“Where’s yours?”
“I don't wear a helmet.” The helmet got caught on her ponytail as I tried sliding it down her head. “Here.”
I pulled the band from her hair and was struck by the sugary scent of her as the breeze pushed her loose hair into my face. I pulled the helmet down and opened the mask. Her bright blue eyes saw right through me.
“There,” I said. “Now, hop on.”
“How? I don't know where. I don't even- “
I got on to my bike and backed it down my driveway before I glanced at her. I signaled at her with my head and she walked toward me, scared but still sexy enough to set my soul on fire.
“Put your hand here on my shoulder and your foot here. Think of it as a horse. Throw your other leg over the side. There.”
Her hand gripped my shoulders firmly and I turned my head to her. “Settle in. I’m taking you on the ride of your life.”
The roar of the motor filled my head along with my heart. The vibrations went through me as I pulled her hands from my shoulders and settled them around my waist, pulling her in so she understood to hang on.
“Trust me?” I yelled over my shoulder.
The gentle bumps of the helmet along my shoulder was my only answer. I took the opposite way out of town. Far away from Main Street and the feed store so there were less peeping toms to try and guess what blondie was on the back of my hog.
Grace was still wound up; I could feel it in her death grip but I hoped once we hit the interstate she would mellow. Her bare legs settled around me, her body pressed against mine and it felt damn good to have her on the back of my bike.
Damn good.
I could only hope she enjoyed the ride as much as me. Ten minutes into our ride, her grip around my waist relaxed. She stayed close though and at times I felt her legs tighten around me, squeezing me as I throttled down the engine or we weaved past a car.
I eventually pulled over at a gas station to fill up and get us a drink. She pulled the helmet off faster than I could park the bike.
“That is amazing!” She squeaked into my ear. “I was so nervous at first. But there’s nothing else like it, Maverick. The wind against my body, how I feel like I'm flying along the highway leaving all the cars behind and you-”
I hopped off the bike and took the helmet from her, setting it on the back. Her energy ran through my blood and I was pleased with myself. Score one for me.
“And me what?”
“You feel good,” she blushed.
She was so beautiful sitting there in her shorts and white top. Her blonde hair blew slightly in the breeze. Her eyes matched the sky and she was so full of sunshine, I couldn't stop myself from kissing her right there next to the pump with the smell of gas all around us.
Her lips were soft and gentle. Unsure if she should take what I was offering. Then she parted her mouth and hummed low in her throat and my tongue tasted hers. She was sugar. My sugar. At least for today. I could believe in today. The gas pump clicked off and I pulled back. She stared at me in wonder, as if she, too, knew I was going to give myself and her this day to be filled with sunshine and whatever else she wanted to fill it with.
“Where to next, Maverick?”
“You put your helmet back on and I’ll go get us a drink. Then I have a place in mind we could go.”
I left her with the wheels turning in her head and a smile on her face. When I returned, her helmet was secure I shoved our drinks into one of the saddlebags and I tore ass out of there and back onto the interstate. The place I had in mind wasn't far. Thirty minutes tops. I took that time to enjoy the ride as well as my riding companion.
I gripped her leg with my hand, chuckling at myself when it caused her to jump. She tightened her grip on my waist, nestled her head against my back and stayed that way until I pulled off the interstate and found the small, familiar road I was looking for.
Hidden amongst the trees, low in a valley, there was a place I’d found years and years ago when I lost Candi and our son. I named him Corey because they needed something for his death. And since Candi and I were waiting until she gave birth to find out what we were having, we hadn’t settled on any names. Corey was one name we both had liked but couldn't decide whether it fit a boy or girl. In the end, I was happy with my choice.
I’d come to this spot regularly after I lost them. Less and less through the years. I managed to come out here every few months or so just to sit. Not think. Let go of life being a bitch and all that. I pulled the bike to a stop, parking it beneath a grove of trees to stay cool under the shade. Once again Grace had already pulled her helmet off before she was off the bike.
“What is this place?”
“I’ll show you.” I grabbed our drinks and a small container of bait I’d picked up from the store. She didn't know it yet, but we were going fishing.
Off the street, on a small path so surrounded by trees it was hard to find, I led my sunshine down to the lake. The trees thinned out, leaving a natural enclave of boulders to sit on right next to the edge of the crystal-clear water. We could walk in along the edge or cast out from here. It was good enough for some fishing.
“It's beautiful. So quiet here.”
“It is. Ever fished?” I asked her as I pulled my fishing pole out from behind a fallen log.
“A few times with my brother. When we were younger. Do you just keep that here? Aren't you afraid someone will steal it?”
“No one’s going to come out here. Besides, it's not the greatest pole I’ve got. You wanna give it a try?” I cocked my head toward the lake.
“I’ll just watch for now. How’d you find this place? It's so remote.”
I took a practice cast, reeled the line in and then baited my hook and cast it out into the lake. Once settled, I answered her. “I found it when Candi died.”
“Oh. I'm sorry I asked.”
I shrugged. “You don’t have to be sorry every time I bring her up. Besides, you’re always talking up a storm in my garage. Why are you so quiet out here?”
“Honestly because it’s perfect. This spot, the ride, the way you’re acting. I’m afraid to mess it up.”
I grabbed a hold of her hand, threading her small fingers through mine and we sat down together where I’d set my pole. Close enough to grab it in case I got a bite.
“I have my moments,” I teased, knowing exactly what she was referring to.
“Is that right? They’re so few and far between.”
“I don't know the first thing about normal. Candi was normal. That part of my life was normal and it got taken away from me. Thatcher is about as close as normal gets for me. And you.”
“Normal is boring. Am I really that normal?” she whined.
“Princess, you’re far from boring, I promise you that. There was a time I thought you were boring and uptight. Now that I'm getting to know you, I realize you're neither things. Well, maybe a little uptight, but nothing ole Cap here can't shake up.”
I scooted closer to her, craving her touch, knowing that in order to give into my perfect day of sunshine, I had to show her I meant it. That I wanted it. I wrapped my arm around her, meeting her sultry gaze as I moved her in between my legs so that her back rested against my chest.
“Is this okay?” I whispered into her ear.
“It's perfect.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“What do you want to know? My life is an open book.”
“That's what you want people to think, but I don't believe it for a minute.”
“What do you want to know?” She pressed her back into me, urging me to go on. I kept an eye on my fishing reel as I enjoyed this moment. The way her little body fit between my legs. How natural it felt to have her against me. I dipped my head into her hair and breathed her scent in.
“Who do you talk to besides me?”
“What do you mean? Thatcher, Abby, my parents-”
“No, I mean, really talk to. Confide in. Don't you have anyone? What about
Joel from the gas station?” I teased. Teased but was dying to know how far their relationship stretched.
“Oh, you were listening to mine and Lorna’s conversation at the barbeque. Not Joel. Never. No one, I guess. Thatcher on some occasions, but if you mean do I have anyone I tell all of my deepest darkest secrets to, then no. I don't have anyone.”
“Why not?”
“I don't know. I've never been particularly close to my parents. My mom, well, she’s drunk all the time and annoying as hell. She thinks everything is about her. You know she wanted me to take a day off the last week of school to help her decorate for a luncheon at their house? And when I told her I was working she had the gall to get upset and asked me to think about it? Who knows what my dad thinks. All he cares about is money. They are those types of people that would have been fine not having children. Besides them, you already know about the women I work with. I don't trust the majority of them.”
“So that leaves me?”
She turned in my arms, looking into my eyes. “No, it doesn't leave you. I find that you're very easy to talk to. Especially when I do all the talking,” she chided.
“You don't have some fantasy in your mind that I'm like those guys in the books you read, do you?”
“Those guys, even though they’re sexy, they don't treat their ‘old ladies’ very nice.”
I laughed at the way she made air-quotes with the phrase.
“They don't. Sometimes they treat them nice, but they talk mean to them. Call them bitches, tell them what to do. You aren't like that, right Maverick?”
“I think you know the answer to that already. Why do you keep reading them then?”
“Because the sex is so good. Like turns you on, sort of good.”
“Wicked good.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“And these?” I slid my palms up her chest, cupping her generous tits in both hands. My mouth was on her neck as I gloried in the way she felt, “Who taught you not to like these?”
“It's two-fold really. My back hurts a lot and I can never find bras or tops that fit well. People look at me. They always stare at me. Like how can a little girl like me have such big boobs? Some have even had the audacity to ask me that.”
I moved my hands away, my fishing pole bobbing a little and I made a move to pick it up so I could check the line.
“Don't you, Maverick? Don't you wonder why they’re so big?”
I glanced at the topic of discussion. “No. I never question that at all. I love’em. I told you I think they’re perfect. I meant it.”
I reeled the line in and put more bait on the hook. I didn't like how part of her was on display for the world non-stop even though she covered them and that other people made her uncomfortable with her own body. I was instantly territorial like I had some ownership over the whole situation. As if I could protect her.
Today I could ward off her self-consciousness.
While I was letting my guard down.
“I want to have them reduced.”
That stopped me mid-cast. The bait and hook landing closer to the edge than I would have liked. I reeled it in again, chewing on this information.
“What stops you?” I flipped the pole up, jerked the rod, let the line fly. Plop! Down it went until I set the reel.
“Too nervous, I guess. And the fact that I would have to go alone. It's not something I want Thatcher to take me to.”
“I get that. What about Abby?”
“Maybe in time. Hopefully our sister status will change and deepen over time. Just isn't quite there yet.”
“It's understandable. You amaze me, Grace. You’re so damn confident, it’s a surprise how you won’t just march in there and demand the surgery.” I gazed at her as she stood and looked out across the lake like there was something worthy of seeing out there. No boats, no people, just the sound of mallards honking as they flew above us, dipping into the water every so often.
The sunlight cast its glow on her head, lighting up her hair in a mane of sparkling diamonds. Her side profile showcased her body perfectly. The smooth curves of legs and roundness of her ass. Her flat stomach and straight spine. The expansive curves of her chest. I finally, fully understood why she treated them like Fort Knox.
Was this what it felt like to have feelings for someone again?
I felt solitude. Contentment. Beauty that ran blood deep. Grace and poise. An attraction that went beyond fucking her.
It blew me away that she filled the boots of her name. She owned it. It wasn't like her name fit her. It was she who fit the name.
“Why?” she asked.
Why what? I groaned, “You amaze me with the kind of person you are. Your entire personality is….happiness. It astounds me. Fuck, Grace, you don't need anyone to go with you to do something like that. It's all in here.”
I pointed to her head. My pole bobbed again, this time the tip bowed forward and I jerked it back before quickly reeling it in.
“Oh my gosh, you caught a fish!” she pouted.
“That’s the idea.”
“Hurry get it. Are you hurting it? Is it going to die?”
Jesus. I rolled my eyes and took the little fish off the hook. Too small to keep even if I had a cooler. I threw it back into the water.
“Will it survive?”
“I thought you’ve fished before? It’ll be fine. It's just a fish.”
“I know. It's just sad. Floating along, enjoying life, thinking it's going to have a nice snack and bam, a hook stuck in his flesh. It must hurt them.”
I didn't bother baiting the hook after that. I set the pole down and reached for her. My mouth hovered over her lips as I asked her, “What do you want to do next, Gracie?”
Chapter Thirteen
Grace
There were a lot of things I wanted to do with Maverick right now. The ride here had revved me up into a hot mess – the vibrations alone were something unexpected. That wasn’t to mention the way my legs were spread around him the entire time. I hadn't spent a day like this with anyone in a long while. With his lips hovering a hair’s width from mine, I could think of only one thing I wanted to do.
So, I did it.
I pressed my lips into his. Wrapped my arms around his neck like this was going to be my last chance at having him all to myself and I held on for the ride. Scorching. Tantalizing. Fierce. His hands cupped my butt and pulled me up into a carrying position, with my legs going around his waist.
He was rock hard between my legs and I prayed for this to be the moment where Maverick would follow through on our agreement. Only today hadn't felt like an agreement at all. It never felt forced or planned. It didn't feel like either one of us was trying to appease the other.
We were simply doing what felt right.
And oh, God, how this felt right.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
Home. I know he didn't mean it the way it sounded but the term rolling off his lips almost made me weep. Home. A place I’d never shared with someone who cared enough about me. Would Maverick be that person?
I slid down the length of him and watched his large hand grab himself over his denim and adjust himself. Aside from hearing him have sex that night, it may have been the hottest thing I’d ever witnessed. A vision of him naked flitted through my mind. Completely naked. Grabbing a hold of himself that way for me to…touch…taste…I wasn't sure but the idea of maybe seeing how it would feel in my mouth suddenly didn't seem like such a terrible idea.
Maybe.
“I'm not fucking you tonight Grace so get that expression off your face.”
That snapped me back to reality. “What?” I asked completely astonished. How could he touch me the way he’s been all day and announce that?
“I'm not going through with our agreement. Changed my mind.”
“You’re fucking serious right now, Maverick?”
“Trying to be.”
“No. What is it? Are you back to thinking I'm your best friend’s lit
tle sister? That I’m too good for you?”
It was a good thing we were out here in the middle of nowhere with the way my voice was rising. I was so hot and turned on one minute and the next, he had me so upset.
“That would be a no and a no.”
“Really? What else could it be then? Oh, my gosh. It's because I want to get my chest done, isn't it?”
“Bullshit. Don't put words in my mouth.”
“It is. You only want them if they’re big and obnoxious, don't you? Fuck you, Maverick. How could you do this to me? Here. This one is for you then! Seeing as how you will never get to touch them again, that you will no longer think they’re perfect,” I cried as I pulled my shirt up and over my head exposing my bra, knowing there wasn’t a soul that could see us out here.
“Don't do this, Grace.” He acted so calm like I wasn't calling him out in the right way and it hurt me even more. “Put your fucking shirt back on.”
“No. You want to see them. Fine they’re all yours. Have a look, you bastard.” And I flipped the clasps apart in the back, yanking the bra off my shoulders and throwing it to the floor much like a child did with her favorite toy when she had a tantrum.
“What the fuck, Grace?” He looked around us as if someone might be out here with us and stomped toward me. “Put this back on. Those are not why I changed my mind.”
“No. Stop, Maverick. Have a look. It's what you want, isn't it?”
Maverick stood a foot from me, his eyes blazed with fury. My chest rose and fell, heaving because I was so upset. Angry that I trusted him. Angry at myself.
His blazing eyes fell to my chest and his eyes softened. “Fuck, Grace.”
I looked down, wondering what he saw. Did he see my imperfections? The stretch marks along my skin, the beauty mark above my left breast, just as I saw them? What I could see of them without a mirror.
“We need to get something clear first.” His tone was firm. Bossy. The same tone he’d used with me weeks ago when I’d begged him to help me with Echo.
“What?” I sassed.
“I want you, Grace. All of you. But these aren't why I want you. If these weren't the same size or shape, whatever, it doesn't fucking matter. Don't you understand? Do I think they’re perfect? Hell, yeah. Am I going to leave marks on them from my mouth? Fuck yeah. Do I want you to be happy? Yes, goddamn it. You got so angry when you blamed me for assuming that you were judging me, why don't you take a page from your own book? Get the surgery! It’s not going to change the way I look at you. Being with you, sexually, will be more than just sex. And I’m not sure I’m ready for more.”
Wicked: A Small Town Romance (Love in Lone Star Book 3) Page 13
