He nodded and waved his hand at everyone that greeted him. Clearly, he was a regular in this place. A lot of the men were staring at me, though. With leather padding their bodies. Some of them had leather jackets. Some had leather vests. Some of them wore leather boots, or baggy leather pants. But, every man--no matter the size--had some sort of leather on him. Some wore bandanas. Some were tattooed from head to toe. And as I stared at everyone we walked by, I wondered if Max had any other tattoos.
“Here,” he said.
I watched him slide into a booth before he pointed in front of him.
“Sit.”
I slipped quickly into the sticky booth before someone came over and quickly wiped it up. I held my arms up as Max sat back against the cushions, his eyes dancing over the parts of me he could see. I was painfully aware of how hard he stared at me. And I prayed the flush of my cheeks didn't deepen.
But I spoke too soon.
Because I quickly felt the heat of his gaze dripping down the nape of my neck.
22
Max
Her hair was still a mess. A wild, untamed mess. Her eyes were still widened from the ride. And the red tip of her nose from the wind battering her in the face held my stare. She looked positively delicious. Especially with the way she clung to me. No woman I’d ever had on the back of my bike held on to me as tightly as her. Mostly because they understood how to balance themselves. The women I found already knew how to conduct themselves on a bike. They were bike bunnies, girls and women that hopped from bike to bike, fucking around and having their fun while they could. And I entertained them. I mean, they were pretty in their own right. And no one wanted to be alone all the time.
But there was something thrilling about giving Danika her first ride.
I wanted to give her more firsts.
“So what’d you think?”
My grin widened as her blush trickled down the slopes of her neck.
“It was… exciting. Really, Max.”
I leaned forward. “I get the feeling you don’t do many exciting things in your life.”
She leaned back into her seat. “I mean, I don’t really know.”
“Just tell me I’m right, Daddy’s girl. Because I know I am.”
She sighed. “Would it kill you to stop calling me that?”
I smiled. “Maybe.”
Her eyes locked on to my face and I buried my smile. I hated my smile. It made me look goofy. Like some bumbling idiot. I didn’t know why the hell this cute little girl made me smile so much, but I had to stop. Eventually, I’d have to leave her in my dust. I always did. And while I pissed many people off in my life because of that, it was never personal.
I just had to protect them from the shitstorm that constantly followed me around.
“The usual, big boy?”
My eyes turned up toward the waitress that had come over to take our orders.
“You know it. And get one for her, too,” I said.
“What’s your usual?”
The waitress smiled. “Double bacon cheeseburger with everything, a double order of crispy fries, and a beer.”
Her eyes widened. “A beer when you have to ride your bike?”
The waitress slowly looked over at me. “She don’t get out much, does she?”
I shook my head. “Nope. She doesn’t.”