Lord Have Mercy (The Southern Gentleman #2)(41)

I snorted and my eyes caught on something at the entrance to the cemetery. My bike. But there was a crow sitting on the gas tank, and I prayed that it wasn’t shitting on it.

“Do you think I could hit that bird from here?” I asked teasingly.

She turned her head and looked at the bird in question. “More like you’ll hit the gas tank and the whole thing will explode.”

I snorted. “Such lack of faith you have in my skills.”

“More like honesty,” she pointed out and held her hand up for me to take. “I don’t want that pretty beast to die a fiery death if I can help it. I want to ride it.”

I grinned and hefted her up, pulling her straight into my arms, sweat and all.

She melted into me, pushing her face up underneath my chin and pressing a kiss to the hollow of my throat.

“Thanks,” I murmured, meaning it.

“Thanks for the sweaty kiss?” she teased.

I wrapped my hand around her ponytail and pulled until she was looking into my eyes.

“I’ll take sweaty kisses. I’ll take sleepy kisses. I’ll even take pissed off kisses. As long as it comes from you,” I told her.

She licked her lips as her face softened.

“Why are you being so sweet?” she teased. “What happened to the mean Flint that liked to give me shit and drive me nuts?”

I let her hair go and smoothed my hand down her neck, stopping when my hand rested against her heart. “I don’t know. He’ll come back eventually. Right now, he’s a little high on all things Camryn Presley.”

She laughed and pulled out of my arms, walking forward with a gesture of her head in the direction of my bike. “Let’s go for a ride…to my house. I’m sweaty and I want to look good on the back of your bike. Meaning I need to change out of these sweaty clothes.”

I growled and lurched forward, wrapping my arms around her waist and tossing her easily over my shoulder. She shrieked for me to put her down, but I didn’t let go.

“Put me down! I’ll break your back!” she squealed.

I smacked her ass and continued to walk through the well-lit cemetery, over the well-groomed footpath, until finally I came to a stop in the parking lot next to the entrance. The bird was gone, and luckily the bike was as clean as when I’d left it.

Setting Camryn down next to my bike, I smiled when I saw the look of indignation on her face.

“I’m too big for you to be carrying like that,” she muttered, her face red.

I caught her before she could turn her back on me fully.

She looked at me with a frown when I wouldn’t let her go.

“You’re beautiful,” I told her bluntly. “Even when you were a sweaty, cursing mess on the first day of boot camp. Even when you were spitting fire at me the day you rear-ended me.”

She wrinkled her nose up at me. “I thought we’d agreed to never discuss that again!”

My brows rose. “I’m not sure I ever agreed to that. And…you never told me why you hit me.”

She licked her lips and looked away. “I’m not sure what it is you speak of.”

I caught her around the hips and pulled her into me, making sure that she could feel my hard cock along the length of her belly.

“Tell me,” I ordered.

She sighed and leaned into me, pressing her forehead against my chest.

“I was thinking about your ass, and how you looked in your jeans earlier that day when I saw you at the supermarket,” she muttered. “And when I saw you, you had these aviator sunglasses on, and you were sexy as hell. Your beard had gotten a little bit longer, and I was finding it hard to focus on the road and not your jaw.”

I burst out laughing. Then dropped my hand down hard on her ass, grinning wickedly when she jolted at the hard smack.

“Flint!” she cried out. “What’s with you and being so freakin’ handsy today?”

I lifted her up and sat her down on my bike, following her in with a sound kiss straight on that smart mouth.

“I want you to go out on a real date with me,” I said. “And I’m finding it incredibly hard to keep my hands off of you when you’re wearing tight workout pants like the ones you have on, while also being covered in a sheen of sweat.” I paused. “It’s giving me other ideas that don’t have anything to do with taking you out to dinner.”

Her eyes twinkled as she situated herself on the bike.

“I’ve never been on a motorcycle before,” she said softly.

I felt my heart skip a beat.

Being her ‘first’ anything sent what felt like euphoria-laced adrenaline through my veins.

“Well, then let’s ride, honey,” I growled.

She patted the seat between her thighs, and I didn’t hesitate to deposit my ass there, making sure that her thighs weren’t pinched between my butt and the seat. Once we were comfortable and her arms were wrapped around me, I started the bike up with a throaty roar.

She shivered behind me, causing me to chuckle.

“It’s so loud!” she cried out.

I turned so that she could hear what I had to say. “We’re going to go slow. I need to go by my house and get the helmets, then we can go to yours and get you changed for dinner.”

She gave me a squeeze around the waist in answer, and then rested her chin against my shoulder as she studied everyone and everything.