Page 7 of Oz (Marked Skulls MC 4)
I thumped his back as he rushed out of the bar, gathering the rest of the prospects.
“You think he can do it himself?” Abe asked and I sucked in my gut.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on him. I can’t get too close though because I’ll be recognized. The prospects can remain anonymous,” I said.
“Good job, man,” Abe said and patted my back. “I should go back home to your sister before she locks me out of our home again,” he added with a smirk.
We walked out of the bar together. I was looking forward to a drink, but I wasn’t in the mood anymore. I wanted to be in bed, my head filled with fantasies of Kaya again. She was my escape.
When I looked over at the diner as I got on the bike, I saw that she’d shut shop and left already.
Probably for the best.
I had no right to involve her in all this.
Chapter 12
Kaya
I was still thinking about Oz. In fact, I hadn’t thought about much else since I first met him. But what I saw the previous night had changed everything—or rather it should have. It should have scared me and maybe it did, but not as much as it could.
I wasn’t scared enough to stop thinking about Oz, or what it would be like to be in his arms. To be his woman. Even though I’d barely spent any time with him, I knew that he was the kind of man who would do anything to protect me. To keep me safe. I would never have to worry about my future if I was with him. He would look after me and cherish me.
But those were all fantasies. I didn’t know him at all. He could be the exact opposite. He might not have any interest in seeing me again.
And seeing those guns should have been enough of a reason for me to stay away from him too.
The next day at work, after spending an entire night tossing and turning in bed, I tried to get the job done without daydreaming again.
Melody noticed I was lost in thought and during our lunch break she took me aside.
“You all right?” she asked, sipping on her milkshake from a plastic glass. I wasn’t very hungry. I’d made myself a sandwich in the kitchen, but now I had no interest in eating it.
“Yeah, sure, why would you ask that?”
“Ever since you met that guy, that biker guy…what did you say his name was?”
“Oz,” I said.
“Since you met Oz, you’ve been kind of lost in thought, you’ve been smiling less. I’m not sure if I should be worried. Has something happened?”
I debated the idea of telling Melody what I saw. If I told her about the guns, I knew she’d be shocked and scared. She might even quit her job, she might convince me to do the same. And what if Oz did ever come into the diner again? Melody would do everything to prevent me from speaking to him.
No, I couldn’t tell her. Even though she was my best friend in Orlando, and even though I knew she cared for me, I couldn’t tell her for her own sake.
“Nothing’s happened. I’m fine. And no, I’m not thinking about him. I’ve just been thinking about my family lately,” I told her. I wasn’t exactly the best liar, but that seemed to have convinced her.
She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight.
“I’m so sorry, hun! Do you want to talk about it? I’m sure if you give them some time, they’ll come around. They’re just being old fashioned and stubborn,” she said and I nodded.
She was right. They were being that. And the truth was that since I met Oz, I hadn’t been thinking about how mean my family was being to me.
***
I didn’t expect to see Oz anytime soon, in fact, I assumed it was all just in my head and I might never see him again. Maybe I’d even imagined that wink from the previous night.
The day went on slowly and lazily, and there was nothing different about it except that I couldn’t stop thinking about this man I hardly knew.
I was the last one shutting the diner again, and every so often, I looked up in the hopes that a hoard of bikers might pass by again like the previous night. But nothing happened. I could sense there were people inside the bar. There was loud music and bright lights inside and bikes parked outside, but no sign of Oz.
Who was I kidding? He’d obviously forgotten about me already.
I closed up the diner and took one last look at the bar, and, with no sign of Oz, I started walking in the direction of my apartment. I knew I needed to find some way to forget about him. He was overtaking my mind and my life, and if Melody had noticed a change in me already—pretty soon everybody else would too.
I was beginning to lose heart when I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. Someone was hurrying to cross the road. I whipped around, and the cool night breeze hit my face, blinding me for a moment. It was Oz. He was rushing over to my side of the road.
“What are you doing?” he asked, with his brows crossed.
I’d forgotten how much bigger he was than me. What kind of a question was that?
“I’m going home.”
“Right now?” he persisted, standing over me now. I had to crane my neck to look up at him.
“Yes, what else am I supposed to do when my shift is over?”
He smirked. It was crazy that we could make each other smile, even though we were worlds apart.
“You shouldn’t be walking home alone at this time, not by yourself,” he said, looking me over. I wasn’t in the diner uniform anymore. This was probably the first time he’d seen me in regular clothes. It was nothing special. Just a pair of jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. I didn’t feel particularly attractive, but the way he was staring at me said that he liked what he saw.
How was that even possible?
“It’s fine, I do it every day,” I told him and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“Doesn’t mean you have to do it tonight. Let me walk you home.”
His voice was that deep smooth velvet again and I felt like I could sink into him. My mouth fell open. Was I surprised that he’d offered to walk me home? Was I shocked that he was a courteous man?
“Uh…okay,” I stammered and he smiled at me again.
“Lead the way, Kaya,” he said, and before I knew it, I was blushing again. Every time he said my name, I felt like he could actually see me. That it wasn’t just an expression. He genuinely thought I was sweet.
“How are you?” he asked me, as we started walking. We were taking it slow. I knew it was just a five-minute walk, but I didn’t want it to end that quickly. Since he hadn’t asked for my address, I decided to take him via a longer route. At least a twenty-minute walk. I was desperate to keep speaking to him. To be near him. It was shocking that he was even a little bit interested in me.
“I’ve been busy. And you?”
I shrugg
ed. Oz had his hands stuck in the pockets of his jeans. He looked calm and handsome, rugged and strong. Like nothing could affect him.
“Busy too, I guess,” I lied.
“What were you doing before the diner opened up?” he asked, and I tucked in some curls behind my ears. This was the hard part, revealing to him how naive I really was.
“Before this, I was in Perry, Florida.”
Oz looked over at me. I expected him to look surprised, but he didn’t. Instead, he just looked like he was expecting me to say something like that. Which surprised me even more.
“Perry, huh. What’s that place like?” he asked.
“Small!” I exclaimed with a laugh. “Nothing like Orlando.”
He nodded.
“I have no idea what that feels like. I’ve known nothing beyond Orlando all my life.”
“It feels claustrophobic,” I said, before I could stop myself. There must have been some emotion in my voice because Oz looked intently at me, deep into my eyes.
“Did you run away from home?” he asked.
I laughed.
“Don’t think you could call it that exactly. I’m twenty-five. I left home,” I said.
“Were you running away from something?” he asked, with his eyebrows arching up.
I licked my lips nervously. I didn’t know how to respond to that question.
“Maybe I was, I think I was…”
It was quiet around us, other than our footsteps. The noise and music from the bar seemed distant now.
“What were you running from?” he asked and I sighed, looking away from him.
“From the expectations my family had of me.”
“What did they want you to do?”
I wasn’t sure why I was telling him all this. It had taken me nearly two weeks before I’d opened up to Melody, and even then, I hadn’t told her everything. This was my second time talking to Oz. I needed to exercise some restraint, but that wasn’t going to happen evidently.
It was like I wanted to spill everything to him. He would understand.
“They wanted me to live the life my mother lead. Marry young, raise a family, work on looking after the house, cook meals for a husband. I mean…it’s not that I think any less of my mother.”
