Dad: Are you okay? I just passed your bike on my way home.
Me: I’m fine. It got a flat tire on my way into town.
Dad: Do you need me to come pick you up?
Panic clawed through my belly at the thought of my father walking in to find me sharing coffee and a table with Triton.
Me: No. My tire’s at the garage getting fixed. I’m at a coffee shop getting some work done.
Dad: Did you walk the whole way into town?
I didn’t want to lie, but I couldn’t tell him the truth. Yes, I was a grown woman. Yes, I was independent and could make my own decisions, at least from my dorm room at UT Austin. But every summer when I moved back in with my parents my dad had a way of making me feel like I was twelve years old again and couldn’t fend for myself.
My stomach clenched as I typed a reply, deleted it, and typed it out again.
Me: Yes.
Dad: Well, you’re not walking back. I’ll pick you up while I’m running errands, and we’ll get your bike on the way. Text you when I get close.
Great. It’s not like I expected anything to happen between the gorgeous biker and me, but knowing my dad would be showing up in a bit was one way to make absolutely sure it didn’t. One of these days maybe I’d summon enough nerve to not worry about what pleasing my parents. For today, I’d sip on my latte and enjoy the fact that I was practically sharing a latte with the man sitting across from me. That would have to do for now.
CHAPTER3
TRITON
I’d promisedto keep to myself so she could get her work done, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away. I even pretended to scroll through my phone while I studied her on the sly. The way she tilted her head and squinted at her laptop screen? Loved it. The way she bit down on her bottom lip while she was concentrating? Made me rock hard. I didn’t know what it was about the blonde with the curves, but I wanted her in the worst way.
It wasn’t all physical, either. Bess had a gentleness and innocence about her that I wasn’t used to. I wanted to protect her from the horrors of the world, especially the shit happening right here in Maplewood.
Finally, I gave up on keeping my mouth shut and struck up a conversation. She was abso-fucking-lutely adorable. The more we talked, the more she seemed to come out of her shell. And when we landed on something she was interested in, her eyes lit up and made me feel like I was staring right into the sun.
“Sorry, I could talk about theater for days,” she said.
“I’ve never been.” Theater wasn’t exactly my thing but seeing her smile had me thinking maybe I needed to try going to a live show sometime.
“You should go next time you get the chance. I’d love to see a live production on Broadway sometime, but even the community theaters in Austin put on some fantastic shows.” She wrapped one of her blonde waves around her finger, and I wondered how soft her hair might feel on my chest.
“Have you ever been to New York?” I wanted to learn everything about her.
“No. Don’t laugh, but I’ve never been outside of Texas. At least not yet,” she added. “How about you?”
I’d been around the world back when I was in the Navy and spent quite a bit of time traveling for some of the jobs I booked doing private security. I never traveled for fun, though. “Yeah, I’ve done my fair share.”
She let out a long sigh. “I’m jealous. Which place was your favorite?”
“Hmm.” Definitely not the multiple tours of duty I’d done in the Middle East or the recent seven-day trip to an amusement park I’d taken with a high-profile CEO and his family. “Probably France.”
She got a dreamy look on her face. “Oh, did you go to Paris? I bet it’s so romantic.”
“I guess I could see that.” I’d spent most of my time keeping an eye on a mobster’s mistress at a five-star hotel but was able to fit in a ride at Combe Laval, one of the best routes in Europe to travel on a motorcycle, before I flew home.
“You guess you could see that?” Her nose wrinkled. “I bet if you asked a hundred people where the most romantic city in the world is the vast majority would say Paris.”
“You really think so?”
She crossed her arms under her breasts and narrowed her eyes. If that was her grumpy look, it was cute as fuck. “Yes. They’ve got the Louvre, Versailles, the Seine. How romantic would it be to kiss someone at the top of the Eiffel Tower?”
“You know what? I’m going to test your theory.” I got up from the table and headed over to the counter.
