Free Angel on Fire (Motorcycle Club Romance) by Kelly Lawson Page A

, I thought, as I shook my head at just how pathetic she looked.
     
    “I don’t think we need to go that far, Tanya, sweetie-pie,” Dad said. He stood up from the kitchen table and moved between us, as if the physical barrier would stop us from wanting to rip each other’s throats out. “Cali, just apologize and we can all get on with the day,” he said, his voice calm and serious. As our eyes met, I finally understood that he was always going to take her side. My dad isn’t a bad man, he’s just a weak one. Even though I’m his daughter, he will always go down the path of least resistance, as my Psych professor at night school would say.
     
    “No, Dad,” I said quietly. “If you can’t even see what’s going on here and see what she is, then Tanya’s probably right, I should go. There’s nothing left here for me anyway,” I said, knowing that there was no turning back from what I was doing.
     
    I’d packed straight away, taking as little as I could; but, I made sure that I didn’t forget the photograph of my mother that I’d kept by my bed since I was a little girl. “I miss you, Mom,” I said to the picture. Then, I took one last look around at the room that I grew up in, before I walked out without looking back. I had decided that if my dad had asked me to stay then I would, but he didn’t say anything. He just looked at me sadly and let me go.
     
    I’d barely finished high school and only had $30.17 to my name. I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of gainful employment opportunities open to me and I also knew that I couldn’t stay in the town I’d grown up in. There was too much of a chance that I’d see Tanya and my father around and, right then, all I wanted was to be as far away from them as was humanly possible.
     
    I thought about all of this as I walked the few short minutes to the diner, ready for my 10pm to 7am shift. After a few false starts, I had ended up in the smallest of all small towns. In fact, I don’t think it could even really be called a town. It was more like a strip of buildings next to the road.
     
    “Hey, Cali,” Joe says, as I walk through the door. I wave at him and summon a smile.
     
    Joe is the cook and also the owner. He’s here all the time and I’m not sure when he manages to get any sleep. He’s more than a little creepy and, recently, the way he’s been looking at me has been making me pretty uncomfortable. I definitely don’t want to get mixed up with him or anyone else for that matter. I don’t need another man letting me down.
     
    “Didn’t know you were on the night shift, Cal,” Joe tells me, looking up from the burgers he’s frying. His eyes roam over me for just a fraction of a second too long.
     
    “Oh right,” I say awkwardly, as I take a look at the orders up on the board, “I switched with Janie, she had a thing,” I explain.
     
    “A thing, like a date, you mean? That’s all Janie seems to do when she has the night off, every time with a different guy,” Joe shakes his head, like he can’t understand it. “So how come I never see you with anyone, Cali? Pretty little thing like you, but no man in your life?” he asks smiling, but there’s an underlying message in his words.
     
    “No, not seeing anyone, Joe. You know I’m not interested in that stuff. You ever going to get tired of asking?” I say, jokingly. I smile, but I just wish that he would get tired and hurry up about it. I don’t want to have to move along again so soon after I got here and with so little cash.
     
    “Not likely, Cal. Not likely,” he says slowly. I can feel his eyes boring a hole into my ass underneath the too-tight waitressing uniform. They were made that way, so even my slim frame looks like it is busting out of the little dress. Apparently it helps with tips, but I’m not sure if it isn’t just for Joe’s own viewing pleasure. “Order up,” he says and I’m thankful to have an excuse to get out of the kitchen quickly.
     
    It’s a