There they were, both of them working their tails off. They had what they needed. But Kaylie couldn’t afford to wear all the cute outfits that some of the girls at school wore. It hadn't stopped guys from asking her out, not until Sophomore year anyway.
She'd never let any of them get past first base though. She’d been too shy and too young. Plus none of the scrawny teenage boys she went to school with had been tempting.
And now, nada.
What was even the point anyway? She hadn’t noticed even one boy since she’d laid eyes on the gorgeous biker with the blue eyes. Not even on TV or magazines.
None of them were him.
Devlin McRae.
It had taken some doing, but she'd found out his name. He was a regular at Mae’s, but apparently only when she was working. In fact, he came in every time she worked a shift. She knew because Jeffrey, the short order cook, had told her.
She felt a shiver go down her spine at the memory. The moment she’d realized he was coming to see her.
The mysterious, ridiculously good looking guy with tousled dark blond hair and green eyes. He filled out his worn in jeans perfectly, not to mention the black leather jacket. He looked rough, like he had a past, but he was always polite and left her absurdly large tips.
Huge tips. Sometimes well over 200%. The guy tipped twenty bucks on an eight dollar ice cream sundae. Every single time.
In fact, his tips alone probably made up at least a third of her entire college fund.
Oh yeah, he was a mystery, alright.
Devlin looked like a bad boy and tipped like a billionaire. Plus those eyes of his seemed to stare right through her.
Of course she’d wanted to find out everything she could about him. What girl wouldn’t? But she hadn’t liked what she heard.
First, he was older. A lot older. He was in his mid twenties and she was just a teen. Then there was the whole ‘outlaw biker’ thing.
No one had wanted to talk about him at first. Getting his name had been hard enough, but finding out that he was the President to the local MC club had taken even longer.
Devlin was a rebel, riding the edge of the law. Way beyond being just a bad boy. He might as well be on the moon for all intents and purposes. He was most likely a criminal and definitely the leader of a bunch of criminals and soon to be criminals.
Off limits to someone like her certainly. Her mother would never approve. Kaylie wasn’t so sure she herself even approved, and that was while she sighed dreamily over his brooding eyes.
Devlin was dangerous.
But, oh so tempting. He was fun to daydream about. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t put on extra lip gloss when she heard the rumble of his bike outside Mae’s.
Right after she first waited on Devlin was when she started noticing the bikes. It never felt threatening. It always felt more like they were… escorting her. Not that that made a lot of sense either.
They didn't stare or cat call. One guy with long curly hair nodded at her now and then. That was it. They were just… there.
She turned around and saw the dark haired guy who was often behind her. As soon as she turned the corner to her block, he was gone. Well, not gone, but waiting politely around the corner. Kaylie lived on a cul de sac so it's not like she could get past him.
Not unless someone hid her in the trunk of their car.
She almost laughed. The whole situation was bizarre. It's not like she could call the cops on them. 'Um, yeah officer? There's this guy-well it's not always the same guy-but anyway it seems like there's always a biker half a block behind me. No, they don't actually do anything…'
Yeah, that would go over great.
And for some reason, she didn’t want to get her escort in trouble.
She wasn't sure she even wanted to call the cops. Not if the crazy thought she'd been having was… true. The crazy thought she hadn't even admitted to herself or the two girlfriends who had noticed the bike.
The crazy idea that just felt like it must be true.
In her deepest heart she knew she was right. That they were keeping an eye on her.
Because Devlin told them to.
Not that he'd ever asked her out or said anything remotely flirtatious to her. But the way he looked at her whenever he came into Mae's… she'd caught him watching her a few times and had eventually learned not to flinch from the heat coming off the man.
He was smoldering. For her.
Kaylie ran to her house and got dressed for work. She had a shift tonight and as usual, they needed the money. Especially now.
She was attending state school starting in the fall. She could commute from here but ideally she'd be able to get an apartment on her own closer to campus.
School itself was expensive. Never mind books and bus fare back and forth every day. Besides, once school started she wouldn't be able to work as many shifts at Mae’s.
She knew she’d miss it. Mostly because of Mae, of course. But if she was honest with herself she'd mostly miss bumping into him.
I wonder if they'll follow me onto campus?
She giggled at the thought of bikers sneaking into her lecture hall and slipped into her pink rayon uniform. Mae's was old school. She didn't mind though. The retro waitress uniform did look pretty cute on her.
She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and smiled.
At least she knew she’d get to see him tonight.
Chapter 2
Kaylie
She poured another cup of coffee for the trucker at the end of the counter. It was already past the end of her shift, nearly 11 o'clock. The whole place would be shut down already if they didn't have one last customer.
Charlie, one of the line cooks, was already shut down for the night and only waiting for her out of courtesy.
Kaylie sighed and leaned her face in the palm of her hand. She thought about drinking some coffee herself but she knew she'd be up half the night if she did. She nursed the chocolate milkshake she'd made for herself earlier instead.
Everything was already wiped down. She was tired. She wanted to go home.
Finally the trucker got up and left, putting a few bucks on the counter. Kaylie put the money into the register, pocketed the tip (45 cents) and ran a rag over the spot where the coffee cup had been. Charlie had already put the cup and saucer in the dishwasher so they were out of there in two minutes flat.
She waved goodbye to Charlie and stepped onto the sidewalk, pulling her old wooly cardigan in the front to keep warm. It might be June, but it still got cold at night sometimes.
It was eerily quiet too, making her look around for her usual motorcycle escort. They were nowhere to be seen at the moment.
She sighed and stepped out onto the sidewalk, turning the corner off the main road.
"Need a ride?"
Kaylie stopped dead in her tracks. Leaning against his bike was a very handsome, very clean shaven, very wrapped in leather and tight jeans Devlin McRae.
Had he been waiting for her since he left a half hour ago?
"Hi."
He grinned and looked up at her from under that lock of blond hair that always seemed to be falling just so over one eye. Her stomach dropped nervously at the come hither look in his green eyes.
Bedroom eyes. So that's what that meant. Uh yeah. The guy looked like he’d invented the phrase.
He had definitely been waiting for her.