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Ahhh, sugar and caffeine, the perfect cavity-inducing, heart-pounding elixir. The next few minutes passed in peaceful silence. Well, not silence since there was a hum of chatter in the crowded diner, but Izzy didn’t have to take part in it, and that was good enough for her.
But then, a body settled on the stool next to her. “You must be Izzy.”
And there went the peaceful meal. Plastering on what she hoped looked like a genuine smile, Izzy faced the woman sitting on the stool. Geez, did the women around here come in anything but small and blond. “I am, and you are?”
She smiled, warm and welcoming. “Stephanie. Heard you’re new here. Welcome to town. How are you settling in?”
Izzy pursed her lips and racked her brain. Was she supposed to know who this Stephanie was? “Sorry, I’m trying to place you but…”
“Oh, sorry.” Steph rolled her eyes. “I belong to…” She turned and stared at the front door. “Just a second…” It opened, and Maverick strode in looking like he owned the place. His gaze caught Stephanie’s, and he winked while moving his hand to his crotch.
Stephanie’s face pinked, and she turned back around. “You know, I guess he’s not here right now.”
Izzy burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she could barely take a breath. “Oh, my God, that was funny,” she said, slapping her palm on the countertop. “So you belong to Maverick?” she asked once she had control of herself.
Still bright pink, Stephanie nodded. “Guilty as charged. Anyway, he told me he met a new-to-here-but-not-new tattoo artist with long legs and an even longer braid.” Stephanie pointed to Izzy’s hair. “Had to be you.”
Now it was Izzy’s turn to feel heat in her face. “Sorry about the hot tattoo artist comment. I don’t think he meant anything by it.”
Stephanie waved her hand and rolled her eyes. “Please, I’m well aware of how that man operates, and he’s well aware that he’ll never be able to operate again if he crosses any lines. He’s just a pathologic flirt. He’s harmless.”
Phew. A jealous woman was not something Izzy was equipped to deal with. “You’ll have to come with him if he makes an appointment.”
“I definitely will. I’d love to see you at work. It’s such a badass job. And as you can see, my man is a fan of ink.”
Shell returned then with Izzy’s food. “Here you go. Need anything else? Ketchup, hot sauce?”
“Hot sauce please.”
A bottle of Tabasco appeared. When Shell smiled at Stephanie, some of the light in her eyes was missing. Though both women seemed to know each other and seemed pleasant enough, Izzy sensed some tension. “The usual, Steph?” Shell asked, her voice flatter than it had been speaking with Izzy.
“Please. Thanks, Shell.” Stephanie gave her a smile that looked a little sad, almost apologetic.
“Kay, be back in a few.” Shell bustled off, busy with the morning rush.
Beside her, Steph sighed and picked at her napkin.
Stay out of it. Not your business.
But hadn’t she been sick of talking to herself in her empty house? Maybe it was time to be friendlier and speak to others. Just because she wasn’t about to form close attachments didn’t mean she needed to become the town bitch.
“You good?” she asked Steph.
The other woman seemed to snap out of her funk. “Yeah, sorry. Just working through some stuff with some of the MC members. I, uh, did something that broke their trust. I’m getting back in, but it’s not always easy.”
Huh. It was admirable. Everyone fucked up on occasion, but in Izzy’s experience, no one stuck around long enough to work it out, apologize, or fix what they’d broken. She wasn’t much better. New Orleans had become more complicated than she’d bargained for, so she left. As she’d done with the previous two places she’d lived. Maybe she could learn a thing or two from Stephanie.
“You obviously care enough to try and fix it.” Didn’t matter what Stephanie did. She wasn’t hiding the fact that she screwed up and wasn’t making excuses for her behavior. She seemed genuinely willing to fix it. That was more than enough for Izzy to like her.
“Well, I love Maverick. And his club is his family. His world. Hell, they were well on their way to becoming my family before I mucked it all up. So, yeah, I’ll do damn near anything to fix it.”
Just then Maverick wrapped his arms around Stephanie from behind. “They’re all coming around, baby,” he whispered, but not low enough for Izzy to miss it. “You forget that you saved the ass of each and every man in the club. They all recognize that.” He pressed his lips to the curve of Stephanie’s neck, and she sighed in pleasure, melting against his chest.
There was a story there, too. This MC seemed to be full of them. A quick peek at the table of bikers showed Jigsaw still wasn’t among the breakfast crew. Interesting. Was he still having a rough time due to whatever memories the tattoo evoked? Part of her wanted another look at him. He couldn’t possibly be as sexy as her mind remembered, could he?
