let me get you something to eat. Maybe a burger and a cup of coffee? My treat.”
His eyes dropped to the ground as he answered, “Better not do that. I don’t think Louise would like it.”
“Let me worry about Louise. Besides, the lunch rush is over. No one will even notice that you’re there.”
“You sure?”
“I’m positive.” I tossed the garbage bags into the dumpster and headed back towards the door. When I stepped into the diner, I looked back and I was pleased to see that he was following me. I led him over to the corner booth in the back of the restaurant where I’d always taken my break. It was off to the side, and I hoped it would limit the amount of stares he’d get being there.
Once he was settled, I asked, “What do you want on your burger?”
“Anything is fine.” He smiled.
“I’ll be back in a minute with your coffee. Let me know if I can get you anything else.”
When I put his order in, Cyrus glanced over at my guest and then turned back to me with a disapproving look, but he didn’t say a word. I decided to just ignore him and reached for the pot of coffee. I filled the cup full and took it over to the stranger. Without adding sugar or cream, he took the warm drink in his hand and brought it up to his mouth for a long drink. I was about to head back to the kitchen for his food when he pointed to the name tag on my uniform and asked, “Your name’s really Hazel?”
I was just about to tell him my real name when Hadley and Charlie walked into the diner, reminding me that I couldn’t trust anyone, not even a homeless guy I’d found rummaging through a dumpster. I smiled and answered, “Afraid so. I was named after my grandmother. What about you? What’s your name? Do you live around here?” The words were out of my mouth before I’d had time to even think.
“I guess you could say that. I’ve lived in Tennessee my whole life. Grew up a few miles from here. Traveled all around the world while I was in the service, but always felt like this was my home.”
“You were in the service?”
“Over thirty years in the navy. Some of the best years of my life … some of the worst, too.”
“Maybe you could tell me all about it someday.” I smiled.
“Sure. I’d like that.” He beamed.
“Me, too. I’ll be right back with your lunch,” I told him as I headed over to the front counter to say hi to the kids.
Before I even had a chance to speak, Charlie groaned, “I’m starving. They had some kind of noodle crap for lunch today and it sucked.”
“Yeah, I’m hungry, too,” Hadley chimed in, giving me one of her pouting looks. “Can we get something to eat?”
“Sure thing. I’ll have Cyrus make you both a sandwich.” While reaching for Sam’s burger, I turned to Cyrus and said, “Need a couple of club sandwiches for the kids.”
As I headed towards the back tables, I heard Cyrus say, “Those kids eat more than I do.”
I placed Sam’s burger down on the table and smiled as I watched him study his food. “There you go. Do you need anything else? More coffee or a soda?”
He shook his head as he said, “I’m good. Thank you.”
“No problem. I hope you enjoy it.” I smiled and headed back over to the kids. I was going to check to see if their sandwiches were ready, but stopped cold when I saw a man standing at the front door of the diner.
He was like no man I’d ever seen before—rugged, fierce, and sexy as hell. The mere sight of him caught my breath, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pull myself away from those gorgeous dark green eyes. I’d seen my share of bikers come through the bar, but he was different—different in a good way. His leather jacket and long, shaggy hair made him look a bit intimidating, like one of those rough don’t-mess-with-me kind of men, but l didn’t feel threatened by him—not in the least. Instead, I felt a strange pull towards him. I found myself wanting to get closer to him, to run my hand across the bristles of his two-day-old beard.
When I felt my heart rate quicken, I chastised myself. What was I thinking, getting worked up over some man? Especially a