Page 82 of 12 Months of Mayhem

Chapter Ten

Maddie

It was three-thirty.

Diamond was back at work.

And Tank wasn’t here.

I’d been pretending not to notice his absence since my shift started, but now the lie was too loud to ignore. Right after midnight, I heard a motorcycle engine in the distance. My heart had leapt before I could stop it, thinking—hoping—that it was him.

But the bike hadn’t stopped. Hadn’t even tapped the brakes. Just passed on by like I didn’t exist.

“Earth to Maddie,” Diamond’s voice yanked me out of my thoughts.

“Uh, yeah?” I blinked and realized I’d been staring at the chip rack for a solid five minutes.

“Are those Fritos talking to you or something?” she asked with a teasing glint in her eye.

I smiled faintly. “Nope. Just zoned out. What’s up?”

She eyed me and tilted her head. “I talked to Bonnie.”

“Okay.” That wasn’t exactly groundbreaking.

“She said you had some company while I was off.”

Oh. Oh shit. I hadn’t said a word to Diamond about Tank. Not even a casual mention. “She said that?” I asked and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Yeah, a big biker was your protector, apparently.”

I squinted at her. “That’s what Bonnie said?”

Diamond pursed her lips and gave me that look that said she already knew more than I wanted her to. “Mmmhmm. She told me that yesterday.”

“Okay.”

“So,” she sang, dragging it out, “last night when I woke up for the tenth time to blow my nose, I logged onto the cameras.”

Oh shit, again.

“You wanna know what I saw?” she asked.

I didn’t need to know. I’d been there. I knew exactly what she saw. “I was working, Diamond. I was here.”

She nodded slowly. “I mean, yup, you most certainly were here.” She paused, dramatic as ever. “You were right there on top of that mountain of a biker on that stool.”

I closed my eyes. Of course, she would’ve picked that exact time to check the feed.

“Nothing to say for yourself, Maddie?” she laughed.

“Nope, not really,” I tried to protest weakly.

Her eyes widened. “Girl, I saw you making out with that man like he was the only thing keeping you alive, and then he lifted you up like you weighed nothing, and then he took you to the office where I’m assuming you rode that man like a damn Harley.”

“Diamond,” I scolded, my face burning.

“Girl, don’t look at me like that. You should be thankful we don’t have a camera in the office or I’d have to pay you for the show you two probably put on.”

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