Page 40

Tank

“Where are you going?”

I shrugged on my leather jacket and grabbed my wallet off the dresser. “Going for a ride.”

Moose glanced at the bedside clock and lifted his brows. “It’s half past twelve.” He paused, dragging it out like I didn’t know exactly what time it was. “At night.”

“Yeah? You got a point?” I drawled and headed for the door.

Moose shook his head and leaned back against the headboard with his arms crossed over his chest. “Just be careful, man. You don’t know much about this chick other than she works at a gas station.”

“Owns a gas station,” I corrected. I’d gone by there this afternoon, talked to the woman working behind the counter, and learned that little fact.

“I don’t know who the hell owns a gas station and still works the damn graveyard shift, man. Seems like a load of shit.”

I grabbed my keys. “Yeah, well, I guess I’m gonna find out.”

Moose chuckled and settled into bed. “Turn the light off when you leave, brother. I’m gonna get some sleep while you go chase some tail.”

I laughed and flipped him off before flipping the lights off on my way out.

The night air was brisk but not cold. The kind of crispness that made it easy to breathe and would keep me alert. The motel was quiet, and the road was mostly empty except for the occasional passing car.

I walked over to my bike and threw my leg over the seat. When I cranked up the engine, the low rumble broke through the silence, and a deep vibration settled into my bones.

God, I love riding.

I let it idle for a second, then twisted the throttle and pulled onto the road.

I’d spent the better part of my day trying to keep my mind off of Maddie and threw myself into finding some temporary local work while I was in town. But no matter how much I tried to focus, my thoughts drifted back to Maddie.

It didn’t make sense.

I’d spent maybe four minutes with her at best, and yet here I was, riding through town at damn near one in the morning like I had a reason to.

The ride to the gas station was a little over half an hour. It was long enough for me to convince myself that I was just curious. That was all.

Nothing more.

I pulled up and took in the place. The station was on the small side and older. It was the kind of spot that had been around for decades. A blue awning stretched out over the pumps, faded from the sun. The overhead lights buzzed and cast a pale yellow glow over the concrete. Through the glass windows, I could see the inside—shelves stacked with snacks, a coffee station in the back, and a counter near the register.

I parked by the front door and killed the engine as I kicked the stand down before taking another look around. A guy was at one of the pumps filling his tank, while another car sat parked along the side of the building.

I remembered what the woman from this morning had said—Maddie and Diamond worked every night.

I swung my leg over the bike and headed inside.

The bell above the door jingled as I stepped in, and the familiar scent of motor oil, old coffee, and something sweet lingered in the air.

“I’ll be right there!”

Her voice carried from somewhere behind the shelves, and I knew immediately it was her.

I’d spent all day trying to push her out of my head, but the second I heard her, it was like I’d been waiting for it.

I glanced around, but I wasn’t really looking at the shelves or the cheap display racks near the register. I was looking for her.

A shift in the air made me turn.

She walked toward me from one of the aisles and moved with an easy kind of confidence, unaware of me at first. She had another oversized sweatshirt on with the sleeves hanging down past her hands, worn jeans that fit just right, and black boots that had seen better days. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot, with loose strands falling around her face.

The second her eyes landed on me, she stopped in her tracks.

A surprised flicker crossed her face.

“Hey,” I called.

Maddie sputtered. “Oh, uh, hey, hi, oh…” She shifted uncomfortably, and her eyes darted around like she wasn’t sure what to do with me standing in her store at this hour.

A small smile played on my lips. “I was wondering if you were working tonight.”

She looked around like the answer wasn’t obvious. “Uh, I don’t think there’s been a time in the past five years I haven’t been here.”

Before I could say anything else, the door swung open behind me, and a guy stomped in. I turned to see him looking pissed.

“The fucking pump won’t take my card,” he called angrily.

I glared at him and felt my irritation spike. There were a lot of things I let slide, but people acting like assholes over stupid shit wasn’t one of them. My jaw clenched, and I was just about to tell him to calm the fuck down when Maddie spoke first.

“I can help you,” she said quickly and moved toward the counter. “The pump’s been acting up all night.”

She slid behind the register, and her fingers moved over the buttons with the kind of ease that told me she had done this a million times before. The guy stomped up to the counter, still muttering under his breath, and slammed his card down like that was gonna make a difference.

“What’s the point of having pay-at-the-pump when it doesn’t fucking work?” he spat.

Yeah, I did not like this guy’s tone one fucking bit.

I stepped up beside him and closed the space between us. He wasn’t a small guy, but I had a couple of inches and a hell of a lot more weight on him. He looked up, meeting my eyes, and I just folded my arms over my chest and stared. Didn’t say a damn word.

Maddie grabbed his card, completely unfazed. “How much did you want to put in?” she asked, her voice calm and professional.

The guy hesitated and cut his gaze back to me. I could see the wheels turning in his head, wondering if he could take me if it came down to it.

One look at me, and I knew he knew the answer.

“Uh, just twenty,” he muttered, suddenly a whole lot less aggressive. He turned back to Maddie, his voice quieter. “Please.”

Now that tone I liked. But I didn’t step back.

Maddie quickly swiped his card and handed it back to him. “You should be good to go. Sorry the card reader wasn’t working.”

The guy snatched his card back and shoved it into his pocket. “Yeah, you should get that fixed.”

I growled low in my throat, not loud, just enough that he heard it. He stiffened, and his shoulders locked up. Then, ever so slightly, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

“But, uh,” he stammered, and shifted on his feet, “it’s okay. I understand how things are.”

I watched him cower, and his bravado was gone in an instant as he scurried toward the door. The bell above the door jingled, and then he was gone as he scurried back to the pump like a scared little puppy.

The door swung shut.

Maddie exhaled and shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t do anything.”

She laughed lightly, a soft, amused sound. “Um, I think you did. Just standing next to that guy terrified him.”

I smirked. “Guy shouldn’t be a dick just because his fucking card wasn’t working.”

Maddie crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “I hate to break it to you, but that guy was pretty chill.”

I looked at her closely. “You’re kidding me.”

She shook her head and chuckled. “You have no idea the type of people I deal with. Thankfully, that was just the pump acting up. People get crazy when their card declines because of them.”

I glanced around the gas station. Empty. No customers, no coworkers. Just her.

“Are you the only one here?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

I reared back. “What the fuck, babe? That isn’t safe. Don’t you have a man at home worried about you?”

A smirk tugged at her lips. “The man I have at home is sleeping with his plush dinosaur tucked under his arm. I can handle myself.”

I tipped my head to the side and tried to process that.

“My son,” she clarified. “He’s four. I have no other man in my life.”

That was good to hear, but it didn’t sit right that she was here alone. “Don’t you own this place?” I asked.

She squinted at me. “How do you know that? Last I checked, I didn’t have that information plastered all over.”

Busted.

“I came in this afternoon,” I admitted.

“For what?” she asked with suspicion laced in her voice.

“Uh, a drink.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to have to have a talk with Bonnie if she’s just handing out information about me with every drink bought.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, giving in. “I might have asked about you.”

She nodded, then finally smiled. “You asked about me?”

Thank fuck she didn’t seem pissed. Things could have taken a bad turn.

“Yeah, babe. Just asked her when the next time you were working was, and she said the boss ladies work the night shift.” I glanced around again. “But it seems like you’re the only boss lady working tonight.”

“Diamond is sick.” She tipped her head slightly. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. You say it’s not safe and dangerous for me to be working by myself, but maybe you’re the danger you’re talking about.”

I leaned toward her and lowered my voice. “I’m a fun kind of danger, babe. The kind you’ll talk about for years to come with a smile on your face, not the kind that kills you.”

“Is that so?” she whispered.

I smirked and threw a wink at her. “You looking for a little fun danger?”

“No,” she said, but her lips curled up slightly, “but it seems it might have found me.”

Goddamn, I liked this woman. She had this air of innocence to her, but then she opened her mouth and gave it right back to me.

Before I could say anything else, a car pulled up to the pump outside and drew her attention away. She glanced at the monitor behind her and groaned. “Shit. I gotta go out there. The pump needs to be reset.”

I looked at the screen and tried to make sense of it. “How the hell do you know that?”

She ignored me, moved around the counter, and toward the door.

“Wait,” I called and pushed off the counter. The hell was she doing going out there by herself?

I followed her out and closed the distance between us with long strides. She reached the pump just as the woman behind the wheel stepped out of her car.

“Hey,” Maddie called, her voice light but firm. “I just need to reset the pump.”

The woman barely glanced at her before turning her attention to me and raked her gaze over me like she was trying to figure me out. “You her bodyguard or something?”

“Something,” I muttered and folded my arms over my chest.

The woman seemed harmless, but I’d known a few women who seemed harmless and were straight-up crazy. Same went for men. You never knew who was hiding their crazy.

Maddie pressed a few buttons on the pump, just like she had last night when I stopped for gas. After a second, she stepped back. “You should be good to go.” She smiled at the woman, then turned toward me. “No need to rescue me that time, stud.”

I grunted and stepped to the side to let her pass, then followed her back into the gas station. The bell above the door jingled as we stepped inside, the air slightly warmer than the crisp night outside. Maddie moved behind the counter with ease, leaning on it like she belonged there—because she did.

“You got a little sass in you, mama,” I said with a smirk.

She cocked her head, and her lips curved into a laugh. “Pretty sure I’d cry ten times a night if I didn’t. I’ve worked here since I was sixteen, stud. I’ve got pretty thick skin.”

“So, two years, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “Try nine. And it’s probably going to be fifty more. They’re gonna have to hold my funeral here because I’ll still be the one working the night shift even when I’m dead.”

“Damn,” I laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever thought about where I’m gonna be in fifty years.”

“Dead,” Maddie shot back with a grin. “Or living in a nursing home, flirting with the nurses.”

I squinted at her. “I think dead would be more likely. That would make me eighty.”

“Ancient,” she mocked, as her lips twitched with a barely contained grin.

“Easy there,” I laughed and raised an eyebrow at her.

She tilted her head at me like I was some kind of puzzle she couldn’t figure out. “How can you have not thought about the future?”

I gave her a shrug, casual and honest. “I tend to just live day to day. See where the day takes me. I’ve never been one to plan, well, anything.”

She laughed, and the sound was easy and natural. She shook her head and rested her elbows on the counter. “I wish I could be that carefree, but I’ve got a little guy at home who needs to have some plans and structure.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, probably for the best.”

She looked at me then—really looked. Her eyes swept over me, not just in that surface-level way people do when they meet someone new. It was like she was trying to see through me, to figure out who I really was underneath the rough edges and smartass charm. I held her gaze. Let her look. I didn’t have anything to hide, but I didn’t offer anything either.

“So what brought you here?” she asked finally, more curious than anything else.

I shrugged again. “Moose and I felt like heading east. We were in Cali for a bit but decided to head this way.”

She nodded like that made perfect sense, even if it didn’t. Then her lips quirked up, and she said, barely above a whisper, “Lucky me.”

I leaned in just a little, elbows on the counter like hers, and my voice dropped. “More like lucky me, mama. I’ve been to plenty of gas stations in the middle of the night, and none of the clerks could hold a candle to you.”

Her cheeks flushed immediately, and color bloomed across her face like it had caught fire. She bit her bottom lip and looked down as she tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear. I’d barely known her for two days, but I was already addicted to the way she reacted to me—like she didn’t know whether to push me away or pull me closer.

“Well,” she drawled, trying to gather herself, “I need to get some work done. Were you wanting anything?”

I knew she meant gas, or a soda, or maybe a bag of chips. But that wasn’t what I wanted.

She was.

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good. I just wanted to come check on you.”

That earned me a real smile. One that reached her eyes. She looked like she wasn’t used to someone checking on her, and maybe even less used to liking it.

“Well, I’m here,” she said gently, then straightened up and stepped back from the counter. “Um, have a good night.”

I tipped my head to her. “You too.”

I turned and walked to the door. The bell jingled as I stepped out into the cool night air. Before the door swung shut behind me, I glanced over my shoulder one last time. She was still there and watched me with this soft look on her face, like she didn’t know what the hell to make of me—and maybe she didn’t hate that.

I made my way to my bike and swung a leg over the seat. The engine sat silent beneath me. I didn’t crank it. Didn’t even reach for my helmet.

I wasn’t going anywhere.

Maddie thought she was working alone tonight, but she wasn’t.

I hadn’t been lying when I told her it was dangerous to be out here by herself. I’d seen the way people acted at these roadside stations when the sun went down. The drunks, the addicts, the guys who didn’t understand the word “no.”

And Maddie? She was sharp. Capable. But she was also just one woman standing behind a counter at a place that didn’t have a lock on the door ever.

So I stayed.

For the rest of the night, she could think she was working alone.

But I’d be right here.