Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(39)

“What’s the matter?” she asked a little breathlessly. “Tired?” She sank onto the sand with an oomph, making him laugh. She sucked down half her drink with a lot of glugs.

Aiden fell to his knees. “Little bit competitive, Erin?”

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Possibly.” Then she smiled. “Okay, I admit it—I’m not in the best shape.”

“Your shape looks pretty good to me.”

“Well, now,” she said. “I wondered if you were flirting with me. I mean, getting rid of my bear was one thing, but shaving?” She laughed. “I think when you shave and talk about my figure, that’s definitely flirting. So, what is it you hope to get out of this flirting? Huh?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “What kind of law do you practice?”

“Estate and tax law.” She lifted a brow. “How’s your relationship with the IRS?”

“I’ve been in the navy. Not a lot to worry about hiding. And I’m a single man—my mother’s in my will. She gets the life insurance.”

“God forbid,” Erin said.

“Is that what makes a girl so tough and competitive? Law school and a legal practice?”

“I think being a girl in law school and in legal practice is what makes me tough and competitive,” she said with a smile. “Plus, there was a lot of pressure at the time. My parents died too young. I’m the oldest and had to look out for my younger brother and sister.”

“The sister’s pregnant, right?”

“Right. Due the end of summer. Ninety percent chance she’ll have a C-section—the baby’s breech. Marcie’s hoping he turns, but right now she’s scheduled for August 20, a couple of weeks before she’s due.”

“So that’s when you leave?”

“A few days before that at the latest. Really, I’m not sure I can coexist with that bear….”

“Damn bear,” he muttered. “Just when you were baking for me…”

“I was baking for Marcie and Ian—they’re coming up next weekend. And I was going to let you have some cookies for Art.”

Aiden grinned at her. “Want to ride a little more before I feed you lunch?”

“Okay,” she said tiredly, stretching out her back.

“This time let’s go at a more leisurely pace. I promise, I’ll let you win.”

The second hour of riding was much more pleasant than the first; Aiden hung back so she wouldn’t go too fast. Because she wasn’t bent over the handlebars pedaling like mad, Erin was able to appreciate the ocean, the cool breeze, the vastness of a blue sky with so many powder-puff clouds. And all the while oblivious to the fact that Aiden was enjoying the shape of her butt and the length of her legs.

When Aiden whistled for her to stop the second time, Erin was almost disappointed. He rode down a length of hard-packed sand amidst a lot of huge, protruding rocks. The northern Pacific beach was very rocky. Aiden stood the bike on its kickstand and unfurled the blanket from the basket, spreading it on the sand. He detached the picnic basket from the rear of his bike, put it on the blanket and sat down.

“Not fancy,” he said. “But besides chocolate-chip cookies, I don’t really know what you like.”

She sat on the other side of the basket. “At this point, I like everything. You’ve had me pumping a bike for a couple of hours.” She helped herself first to a bottled water and took a long drink. Then she discovered a couple of sandwiches, apples and brownies. While they ate lunch, she asked him about his family and learned about the five military sons. He told her about growing up in the Midwest, the middle of the five boys. “We lived in a small three-bedroom house—three boys in one room and two in another. Our father was an electrician who had to take as much overtime as he could get to feed us all, which left our mother responsible for the raising and discipline, something she was very good at. We called her the Enforcer. She’s an amazing woman. Very strong, and until recently, she was very narrow-minded.”

“What happened recently?”

“She got herself a boyfriend. And she’s living with him in an RV. They plan to drive around the country, visiting friends and children and seeing the sights.”

“That actually sounds like fun,” Erin said, biting into a ham sandwich.

“It does,” he agreed. “Some of my brothers are disgruntled about it. I don’t blame them—she was always so critical of the way we all seemed to be playing the field, dating a lot of different women…Until a couple of months ago, she was still twisting the ear of any son over thirty years old just at the suggestion he’d had sex with a woman he wasn’t married to. Now my sixty-three-year-old mother is living with a guy.”

“Just how many different women?” she asked cautiously. “I mean, when you say playing the field…”

He bit into his sandwich. “Not to worry, Erin. Of all of them, I was always the most careful. I haven’t dated anyone in months. Well, that’s not true—I’ve had dates—a couple of dinners out, met friends for drinks, that sort of thing. I haven’t had sex with a woman in quite a while. And I always use protection.”

Her cheeks actually glowed. “I didn’t mean—”