Chapter 2
Em
I bus the last two tables after the guests leave. We get a steady flow of customers right until closing, which is a lot later than some other places. In the week I’ve been here, I’ve never seen it empty.
Laura is a curvy woman somewhere in her fifties, but from what I can tell, she has plenty of energy to keep this place running on her own.
She wears an apron and street clothes underneath like me. The diner is a casual, privately owned restaurant, not one of those corporate chains.
I like working here.
But that isn’t the reason behind the extra sway in my step or my grin as I gather the plates.
“If my sixth sense doesn’t lie, and it never does, I’d guess you still have plans tonight. A date maybe?”
“Maybe,” I echo with a teasing note .
Asher and I got to talking when he walked me home last night. My first impression of him wasn’t wrong. He’s laid back, funny, and a smooth talker.
He almost silver-tongued his way into my apartment.
Almost.
“So?” Laura prompts. “Who’s the lucky guy? Where did you meet him?”
I wouldn’t call him lucky just yet, but he did offer to walk me home tonight too, so let’s see where things go from there.
“I bumped into him yesterday”— literally —“and we kinda hit it off,” I tell her. “He’s picking me up.”
“Oooh, what a charmer,” she drawls. “He handsome too?”
Hot is more like it. And that cologne of his… I feel my panties dampen just thinking of him and his big, strong hands on me again.
“Oh yes,” I reply in a dreamy voice. “Yes, he is. Very .”
Laura clicks her tongue. “Sounds like my type.”
“I heard that,” Drew bellows from the kitchen at her back.
We both laugh, and I shake my head as I carry the dishes through the swinging doors. I love their heckling. When it comes to married couples, I consider them #goals.
In the back, I hand the dishes off to Jake, Laura and Drew’s nephew. He’s in his late teens and has been helping the couple out at the diner since he was tall enough to look over the counter.
Laura and Drew don’t have any kids of their own. The two met when he was hired as the new cook way back in the day, then they took over the family business together after Laura’s father passed away ten years ago.
“So… a date, huh?” Jake prompts with a nod, his chest puffed like he’s trying to make himself appear bigger.
It doesn’t work. He’s a scrawny kid, despite matching my height.
“Yep.” I avert his eyes, wiping my hands on my apron.
“That’s cool.” He shrugs and puts the dishes into the huge sink, trying to act casual, but I see the disappointment behind his demeanor.
I mean, he’s cute, but a good ten years too young for me.
“Then you better not keep him waiting, girl,” Laura urges me on. “A good guy is hard to find.”
“True that. You might’ve snatched up the last one,” I call back, winking at Drew.
His head does a little bob, and I catch a bashful smile stretching his lips as he turns to clean the grill.
I pull my apron over my head and hang it on the hook in the kitchen before I clock out.
When I slip through the back door, my heart gives a jolt. Asher is waiting for me across the alley, one foot braced against the wall, thumbs hooked into his pocket. Shadows tease over his dark tattoos where the ink is not covered by his T-shirt.
Hot indeed.
His hair is tousled again, and I have the urge to run my fingers through it.
His teeth tug on his bottom lip as his gaze drinks me in from top to bottom. I think the feeling is mutual. I notice the flexing of his bare forearms like he’s itching to touch me too.
He told me he works at a custom auto body shop, so I already know he’s good with his hands.
My skin flushes with the thought of them exploring me. “Hi,” I say, my voice a little breathless.
He drops his foot to the ground and meets me as I descend the two steps toward him. “Hi.”
The light above the door gives his green eyes a luster, and my knees go weak. He’s so gorgeous I can’t stop staring.
“How was your night?” he asks, breaking me from his spell.
I blink. My eyes flick to the graphic tee stretching across his well-defined chest. He’s lean, not bulky, but I don’t underestimate the strength and endurance weaved into every cell of his body.
“Good,” I reply. “Busy. Makes the time go by faster.” Because I’ve been looking forward to seeing you, I add in my head. “How was yours?”
His face has a few days’ worth of a shadow now, giving the impression he only shaves every other. “Eh, work was alright.”
He pivots down the alley, and I fall in beside him. I don’t even look over my shoulder for my stalker. His presence calms me.
“Put a new engine into this sweet ’54 Chevy Pickup,” he says as we start walking. “It had a badass paint job, too.”
That familiar quirky grin twists his features, and I can tell by his inflection how much he loves what he does.
What does that say about his own ride ?
“Do you get to work on a lot of cool cars?”
“Usually, yeah. We’re known for the crazy custom stuff you can’t get anywhere else. Cars, trucks, bikes… you name it. Some clients drive all the way out here just for our work.”
“Must come with a nice price tag,” I prompt.
He expels a soft laugh. “Definitely!”
And apparently pays well too. As he walks on my right, I see the big watch on his wrist. It’s flashy, and I’m guessing his clothes are not off the rack, either.
He’s got money.
He has to have a fancy ride to go with his image, yet he walks the streets alone at night not worried about getting mugged?
“What about you?” he asks before I can dwell on his curious behavior. “What made you drop everything and move out here?”
I didn’t offer him much about my circumstances last night. “I was looking for an adventure. A thrill.”
“A thrill?” That draws another laugh, and I watch his head tip back. “Yeah, you’ll find that here alright.”
He isn’t wrong. I’ve gotten myself a stalker within three and a half weeks of leaving my hometown. That must be a record of sorts.
His voice still carries a note of amusement when we come up to my place. “You want me to walk you again tomorrow?”
God yes! I’d love to make this a regular thing, but…
“Actually, tomorrow is my night off.”
I expect a reaction of disappointment, but delight flickers in his eyes, and he smiles. “Even better. I pick you up from here when I get off. You said you’ve been in Castle for less than a month, so I assume you haven’t seen much.”
“No. Between my apartment and the diner, I haven’t been anywhere.”
“How about I show you around tomorrow? We can skip the touristy stuff, and I’ll show you where the locals hang out instead.”
I love the sound of that.
“Okay,” I say, trying to sound casual as my insides do backflips. I give him an easy smile, but internally I’m beaming.
Ash holds my eyes like he knows.
Then his teeth tug on his bottom lip again, and I burst into flames. My thighs clench to answer him, leaving my pussy throbbing.
“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he says at last, releasing the undeniable hold his stare has on me.
When he turns to leave, I call after him. “Where are you going to take me?”
“It’s a surprise.”