Throwing my leg over the bike, I settled into the seat, adjusting myself as discreetly as possible before turning my attention back to the fidgeting woman beside me. “You’ll be fine. Just climb on behind me and get comfortable.”
Without a word, she did as I asked. The only problem was her comfortable was as far away from me as she could possibly get. This was never going to work. Behind me I could feel how tense she was. Instead of asking her to move forward, I planted my feet on the ground, grabbed her knees that were spread either side of me, and dragged her forward, catching her off balance.
“Whoop!” she let out as her boobs crashed into my back. I must have knocked the air out of her, but I wasn’t letting her back away now.
“Josie, you need to stay where you are,” I used my school teacher voice on her. The voice that calmed the cretins and tamed the wild children. It was firm and deep, and rarely did it not work. “Wrap your arms around my waist.” It took a moment, but sheepishly she settled her hands on my waist. Grabbing them, I tugged them until they were wrapped around me, holding her there. “You need to be close. And I need you to lean when I lean, okay? Don’t fight me.”
“I-I can’t do this,” Josie’s voice shook, and before I knew it she was back off the bike and pacing the car park.
I had no idea what I was supposed to do. We were out here alone. I had to get her back. Derek trusted me to get her back home safe and sound, yet right now, I couldn’t even get her on my bike.
Josie had dropped down in the dirt and wrapped her arms around her legs. I could see she was crying. Her whole body was trembling. I fucking hated it. Someone, some asshole, had fucked this girl up. Badly. If I ever found out who did it, the douchebag would be breathing through a tube.
Without a word, I sunk down beside her and draped my arm across her shoulders, pulling her close. She looked up at me with sad eyes and it was settled. This girl had me. She mightn’t know it, and now wasn’t the time to tell her, but whatever she needed, I would give her. If she needed a shoulder to cry on, she had mine. If she needed someone to change a light bulb for her, I’d be there. If a big, ugly ass spider crawled across the carpet and scared the shit out of her, I’d squash it. And if someone came to hurt her, he’d have to get past me first. And that in itself was going to be like running a fucking gauntlet. This girl deserved only the best and I was damn well going to make sure she got exactly that.
She pulled back and looked up at me. Her nose was running and her eyes were puffy, but she’d never looked so adorable. “I’m-I’m sorry.”
“Wanna tell me what that was about?”
I wanted her to open up to me. I needed her to. Hell, she needed to get whatever demon was taunting her off her chest. “It was…it was nothing. Just me being a baby. We should get going.” She jumped to her feet, completely dodging the question. As much as I wanted to push her, now wasn’t the time. But she was fooling herself if she thought for a moment I was going to let this go.
Sticking her hand out towards me, Josie offered to pull me to my feet. This woman was a walking contradiction. And she was completely fascinating me. I wanted to know more. I needed to. Accepting her hand, I rose to my feet and led her towards the bike.
As I settled on the bike, I grabbed the helmets. “You can do this, Josie. I won’t let you fall.”
“I know.”
She wiggled on behind me, and this time she didn’t leave any room between us. Not one inch. I could feel the warmth of her legs as they clamped around my thighs. Silently, I handed her the spare helmet from the saddle bags. I couldn’t remember the last time it’d been worn, but I watched on with amusement as she attempted to tuck her long hair under it and tighten the chin strap. chin.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“You’ll be fine. Promise.”
“Okay.”
“You just need to trust me.”
“I do.”
My stomach leapt into my throat at her words. She trusted me. I don’t know when or why I’d earned it, but I’d be damned if it didn’t make me puff my chest out like a proud peacock.
