Ellaina began to quiver the moment she heard the roar of the powerful engine. Over the past few weeks, the crowd of noontime regulars at the Starlight Café had gotten used to the sound of the bike as the rider pulled up to the kerb to come in for his daily lunch. Everyone else went about their business, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. As if their world wasn’t going to tilt the moment he walked through the wooden screen door. As if their heart wasn’t going to speed up and threaten to beat right out of their chest when he strode to the counter. As if that little spurt of cream wasn’t going to make them wet and slippery when he opened his mouth to speak.

Too bad that isn’t me.

She tried to straighten the cutlery in the baskets, but her hands were shaking too badly. Nell and Jade were busy with the lunchtime rush, so she would have to look after him. She wanted to, but she didn’t want to.

How can I serve him and not let him see how he affects me? How can I talk to him and not stammer as I stare into his gorgeous eyes? Why haven’t I told Nell I’ll take the tables for a change? That would have just made her wonder what was wrong. Nell was the one who loved to charm the customers. Plus lunch hour was when she made money in tips. Jade was busy clearing and resetting the tables, getting ready for the next rush of people. There would be no help from her either.

Ellaina could see him through the plate glass window, all six-foot-plus of him, as he swung his leg over the motorcycle and reached up to remove his helmet. He always turned around and looked at the old clock on the town hall tower across the street, as if to give her a better view of his spectacular ass in those worn jeans.

The act was superfluous. That vision was etched in her brain, but she relished the ritual nonetheless. She held her breath just like every other day, spellbound, as he lifted his arms and took off his helmet, all that thick, dark hair falling around his shoulders, down his back.

True to form, he set the helmet on the seat and, pivoting, grabbed the tab of the zipper of his black leather jacket. She felt the telltale wetness between her legs as he tugged it down, revealing his chest bit by bit. For God’s sake, it was only a white T-shirt underneath, but he might as well have been naked for the effect it had on her. It hugged his torso and made her want to kneel before him and lick around his navel. But only after she’d had a chance to yank the shirt out of those jeans and bite his belly.

Looking down, she pretended to wipe the counter, waiting for the bells to ring the moment he pushed open the screen door. She knew what Pavlov’s dogs must have felt like, for the instant she heard that little carillon, she grew liquid between her legs and was already on the verge of coming.

And he hadn’t even spoken to her yet.

“Hello, Ellaina,” he said in that rough voice that made her want to shove everything off the counter so he could take her right then and there.

But she didn’t.