Throttled (Wild Riders #1)(46)

“That makes sense,” he agreed. “We can take it as slow as you want,” he said, taking my hand in his. “Just because speed is my thing with my job doesn’t mean I live my entire life that way. I want to take my time with you, Shutterbug. Do it right. I don’t expect you to just forgive and forget what happened back then. I know I have to earn your trust again. And, I will.” I wanted to tell him that I’d already forgiven him and that I was trying to forget that part of my life, but I didn’t think I was ready. When his serious expression turned playful, I knew it was his way of giving me the time I needed. “I do have a few requests though.”

“Lay it on me.”

“We get to do this now without feeling guilty.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against my lips. “Any time we feel like it.”

“Okay.” I nodded. I’d definitely missed the feel of his kiss, and I was done pretending like I didn’t. The skill of his lips and tongue could have won medals.

“Two,” he said, touching his nose to mine. “I don’t plan on kissing anyone else.” He leaned back. “Can we keep whatever this is, just me and you? I mean, I love a good competition, but not as far as you’re concerned. I want you all for myself.”

“Deal,” I agreed. The last thing I was planning on doing was playing the field. My life had been super complicated lately, I was looking to simplify. The guy sitting across from me was making it impossible to even entertain the idea of another man being in my life.

“Oh, and,” he waggled his eye brows, “I’m going to need you to come over for a ride every day. I missed having you on the back of my bike.” He grinned.

“I could probably live with those terms,” I agreed, leaning in for one more kiss. The impromptu make-out session we’d just had in the trailer had been enough to satisfy the desire I felt for him... for now, but I’d just asked him to take things slow with me and even if I wanted to rip his clothes off, I knew it was a terrible idea. “So, how about you take me to lunch?”

“Your wish is my command,” he grinned.

If only I could make a wish that the future be as easy as it was to be with him at that moment. A wish that ensured we could get a happy ending. That hearts wouldn’t be broken. Especially mine.



*



“Anything particular in mind?” he asked as we drove down the two-lane highway to the city closest to Halstead. As good as a bacon cheeseburger from the diner sounded, we decided it might be a good idea to lay low in our small town before going out into the world together. Rumors were already going to fly that I’d cheated on Beau with Reid, hell, they probably already were, but there was no sense in giving the town gossips any fuel.

I glanced around at the signs for the restaurants in the area we were driving through. It was just like any other moderately sized town. A McDonald’s, a T.G.I. Fridays, and a slew of other fast food and chain restaurants.

“You pick,” I suggested. “I’m not too particular.”

“Ha!”

“What?”

“I know exactly how this is going to go, Nora.” He cocked his brow and looked over at me. “You say ‘you pick’, but you are going to shoot down every restaurant name I say until we end up over at The Cracker Barrel.”

My mouth watered at the mention of the name. “That’s not true,” I lied. “Just tell me where you want to go, I know you hate that place. Even though I’m not quite sure why. You can get breakfast any time they’re open, who hates that? It seems un-American. It should probably make me question your sanity, at the very least.” I sighed dramatically. “But seriously, we can go wherever you want.”

“Don’t act like you aren’t thinking about a short stack from there right now.” He flicked on his turn signal and pulled into the turn lane. “You want pancakes and hash browns, plain, not the casserole kind with onions,” he added. “Oh... and, one of the Orange Creme sodas, don’t you?”

“Maybe.” I pursed my lips. “How do you—”

“I know you, baby.” He laughed, pulling into the parking lot. I’d missed the easy fun of being with him. And, it didn’t hurt things that he was calling me baby. He had a way of making me feel like I not only belonged with him, but that he was grateful for it. The pro’s and con’s list that I’d drunkenly scrawled with Georgia had been right. We did make each other laugh. There was some unspoken connection between us that I just didn’t have with anyone else. “And, don’t worry, I’ll order bacon so you can steal one of the three pieces from my plate.” This wasn’t the first Sunday morning we’d ate at this restaurant, but it had been a long time. The fact that he remembered my order, down to the specifics, was sweet. “Even though I’m clearly a man who needs his protein,” he said, playfully flexing his biceps as he turned into a parking space and shut off the truck.

“Don’t worry, Arnold,” I teased. “I don’t eat bacon anymore,” I told him. “I became a vegetarian a few years ago.” I jumped out the truck and walked around to meet him. The utter look of disbelief on his face had me laughing out loud. “I’m kidding,” I said. “I’m still a meat eater. And, I’ll absolutely be stealing a piece from you. Maybe two.” I winked.