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“You too, Viking.” The name sounded odd to me, but his grin showed he was good with me calling him that. He closed my car door and went back inside.

I didn’t know what the future held, but I grabbed on to a small sliver of hope that maybe some sort of relationship could be formed with Viking. I had to believe that after what’d happened lately, I finally might get the happiness I’d always wanted.

* * *

It had been a couple of days since my visit to the clubhouse. Viking and I had texted back and forth a bit, and he invited me to breakfast this morning. He was heading out of town for a few days and wanted to meet up before getting on the road.

From the moment I woke up, I could feel the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. Every man in my life, up to this point, had rejected me, verbally abused me, or just plain disappointed me. I wanted to believe, more than anything, that Viking was different, but I was afraid history would repeat itself. I told myself not to get my hopes up and expect anything different this time around.

After I dressed warmly, I headed to the restaurant thirty minutes earlier than our planned meeting, unable to sit around my dingy room any longer. I could only afford to stay at a rundown motel. It was pretty sketchy during the day and downright frightening at night. It was about fifteen minutes outside of Las Vegas, and Viking lived another twenty minutes further than that. Since I didn’t know the area very well, we were meeting at a retro diner in his neighborhood.

I glanced at the “Help Wanted” sign taped to the window as I walked in and was immediately greeted by a middle-aged woman wearing a blue dress with white pinstripes, a frilly apron, and matching headband. Her uniform looked like it was straight out of an old-school movie, but she had a kindness in her eyes that I was immediately drawn to.

“Table for one?” she asked with no judgment in her tone.

“Actually, I’m meeting someone. I can wait at the counter.”

“Don’t be silly. You can have that booth over there.” She motioned with the coffee pot she was holding.

I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a round booth and made my way over to it. The diner wasn’t too full. There was music playing softly above, and I had to stop myself from checking the time on my phone every few seconds. A few moments later, she came over and left a couple of menus in the center of the table.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

I glanced quickly at her nametag. “Coffee would be great. Thanks, Pam.”

My nerves hadn’t allowed me to sleep well last night and I was in desperate need of some caffeine. After another refill, I heard some motorcycles as they pulled into the parking lot. I looked out my window, squinting against a bright Nevada sun. Several men on bikes parked along the street, at a slight angle in a neat row. They moved in tandem, smoothly and almost gracefully, like they were in tune with each other. I recognized Viking and a couple of others. He’d mentioned a few guys from his club were leaving with him, but I was still surprised they were here, too.

I had been intimidated by them at the clubhouse, but based on what I’d seen so far, I knew if I wanted to see my father, I needed to get used to seeing them as well.

My mind flashed back to the guy who had come outside to question me when I first showed up at the clubhouse. I still didn’t know his name. I hadn’t realized they all had a patch with their name on it until Wolf had introduced himself. Once I saw the mystery guy again there was too much going on that I’d forgotten to look.

Even though I didn’t know his name, I couldn’t forget how attractive he was. I don’t recall ever meeting someone who looked like him before. He had light-brown hair and blue eyes that looked almost gray. Under his leather vest, he had worn a fitted T-shirt that showed off the various tattoos on his toned arms. He was almosttoogorgeous, but he had a hard edge to him that both intrigued me and scared me a little. It was a heady combination, and I found myself thinking about him more than a few times over the last couple of days. I wasn’t sure if I was hoping he would be here this morning or not.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of all thoughts of the mystery man. I was here to get to know my father.

On cue, I heard the bell above the door ding and watched as Viking walked in, followed by Wolf, Mystery Guy, the guy who had been tending bar at the party, and another guy I didn’t recognize. Everybody in the restaurant paused what they were doing and glanced at the front door before going back to their food. It appeared they were regulars when they all said a friendly hello to Pam. Viking scanned the restaurant before noticing me in the back corner. The other guys moved to a table on the other side of the restaurant, and my father headed my way.

“Hey there.” Viking was a huge, scary-looking biker, but right now, he looked to be just as nervous as I was. “Do you mind if I sit there?” he asked while pointing to where I was sitting on the far side of the table with my back against the wall. “I like sitting where I can see everything,” he explained.

It seemed odd to me, but I went ahead and moved to the other side of the booth.

Once he was settled, Pam came to take our order. We both chose the biscuits and gravy, and I chuckled about us picking the same thing. It seemed silly, but I enjoyed knowing we liked the same food.

“Thanks for meeting like this. I don’t know how long this trip is going to take and I didn’t want you to think I was avoiding you.”

He was definitely perceptive because that’s exactly what I would’ve thought if I didn’t hear from him.

“I also wanted to invite you out to the house to meet Meredith and the boys. This trip is urgent, but we’ll make plans for you to come over as soon as I’m back,” he continued.

From our text messages, I knew Meredith was his wife, and he had twin sons, Finn and Gunnar, who had just turned thirteen.

“You want me to meet your family?” I wasn’t expecting that, and I was positive the uncertainty was evident in my voice.

“Of course. You’re my daughter. Why wouldn’t you meet them?”

It was a shock to me he actually believed what I was telling him. I knew I had no reason to lie, buthedidn’t know that. Never would I have thought he’d accept my announcement, no questions asked.

“You’re not going to take a paternity test or anything to prove that I’m your daughter?” I had no idea why I was questioning him. I should have been happy, but this seemed too good to be true.