Page 5 of Shattered Secrets

Jesus Christ, did he have to spell it out for the fucker? “Duuude. She’swaytoo young for me.”

Cade looked at him like he was a moron. “What are you talking about? She’s in her twenties.”

“She’s twenty-three.”

“And?”

He glared at his friend. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? I’m forty.”

Cade shrugged. “Yeah, but you’re immature as fuck.”

Matt rolled his eyes. Cade was nuts. His best damn friend, but fucking nuts.

Pursuing Scarlet was out of the question. He was too old, too grumpy, too... everything.It’s out of the question, Alvarez.

Her laughter carried across the diner, and he frowned. Yeah...

He just needed to keep reminding himself of that.

CHAPTER TWO

Sporting a giant smile that was mostly genuine—because the tourists at table four were nice, but so stinking extra—Scarlet moved between the diner’s center tables and topped off coffees. The lunch break to-do list she’d been compiling in her head had gone out the window the moment Matt Alvarez had shown up. She knew she needed to swing by the grocery store to pick something up, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what. That’s what the guy did to her brain. Fried it. Completely.

It took everything in her to not cringe. So what if Matt was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome with some growly hotness thrown in? Because seriously, could she be a little more obvious? She’d been practically drooling over the poor guy.

She stilled mid-pour, and the cringe won out. After flashing a smile at her customers and ensuring they didn’t need anything else, she hustled to the beverage station for a fresh coffee pot.

So what if she and Matt had shared a moment a few months back, leaving her crushing hard ever since? Okay, maybe it hadn’t exactly been amomentper se, but rather an interaction. Of sorts.

She frowned. Okay, fine. Maybe it hadn’t even been that.

All Scarlet knew for certain was that the interaction had been the first time she’d gotten the hint that Matt Alvarez even knew she existed. Yes, he’d come into the diner countless times over the last year and she’d waited on him. However, he usually limited his replies to one-word answers. No small talk, no pleasantries. Just right to the point. Which was fine. After all, that growly-hotness thing totally worked in his favor.

But on that particular Saturday a few months back, she’d taken Daisy to the playground and met up with her good friend, Poppy. Unfortunately, Eli—Poppy’s dickweed of an ex—had shown up and started spewing vile shit at them. In the middle of the playground! But within moments of the asshole’s appearance, Matt had swooped in.

All six-plus feet of the man’s muscular goodness had stepped in front of her and put a stop to Eli and his crap. For sure, she’d always been fascinated by Matt. But after that? Scarlet had become the president of the Matt Alvarez fan club.

Was it a little sad? A bit pathetic? Yeah, she could admit that it was. But no one had ever stood up for her before. Besides, her little case of hero worship was harmless. After all, if the curt answers, grunts, and growls of the past few months were any indication, she’d gone back to being a nobody to him.

Which was fine. Truly. The man was way, way,waaayout of her league. But that didn’t stop her from crushing on him. Because he’d stepped in when he hadn’t needed to. That meant something to her. So regardless of whether she was on his radar or not, she’d happily and proudly continue being a card-carrying member of his fan club.

A bell dinged, and she made her way to the pickup window. After double-checking the orders against the ticket, she loaded her tray and strode toward the table with two of her favorite regulars. “Hi, ladies?—”

The loud rumble of engines had her flinching. Her stomach dropped as her attention swung to the diner’s main window. Three gleaming black-and-chrome motorcycles were pulling into parking spaces along the street. Catching sight of the riders, Scarlet let out a breath, and the sudden tension that had held her body captive eased.

All the riders were tricked out in jeans and expensive-looking Harley Davidson gear. Two bikes held couples who looked to be in their sixties. On the third was a similarly aged solo rider with a giant teddy bear riding bitch. She was sure there was a technical term for riding bitch, but that’s all she’d ever heard it called. God knew she’d been that bitch countless times.

“Scarlet, honey?”

She startled but thankfully kept her serving tray level. Heat rushed over her face as she swung her gaze back to the table. “Ohmygod, I’m so sorry, ladies! Here you go, Mrs. Abbot,” she said, donning a wide smile and placing a short stack of blueberry pancakes in front of the woman. “And for you...” She set a bowl of salmon chowder gently down in front of Mrs. Abbot’s partner in crime, Mrs. Yoshida. She nodded to the window. “I’m sorry, ladies. I got distracted by the teddy bear.”

Mrs. Yoshida picked up her spoon and gestured toward the window. “I imagine you’ll be seeing a lot of those fancy motorcycles over the next few weeks.”

Scarlet’s blood chilled, but she managed to keep the smile on her face. “Oh yeah?”

“There’s a well-known motorcycle group that does charity work...” Mrs. Abbot’s nose scrunched. “They’re not like that television show.”

Mrs. Yoshida scoffed. “Please. Like you and I didn’t watchSons of Anarchytogether every week and wish we were thirty years younger.” She winked at Scarlet. “But it’s true. That group is mostly retirees from the Seattle and Tacoma areas.”