Page 9 of Savage Ends

“Lemon drizzle, and make it a big old slice.”

She couldn’t help but laugh.She disappeared into the serving kitchen, going to the freshest lemon cake she had ever tasted, and took a nice big slice.Once that was cut, she made her way back to Pat and presented it to him.

She couldn’t linger as another customer had a hand in the air, wanting attention.She excused herself and made her way to the new customer, serving him with her usual politeness.

She had an odd sensation to keep looking back at Pat to see if he had stayed.Sometimes he stayed until closing, other times he had coffee and cake, and was gone.

Violet was already insistent on asking questions.Her sister clearly sensed something was going on.Nothing was going on, but that didn’t seem to stop her sister from asking endless questions.All she had done on Saturday and Sunday was help her mother and sister with their sale items.She packed and worked her ass off, all the time trying to avoid Violet.Her sister was a nosy little busybody when she got started.

Ava knew she wasn’t being very nice, as her sister loved her.She got that.Violet had always looked out for her, and seeing as she was a twenty-four-year-old virgin, it wasn’t like she could argue with her.She didn’t know what she was doing.

How did she end up a twenty-four-year-old virgin?After her father died, boys were just not on her radar.Then as she got older, working hard, getting good grades, helping her mother, being there, and then immersing herself into her sewing had been essential.

Once she got a job, that became a priority and, well, she had seen the men of Chaos and Carnage MC and the way they were around town.She had seen men one day with one woman, on another day with a different one.She’d seen women get their heart broken, and that was not something she wanted to experience.This was why she remained single.

It also helped that no guy had ever appealed to her.Not until a sexy-ass biker had walked into The Late-Night Coffee Shop, looking like he needed one big hug and an ear to talk to.

Not that Pat said a lot.She got the sense he wasn’t used to talking, but it was like he made an effort for her.

Once she finished with her customer, giving him fresh coffee and caramel cake, she returned behind the counter.No one else had arrived, so she made her approach to Pat once again.

“How was the cake?”she asked, seeing nothing but crumbs left behind.

“Delicious, but then you already knew that.”

“That I did.I make it my mission to try every single item Lauren, the owner, makes.There are some things I don’t like.”

“Name one?”

“I’m not keen on anything with beetroot, and it’s touch-and-go with zucchini.But to be honest, I struggle with zucchini anyway.”She wrinkled her nose.“From time to time, I’ll buy a couple of them, thinking they’ll be delicious, but guess what, they’re not.I even attempted to create myself some zoodles.You ever heard of them?”

He pursed his lips as if he was thinking.

“No, I can’t say I have.”

“Well, it’s making pasta out of vegetables—zucchini, making them zoodles.Yeah, they are nasty.I tried that and you know what, just stick to pasta.If you’re not going to eat pasta, why even try a substitute?”

She heard his chuckle.

“Yeah, you’re not going to catch me eating zoodles.”

Ava looked at him and frowned.“I bet you have tried them and I bet you love them?”

He held his hands up.“Not at all.Trust me, I like some veggies, and I don’t mind me some vegan stuff, but there are limits.”

“Vegan?”

“Yeah,” he said.

This made her smile.

“Some food is good, and I’m not going to turn any of it down.Trust me, when you ration yourself for a period of time, it helps you appreciate all food.”

She knew he was referring to his time in the military.

“So, would you like to tell me what brings you back here every day?”she asked.

This was not flirting, was it?She was so tempted to ask him on a date, but she didn’t know how to get the words out of her mouth and just ask.She had never asked any guy out on a date.Also, for all she knew, Pat could just be being nice to her for the fun of it.