by Kat Mizera
“Do you have any of your books?” he asked amiably. “I want to see one.”
“I have all of them. Hang on.” She put everything in the sink and led him into her family room. She had a box of books that had been delivered just yesterday that she needed to take to Europe with her, but she hadn’t gotten around to signing them yet. “There are four of them in here. Go ahead and look through them while I put the dishes in the dishwasher.”
“It was a dark and stormy night…” he teased, pretending to read.
“You obviously don’t like your dick as much as I do,” she called over her shoulder.
6
Jared glanced in the direction she’d gone but opted not to say what was on his mind. He was genuinely enjoying spending time with her and those damn scones had been worth every extra minute he was going to have to work out at the gym.
“I like my dick just fine,” he muttered, opening the first book he picked up. It was called Petra and Her Phantom and he opened to the first page curiously. Romance wasn’t his thing, but she obviously had something going for her if that many people bought her books.
The worst time of her life began on a proverbial stormy night. As the rain pelted against her thin denim jacket, Petra Hastings hurried across the street to stand under the overhang of the closed general store. Not that it would help much since it was practically raining sideways. How the hell had she wound up in this one-horse town with nothing but the clothes on her back and a cell phone with a deader-than-dead battery?
“Read anything you like?” Renee asked, startling him back to the present.
“I kind of want to know what’s gonna happen,” he admitted sheepishly. “What was her bad experience?”
“I guess you’ll have to read it to find out.” She laughed, settling on the couch. “Take it. My gift to you.”
“I thought the scones were a gift,” he responded, sinking down next to her.
“Well, it was really a gift for me, since if you hadn’t eaten some of them I might have eaten them all and that wouldn’t have been good for my figure. The older I get, the more careful I have to be.”
“Oh, please, you can’t be a day over…” His voice trailed off. “Wait. You have a daughter in college? So she’s eighteen?”
“Nineteen. I’m thirty-nine.”
“For real?” He cocked his head. “If it wasn’t for the grown kid thing, I would have said thirty, maybe thirty-two. You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes met his. “You know you don’t have to work this hard, Jared. Did Andra say something?”
“Huh?” He was genuinely confused. “About what?”
“Did she send you over here today to make sure we were good and that there wouldn’t be any awkwardness when we inevitably run into each other again? Because I’m a grown woman and I don’t need my hand held after a night of casual sex.”
“There was nothing casual about the way you came all over my face last night, baby.” He leaned back, the ripples of muscles in his shoulders moving through the fabric of his shirt. “And while, now that you mention it, she probably did send me over here for just that reason, she didn’t say it and I didn’t think about anything except the chance to get your number. Because while there’s nothing wrong with casual sex, there’s definitely something wrong with not having more really great sex.”
Her breath got a little choppy, as if she was having a little trouble breathing, and it made him smile. Was she thinking about last night the way he was?
“Nothing?” he asked after a moment. “It wasn’t great sex?”
“Uh, no, I mean, yes…” She flushed. “It was incredibly great sex, I just…” Her voice trailed off as if she had no idea what to say. The color on her cheeks said it all, though.
“You want some more?” he coaxed, loving the different emotions moving across her face. She was definitely thinking about last night because her eyes were a little glassy, just like when she came, but then her cheeks had turned pink, which meant she was embarrassed. Obviously, she was struggling with the strong, independent woman who wanted more sex and the insecure, lonely one who didn’t want to show him any of her vulnerabilities. Hell, he dealt with some of that same confusion himself sometimes. Not usually when it came to sex, but with life in general.
“I don’t want to start something neither of us is going to be comfortable with,” she whispered. “I’m leaving for Switzerland in a week or so and—”
“So am I,” he mused. “Where are you going?”
“Lugano.” She furrowed her brow. “You?”
He burst out laughing. “It cannot possibly be that small of a world.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. My buddy Fab lives there and he runs a hockey clinic in Lucerne every summer. I usually go help out. He was a veteran player when I was starting out in my career and we’ve stayed friends. His son, Zio, is my godson.”
“Fab and Zio?”
“Fabrizio and Fabrizio, Jr.—Fab and Zio. We usually hang out with the family a little; then we head to Lucerne for the clinic and do that for two weeks. I think we’re going to do some kind of hiking and trekking tour of the Swiss Alps, but we haven’t decided any details yet.”
“Daisy and I are going to explore some of the local areas and then spend time in Greece, Italy, and maybe end in the south of France. We’re going to wing it.”
“Is she coming home to the U.S. at all?”
Renee nodded. “Yes, for a couple of weeks so she can go to a few doctor’s appointments, see some friends and stock up on things she’ll need that she can’t get over there. You wouldn’t believe how important certain brands of shampoo are to a teenage girl.”
He grimaced. “No, I probably can’t.”
“She’s a good kid, but I definitely spoiled her. It was hard, you know? No dad in the picture, and in the beginning, we were broker than broke. She was still practically a baby, just three when my husband died, so it’s been the two of us for most of her life. She had two sets of grandparents in the beginning, but they’ve been gone for a while too. I did my best, but when I started making money it was hard not to give her all the things I’d never had.”
“Are you close?”
Renee seemed to hesitate. “We were. But she went a little wild her senior year. A lot of partying and sneaking out; she got a fake I.D. and started going down to the Strip, drinking a lot. I finally had to lay down some rules and told her she had one year in Switzerland before the money store closed up shop. Her first semester was rough, but when I told her there would be no more money, at all, until her grades came up, things turned around a little. Her second semester was great—I just got her grades—so we agreed I’d come to Switzerland as soon as I got this next book done so we could talk about what’s next. Hopefully, we’ll be able to reconnect again. I think she’s met someone, but she hasn’t said much. We’ll see.”
“Nineteen is a tough age. Zio is twenty and Fab said they had a rough few years. I never saw it, of course, because he’s always on his best behavior for me, but you know how it is. I’m like the fun uncle.”
“If Zio is twenty…how old are you?”
“Thirty-five. Zio was three when I was a rookie and I lived with Fab and his wife that season. Zio and I became besties, so when they got ready to baptize him the next summer, they asked me to be his godfather.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, they’re friends that are like family.”
“It’s nice to have those.”
“It is.” He paused. “Do you?”
“Have friends like family? A few. I didn’t have a lot of time to foster those types of relationships while I was raising Daisy, you know? When I finally got a bestseller about eight years ago, I started to make a lot of money, but it took a lot of work to get there and keep it up. I work fifty or sixty hours a week most of the time, more if I’m on a deadline, which leaves very little time for any kind of personal life.”
“I can relate, bu
t trying to write and sell books while being a single mom sounds unbelievably hard. Harder than being a hockey player with no one to worry about but himself, for sure.”
“You do what you have to do to survive, you know?”
He nodded, staring out the window thoughtfully. “Hey, do you own jeans?”
“What?” Renee gave him a strange look. “I mean, yes, of course I own jeans. Why?”
“I want to take you for a ride, but you need to wear jeans and bring a jacket.”
“It’s June in Vegas. I don’t usually wear jeans again until fall.”
“Jeans and a lightweight jacket. A windbreaker if you have one.”
“I’m confused,” she said.
“Trust me. I want to show you something.”
“Okay.” She got up slowly. “Give me a few minutes to go change?”
“Sure.” He watched her go and wondered why he’d suddenly wanted to take her for a ride on his new motorcycle. He’d been in L.A. buying the custom-made bike when Brad had called him about the coaching job, so instead of riding it across the country, home to Boston, he’d come here and hadn’t left. He hadn’t had any time to enjoy his new bike and he’d gotten the strangest urge just now to put Renee on the back of it. For some reason, she needed to be the first woman to ride with him. Something about her intrigued him, and even if it was just a summer fling, the picture of her on the back of his bike almost got him hard.
Since the timing for that wasn’t good, he picked up her book again, anxious to distract himself, but also curious about the story.
Soaking wet and shivering so hard she could barely knock, Petra managed to rap her knuckles on the dark oak door.
“Please let someone be home,” she whispered under her breath. She couldn’t take much more of the cold weather and in another few days this cough she’d been fighting would undoubtedly turn into pneumonia. If that happened, she definitely wouldn’t make it back to Florida in time.
“Yes?” A deep baritone rumbled through a crack in the doorway and Petra shivered, although this time she wasn’t sure if it was the cold or sheer panic.
“I, um, I…” Suddenly her vision started to blur and she sank to one knee. “Help me…”
“You ready to go?” Renee came in, amusement in her eyes as she caught him reading again.
“Is this guy gonna hurt her?”
“Huh?” Renee cocked her head. “You mean in the story?”
“Yeah. I’m not liking this knocking on a stranger’s door in the middle of a storm situation. And how old is she?”
Renee bit her lip and then burst out laughing. “You know it’s not real, right?”
“Yeah, but…” He scowled. “What have you done to me? I can’t put it down.”
“And that’s why I make the big bucks.” She tucked her arm through his. “Now, are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Are you going to tell me about this guy Petra just collapsed in front of?”
“Nope. You have to read it.”
“Then no, you have to wait.”
“Cretin.”
“That’s why you like me.”
“That’s one of the reasons.” She snickered as they headed outside.
7
His motorcycle was purple and black, with lots of gleaming chrome and black leather. Renee hadn’t been on the back of one in years and had never been a big fan of them, but something about Jared made the whole thing a lot more enticing. He’d apparently borrowed Andra’s car to bring her the trays since he couldn’t easily carry them on his motorcycle, and they’d stopped at Zakk Cloutier’s house to grab an extra helmet since he was a fellow biker. Now they were standing in front of a beautiful, slightly scary, massive Harley-Davidson and she wasn’t sure what to do.
“Are you afraid?” he asked softly. “I promise, I’m extremely safe and careful. You know my hockey career ended because of a car and motorcycle collision, right?”
She frowned. “No, I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. But my point is, I would never do anything stupid because someone else’s stupidity cost me my career and almost cost me my life. No drinking and driving, no street racing, no speeding around in the rain or snow. I just bought her, literally the day Brad called me to come to Vegas, so I’ve only been on her a few times… Will you take a ride with me?”
Renee swallowed her trepidation and nodded. “Absolutely. I’m a little nervous, but I trust you. Let’s go.”
“You’re awesome.” He leaned over and brushed his lips across her cheek. “All right, since you’re not an experienced rider, there are a few rules. Whatever you do, don’t lean in the opposite direction of the way we’re going. If I lean right, you lean right.”
“Okay.”
“If you have any kind of problem, tap my right shoulder twice. Whether it’s fear or you have to go to the bathroom, whatever.”
“Got it.”
“Just hang on and enjoy, I can handle the rest.”
“Okay.”
“Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“I’ll get on first and you get on behind me. Watch the exhaust pipe on the bottom.” He pointed to it. “Every biker I know has been burned at least once by leaning against it.”
She grimaced.
“Don’t worry, just be cognizant of it as you’re getting on and off.”
“Okay.”
She watched as he expertly swung his leg over the body, straddling it and holding on to the handlebars as he looked over at her. “Is your helmet secure?”
“I think so.”
“Let me check.” He reached out and fiddled with the strap, making sure it was snug, and nodded. “Okay. Hop on.”
She swung her leg over it the way he had and settled on the soft leather. Unsure what to do with her hands, she rested them on either side of his waist and he looked over his shoulder at her.
“Hang on, darlin’.” He revved the engine and pulled onto the street.
Renee’s heart skipped a beat as they picked up speed. Her arms instinctively tightened around him and he briefly patted her hand before turning the corner and heading toward the freeway. Renee had been a teenager the last time she’d been on the back of a motorcycle and it had been with Billy, who hadn’t known what he was doing. It had been fun but scary and they’d both decided motorcycles weren’t for them, especially since she’d gotten pregnant so early on in their marriage.
This was a totally different experience, though, and she took a moment to look around and really appreciate where she was and what she was doing. When was the last time she’d felt so free, so completely unfettered by life? Possibly never. From the time she and Billy had gotten married, there had been stress. Their relationship had been good, but they were broke, both working part-time and going to school. One broken condom changed their lives forever, and while they’d both loved Daisy to pieces, it had been hard.
There was always something to worry about in those days, from money to time alone to working and homework and family obligations. Then suddenly he was gone and she was completely alone. Her parents had been as helpful as they could be, but hadn’t been in the best of health. She’d lost them within five years and while Billy’s parents had been great, his mother had been sickly as well. Her father-in-law had hung on the longest, but Alzheimer’s stole his brain about six years ago and he passed away not long ago.
When Daisy left for college last August, it had been the strangest feeling of freedom and loneliness, so she’d thrown herself into work, pretending men were the last thing on her mind. She’d hooked up with a guy she’d briefly dated about a year ago, when they’d run into each other at a book signing in October, but otherwise she had been in a huge dry spell. Until now. And this was already making her both uncomfortable and excited because she liked Jared. A lot. He brought the kind of excitement to her life she hadn’t felt since she and Billy had fallen in love. Except they weren’t in love and she was on the back o
f a motorcycle going really fast.
They’d picked up speed on the freeway, and though he wasn’t going fast enough to frighten her, it was still faster than anything she’d done before. She didn’t even try to look at the speedometer, instead focusing on how calm she felt, how freeing it was to feel the wind blowing against her, and how Jared’s strong body felt between her legs. Jesus, where had that come from? She’d seen all his muscles firsthand last night and even in the light of day, fully clothed, he was beautiful, strong, and exuded pure masculine heat. She unconsciously clenched her thighs together a little and could have sworn he pressed back against her. Why hadn’t this been as much fun with Billy?
This, she thought as she closed her eyes and pressed the side of her face against his back, was pure heaven. Even though they were undoubtedly going their separate ways in a week or so, she was going to enjoy the hell out of it.
They rode for hours, on the freeway, on side roads, up through a mountain pass he hadn’t even known existed until he’d seen it on a map a week ago. He’d planned to explore it before heading home to Boston but today seemed as good a day as any for that, and Renee had become more and more at ease as the day went on. She was still a little anxious when they took a sharp turn, but for the most part she’d settled in behind him with no issues.
She claimed to be high-maintenance, but she was about as chill as any woman he’d ever known and he enjoyed that immensely. Coupled with their sexual intensity, he wasn’t ready to just write her off as a one-night stand. Not yet anyway.
He slowed to a stop at a red light and looked back at her. “Are you hungry? Want to get some dinner?”
“Sure.”
“Pick a place since I don’t know where anything is.”
