Burning to Ride

by Michele De Winton

  “A biker hotel could be a sexy addition,” she said as she started wrapping up. “A little dangerous, plenty real. It keeps the development from being too cookie cutter.”

  Frank’s face dropped and Margaret frowned. “Huh. A biker hotel. You sure that’s a good idea? It doesn’t exactly fit with the rest of the development. Bit on the dark side, really.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. The place has been there for years. It’s an institution. And bikers are people, too, real people, the type of people that need places to live. Places like your apartments. That counts for something.”

  “No wonder Cole was into the idea. Always loved speed. Have you seen his car? Ridiculous thing. Drive that up to a biker hotel and I don’t think it’ll last very long. He might have to borrow a Harley.” The old man laughed.

  Briony tried to keep her face straight, but the older man’s mirth was contagious. What the hell was going on? Frank Knight was supposed to be a heartless developer, one that raised Cole to ride his competitors like a fat man on a motorbike: hard and heavy.

  Cole finally butted in. “There’s actually quite a market for this sort of venue in L.A.” He nodded to her.

  “He’s right. We’re not in New York here. The research is all there. The biker market around here is huge. There’s at least four big rallies each year that book out everything in town and some of the people who ride bikes have plenty of . . .” She searched for a word that would sound proper. “Disposable income. We’re thinking to cash in on that and make it a real scene.”

  “You think she’s right?” It was Brian and his eyes focused on Cole.

  “I think she’s got a good case. And the renovation will work out cheaper than reconstruction.”

  “Well that’s a win-win.” Brian sat back, seemingly sold on the idea and Briony gave herself an internal high five.

  “We’re ready to get things underway on this end. What about everyone else? Shall we green-light it?” Cole said with such a firm tone that he didn’t seem to leave any room for disagreement.

  Frank waved at the screen, clearly consenting, and Margaret gave a small, pert nod.

  “Great. Then we’re decided. I’ll have the minutes and plans sent around this afternoon. Everything else is on-schedule and on-budget. That will be attached to your emails also. Have a good day, everyone.” He pushed a button and the screen went dark.

  “Well done,” he said to her. “I didn’t know if you were going to be ballsy enough to bring up the biker credentials but you nailed it.”

  “I did?”

  “Better to put that stuff on the table straight up. Acknowledge it and turn it to your advantage.” He nodded. “I’ll see you back there.”

  “You’re going?”

  “Work to do. Book a meeting with the builders for the end of the week and we’ll get some pricing done.”

  Briony slumped into a chair when he’d gone. The adrenaline of having to stand up there and literally save her hotel in front of a bunch of squillionaires suddenly left her system. Her hands shook and she grabbed a glass of water from the table and gulped it down. “Holy shit. I did it.”

  “You certainly did.” The voice came from the UFO conference-calling device in front of her and Briony’s eyes widened. Oh fuck. “Frank? You’re still there?”

  “’Fraid so. Damn thing wouldn’t turn off.”

  Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Briony went back over what she and Cole had talked about but there hadn’t been anything out of character. She hoped.

  “Hold on a minute. Let me see if I can get the video whatsit working again. My secretary left at the end of the meeting.”

  Frank’s face flickered back up on the screen and Briony took a deep breath, hoping she still looked smooth enough to pull this off. “I can see why he likes you.” Frank’s voice was softer and a small smile lingered around his lips, the same smile Cole had been unable to hide when she’d called out the woman in the department store.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “It’s okay. Cole’s already told us about you. Well, he told us the bare minimum. He didn’t say how pretty you were, though, or that you had such a nice smile.”

  Briony looked down. Shit, the guy was making her like him. “A nice smile does not always a nice girl make. Sir.”

  “I’m sure. I have to admit I’m surprised that he thought a biker hotel was a good fit for the development.”

  “But you just said—”

  “I know. But my days of being in charge are long gone. Cole doesn’t know it yet, but the board will do whatever he wants if he keeps going like he has been the last two years. He’s really hitting his stride.”

  Huh. He made it sound like Cole hadn’t always been such a smooth control-freak. “Well, he likes the idea enough to back me. So I guess it must be a good idea. And like I said, bikers are people, too.”

  “Indeed. Brutal, sometimes heartless people, in my experience. But people. And Cole knows better than most that you can’t judge a man by his . . .” He paused and rubbed his chin, just like Cole did. “By his motorbike.”

  “The Hell’s Boys that go to this hotel aren’t a bad group. They’re good to me, anyway. They’re family. Hang on, what do you mean Cole knows better than most? He doesn’t even ride a bike.”

  “Not a Harley, no, my dear. But he definitely rides a bike. He’s not averse to the feeling of the wind in his hair. Always liked speed, like I said. A little too much perhaps.”

  A dark past? Briony wanted to push for more.

  “What the hell?” Cole appeared at the doorway to the boardroom, looking angry but nervous.

  “Ah, Cole. I met your girlfriend here properly. Nice of you to set it up.”

  “Briony, a word.”

  “It’s not her fault,” his father said. “Your conference whatsit wouldn’t turn off. She was just keeping an old man company.”

  Cole turned to her. She went to hold her hands up then registered the use of girlfriend rather than fiancée and raised her right hand. “Honestly, I didn’t even know what it was till it started ringing.”

  “Anyway, I shouldn’t have met her without the others in the room anyway,” Cole’s father said. “I can see why you like her.”

  Cole opened his mouth to speak but his father put up his hand. “I’m an old man. I can say whatever I like. If I embarrass my children when I do it, it’s an added bonus.” He grinned and Briony had to stop her jaw from dropping. This guy was the evil developer she’d been hating on for the past six months?

  “This whole sexy and dangerous thing with the hotel. That’s your idea?” he said to her.

  She nodded.

  “It’s a good spin. You’re good at this, young lady. Although, what that actually means, I have no fucking clue,” he said with a chuckle.

  “No fucking clue huh? You’re as big a sucker as I am then.” She wasn’t sure, but Briony thought a tiny flicker of amusement twitched at the side of Cole’s mouth. Was this really the same guy she’d blamed for destroying her whole world? A guy who his father intimated had a past dark enough that he could understand the forces that drove her biker family to do the things they did?

  “Anyway, if you’ve interrogated Briony enough for now, Pop, we have work to do.”

  “Fair enough. Don’t be a stranger, Briony. I can understand why he wants to keep you all to himself, but call me whenever you like.” His face disappeared from the screen as Cole pushed the buttons on the control box.

  “Do not call him whenever you like.” Cole’s eyes flashed at her, the challenge clear. “That section on bringing my reputation into disrepute? It extends to my father. Leave him alone.”

  “He seems like a straight-up guy. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to share him.”

  “Ha. Nice try, Wilde, but if he knew why I was engaged to you I think you’d find he was a whole lot less charming-old-man and more fatal-shark-bite. I mean it, leave him alone.”

  “You haven’t told him we’re engaged, either, have you?”

&nb
sp; “No one could ever accuse you of being slow, Wilde. No, I tried, but he was dead against it. Told me to wait six months. So we’ll wait four and everyone will be happy. As long as my brother doesn’t spill the beans.”

  “Anyway, your little stunt trying to get this announced online hasn’t reached him yet so we’re okay, as long as you don’t try anything like that again. So, your plans. Let’s go through them.”

  * * *

  A week later Briony got an email she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to read or instantly delete.

  I DID TELL HIM TO WAIT BUT HE’S NEVER BEEN VERY GOOD AT THAT. I HOPE IT’S A NICE RING. CALL ME SOMETIME.

  Briony read the email again, and then the sender’s address: Frank@KnightIndustries.com.There wasn’t any dodging it. Cole’s pop was not out of the loop, and she had most definitely stepped into it somehow. “How did he even get my email?”

  She wondered whether to tell Cole or not then decided now was not the time. They were finally getting on and the builders were pushing ahead. Materials were arriving every day and walls were crumbling beneath the impact of sledgehammers.

  But the next day her phone trilled with an unlisted number.

  “Briony?”

  “Yes. This is she.”

  “Good. Did you get my email?”

  She froze. “Um. Yes.”

  “I thought you might have replied.”

  Pulling herself out of the hold that shock had gripped her in, she looked around but couldn’t see Cole anywhere. “Does Cole know that you know?”

  “About the two of you already being engaged? I don’t think so. Probably worried I’ll be pissed. But I’m not, for the record.”

  “Well. Great. Thanks, I think.”

  “Congratulations. But seeing as it’s out in the open now, there are a few things you should know about him.”

  Briony bit her tongue, not daring to breathe in case it stopped Frank from spilling something epic on Cole.

  “He’s crap on a bike. He crashed mine years ago, thinks I don’t know about it. And he’s crashed that monstrosity he owns now at least three times.”

  Briony let out her breath. So much for deep, dark revelations. “Really?”

  “Don’t let him back on a bike. He’s an idiot with speed. But anyhow. I just wanted to touch base. Is it okay that I call you? Actually don’t answer that, and then if Cole berates you for it you can say it was all my idea and you didn’t want to just hang up on an old man. That would be rude. Wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good girl. No doubt you’re busy. I’ll call you next week.”

  And that was it. Briony looked down at her phone incredulously. There was no doubt that Frank Knight still had a sharp side. He hadn’t been all sweet comments and lofty compliments at the board meeting, but he certainly wasn’t all business, either, not with her. This Frank Knight was sweet. An errant grandfather concerned about his son fucking up. Was there a part of this charming old man that was lodged inside Cole, too?

  But a month is a long time in demolition terms and Briony was too busy to give much thought to Frank Knight’s similarities to his son. He kept calling her, as he’d promised, and each time it was as short lived and amusing as the next. So much so that she smiled every time she saw an unlisted number appear on her phone. This morning’s conversation had been about Cole losing a tooth when he was four and Briony had laughed even while she’d been going through the boring minutiae of detailing for the cabinetry in the kitchens.

  “Join me for lunch?” Briony looked up from her drawing as Cole walked into the empty dining room, holding a bag of Chinese takeout in one hand and she put her hand over her phone nervously as if Cole might be able to tell she’d just been talking to his father. “Have you got anything vegetarian in there?”

  “Egg rolls, chive dumplings, and seaweed soup. Sound good to you?” he said.

  Briony’s mouth watered, and she made a space on the table.

  “Good day?”

  She smiled. “Amazing. Those new layouts you had for the rooms are going to look awesome once they’re finished.”

  “I’m glad you like them.”

  She put out a hand. “All I’m trying to do is keep my hotel. But thank you. For your help.”

  He took her hand and the contact sent a course of heat up her vein toward her heart. “You better do more than that, Wilde. This hotel needs to be equal to the rest of the development. Bikers or not, this whole sexy and dangerous thing better work.”

  “It will.” It already is. She looked into Cole’s eyes and wondered about what his father had mentioned about his past. It was the one thing she wanted him to talk more about, and the one thing he’d so far studiously avoided bringing up again.

  “We don’t have to be enemies, you know.”

  “Is that what we are?” He didn’t look away and she couldn’t take her eyes off his.

  “I’m still working it out.”

  The pause lengthened and she looked for something to fill it. Something to keep his eyes on her. Eyes that were making every part of her body warm and ripe and ready. “Your dad said you weren’t exactly the biker type.”

  Cole laughed. “Did he now? I had his old bike. He tell you that, too? I crashed it, but I didn’t want to tell him.”

  “I think he knows.”

  He shrugged. “Figures. He was always good at finding things, less good at finding feelings.” He paused and she wondered where his mind went when he gazed off into the distance like that. “His bike was fun while it lasted. A real beauty. I got another one, not as fun as the old girl though.”

  “Nothing like a classic ride.” She smiled, trying to encourage him to open up. And he did, he smiled back. “Nothing.”

  “Not so slick after all, Slick.”

  He chuckled and Briony’s heart swelled and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. There was more to Cole Knight than his fancy suits and sharp focus. More than fast cars and a dark past. More. And she wanted it all.

  “I wondered if—”

  “Everything okay, Bri?” Marnz sauntered in, cutting into Cole’s sentence. She turned toward his approaching figure and was surprised that with his dark black hair slicked back and his jacket thrown over the shoulder of his old, fitted, black T-shirt, he looked . . . hot? His chest was puffed out, but it wasn’t bad, either. Their one drunken hookup had been such a fumbled mess she’d avoided even looking at him properly for a while. And when he’d turned so alpha big brother she guessed he wanted to forget it ever happened just as much as she did.

  “We’re good, thanks. Just talking business.” Cole’s voice was cold. Cutting. And he was sitting up in his chair all of a sudden.

  “Just making sure the lady has everything she needs. Some of us like to treat our women right.”

  Was this display of macho chest-puffing for her behalf? She looked between the two men, trying to hide the fact that she was doing so. They glared at each other, completely ignoring her now. The firm hands of her ego squeezed her heart and she bit her lip. Oh, my ever-loving, jealous stars.

  “I’m sure your idea of what a woman needs is grand, but a quick ride around the block, three shots of bourbon, and an early night doesn’t really cut it in the real world.” Cole put his chopsticks down.

  Briony’s jaw just about hit the floor. Did Cole actually say that? To someone from Hell’s?

  “Well, around here, women know that a sparkly ring doesn’t count for much. We don’t buy women off. We earn their respect and trust.” As he spoke, Marnz walked closer toward Cole and Briony watched with a rapidly increasing heart rate as his nostrils flared and his shoulders moved even farther back.

  “I’m a fan of trust and respect, too. And family values, but sometimes those qualities are difficult to find.”

  “Not around here. Wilde’s was built on trust. Bri and us, we’re family.”

  “Family, huh? Interesting. I could have sworn you wanted to be more than that.”

  Marnz’s f
ace flattened and Briony decided to put a stop to this before things got physical. “We are family around here and we support each other when things are good and bad. Don’t we, Marnz?”

  Marnz pulled his glare away from Cole, and Briony was amazed to see a hint of a blush at the base of his throat.

  Cole looked at his watch again and stood. “This has been all kinds of”—his face twisted into a grimace—“interesting, but some of us have jobs to get back to. Briony, I’ll see you later.” He pulled her to him and planted a kiss on her mouth that had nothing to do with family values.

  She should have pulled back. Every time Cole kissed her, her insides melted a little more into an unrecognizable puddle. It was a bad idea, one that might permanently disfigure her intestines and was definitely spoiling her resolve. She should definitely not have wound her hands up around his neck and let herself be pulled hard up against his firm, warm chest. And she should not have let his tongue dance with hers so she wanted to groan and open up to him right there on the table.

  “Ahem.” Marnz coughed and Briony heard it as though it came through a filter. A filter of bedroom eyes and stupid lust.

  Cole growled against her lips and his honey-gravel-mead voice sent shivers through her like it had the very first time she’d heard it. He kept his arms around her and stroked the back of her spine with his thumb. “I’ll be back this evening. Call me if there’s any trouble with the builders. And don’t do anything stupid.”

  Stupid? But before she got to yell at him for spoiling a perfectly nice moment, he grabbed her again. And to make sure she really was going to turn liquid and flow into a pool of lust for him to dip his toe into when he felt like it, Cole took another kiss before releasing her. “Anything my fiancée needs, you’ll make sure it happens, won’t you? Seeing as you’re family and all,” he said to Marnz. “Have a nice day everyone.”

  Before he could walk away, Briony grabbed his hand. What are you doing? “Umm.” She stumbled, trying to find a reason to keep him there, for them to talk, to get back to the intimacy she’d felt with him before Marnz had come into the room. Cole’s eyes flicked between her and Marnz and a little glimmer of something new—pride—prickled her skin. He was jealous. She let go of his hand and gave him a coy smile. He might think he could start to let her in, smoothing her over with talks about his past, only to push her away when it suited him. But if he was going to play hot and cold with her, she was done trying to make nice. It was getting boring and she didn’t do boring. “I’ll see you later on. Marnz can keep me company for the afternoon.” Turning to the biker, she gave him a big smile and moved to lace her arm through his. “We might just go for a ride if the rain lets up.”