"You'll do no such thing. Now go!" She shooed him out the door and flipped the sign over to say 'Sorry, We're Closed'. Back behind the counter, she occupied herself with small closing tasks while she waited for the diners to finish.
Raised voices drew her attention to the table the Lykins boy and his girl occupied just as the girlfriend stood and dashed her glass of soda in the boy's face then stomped out the front door with him hot on her heels. Miya chuckled and grabbed the mop to clean up the mess when the expression on the stranger's face stopped her in her tracks.
He'd frozen, coffee cup half-raised, when the drama began. Noticing her attention, he smiled. "Do teenaged dates here generally end that way?"
She sputtered laughter. "Not normally. That boy seems to have more trouble keeping a girlfriend than most."
He started to rise. "Since I am the last, I will go and allow you to finish your work."
Miya glanced around. "Nonsense. Take your time. I still have several things to do. Besides, you can keep me company." Oh, great, idiot! Just beg the man!
He straightened fully and gave an elegant little bow. "Keeping you company will be my pleasure." He sat again.
Oh Lord that sexy voice of his. So deep and rumbly in her tummy. Not just her tummy, but her… yeah, not going there with those thoughts.
With the worst of the spill cleaned up, Miya wrung out the mop and let it wait while she started bussing the Lykins boy's table and searched for some witty way to begin a conversation.
"Do you have family nearby, Miya?"
Ugh. Family was the last thing she wanted in a conversation. She shook her head. "Just my mom." She scrubbed the table clean after loading the tub with the few dishes then paused with a smile. "She worked two jobs to raise me after my dad disappeared. How about you? Where are you from? Hell, what's your name?"
He smiled. "My name is Lesedi Letsie. I was born in Lesotho, but I have spent a great deal of time in South Africa, primarily Johannesburg."
"Oh, wow." She bit back a little huff of amazement in an attempt to not seem like a country bumpkin. Probably waaaaay too late. "And here I've never been out of Montana." Miya smiled, almost wishing she'd had an exciting life in faraway places, experiencing all the things she'd dreamed of. Knowing stuff outside of books.
"You are fortunate to have roots, a place to belong."
Miya shrugged, not convinced, and hefted the bus-tub to her hip. "I guess—" The bell over the door jingled harshly, and she turned. "Sorry but we're closed for—" The group of guys that shoved in froze her in her tracks.
Oh shit. Not tonight. Not that bastard.
The one particular disgusting pervert that she couldn't even stand to think of looked up and grinned at her. "Mi-ya. You didn't think ol' Jay Bee done f'got about you, did you? 'Specially not when you's here all by your lonesome." The lock on the door clicked as it slid home.
Miya glanced back at the one occupied table and found it empty. Lesedi was long gone. Fear seized her. Why had he left her? He hadn't seemed the type to run at the first hint of trouble.
JB Parsons had been the bane of her existence for years and after he took control of the Mason Aces gang, he'd really started pushing things.
He grinned again, approaching her slowly while his men split to either side so she couldn't bolt around him. "Now you be nice to me, Baby Girl, and maybe I won't hurt you too bad." He lifted a wicked looking handgun in one hand and waggled it in a clear threat.
Miya's hand started to slide on the bus-tub and she shifted her grip to keep from dropping it. The tip of her middle finger encountered a sharp point. She changed her grip again, sliding the knife up the side of the tub where she could get it quickly.
She took a slow careful breath, determined not to let JB see how scared she was. "JB, get lost. You're a bully. You've always been a bully. Your behavior—"
"Shut the fuck up bitch." He strode closer, sliding the gun back in his waistband.
She bit her lip, waiting, forcing herself not to bolt because he'd catch her and hit her like last time. Her mind raced, searching for some way out of the predicament.
JB paused for half a heartbeat just out of arm's reach and Miya thrust the bus-tub at his chest.
The whole thing did little more than disrupt his balance and piss him off.
"You gone pay fuh dat, bitch." He lunged forward, grabbing for her neck.
Miya fought back the scream that wanted out as she jumped back barely out of reach.
JB cursed and gauged the distance while Miya waited, balanced on the balls of her feet. Instinct urged her to bolt away but the other two men closed in from her sides and they'd managed to maneuver her around so that nothing but a solid wall waited behind her. Her only hope lay in staying out of reach until she could get her hands on a weapon.