Chapter Three
The bell above thediner door jingled, and Dawn glanced up from behind the counter, absently wiping a damp rag over the stainless-steel surface. Her heart sank the moment she saw who had just walked in.
Jesse.
He was still dressed in his grease-stained coveralls, the Rat Bastards MC patch stitched onto his chest. His dark hair was slicked back with too much gel, and his smug grin made her stomach churn. Just what she didn’t need tonight.
He sauntered toward the counter, moving with an air of undeserved confidence, and slid onto a stool directly in front of her.
“Hey, gorgeous. Miss me?”
Dawn stiffened. She shot him a tight smile, purely out of politeness, and turned to grab the coffeepot. “What do you want, Jesse?”
“A second chance,” he said, leaning in. “You never gave me a fair shot the other night.”
She scoffed and set the coffeepot down with more force than necessary. “You mean when you stood me up?”
His smirk didn’t waver. “I had shit to do. Club business. You know how it is.”
“I really don’t.” Dawn crossed her arms. “But I do know I sat alone in that roadhouse for over an hour like a fool. I’m not doing that again.”
Jesse exhaled sharply, shaking his head as if she was the unreasonable one.
“Come on, don’t be like that, babe. I’ll make it up to you. Let’s go grab a drink after your shift,” he said.
Dawn rolled her eyes. “Not happening.”
Jesse’s expression hardened. He leaned forward, his voice dropping low. “You don’t want to make an enemy outta me, Dawn.”
A chill ran down her spine, but she forced herself to hold her ground. “Is that a threat?”
He smirked, but there was something in his eyes that set her on edge. “Just saying, people who cross the wrong folks tend to regret it.”
The tension between them thickened, the air in the diner suddenly feeling oppressive.
Other customers were too absorbed in their meals to notice what was happening, but Dawn’s coworker, Maggie, peeked around the corner from the kitchen, concern flickering across her face.
Dawn had had enough. She stepped out from behind the counter, standing tall despite the way her pulse pounded in her throat.
“I’m gonna say this once, Jesse. Leave me the hell alone. I don’t want anything to do with you,” Dawn said firmly.
Jesse’s jaw ticked, his fingers curling into a fist on the counter. “You sure about that, sweetheart?”
“Dead sure.”
For a long moment, he didn’t move, just sat there, staring her down like he was trying to intimidate her into changing her mind. But Dawn wasn’t backing down. Not this time.
