by Shauna Allen
I’m sure u will find a way 2 make it up 2 me ; )
I laughed, my bike rumbling idle underneath me. I’m sure I will ;)
Letting all kinds of delicious ideas for how to repay that woman of mine sift through my mind, I tucked the bag into my backpack, gunned the bike and left for work.
Trace was the only one there when I pulled in, his aqua Chevy parked front and center. I steered to a space near the back bay door and sauntered in with my bag slung over my shoulder.
“Hey, dude.” Trace glanced up from scrolling through his phone, a cup of coffee in his other hand.
“Morning.” I watched him frown at the small screen. “Everything all right?”
“Huh?” He peered up, his face clearing. “Oh. Yeah. Just another email from Ryder’s teacher.”
“Still having issues?” I shoved my bag under the workbench and leaned against the Ford that had been dropped off for a brake job last night.
He sighed and tucked the phone away. “Sounds like it. He’s being disruptive again, talking back to the teacher.” He glanced away and sipped his coffee. “I want to work with them, help him, but I’m not sure how. I know he needs to behave, but I feel like shit that I can’t bring his mom back, and I’m pretty sure that’s where all this is coming from.”
“You have nothing to feel bad about, man. You’re doing a kick ass job being his mother and father. I’ve seen you with him. You’re awesome. Hell, you need a parenting award as far as I’m concerned.”
A small smile floated across his face. “Yeah. Thanks, bro. I appreciate that.”
We let the heavy stuff go and turned our attention to Blake’s latest restoration in the back of the shop. The classic Aston Martin was a thing of beauty. Very James Bond. The shop had been booming ever since he’d sold the Porsche Spyder to auto legend Spark McGraw, especially the resto side of things. Couldn’t complain about being busy. Not about meeting Spark either.
By quittin’ time, I had mowed my way through nearly half the candy bars Rachel had bought me. I was not kind enough to share and I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about it.
I called Rachel on my way outside to head home.
“Hey, you!” She sounded happy to be hearing from me.
“Hey yourself. You still at work?”
“Yes, but I’m about done here.” She paused and drew in a breath. “I asked Angelo and the other partners to buy out my half of the firm today. Officially.”
I straddled my Harley. “Really? How’d that go?”
“About like you’d expect. Not good.” She sounded exhausted all of a sudden. “Angelo said he would, but I have a feeling he won’t make things easy. I need to get out of here.”
“Why don’t you go home, take a bath, then put on something comfortable. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
“Bossy, much?” Her tone was teasing.
“Just a tad.”
“I think I like this side of you.” Now her voice was silky smooth, seductive.
“Good. I’ll see you in an hour.” I hung up before she could decline or tempt me anymore with her flirty innuendoes.
I pulled up to her house exactly an hour later to find her waiting for me in the driveway. I took in her skintight jeans, black tank top, tennis shoes, and grin.
“Will this work?” she asked, indicating her outfit.
“It’ll work.” I handed her my extra helmet. “Hop on.”
Her smile threatened to eclipse the sun. “Another riding lesson?”
“Maybe.”
She squawked at my evasiveness, but put on her helmet and climbed up behind me, hugging me close and burying her nose between my shoulder blades. “You smell good.”
Somehow I doubted that, but I smiled anyway and took off, my precious cargo wrapped around me like a second skin.
Just as she’d guessed, I took her to an open, deserted country road to continue her riding lessons. She grinned and giggled and carried on like a school girl, distracting me to no end, as I tried to teach her how to shift gears and went over safety and bike basics again.
“When do I get to actually drive?” she asked after about an hour of sitting and half-listening to me.
“When you’re ready and won’t kill yourself.”
She made a face. “Killjoy.”
“Whatever.” I tugged her off the bike seat and slammed my lips into hers.
Her hands wound all around me, drawing me closer as she gave as good as she got. On a ragged breath, she drew back and pressed her head to my chest. “Seriously.”
That was one way of putting it. I caressed her back with a chuckle. “Yeah.” I held her a few more moments then kissed her temple. “Hungry?”
She nodded against me. “Starving.”
“Cool.” I took my position on the bike and offered her a hand. “Let’s go.”
Her frown was adorable but she slid on behind me.
“Some more parts came in today for your bike,” I said to mollify her. “I can probably get the engine running this weekend if we’re lucky.”
“Really?”
“Yup.” I gunned the engine and we took off into the quickly descending twilight. The cool air slapped at my arms and plastered my shirt to my chest, but it was exhilarating.
The long stretch of road that led to the beach eventually spread out in front of me and I hit the throttle, giving Rachel a little thrill as we sailed through the night. Her laughter was music to my ears and I would’ve given anything to suspend that moment in time, make it last forever.
About a half mile from the coast, I pulled into a gas station with a McDonalds attached and parked. “One sec.”
Rachel eyed me quizzically but didn’t say a word as I headed inside.
I returned a few minutes later with dinner in a bag and two cold soda bottles. I tucked it all in the small storage compartment next to her candies. Her eyes lit with humor as we drove off toward the rush of the ocean.
I found a quiet spot and parked. We hopped off, stowed our helmets, and pulled out our food. She linked her fingers with mine and followed me down the sand.
Once I found a suitable place for us to sit, I realized my mistake. Damn it. No chairs or blanket for us to sit on.
She seemed to sense my irritation. “What?”
“I’m sorry. Didn’t think this through.” I swept my eyes across the patch of sand. “Nothing to sit on. Do you wanna go somewhere else?”
“Not a chance. This is perfect. Don’t worry about it.” She moved to perch on the ground.
“Wait.”
She paused and I handed her our dinner and drinks. I yanked off my T-shirt and laid it down on the sand. “There.”
Her eyes raked over my chest then down to my shirt. She sat and scooted to allow me half. With a grin, I joined her and she pressed a kiss to my lips.
She lifted the bag of greasy goodness. “Shall we eat?”
I nodded and let her dole out the cheeseburgers and fries before I opened my Coke.
We ate in silence, the crash of the waves and the caws of the seagulls the only sound. The briny breeze whipped her hair around her face, but she ignored it as she finished her meal.
With a contented sigh, she crumpled up our trash and leaned back on her hands to gaze at the water. “This is nice.”
“It is.” Full and happy, I readjusted myself and laid my head on her lap, my face toward the breeze.
She caressed my hair, over and over, in a hypnotic rhythm. “I’m having dinner with Barbara and Aubrey tomorrow night. I’d like for you to meet them.”
“Who?” I glanced up at her face.
“My sister and her mother.”
“Oh. Right.” I turned back to the night and let her continue to pet me. “I’d like that.”
“Aubrey is apparently a bit of a car fanatic. I think you’d like her. I know she’ll love you.” There was pride in her voice.
“She’s your sister. Of course I’ll love her.” I turned my head and pressed a kiss to her thigh.
It was obvious she was concerned how I would take this news. I relaxed against her and faced the ocean again. Sometimes, so much about that mess threatened to consume me, but other times, like tonight, it felt light years behind me. “Let him leave. It’ll make our lives easier.”
We were silent several long minutes as the wind and waves pushed and pulled around us in a struggle as old as time. Her hand found its way from my head, down my shoulder, to my chest, where she toyed with the eagle inked on my skin. “Do you think we can make this work?”
I snapped my head to face her. “What do you mean?”
Her dark eyes reflected the moon as she studied me. “I mean, I want this. I want you. All of it. More than anything I’ve ever wanted . . . but I have this scary feeling you’re holding yourself back from me for some reason.”
I swallowed as I tried to form words.
“You don’t have to do that, you know,” she said softly. “You can tell me anything. You can trust me with anything. I’d never betray you. I love you too much to ever hurt you. I swear.”
I turned so my face was close to her belly and wrapped my arms around her waist, overcome.
“You believe me, right?” she murmured. “You know what I’m saying is true, don’t you?”
I nodded and burrowed myself as far into her warmth as I could, much like I used to do with my mom when I was a boy.
A half-sob, half-moan ripped from her throat as she curled over me protectively. “Oh, Jesse, just tell me. Please.”
I shook my head as I bit back the sting of tears. “I can’t. Not yet . . . I can’t.”
She tipped my face to meet hers and all of a sudden, she was shushing me with sweet kisses all over. My eyes. My forehead. My temples, nose, lips. She soothed me with her touch. She tilted her head so we were face-to-face, our breath mingling. “When you’re ready, okay?” She kissed me again. “I’m here when you’re ready.”
I drank down her promise like a starving man and kissed her again.
Rachel
We left the beach, our silence heavy and thick. As I wrapped myself around him on the back of the bike, I couldn’t fight the terrible sadness consuming me. My sixth sense had clued me in to the fact that he wasn’t opening up to me the way I was with him and, frankly, that scared the shit out of me. I mean, what if he wasn’t as fully invested in us as I thought he was? He said he loved me, lavished me with affection, but was that the truth? Did he have some other deep, dark secret other than his time in prison? What could be worse than that?
As the beach faded behind us and only the black night rose in front of us, I clutched him tighter, willing him to feel me, feel my heart. His for the taking.
When he took the exit for my house, I shook my head and spoke up loud enough for him to hear me over the rumble of the bike. “No. Take me back to your place.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
He nodded once then zipped down the access road to head in that direction. At his apartment complex, he parked next to Micah’s black Jeep and I jumped off to hand him my helmet.
His inscrutable blue eyes studied me.
I wanted to lighten the mood. Get some of the old us back. Lacing my fingers through his, I tugged him toward his door.
The apartment was unlocked, so I shoved inside, dragging Jesse with me. I grinned at Micah, who was making his way out of the kitchen with a sandwich. “Hi, Micah. Bye, Micah,” I said as we passed and moved down the hallway. He mumbled a ‘what’s up’ but we didn’t bother to reply.
On a split-second decision, I turned right into the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind us. I spun and snared those bright, beautiful blue eyes with mine as I began to slowly undress, lifting my tank top off and dropping it on the floor.
I toed off my shoes then reached for the snap on my jeans.
“What are you doing?” His voice was low and pained.
I grinned and shimmied out of my clothes. “What does it look like?”
He said nothing as I spun and turned on the shower, making sure my ass was bent at just the right angle. I peeked over my shoulder. Yeah, it was working.
When the water was perfect, I stepped in and let it rain over me. And I waited.
He did not let me down. It only took about five seconds before the curtain shifted behind me, then warm arms banded me from behind. He pressed a hot kiss to my shoulder.
I closed my eyes and leaned back into him as love sluiced through me just like the water.
He kissed a trail up my neck, behind my ear. He gently bit my lobe as he cupped my breasts in both hands, rolling my nipples with his calloused, expert touch.
I moaned and rocked my body against his.
Suddenly, he spun me so the front of our bodies were stuck together, his fingers speared through my hair, his eyes hot on mine. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Yes, you do.”
I quieted his protests with another kiss. I sucked his tongue into my mouth and a deep rumble erupted from his chest. He cupped my ass and lifted me. With a surprised squeak, I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung to his neck.
He backed us up a step until my back was pressed to the cold tile, the hot water raining down on us. He kissed me with a kiss that went on and on, until I was writhing against him. With a pained groan, he drew back and let my legs slide down to hold my weight. “As romantic as shower sex sounds in books, it won’t work. I need you in my bed, okay?”
“I’m not sure what to say to that.”
He grinned at me as he soaped up a washcloth and began to wash me. I inhaled, loving that I’d smell like him. As he moved over my body, I worked to come up with my words. “So . . .” My eyes slid shut as his very talented fingers slid between my thighs. “Uh . . . so . . .”
A deep chuckle rumbled from his throat and he kissed my neck. “So.”
“You read books with . . .” I sighed as he took a nipple into his mouth. “Shower sex?”
“I told you I read a lot.” He switched to my other breast, his fingers still working me deftly.
“Yes . . . you did.” My eyes popped open when I lost his body heat. He put the washcloth aside and reached for a bottle of shampoo, indicating for me to turn around so he could wash my hair.
His fingers were heavenly as he massaged my scalp in wide circles with just enough force.
I rinsed the suds and slicked the hair out of my face before I met his gaze again. His eyes were hungrily eating me up and I wanted nothing more than to return the favor. But I had to ask. “How do you know it doesn’t work?”
“Huh?”
“You said shower sex doesn’t work. How do you know?”
He cupped my waist with a crooked, cocky grin. “Are you jealous?”
“No.” Yes.
He laughed. “Don’t be. I’ve never . . . there has never been another woman in my shower, okay? I just think it’s obvious that it can’t work. The size of the shower, it’s slippery. You know, basic physics.”
I smacked his arm at the arrogant smirk he was leveling at me. “Shut up.”
“What? I just answered your question.”
“You know what. Don’t make me feel stupid.”
His face sobered in a moment. “I’d never want to make you feel that.” His contrite face tipped down so he looked like a wounded puppy. “Is it horrible that I liked it that you were jealous?”
I tried to stay mad, but I just couldn’t. Not when he looked at me like that. “No. It’s not horrible.”
“Good.” He turned off the water and ripped the curtain back, bringing in a blast of cooler air. He handed me a towel then tucked another one around his waist. Once I was decently covered, he hefted me into his arms and maneuvered through the
door, striding directly to his bedroom, where he kicked the door closed and tossed me onto the bed.
I bounced once, landing on fluffy pillows.
He eyed me like a predator would its prey, his hand poised over the towel at his hips. My eyes skimmed his glistening muscles, still wet from the shower, and all his ink. He was glorious and he was mine. I licked my lips.
“Stay with me tonight?”
My eyes snapped up to his at his softly spoken request. “What?”
He took one step in my direction, his eyes never leaving mine. “Stay. Let me hold you tonight. All night.”
A lump formed in my throat, even as a warm buzz began to shimmer through my body. “Okay.”
Relief softened his features as he let his towel drop then crawled up the bed until he was looming over me, his breath mixing with mine. “I’ll get you home in time for you to get ready for work.”
“Okay,” I said again, dumbly. But, seriously, how did he expect me to think with all his delicious hardness pressing me into the mattress and turning my mind to mush?
He smirked as if he knew exactly what he was doing then he kissed me with a kiss that was so full of . . . everything . . . I knew that even if I lived a thousand lifetimes, I’d never experience one like it again.
I did the unconventional . . . well, for me it was . . . and called in sick the next day. It was still partly my firm, after all, and I’d never had a sick day in all the years we’d been in practice. I was taking a much needed mental health day.
Once I’d made the call to my assistant, I puttered around Jesse’s kitchen, looking for something to make us for breakfast.
“Mornin’.”
I startled and spun around at Micah’s quiet, gravelly voice. “Oh, shit.” I pressed a hand to my heart. “Sorry, you scared me. Good morning.” I inclined my head toward the coffeemaker I’d dug out of the cabinet. “Want some?”
He shook his head and yanked out a carton of eggs, some strawberries, bananas, and a can of some kind of protein additive. “Nah, thanks. Want a smoothie?”
I grimaced, earning myself a half-grin. I’d stick with coffee, the nectar of the gods, thank you very much. “Typical,” he mumbled under his breath.
