Page 5 of Ravish

“You know those little cup things that look like miniature waffle cones.”

“Oh, the tart shells.”

“Not to mention, you also have vegetarian options.”

“I never realized.” She’d added those items to the menu when people started asking for them.

“So, if you ever have any problems with them, come get me, or better yet, call me.” He turned her order pad around and wrote his number. “I mean it. If you ever need me, give me a call. That’s my cell.”

Her belly clenched. Oh, did he do midnight booty calls? Lara closed her eyes. How would it feel to have his hands skim over her belly as she buried her fingers in his black hair? Okay, she’d been reading way too many erotic romance novels lately. Her mind was running away with her body’s needs.

“I will. If I need you.” Was that her breathless voice?

“Good. Be safe. See you Saturday night.” He sauntered out of the café.

Lara locked the door, flipped the neon sign off, and paused. Did he say he’d see her Saturday night? He did. Her heart fluttered. Now she really had a reason to look forward to Saturday night.

Chapter 2

Saturday night, Lara stared at the back of her small SUV. It was stacked full. She had two hot boxes there, and the back seat held napkins, plates, tongs, and two coolers keeping the spiral wraps cold.

She’d had both Eve and Megan in the café today while she prepared everything for tonight. Excitement filled her body. Not only to see Wicked Sanctuary, but also because she’d see Colby again.

He’d stayed away from the café all week. One of the regular bikers, Monty, let it slip he was ordering stuff for Colby and taking it back to his shop.

Lara wondered about that but figured maybe Colby was busy. He did have a shop to run, and she had no reason to feel hurt at not seeing him until tonight. Now her nerves tingled with the idea of seeing him at the club. Max had commented it was a party for members only, so Colby had to be a member.

Pulling up the directions Max had given her, Lara pulled out of her parking spot and began the drive. The club was on the outskirts of Pleasant Valley. She’d given herself plenty of time to get there and set up. Max told her he’d make sure the tables were all ready for her.

Her favorite song came on the radio, and she moved her head and shoulders to the beat as she drove, thinking about her week. At least her brother and ex hadn’t been back to the café. That was a good thing.

But her mother had called her several times, asking her why she called the police on them. Lara told her she hadn’t called, but they needed to learn to listen when she told them to leave. She had a business to run.

Her aunt Tammy had rolled her eyes and muttered about how her nephews were too much like their father. At times, Lara agreed with her. Her brothers both worked at the bank her father owned. Hell, even her ex worked there.

Lara’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. Her father had wanted her to get a degree in finance. So dry and boring. There was no way she was going to go for that. He finally compromised when she was accepted to Berkeley. He called Berkeley a hippy-dippy school, but as long as she went to the Haas Business School, he’d allow it.

Best decision she ever made. She might be a bit lousy with numbers, but she’d learned a lot about being an entrepreneur by visiting the cafés around the university. Small ones, large ones, chains, mom and pop places. She’d go to different ones every day, scope out what they were serving, how they treated their customers, especially students. It gave her ideas, and her final paper had been on the service industry.

Lara spied her turnoff and slowed down. She stopped at the big metal gate. Rolling down her window, she rang the button on the call box.

“How can I help you?” a deep male voice asked.

“Hi, I’m Lara, the caterer for tonight.”

“Yes. The gate will open in a moment, please drive through. Park close to the door.”

“Thank you.” The ornate gates began to open, and Lara drove through. She loved how the trees lined the driveway, then the view widened. Lara almost stopped her vehicle.

“It’s beautiful.” The club was bigger than she thought. She hadn’t expected it to look like a well-maintained mansion, but dingier, like an underground club or something. Any last nervousness she had around the club disappeared. She pulled up and parked near the front door as instructed, then hopped out. Before she could make it to the back of her vehicle, Colby and Max walked out.

Her heart sped up. Colby was wearing black pants and a black t-shirt with heavy boots. Damn, that man filled out his clothing. What would he look like out of them? Shaking her lusty thoughts away, she opened the back.

“How the heck did you get those into your SUV?” Colby asked, looking at the hot boxes.

“I had some help.” Eve’s boyfriend and his friend had come over and helped her load them into her SUV.

Colby stared at her. “You could have called me.”

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