Page 10 of Emily's Essence

Within thirty minutes, they were pulling up to a little diner. Hawk helped her off and then held onto her until her legs were steady.

“Thank you.”

He looked so surprised when she was polite to him.

The group walked into the diner, and the place was half full. Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at them.

“Why are they staring?” she whispered.

A few of the guys snorted.

“Because we’re strangers,” Brick said.

Some of the guys laughed.

“It’s because we’re bikers, babe. Most people are afraid of us.”

“Oh. Yeah, I get that.”

A waitress came to them, and Emily could see how she shook.

“We don’t want any trouble,” she said.

Emily pushed Brick out of the way and put her hand on the woman.

“We’re just here for the pancakes. You have nothing to fear from us.”

The waitress gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “Did they do that to you?”

Emily had forgotten about her bruises. “No, I promise. They saved me from the guys that were hurting me.”

The waitress relaxed a bit. “Go ahead and find someplace to sit.”

“Thank you,” Emily said.

The men moved to the back of the diner, where there were three empty booths. Hawk nudged her in and then sat beside her. Brick and Doc sat across from them, and the others took the last two tables.

The waitress came over with a tray of coffee cups and three pitchers. She gave everyone a cup and set a pitcher of coffee on each table with a stack of menus.

“I’ll be right back to take your orders.”

“Thank you,” Emily said.

She was reading her menu when she became aware of Hawk’s stare. She looked up at him. “What?”

“You’re one of those nice people.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“You’re polite and care about others’ feelings.”

“You sound like it’s a bad thing,” she said.

He grunted and turned his attention to his own menu.

Everyone ordered and started talking among themselves. It was a little disconcerting the way several people continued to stare at them.

“Ignore them, babe,” Hawk said.

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