1
Lotus
The joint is hopping. It’s a Saturday night and with the high school football season in full swing, Hawk’s Pizzeria is packed. We’re short a waitress, but I don’t mind. More tips for me.
And the harder I work, the less I think about the text I received yesterday.
I don’t have to listen to the game on the radio to know our home team won tonight. The bar area and tables are not only packed to a standing room only capacity, but the crowd is rowdy and mostly drunk. I don’t blame them. For the first time in almost a decade, the Bruins are on a winning streak and everyone from teenagers to senior citizens is enjoying the momentum of the season.
Everyone but me. I’m keeping my head down, my feet moving, and my hands raking in the tips. That’s part of what I like about working for Hawk. No one would dare stiff one of his waitresses. The second thing that drew me to this job? He’s walking in the door.
I can tell by how stiffly Hawk is holding his shoulders that something is up. He always has a fair temperament when dealing with his staff, but I’ve seen the man explode on customers who didn’t follow his rules. Hawk could take down an army single-handedly. I’m sure of it. That’s the safety I need in my life. That’s why I, and most of the other girls, like working here.
Once, a drunk out-of-towner grabbed one of the waitress’s ass while Hawk happened to be on the floor. There are still rumors circulating about where the body is buried.
Hawk takes the most direct route to his office in the back behind the bar, and I follow his trail with my eyes. I have eight tables I’m working, all in need of a refill or an extra sauce, but my attention is on him. I need to speak to him, and what I have to ask would go down a lot easier if he were in a good mood.
Doesn’t look like that is going to happen tonight.
“Hey, Lo.” Camila calls my name before she bumps into me on the floor. “I need five. Cover my tables?”
I nod. What is eight more overly excited groups of customers when my brain is already swirling with ideas of how to talk to Hawk tonight?
Camila is also my roommate. When I moved to town and didn’t have living arrangements worked out, Hawk set me up in a three-bedroom apartment with Camila and Jonus, one of the bartenders.
That was almost six months ago, and it’s worked out great, even if Camila does take advantage of my niceness.
I regret my decision to cover her the second I see Camila disappear behind the bar. She’s going to ask Hawk for more time off to spend with her boyfriend and that’s going to wreck my chances of catching him in a decent mood.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. I really need his help.
Six months ago, when I came to town looking for a fresh start, I left behind the biggest mistake of my life. I thought I’d found love, but Prince Charming turned out to be just another jerk looking for someone to control. When he couldn’t get that from me, he turned to my mother. A perpetual free spirit, she fell for his act and chose him over me despite my protests.
It’s not the first time a man has come between us, but I promised myself it would be the last.
“Lo.” My nickname is screamed across the bar.
I turn from cleaning a recently vacated table to find Hawk standing at his office door, arms over his chest, scowl across his face. Camila is on her way back to me. She’s near tears. Hawk never lets a girl leave his office in that condition.
I can’t imagine why he wants to see me until I remember the text I sent him around midnight asking to talk in the morning. It’s well after ten in the evening now. I pass Camila and hand her my tray.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Fine,” she says, visibly holding back tears. “He’s not in a good mood, Lo.”
“Great.” I pat her shoulder. “We’ll get ice cream on the way home and chat, okay?”
She perks up enough to smile and nods.
I’ve saved her from spending the night sulking about whatever just happened behind Hawk’s office door, but who is going to save me? I bite my lower lip and entertain the idea of telling him my text was a mistake. A drunk dial or butt call. But he won’t fall for it. And I need his help too badly to walk away without asking.
I suck in a deep breath, put on my best smile, and walk toward his office. The worst he can do is fire me.
Hawk
I notice her the second I walk into the restaurant. I tell myself I use the front door to check on the customers and the service, but it’s a lie. I come in from the front to see Lotus.
Six months ago, she showed up looking for work. I didn’t have an opening but, judging by the bag she was carrying and the tiredness in her eyes, I figured Hawk’s was the final stop on her desperation tour. I couldn’t say no. Though I should have.
Lotus is my wildest temptation. She’s tall, almost as tall as me, and she’s thick. The good kind of curvaceous in all the right places. I like something to get my hands on and she has it. She’s also a blonde. I’m a sucker for those. But what draws me to Lo the most has nothing to do with the way she looks and everything to do with how she makes me feel.
That’s why I avoid her at all costs, even if I do keep an eye on her often. She’s a temptation I don’t have the time for, or the strength to fight.
The club has been in turmoil over the last several months. A turf war that morphed into a personal vendetta that ended last week with two dead men. Not my men, but once the media got ahold of the story, our prez had to do some pretty fancy talking to keep us off the public’s bad side. Tempest Elite is already low on the town’s appeal rating just for being bikers. Even if we do spend most of our time keeping the area safe.
Fuck it. I can’t deal with any more bad news today. That’s why I stopped by the restaurant. Jonus said the numbers from last night and today would put a smile on my face, and he’s right. Football season is my busiest time and this year, coupled with a few wins, business is booming.
But there’s another reason I stopped by. A text from Lo asking to talk.
I gave her my personal cell number when it was clear she knew no one in town, but she’s never used it. Not until last night when I was too busy to notice her text.
Fuck. She better not be quitting. I know I’m not the easiest to work with, and I push her away the most. I have to. I could lose myself in her soft curves and velvet voice. Even now, when I close my eyes, I see her on her knees before me. Those wide, deep brown eyes staring up at me as if she’s in agony and I have what it takes to end her suffering.
Shit. I’m hard. And I need a drink. I can’t put her off any longer, and I’m already getting up to call for her when someone knocks on my door. I assume it’s her. When Camila saunters in, I almost lose my shit. She’s dating a prospect for the Devils and I should drop her ass off my payroll for it, but I’d rather keep her under my watchful eye. As long as she’s in my restaurant, I know she’s not out stirring up shit with our enemy.
She wants next Friday night off of work to hang out with her ol’man. When I tell her no, she bursts into tears. Fridays are my busy night, but I know Lo would have it handled without Camila. Actually, I lean back in my desk chair and close my eyes. Lo would have things handled even better if I took the distraction of Camila’s constant complaining out of the mix entirely.