Page 84 of Shadow's Surrender
“The true rebel.” She squeezed his bicep. “That’s one of the things I like about you.”
Shadow swiveled in the wrought iron chair, an amused smirk playing across his lips. “There are more things?”
She nodded. “A lot … Like how you listen to me go on about my friends or my family when they piss me off, even though I know you think I’m overreacting … or how you laugh at my lame attempts to be funny or the way you hold me and tell me that you have my back … and so many other things.”
He looked away, his gaze fixed on the vista of mountains and evergreens.
Oh shit. I gushed too much. He’s feeling pressured, like he has to say something back about me.She cleared her throat, but before she could say anything, his eyes shifted back to hers. She bit the inside of her cheek and her heart squeezed: lurking in his stormy orbs was pain.Did I causethat?
“My mother was murdered. Stabbed—it was brutal,” he said, both anger and sadness in his voice.
Shock swept through Scarlett as a rush of tears welled her eyes. She reached out and stroked his arm as she took in a heart-jolting breath. “I’m so sorry. I … don’t know what to say. How horrible.”
A small shrug, then a quick shake of his head. “There’s nothing to say—I just wanted to tell you.”
A silence stretched between them, and her mind whirled with a slew of questions that she wanted to ask Shadow but didn’t.
“Sorry for the delay,” a perky waitress with large breasts encased in a tight top said as she put down two glasses of water, plates, and cutlery wrapped in napkins on the table. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Coors on tap,” Shadow said.
“Uh … I don’t know. Do you have mango margaritas?”
The waitress looked over her shoulder at the inside of the restaurant. “Nope—just the regular and strawberry.”
“I’ll take a strawberry one—frozen, please.”
“Be right back,” she said, then scurried away.
“This is a popular biker place,” he said.
“Is that why the waitress is showing off her assets in a big way?”
He laughed. “Yeah—the bigger the tits, the better the tip.”
There was another pocket of silence, only broken by the clink of glasses as another server put their drinks down on the table.
“Meghan’s busy with two large parties inside, so I’m helping out.” The cute brunette, who was also very well-endowed, smiled and took out a pad and pencil. “Do you know what you want?”
Shadow glanced at Scarlett. “Do you wanna share some nachos?”
The earnest expression on his face made her smile, and Scarlett nodded even though she had no appetite.
“Supreme or regular?” the waitress asked.
“Whatever you want,” Scarlett said when he looked over at her.
“Supreme.”
“Okay.” The brunette slipped the notepad into the pocket of the red apron she wore around her waist.
“It seems like the two of us and that other couple are the only ones crazy enough to be sitting out here in the heat,” Scarlett said as she watched the server hurry over to a table on the other side of the patio.
“Is it too hot for you? We can go inside,” Shadow said as he started to pushed the chair back.
“No … I love it out here. It’s quiet and beautifully serene. I can’t believe how many small out-of-the-way places you know of to stop in for some food and drinks.”
“It comes from years of exploring on my bike.”
