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in the parking lot. Sal was proving more difficult to deter than I would have predicted. He showed up for every one of my shifts, sitting patiently until closing at the bar despite my lack of acknowledgment. And every night he escorted me to my car and followed me home at a respectful distance on his bike. We didn’t speak, other than when I was forced to take his order. I tried my best not to look in his direction, knowing if I did, a part of my resolve would crumble. Despite myself, I’d come to expect his quiet presence and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look forward to seeing him. Clearly, I needed to find a way to deal with his resurgence into my life. My heart felt as though it had been firmly implanted in my throat ever since he’d slammed back into my life with a force which eclipsed everything else. It was exhausting, seriously.
    Whenever Scarlet asked me about it, I’d brush if off. It was my way and she knew it. I’d talk about it with her when I was ready, or maybe not at all. She knew that, too. I was overdue at her place for coffee and I was looking forward to seeing her and the baby.
    It had been a stressful night at the bar made more so because my stupid eyes shifted restlessly to the door every time it swung open.
    “What’s on your mind?” Jodie asked, nudging me gently with her elbow when I’d been cleaning the same spot on the bar too long.
    “Nothing, why?” I asked innocently.
    She smirked. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the drop-dead gorgeous man who comes in every night and sits at the bar staring at you like you’re his next meal.”
    I rolled my eyes in reply and mixed the Cosmos the girls at the end of the bar had ordered.
    I knew it the moment he walked in, as always. It was as though the air shifted, growing thick with the intensity that was Sal. I forced my gaze to remain on the drink I was mixing, but I felt his presence as he sat in the same seat he always sat in.
    I snuck a peek at him when I was sure he wasn’t looking. Yep, still smolderingly hot as usual. He wore his leather cut over his black, short-sleeved T-shirt, his muscles flexing as he clasped his hands over the bar. His hair was black as midnight under the dim bar lights and unruly as always. Sal had a quiet intensity about him that I’d always found compelling; it was nearly impossible to remain unaffected when it was solely focused on you. He sat alone, ignoring anyone else around him, his eyes tracking me with a singular focus so intense my knees shook with every step.
    I sent Jodie down to serve him as was my routine, and like always she came back shaking her head. “He wants you.”
    I snorted at the irony of her statement.
    I walked over to him, my heart pounding as his dark eyes traveled from my face to my neck, staring a beat too long at where my speeding pulse gave me away.
    Where was a turtleneck when a girl needed one?
    I raised my brow at him in silent question as to what he wanted, though I knew what it was.
    “Bud,” he ordered, looking at me like a man starved. It was unnerving and a huge turn on.
    I nodded and averted my eyes as quickly as possible, opening his bottle and placing it in front of him.
    “Have you been following me?” I asked bluntly before I lost my nerve. I’d wanted to ask him this ever since he got back into town. The feeling of being followed had persisted all these weeks; I couldn’t shake it.
    His eyes widened in surprise that I was speaking to him before narrowing. “No, I haven’t been following you,” he answered ferociously. He leaned forward and clutched his beer tightly between his large hands, the “Ride Free” tattooed across both knuckles on prominent display. “Why do you ask?”
    Well, shit. I’d really done it now, hadn’t I?
    “No reason,” I replied entirely too quickly. Damn, despite the incident with the grey truck I’d really thought, even hoped, it might have been him all this time. I moved to head to the other end of the bar when his