Keep the diner? Sell the diner?
Return to Chicago? Stay in Tennessee?
Live in the house? Unload the house?
Avoid the biker? Sleep with the biker?
And if her gaze drifted to the window where Zach’s dark house was on display every few seconds, no one had to know about it. Nor did anyone have to know she was still on the couch watching when the headlights and rumble of a bike pulled in at well past midnight.
But what she’d really be keeping to herself was the intense feeling of relief that flooded her when only one rider hopped off the bike.
It didn’t mean Zach hadn’t been with a woman.
But it did mean there wouldn’t be one sleeping in his bed and wouldn’t be one waking with him in the morning.
Those were dangerous thoughts.
It was all dangerous. Staying in the house. Breaking up with Chris. Spending so many hours in the diner. Because with each passing day, she felt the options being selected without any real thought or planning on her part.
Keep the diner.
Stay in Tennessee.
Live in the house.
Sleep with the biker.
Chapter Eight
Zach’s stomach growled so loud, Maverick was razzing him before he’d even gotten off his bike. “Fuck you,” he grumbled. “I’ve been wanting to eat here my whole life, but the fucking Jennings’ had log-size sticks up their asses. Bad enough they’d scurry from their cars to their house every time my pops walked around with his cut on. Like he was just going to go apeshit and attack. You know how many times they called the cops on him for bullshit? Engine too loud. Thinking he was smoking pot every time he lit a fuckin’ cigarette.” Zach shook his head. “Bunch of uppity assholes. Toni’s lucky to have gotten away from them.”
Maverick arched a pierced eyebrow. “Toni, huh? You two kids getting all chummy?”
“What, because I know her name?” Mav was baiting him, and like a moron Zach was falling straight for it. That’s what four nights in a row of fewer than five hours sleep would do to a man. Made him lose his edge. Also made him hungry as fuck for a giant, energizing breakfast.
“So—” And there it came. The taunt Zach shouldn’t fall for “—what you’re saying is that I’m free to let all this loose on the lady?” Mav ran his hands over his whipcord lean body, stopping at his crotch where he gave his junk a squeeze.
And like the sucker he was that morning, Zach took the bait. “If I catch you so much as flicking a gaze in the direction of her tits there won’t be anything left down there for you to fondle.”
Maverick whistled. “Wooow,” he said as they walked toward the diner’s entrance. “You know—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Zach muttered, pulling the door open and shooting Maverick a look he hoped would be interpreted as an I’ll-kill-you-if-you-keep-running-your-trap glare.
Of course, Mav being Mav, he only laughed. “Well, hey there, baby doll,” he said to Shell who walked by balancing a very full tray of steaming plates. Poor girl couldn’t weigh more than a buck five soaking wet, and she worked herself to the bone for that kiddo of hers. Club always tried to help but she refused any so-called charity.
“Hey, Maverick,” Shell said, accepting the kiss he pressed to her cheek. He lingered just long enough to have her giggling the laugh only Mav could wrangle from women. “Oh, Zach, you’re here too!” She grinned. “Go sit on over there in my section, you guys. It’s so busy this morning, I’ll try my best to serve you, but I might have to send Toni over to give me a hand.” Her eyes sparkled and her lips turned up in a too-innocent way. What was the little rascal up to?
“Will do, Shell,” Zach said, smacking her cheek with his own kiss. She chuckled and swatted his shoulder. Kind of amazing she could do all that and manage to keep the plates from tumbling. Now that the biker ban was lifted, they could at least eat at the diner and leave overly generous tips to help her out. If she saw straight through it, who cared? She couldn’t call it charity if it was direct payment for a job well done.
“Man, it smells so good,” Mav said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation after they’d seated themselves in the booth.
A few of their brothers were there as well and Zach couldn’t help but chuckle. If Toni wasn’t careful, the place would become a biker den before she knew it. That’s what happened when you served big hungry men delicious food. They kept coming ’round.
“Good morning, I’m Toni and I’m helping Shell this morn—oh!” Toni’s mouth formed a perfect circle and her gorgeous eyes were wide with astonishment. “Zach. You’re here.”
He grinned at her statement of the obvious. “I’m here. And I’m hungry.” He let his gaze roam over her. Hungry for way more than breakfast. Forget the damn menu, Toni looked good enough to eat in a short denim skirt that showed off her smooth, tanned legs. On top, she wore the diner’s signature teal T-shirt and her hair was pulled high on her head in a ponytail. Since her hair wasn’t longer than her shoulders, strands that didn’t quite make it in the rubber band hung down in back. And, if he wasn’t mistaken, there was a dusting of flour across her left breast.