“No thanks,” I respond to his chest since I have no intentions of being alone with him. Besides, I hate the way he didn’t even ask me to lunch; he just demanded it.
I take a step to the right to try and go around him, but he moves directly in front of me, blocking my path. “What about dinner?”
“I’m not going out with you,” I tell him pointblank. “I thought you were a ‘well-intentioned’ voter.”
“I am, but you’re not making this easy.” He sounds like he’s getting frustrated with my lack of cooperation. Good, now he knows how I feel. “Come on, Miss Monroe. I’m freezing my balls off…”
“Good to know,” I mutter with a roll of my eyes at his vulgarity.
“Let me buy you one cup of coffee. There’s a shop right across from us.”
Dammit. Coffee has always been one of my weaknesses. I can never refuse a cup. In fact, I was planning on hitting up the coffee shop before heading back to the office anyway.
“Fine. One cup. To-go, and you’ll have to talk fast.”
“Deal,” he says with a sigh of what sounds like relief. “I’m Cannon.” He pulls out his hand from his pocket and offers it to me.
I take it and squeeze his hand back, matching the pressure he tries to exert. Not sure I heard him correctly, I repeat, “Cannon?”
“Cannon Erikson,” he replies.
“And I guess you already know that I’m Madison Monroe.”
“That I did in fact know,” he says with a smile.
I gesture forward with my hand, indicating that he should turn around and walk to the coffee shop. As we pass Lily and Vanessa, they give me curious looks before they both stare at Cannon as if they’re completely enamored by him. They haven’t even seen him up close or smelled him yet.
“Just a second,” I tell him before I step away to talk to them. “You can both go back to the office. I’ll see you in a few minutes. Just going to grab some coffee.”
“With him?” Lily asks in a whisper, her eyes still captivated by Cannon.
“Yes. He was relentless,” I mutter. From this angle, I can get a good look at his backside, and it’s not his ass that grabs my attention, although it does look nice and firm. No, it’s the huge white skull king patch and the words “Savage Kings MC” that draws my eye, which is just great. The Savage Kings are known in town for being vigilantes who think they can operate above the law. They’re not quite categorized as mobsters, but they’re no angels either.
“Be careful,” Vanessa says. “He’s gorgeous, but those guys are not exactly the kind of crew you want to be seen associating with.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, there’s no one here but us,” I point out as I leave them.
As I approach Cannon, he turns slightly toward me with a smirk before he looks both ways to cross Broadway Street. Neither of us say anything until we’re inside the shop.
“Welcome to The Last Drop!” the perky barista says in greeting as the warmth and smell of coffee surround us, taking away the chill from outside. “Oh, hi, Cannon,” she adds, having apparently recognized the biker. She bites her bottom lip, and then suddenly her chest seems to grow a few cup sizes.
“Hi, Connie,” he responds, saying her name so familiarly that I have no doubt they’ve seen each other naked.
The last thing I should be is jealous and yet, for some reason, I find myself wishing that I was a little more daring when it comes to men, like Connie. But then I would probably be working in a coffee shop serving others and not have a law degree or career ambitions.
“What can I get you?” she asks Cannon directly. I don’t think she’s being rude; she just hasn’t been able to take her eyes off of him.
“Just a coffee with two sugars and two creams to go,” he responds. “What about you?” When he turns his attention to me, Connie finally seems to notice he’s not alone, and the evil look she gives me is full of very sharp daggers.
“Same,” I tell her.
Good ole’ Connie gets to work and has our cups ready on the counter in no time.
“Thank you,” I tell her before I grab mine and go sit down at one of the two person tables, taking a sip while Cannon pays the bill, since he offered.
“I’m so sorry about what happened to the dealership and Fluid,” I overhear the barista tell him softly. “If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.” She reaches out and gives his hand a squeeze before taking the twenty-dollar bill from him.
“Thanks, sweetheart, and keep the change,” Cannon says before he turns away from her to come sit down. He lowers himself into the chair across from me, his long legs sprawling wide in front of him. One of his knees bumps up against my crossed legs but he doesn’t move it, so I’m the one who is forced to readjust. Then, he just stares at me over his cup as he takes a sip. It’s as if he doesn’t know or doesn’t care that he still has the full attention of the barista behind him.
I hate to admit it to myself, but he’s also holding my full attention as well.
Chapter Four
Cannon
Madison clutches her coffee in a death grip like it’s the elixir of life and she thinks someone may come along and steal it from her. Her dark chocolate eyes watch me warily before she finally takes a sip. That one sip is all it takes for her shoulders to relax a few degrees, some of the uptight tension leaving her body as if by magic. She’s wound tight, that’s for sure, from her dark hair that’s pulled back into a snug, low bun, to the plain white suit pressed to perfection under her white dress coat. Her eyes are constantly narrowed, like she’s always on edge, not
