Page 1 of Cash's Treasure

Chapter One

Kayla

“Your boyfriend’s here.”

My eyes shoot up from the counter I am furiously wiping down and lock on the tall man that just walked in. He’s dressed in his signature black from head to toe. The scowl on his face as he looks around the bar is so dark that it causes a sudden shift in the air.

The patrons in the bar all watch him warily, and I can almost see them visibly tense when his dark gaze crosses over them. He has this effect on people, and one glance is enough to have them raising their hackles.

His dark eyes light up when they lock on mine, sending a shiver racking my body. I break the eye contact to trail my eyes over his outfit of black combat boots, dark jeans, a black shirt, and leather jacket, not a hint of color anywhere on his person. Everything about the man, from his dirty blond hair and stormy gray eyes to the muscles even his clothes can’t hide, is all male and screams danger.

Well, he is one of the most dangerous men in Austin. He belongs to the Steel Order Motorcycle Club and works as their accountant, but he is no ordinary accountant. No one from that club is ordinary anything.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I whisper, switching my attention back to the stain that just won’t budge.

“That green stain has been there way before you started working here,” Lana says from my side where she’s stocking the beer. “So, about your boyfriend . . .”

“I keep telling you that he’s not my boyfriend,” I say, rolling my eyes and resisting the urge to look up and track Cash’s movements.

“Then explain why he’s banned everyone from hitting on you.”

My cheeks heat at her words. “That’s just a rumor,” I argue, dragging the rag aggressively over the stain. “I don’t know who the hell started it, but Cash has not banned anyone from hitting on me.”

I mean, I do find it a bit odd that not a single man has approached me in the year I have been working at the bar, but then again, I am not the best at reading people and might’ve missed it. All the other girls at the bar get their fair share of attention, but not a single man has ever blatantly tried to flirt with me.

Even so, it’s pretty ridiculous for anyone to assume that Cash is the reason I don’t get hit on by customers. Sure, he pretty much runs the bar, as it’s one of the Steel Order's legitimate businesses, but he can’t exactly control what the customers choose to do. Besides, he has no reason to put that kind of ban on me.

“I think you’re just choosing not to see that Cash has basically laid claim over you.”

“You’re wrong,” I tell her. “Cash is our boss, and you need to stop calling him my boyfriend. What happens if he hears you call him that and gets angry at both of us? We could lose our jobs.”

“Please, we both know Cash would never get mad at you.”

“Lana,” I sigh.

“What? Am I lying? The man hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he walked in, and oh boy, here he comes.”

That is all the warning I get before my nose catches the familiar scent of leather, smoky cedar, and expensive cologne that never fails to make my heart hammer in my chest. There is only one person with the ability to make my pulse leap painfully from something as simple as his scent or voice, and . . .

No, I refuse to think about it.

“You’re late tonight,” I say when he drops his helmet and backpack on the tall seat next to him.

“Got held up with club business,” he replies, sounding tired, and I fight the urge to trace my finger over the lines on his forehead like I would do if we were alone. Our closeness is already giving people the wrong idea, anything more will just fuel the rumors.

“Everything alright?” I ask instead, my voice a little unsteady. I’m not usually this flustered around Cash, but having Lana refer to him as my boyfriend has left me feeling a little unsettled. Normally, I would roll my eyes at the speculations of Cash and I being an item, considering how close we are, but there seems to be something in the air.

Cash, as odd as it may seem, is my best friend. He’s been the closest thing to family I’ve had for the past year.

We met by chance. I was a broke girl looking for a place to nurse my broken heart after losing my father and getting kicked out by my stepfamily the day after my father’s funeral. I didn’t even get a chance to properly mourn my loss, and I was suddenly out on the streets.

A lot of things could have happened to me that night. I could have been kidnapped by right off the streets. I’d heard rumors of human traffickers in Austin. As it was, I was so shocked and upset, I was almost run over—by Cash.

Our first meeting was unconventional, to say the least, as he almost hit me with his bike when I stepped into the road without looking. He barely managed to swerve enough to avoid me and nearly crashed his bike in the process. I remember him angrily climbing off his bike and coming at me, ready to scold me for jaywalking and risking my life, but the moment he saw my face, he stopped. I don’t know what came over me, but I fell into the his arms and bawled like a child. I recall Cash awkwardly wrapping his arms around me to offer comfort, clearly caught off guard. But even when I finally stopped crying, he didn’t leave. No, Cash gave me a place to stay when I told him I had nowhere else to go, and a few days later, he got me a job. When I asked why, he simply said it was because he could, and it’s what he’d want someone to do for his sister, if he had one.

It’s been a year since that fateful night, and I’ve now come to terms that this is my life and Cash is my family, which makes these feelings that I’ve been fighting back since the day we met wrong.

I can’t think of Cash as anything more than my best friend and boss.

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