.
I spent the first week working as much as I could. I didn’t want to sit around the house, bored out of my brain so I took every shift they offered me at the diner. I soon began to pick up on the regulars. A couple of guys wearing the local MC club cuts came in, ordering big at least once a day. It was basically the same thing every day so I knew these two were the prospects who were doing the grunt work. They too were covered in tattoos, like Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. They didn’t have the muscles that he had though. I had daydreams of me running my hands down his arms. I wanted to see what he was hiding under his clothes, for him to run his hands over my body… Many things that required a cold shower or some self-love.
We decided to celebrate my first week of work by going and getting a few drinks. We both had Saturday off to recover from the hangover I knew was coming. One of us would do the grease food run in the morning to help or if we could be bothered, we would just cook for ourselves. My night got better when we walked into the bar and I saw him at the bar.
“I’ll go get the drinks, shall I?”
“Sure, vodka and red bull please.” I could hear the humor in her voice as she took a seat. Deciding to ignore it, I headed over to the bar. He was a man of few words it would seem. After trying to coax a conversation out of him, Chelsea told me not to bother. Oh, I could be pretty persistent when I wanted to be. Taking the drinks, I went and sat back down. Amy took hers from me and took a drink before starting the grilling that I knew was coming. “So what the hell was that about?”
“It was nothing. I saw a cute guy, and wanted to talk to him.” I shrugged my shoulders and took a drink.
“Really?” She raised her brow at me.
“Yep! I have seen him in here before, thought I would try. What was the worst that could happen?”
“Kaitlyn, you are trying to stay off the radar. Is that really a smart idea?”
“Do you think he is gonna run in the same circle as anyone I am trying to hide from?”
“No, but do you really think he is gonna come after you? He is going to send someone. Your father is not the kind of person to do his own dirty work.”
“No, he has his own goons. He wouldn’t use someone from here.”
“Just be careful, okay?”
“I will, I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I saw him in here before and it didn’t even cross my mind. You are right though.” I looked over my shoulder at where he sat. He was no longer crouched over the bar like he was when I first moved over there. He was sat up straight nursing a beer instead of his scotch. I wonder if Chelsea could tell me anything about him. It was only now that I noticed the gloves he was wearing. He had been wearing them the last time I saw him as well. What was the story there? Turning away, before he caught me staring, I focused my attention on Amy and not Mr.
