Saint turned back to me.His voice was low.“You okay?”
I nodded, even though my hands were shaking.“Yeah.I’m fine.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“Your order will be ready Friday,” I said, grasping for normal.“I’ll make sure it’s perfect.”
He studied me for a long moment, then nodded.“I’ll be back.”
As he walked out, he leaned down to pet Salt and Pepper.Pepper barked once, his tail wagging like he’d just met his new favorite human.
I watched the door long after it closed, my pulse still racing.
I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but I knew it wasn’t going to be the last time I saw the loan shark or Saint.
Chapter Two
Saint
I didn’t do Christmas.
That wasn’t bitterness or trauma talking.It was just a fact.Christmas was loud, crowded, and full of expectations I’d never learned how to meet.Too many lights.Too much cheer.Too many people pretending everything was perfect for a day.
But my mom loved it.
So I stood outside Cookie Haven for a full thirty seconds after I walked out, my hands shoved in my jacket pockets, breath fogging the cold air, and tried to get my head straight.
I’d walked in there with one goal: to get a gingerbread house that would make my mom smile, and somehow I had walked out feeling like I had a problem that needed solving.
Belle seemed stressed and tired.That much was obvious.I could tell she was the owner, and even with a smudge of icing on her cheek, she was downright sexy.Soft curves, piercing blue eyes, and as stupid as it sounded since she ran a bakery, I bet she tasted as sweet as the gingerbread houses she made.
Then there was the problem that walked in wearing a bad smile and pretended it was business.
I leaned against my bike and lit a cigarette I didn’t really want but just needed something to do with my hands.The second that guy spoke her name, I’d felt it in my gut.
Threat.
Didn’t matter that he hadn’t raised his voice.Didn’t matter that he’d backed down easy enough.Men like that didn’t come to bakeries during the holidays unless they expected to collect something.
And Belle hadn’t looked surprised to see him.
That bothered me more than anything else.
I took one drag, crushed the cigarette under my boot, and swung my leg over my bike.
I didn’t know Belle.Not at all.I had no claim, no right, and no reason to get involved.
Didn’t change a damn thing.
I was going to take care of that problem.I cranked up my bike and headed out of town.
The Wild Chrome clubhouse sat just outside town, tucked behind a mechanic’s shop that’d been there longer than most of us had been alive.It wasn’t flashy.Just X, steel, and a whole lot of history.
I rolled in and parked with a nod to a couple of brothers hanging around outside.
“Saint,” Buddy called.“You look like your usual cranky self.”
“Don’t start,” I muttered and flipped him off.
