Her Danger, His Heaven

She plops onto my bed for a moment and watches me put the final touches to the concealer under my eyes.

“You good?” she asks.

I smile at her through the mirror above my dresser. “Yeah. Just anxious about my first day, you know?” Anxious is putting it lightly; I barely slept a wink.

She bobs her head, not looking convinced. “You know I’d never ask for a cent from you, right? You don’t have to settle for any old job just to pay me back.”

“I get it, I do. I’m just making sure. You know the kinds of customers that diner hosts.”

I swallow, dropping my eyes to my hands. “Yeah, I know. I’ll be fine, Ali. Don’t worry about me.”

“I know you will be, but I’m allowed to worry about my best friend, aren’t I?” Then she sighs and pulls on a smile. “You’re going to do great, Mave. You’ve got this.”

“Thanks, Ali.”

“Well, tick-tock!” she squeaks, tapping at the watch on her wrist and bouncing out of the room.

I chuckle and grab my bag. With a final glance into the mirror, I follow her out to the car.

Truthfully, Alice is right to be concerned. The thing to know about our town is it’s practically run by the Lions, the infamous drug gang.

Everyone in this town knows how living here works. If you’re ever approached by a Lion and they want something from you…well, you just give it to them.

Alice has been an unfortunate target of the Lions since school. Her family is well off, and she often wears diamonds and gold jewelry. That, of course, makes her appealing to anyone wanting to make some extra cash. She’s been robbed more times than she has fingers.

I, on the other hand, count myself lucky.

When Alice pulls up outside the diner, she stops me before I get out.

“By the way, I’ll be late tonight. Got that presentation. Just stay inside if you can, okay?”

“Will do. Thanks, Ali.” I wave goodbye as I hop out of the car. She waits until I’ve reached the door to the diner before driving away.

“Mave?” The chirpy gothic girl behind the counter points at me with a smile as I step in.

She has heavy black lipstick and dimple piercings in her cheeks, a bull-style nose ring, and an eyebrow bar. Thick, overly fluffy black lashes cover what I assume to be the palest of blue contacts—so light they appear off-white.

“Sounds good! Nice to meet you!”

“Yeah, you too, girl! Now, aprons are in the back, and there are lockers for your bag in Jack’s office.”

I nod, making my way through to the back while she serves a customer. Jack’s office is open, but he’s not in there, so I pop my bag in a spare locker and tuck the key into my bra to keep it safe.

In the hallway to Jack’s office, some miniskirt-type aprons are hung on pegs. I grab one and an order pad with a pen from the little side table beside it, tie the apron around my waist, and pop the pad in its pocket before heading back to the counter.

For the next few hours, Trixi shows me everything I need to know from behind the counter, including how to use the coffee machine to make all the different kinds of posh coffees.

I get the hang of it quickly, and soon we’re moving with each other perfectly—one taking orders, another doing the serving.

Before I know it, I’m halfway through my shift when Jack, the owner, comes back with a bright smile. He’s a slim-built man, tall as a tree, with dark-brown wavy hair tied up into a big bun on top of his head. He greets me briefly before continuing to his office.

Just as his door closes, the front door jingles. When I look up from the till, four terrifying, hulking figures are walking in.

Everyone drops their gazes down to their tables in silence.

“Keep respectful. Eyes down,” Trixi whispers from beside me while she continues cautiously making a coffee.

I fiddle anxiously with my order pad, praying I won’t get spoken to, but I would be so lucky.

“Jack in?” a deep voice says from in front of me.

I gulp past the lump in my throat. “H-he’s in his office,” I stutter quietly, keeping my eyes down. Heavy footsteps recede as they head toward Jack’s office and close the door behind them.

Trixi releases her held breath but says nothing as she continues preparing drinks.

“Take these,” she says, nudging a tray of coffees toward me. “Table four.”

I nod silently and lift the tray with shaking hands. The diner remains so quiet you could hear a pin drop as I walk over with the drinks and set them onto table four.

“Anything else I can get you?” I ask politely, and they shake their heads. Before I can return to safety behind the counter, Jack’s office door opens again, the sound echoing in the silence.

The whole diner seems to freeze and hold their breath at the sound of the loud, thumping steps. I stay where I am, keeping my head down with a relaxed posture, holding my tray to my thighs.

The footfalls abruptly stop in front of me, and all I can see are giant leather shit-kicker boots with metal spikes pointing out the sides. I hold my breath, waiting.

“Mm…pretty one, you are, aye? Thanks, toots.”

I have no chance to say anything or even dare to before a giant callused hand slaps my ass and grips the back of my thigh with a firm squeeze. I squeak in shock, and he releases a throaty chuckle before his boots leave my range of vision, and he leaves me in peace.

Once I hear the front door close, my shakes start to set in, and the tray wobbles in my hands. Conversation in the diner resumes normally as I sulk back to the counter.

Jack is there, looking at me anxiously. I give him a slightly weak smile, and he looks over my shoulder to the now clear door. He leads me aside by my elbow.

“Are you okay?” he asks quietly once we’re in his office.

“I’m fine,” I respond quietly.

He chews on his lip. “Ice?” he asks and pulls a cold pack from a mini fridge.

“You seem to be prepared,” I say with a small chuckle that he returns as I prop my leg up on the chair and hold the cool pack to my burning thigh.

“You’d be surprised,” he responds, a little lost in thought. “I’ll speak to Mr. King. That was unreasonable, coming at my staff like that. He won’t be pleased.”

My eyes widen, and I grip his wrist. “N-no! Please, don’t! Really, it’s okay… I don’t want to create any other reason for them to come back to me.”

He looks down at my hand and taps it softly using his free one with a sigh. “Fine. But please, anything else, and I’m going straight to him.”

“That’s fine. Thank you. I just want to let it go this time. Thank you for understanding. Here.” I pass him back the cold pack and straighten myself out.

“You sure you’re all right?”

“Of course. I best get back and help Trix. Thanks again, Jack.” I try to smile brighter and turn, heading for the door.

The rest of my shift goes by in a breeze, and at the end of the night, I say goodbye to Jack and Trixi as they lock up. Alice waits for me outside.

As soon as I open the car door, her eyes find the mark still present on the underside of my thigh. “Jesus! What happened to you?!”

“Lion,” I sigh as I get in beside her.

She responds with a sigh, shaking her head as she pulls off, heading home.

I look at the clubhouse bar that the Lions own a few stores down from the diner; supposedly, they run their operation from there. Seeing all the bikes lined up out front still makes me tense. It always has.

Just when we pull up at a stoplight, a low rumbling vibrates the car.

“Shit,” Alice whispers, sitting up straighter and gripping the steering wheel like it’s a lifeline.

I follow the same motion, keeping my head down, staring at my fingers in my lap as the now rumbling hogs come down the road toward us.

My leg jigs anxiously, my eyes flicking to both sides, hoping for the light to turn green. Not that it would be any use if the Lions were in the mood for a chase.

The bikes prowl around us like hunters. I don’t mean to, but I find myself glancing at the bike in the lead. I immediately know it’s Jason’s by the red scope sight symbol on his gas tank.

I gulp hard the second I lay eyes on him. It’s been a long time since I last saw him, and—somehow—he’s still sinfully attractive.

The kind of sexy you don’t want to admit. The kind that feels dangerous but at the same time irresistible.

Once the Lions are safely past—they completely ignore the red light, as usual—Alice and I breathe a joint sigh of relief.

Alice breaks the silence as the light turns green. “Are you really sure about this job, May?”

“Yes! It’s honestly not that bad. I’m sure today was just a one-off.”

She nods, a little reserved, but doesn’t push me on it.

But now, as we head away from the diner and the Lions bar, everything seems to come into realization, and I feel the slight prickle of tears at the back of my throat.

A part of me doesn’t understand why I want to cry. Another small, locked-up part of me understands exactly why.

Swallowing the lump in my throat with force, I will myself to hold everything inside, because the past doesn’t deserve any more of my tears.

I look ahead with a sigh and force myself to believe that this was just an isolated incident. All I need is a large glass of wine and a deep bubble bath, and I’ll be fine.

It could have been a lot worse.