“Let’s do it.” She said before swinging her leg over the side of my Harley.
She looked over her shoulder at me, and my breath hitched at the beauty.
Her mid back length hair was in soft curls, haloing her face. The small of her back was showing, and I could just make out the tiniest bit of pink where her jeans gaped slightly on her back. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, which I liked, and her mouth was curved in to a knowing smile as she saw the direction of my stare.
“I want to eat at Hooters.” She announced.
“Really?” I asked, as I took the black helmet with the pink skull on the side into my hands. I’d picked it up at The Harley Shop on my way home yesterday evening, knowing when I’d seen it that it would be perfect for her. I’d also gotten her a leather jacket, just in case.
“Here. Let’s get this on.” I instructed as I placed the helmet on her head.
“Where’s yours?” She asked as she fastened the strap underneath her chin.
“I don’t wear one.” I said as I reached into my saddle bag and produced the leather jacket.
She squealed in delight, and I helped her into it as well. Then she sobered when she remembered what I’d just said.
“Why don’t you wear a helmet?” She asked with great concern.
“I just don’t. Never have. I don’t like the way it feels.” I told her as I swung my leg over the bike and settled in front of her.
“You really won’t like the way it feels when you have your head smashed open or your brain swelling because you didn’t wear your helmet.” She snapped, making me realize that she didn’t like the fact that I didn’t wear a helmet.
“You’re worried about me?” I asked as I stuck the key into the ignition.
I waited for her answer as I reached behind me to the back of Baylee’s thighs and pulled her in snug to my back. Once in the desired position, I took both of her reluctant arms and wrapped them around my torso tight.
“Yes, I don’t want you hurt. I really wish you’d wear a helmet.” She pleaded.
I hated helmets, but if it made her happy, I’d go get one as soon as I could. “I will as soon as I see a place to get one.” I conceded.
“Good.” She said and then squealed as the motor revved to life, and evened out with a throaty growl.
Her arms tightened around my chest, and I could feel the anticipation quivering through her limbs. Her body was positively plastered to mine, and I gave my own involuntary shiver.
I hadn’t had anybody on the back of my bike since the accident that killed Lindsey. Although it wasn’t my fault, and I knew it, I still had misgivings about riding double with anybody. Hell, I’d been that way before Lindsey. The one time I let someone ride on the back of my bike, she’d died.
Baylee mistook my shiver for pleasure, and she laughed before patting my tummy. “Take me for a ride, big boy.”
With my heart in my throat, I set off at an extremely sedate pace. My vision sharpened, my hearing became hyperaware. By the time we’d made it out of her neighborhood and onto the main road that would lead us straight to the interstate, my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating; however, not with fear anymore, but with anticipation. And, surprisingly, contentment.
Baylee always made me feel differently than other women did. So why wouldn’t she help me through my fear of riding double, too?
Instead of taking the actual Interstate, I took the feeder road that ran beside the interstate. Both for her benefit and mine. Even though it added an extra twenty minutes on to the drive.
When we finally pulled up into the Boardwalk’s parking lot that would lead us to Hooters, I felt almost languid.
The motor turned off, and it clicked as the heated engine cooled. “Well, how was it?” I asked her, running my palm on the outside of her leg, from ass to knee.
“Umm, it wasn’t too bad, to be honest. My heart stopped slamming against my ribs once we reached the feeder road along the interstate. Thanks for taking that way.” She expressed, as she finally loosened her arms from around my torso.
“Wasn’t only for your benefit, honey. I don’t let people ride with me all that often.” I said as I stood, swinging my leg off the bike.
More like never, but she didn’t need to know that. She might not get back on with me for the ride home.
“Well, thank you anyway.” She said, unfastening her helmet and handing it to me.
I took it and offered her my hand. She thanked me again, offered her own hand, and I pulled her gently to help her off. I held on, though, because it was likely her legs resembled jelly at the moment.
I set the helmet on one of the handlebars, pocketed my keys, and wrapped her hand around my bicep.
“Oh, man. My legs feel like they’re still vibrating.” She laughed as she shook out her long legs.
I kept ahold of her, and guided her through the throng of parked cars to the Boardwalk’s entrance. “Have you ever been here before?” I asked.
“Nope. Winter told me I needed to come. I’m not much of a shopper, though. Well, in person at least. I could kill an online sale.” She joked as she took in the sights.
“What’s that over there?” She asked, indicating the spread of boats across the river.
The Boardwalk was a spread of shops that ran along the Red River. It had a bunch of restaurants, as well as shops. Mostly, it was for the daytime entertainment. The real fun was across the river where the casinos and subsequent riverboats, as well as adult entertainment, was located. The Boardwalk was the sedate, family oriented side compared to the other that saw more of the night action.
“Those are the river boats. The casinos are located in them.” I told her.
“Why?” She asked, perplexed.
I led her to the wall that blocked anyone from taking a plunge into the murky depths of the Red River before explaining. “Laws. They didn’t want a ton of casinos spread out everywhere. So they allowed them to have a casino on a boat since it kept the casino pretty much dedicated to one area. They’d set sail for a couple hours, and then return to port. Then, over time, they didn’t make the boat actually set sail. The boats just became a permanent fixture at the dock, and the bigger hotel parts of the casino were built on the river front, and had a connection leading towards the boat.
“Hmm.” She said, pursing her lips. “That must be why they can have them on the reservations back home.”
I nodded in confirmation, but didn’t say anything.
Baylee looked absolutely beautiful in that moment. Not that she wasn’t usually beautiful, only this time it was different. What made this moment different was a multitude of things. The sun setting at her back made her skin seem to glow. Her hair flying around her from the breeze coming off the river. Her eyes alight with knowledge. Her smile. She looked positively stunning.
In that moment, I was lost. I had to kiss her.
Leaning forward, I captured her lips with my own.
At first, I’d only meant it to be a small kiss. A prelude to things to come. But that didn’t factor in with the force that was Baylee.
Baylee’s groan, followed by her hands fisting in my t-shirt, made me lose that moderation of decorum I was holding on to so desperately. My own hands fisted into her hair, forcing her mouth to remain against mine as I took her. Because that was what it was: a taking.
My tongue plunged into her mouth, doing what it wanted to do for weeks. The sexy little messages, and the sly glances, as well as the dip in the lake they’d taken two weeks ago was nothing compared to this. And I was doing nothing but kissing her.
Thoroughly.
Her lips tasted like green apples, which I’d figured out when I traced her lips with the tip of my tongue. Her own tongue came out to meet my own, and they tangled in the depths of her mouth.
She sucked my lip into her mouth, and then bit down gently, pulling it with the tips of her bright white teeth.
A crowing teenage boy’s shout forced us to disentangle ourselves from each othe
r. Panting from desire, my eyes flicked sideways, and I realized that we’d drawn a crowd. Fuck, there was even one man who was taking a picture with his phone.
“Oops.” I said as I turned my eyes back to her.
Her lips were puffy from my mouth’s assault, and her cheeks were flushed. “That’s okay. I’ve wanted that for weeks now. It was worth the wait.”
My lips turned up at the side. “You ready to eat?”
She nodded, still panting, and disengaged her body from my own. I pulled her back though.
“I’m gonna need you to walk in front of me for a few. I got a little excited, and that man taking the pictures would probably post a picture of my dick on the internet if he saw it right now.” I teased.
She gave me a dazzling smile, and took my hand, leading the way to Hooter’s. “I’ve never been to Hooter’s. How’s the food?”
I snorted. “Their hot wings are delicious.”
In all honesty, no one went to Hooter’s for their hot wings, no matter who told you they did. They went for the tight shorts, the low cut shirts, and the boobs. No if’s, and’s, or but’s. Now, who the hell knew why women went. Maybe it was for a comparison. I didn’t know. All I knew, was that if my wife or girlfriend worked at Hooter’s, they wouldn’t be my wife or girlfriend anymore.
I didn’t like to share. And looking meant sharing. And particularly not with Baylee.
“Why do you want to go to Hooter’s?” I asked as my dick finally went down enough for me to walk beside Baylee instead of behind her.
“I want a shirt.” She shrugged.
“That’s it?” I asked as we reached the door to the fine establishment.
“Yeah, I like tank tops. I bet they have some cute ones.” She admitted.
I could understand that. I’d never seen a woman outside of working at Hooter’s actually wearing a t-shirt, but hell, if she wanted one, she’d get one. I’d make sure of it.
We stopped at the hostess stand, Baylee’s eyes wide as she took in the attire of those that worked there. “Wow, those are really short.” She observed.
“Yep.” I nodded as my eyes followed one woman’s stroll through the room towards the hostess stand.
Then I cursed as I recognized her. Motherfucker. Why couldn’t that girl stay the fuck away from me?
“Sebastian!” Shannon squealed and wrapped herself around me.
I held a death grip on Baylee’s hand, even after she started to yank at it. She glared at me, and I gave her a pleading look.
“Shannon.” I said while pushing her bodily away.
“What are you doing here? Did you come to see me?” She asked, practically bouncing up and down on her feet.
I gritted my teeth, and pulled Baylee close to my body so my arm was wrapped around her waist. “I didn’t know you worked here. I’m here on a date with my woman.”
Baylee relaxed when she noted the tone I’d used with Shannon, and the fact that I’d called her ‘my woman.’
Shannon’s face deflated. Hopefully she finally realized that I wasn’t interested in her.
“Can we have a seat towards the back, please?” I asked Shannon, gesturing towards the back of the restaurant where there would be less traffic and less potential to be near Shannon.
“Sure.” she said, picking up two menus and walking in front of us towards the table I’d indicated.
Luckily, she left as soon as she set the menus down, leaving us in blissful silence. For a whole two point five seconds.
“Wasn’t that the girl I saw all over you at that party a few weeks ago?”
I swallowed the bubble of laughter that threatened to spill out of my throat and nodded. “Yep, she’s Kettle’s sister. She doesn’t know when to back the fuck off, either.”
“You didn’t look like you were trying all that hard to accomplish that amazing feat.” She accused.
I sighed. “She’s like a little puppy dog. One of the ones that just begs for any sort of attention. It’s hard to tell her no, because she just does that big eye thing and cries. Then Kettle gets pissed that his baby sister is crying. Although, I’m not sure he realizes that she’s working here. He’s going to flip.”
She nodded in understanding. “I used to have a friend like that. It was incredibly hard to tell her no when she gave me that look.”
We both fell silent as the waitress, all of eighteen, at most, came up to our table. She was dressed in the patented orange pants, white, skintight tank that was tucked into the so-called pants, and white shoes. “Hi, my name’s Mallory. Can I interest you both in a beer?” She asked as she flipped her bleached blond shoulder length hair around.
I turned my gaze from the waitress to Baylee and raised his eyes in question.
“I’ll have a Coca Cola, please.” She said.
The waitress turned to me next. “Same.”
Mallory smiled so wide I could see her gums. “How about an appetizer?”
“We haven’t even gotten a chance to look at the menu. Come back in a little bit.” I said, barely withholding my irritation.
“Okay!” She said cheerfully, taking off with a bounce in her step.
Baylee contained her laughter for all of five seconds. “How old do you think she is?”
“Nineteen, maybe.” I said, opening the menu.
“Nah, she’s at least thirty.” She said confidently.
I looked up from my menu, looking at her skeptically. “You’re wrong. She’s still a teenager.”
“No, really. She’s got to be older than that.” She emphasized.
Menu forgotten, I sat back and eyed her. “Why?”
“She has a butt flap. Women with butt flaps aren’t teenagers. I bet she’s even had a kid or two.” She nodded, laughing at my incredulous expression.
“What, exactly, is a butt flap?” I asked finally.
“It’s when there’s like a small fold of skin in between the ass and the thighs. Younger people don’t have that.”
Skeptically, I turned to eye the waitress who was now filling up our drinks. Sure enough, her ass did have a tiny bit of ‘flap’ to it.
“I cannot believe it.” I said, turning back to Baylee.
She laughed at me.
After we’d polished off our drinks, food, and dessert, I finally got the nerve up to ask her something that’d been on my mind for the last week.
“I have to make a run up to Oklahoma for a personal errand this weekend. Are you working?” I asked her.
Baylee’s eyes looked worried, as she hesitantly answered, “No.”
“Want to come with me?” I asked.
“As long as you get me home Monday morning by eight. That’s when my shift starts.” She agreed readily.
Chapter 10
Keep the fights clean and the sex dirty.
-Keys to a healthy relationship
Baylee
“What are you doing, exactly?” Winter asked as I jumped in to the passenger’s seat of the rig.
I turned my face towards Winter’s, and shrugged. “I don’t know. He just asked me if I wanted to go, and I said yes.”
The sound of an incoming call postponed Winter’s next question.
“Medic three, we have a possible heart attack at Brookshire’s grocery store.” The dispatcher called over the radio.
Picking up the handheld radio, I confirmed. “Medic three responding.”
Flipping on the lights and sirens, Winter navigated throughout the busy lunchtime traffic, bypassing slower moving cars as she went.
“What the hell, people. It’s an ambulance, not a tank. Just move over slowly, we’re not going to run you over.” Winter grumbled as a person that was in the turn lane to their right whipped over to the shoulder, nearly clipping the ambulance’s left fender.
I snorted. “Yeah right. It’s like we freak out or something when we see the sirens and lights. Their brain doesn’t work anymore. At least that one tried to get over. What about the ones that just stay in the lane and expect you to miraculo
usly hop over them?”
Another person we drove up on started weaving and darting from one side to the other, panicking as Winter pulled up behind them. “Fuck.” Winter growled, as she slowed down while I turned off the lights and sirens.
Most of the time, people were able to function around an ambulance. They moved over to the side and slowed down. However, every once in a while, there were ones like this guy that just sort of froze and freaked. According to the Protocol, the best thing for us to do was turn off the lights and sirens and wait for the driver to get their shit under control again.
Not that it wasn’t tempting to ride their ass. Most of the time, without the lights and sirens scaring them, they got their shit under control and moved over. Then we’d hit the sirens and lights, and proceed to our destination.
However, other times, just like this one, the guy didn’t get out of freak mode, and stayed right the hell in the middle of our way.
“Alright, buddy. You just stay there and we’ll be okay.” Winter murmured, as she moved to the turn lane to pass the obstinate man.
“I wish it played ‘Move Bitch, get out da’ way’ instead of these sirens.” I muttered darkly, making Winter bellow in laughter.
Everything worked out, and we passed him without harm, arriving at the Brookshire’s within five minutes of the call.
It was easy to find the patient. The large crowd was gathered around him, frantically waving their arms and legs, yelling that ‘he’s over here.’
I had always wanted to tell them that they didn’t have to wave like that. Paramedics and firefighters weren’t stupid. We could spot the person lying on the floor from across the room, but whatever.
The moment we set our equipment down, it was immediately apparent that the man was in a ton of pain. His head was in his hands, and he was rocking back and forth on his knees. His daughter and wife were at his side. The daughter looked to be about seventeen or so, and the mom in her late forties, early fifties.
“Sir, can you tell me what’s wrong?” Winter asked, as I took his vitals.
He swallowed hard, tried to speak, but then doubled over in pain.
The wife was the one to speak next. “He’s been complaining about a headache. It’s gotten progressively worse since it started about two hours ago.”
Lights to My Siren Page 9
