Chapter 1
ROMAN
Mr L: Can you come to town for a visit? I have a job for you, but I need to tell you face to face.
Me: I don’t work for you.
Me: Just message me the deets like a normal person.
Mr L: Pete’s Place. Tomorrow. 9 am. Don’t be late.
Me: No. Fuck off.
Me: Plus, you live in the back of beyond. Small town life’s not for me.
Mr L: I’ll remind you that you said that.
Mr L: Get your arse there. Unless you’re still sore because I cut off your stalking.
Me: You still sore from the right hook I gave you?
After a couple of minutes, I replied.
Me: Fine. I’ll be there.
Mr L: Excellent choice. See you then.
I yawned, my stupidly early start catching up with me.
I had no idea why Thomas wanted to meet in person.
Between the two of us, we probably had the most secure businesses in the world, so I wasn’t sure what was so important that he couldn’t just send me the information over the encrypted network we used all the time.
The waitress came over to the booth I was sitting in, and I ordered a coffee just as my phone buzzed in my hand with a message.
Mr L: Sorry, something’s come up. I can’t make it.
Rage tightened my jaw.
Me: WTF. I’ve got better things to be doing than getting stood up by you.
Mr L: Enjoy your coffee. And remember to say thank you.
I frowned at his cryptic message, about to reply, when the door to the diner opened, and a breeze brushed over my skin, making me shudder. I looked up just as my coffee cup was placed on the table. I twisted to say thank you, but something in my periphery made my head snap to the side.
There, standing at the counter with her back to me, was a woman dressed in high-waisted leather leggings and a white, cropped T-shirt, her long, poker straight, inky-black hair landing halfway down her back.
She was talking to a man who laughed at something she was saying before holding out his arm and ushering her behind the counter, letting me catch a glimpse of her profile.
The curve of her button nose, her pillowy lips, the mole on her cheek: she was as familiar to me as my own reflection.
I couldn’t swallow as confusion clogged my throat, my hands shaking so hard I could barely press the keys as I typed the message.
Me: What the fuck did you do?
…
Mr L: You’re welcome.
“You ready to order?”
I looked up to see an older woman with short grey hair standing there.
Her eyes widened as she took me in. I knew how I looked: six foot four, about as wide as I was tall, thick beard, my brown hair tapered to a buzz cut on the sides, and the tattoos that covered my body, stretching up my neck and covering the backs of my hands.
Mean, scary, unapproachable. I wasn’t any of those things, but looking like this, people kept their distance, which was my intention.
“Sir?” My attention returned to the woman in front of me, who must be pushing seventy and looked like she was more than ready to retire.
I coughed, trying to shake the cobwebs from my vocal cords because, before today, I wasn’t sure when I last spoke. My life was online. Anonymous. I liked it like that.
“Who’s the woman behind the counter?” I asked, making her glance over her shoulder in the direction I was looking before she stared at me suspiciously.
“What’s it to you?”
I gave her my warmest smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not a serial killer.”
“I’m sure that’s just what a serial killer would say.” She put her hand on her hip defiantly.
“Very astute. I’m sure the people in this town can’t get much past you…” I waited.
“Margo. And no. There’s nothing I don’t know.”
My smile widened, and I relaxed my posture, trying not to come off like a giant murdering stranger. “I knew I was asking the right woman. So?”
She looked back to the counter again and then leaned in a little closer. “Hana Monroe. The new owner. She arrived in town a couple of days ago.”
“Owner?” The word came out with too much force, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah, news to us too. Apparently, Pete—that’s him with her. Well, he’s the current owner and suddenly desperate to retire, and Hana has bought the place.”
“Was it up for sale for long?” My heart hammered loudly as I spoke, the place suddenly feeling too bright, too busy, too enclosed and open all at the same time, and I longed to be back home behind a wall of monitors where I belonged.
She shrugged. “Not that I know of. I mean, no one tells us anything, but I had no clue he was ready to retire. Good news is she’s keeping us all on, so I guess there’s that, but the place won’t be the same without Pete.”
I turned my attention back to the woman on the other side of the room. Hana twisted her hair up into a messy bun, showing off the thin column of her throat, and the idea of my hand wrapped around it as she whimpered out my name made my cock swell beneath the table.
“Can I get my coffee to go, Margo?” I slipped her a ten-pound note. “And keep the change.”
She offered me a smile that looked a little less strained before disappearing to fill a to-go cup, while I stared at Hana.
Dusting my thumb over my lips, I tried not to think about what it would be like to touch her for the first time, to hear her voice speaking directly to me, to feel her curves and know what she smelt like.
I’d spent years watching her from a distance; my only worry now was whether my obsession was about to spiral out of control.
Who was I kidding? My obsession had taken over long before now.
So, I guessed the real question was, just how far would I let it go?