Her eyes opened to find that they’d pulled into a roadside eatery. Little more than a brightly lit shack with a window for ordering and another for pick-up, it wasexactlythe kind of place she loved.
Squeezing Sloane’s middle, she gasped, “Did you bring me to aburger joint?”
“I understand they sell burgers, yes,” he answered, pulling into the gravel ditch that passed as a parking area. Dropping his booted feet to the ground to keep them upright, he cut the engine — which was very odd, because she was fairly certain he was still rumbling.
Pressing her palms flat against his toned middle, she asked, “Are you vibrating?”
“It’s nothing.” Sloane deployed the kickstand and straightened up. Craning his neck to look back at her, he asked, “Does this qualify as a date?”
Sliding her visor up, Cecilia pretended to squint critically at the restaurant. When she was unable to keep up the act any longer, she cast him a wide smile. “A romantic coastal motorcycle ride and a pit stop at a greasy spoon? I’ve been on worse.”
“That’s sufficient. For now.” He nodded toward the ground, clearly encouraging her to hop off.
Her legs felt a little like jelly when she stood on her own two feet again, but she wasn’t entirely convinced it was because of the bike. Popping the helmet off, she shook out her hair with a huff.
Noticing Sloane was watching her — presumably, anyway, with his helmet pointed directly at her — she teased, “How does my helmet hair look?”
“Interesting.”
She snorted. “You’re a very honest man, Sloane.”
“I rarely have reason to lie,” he explained, throwing one leg over the bike. She always seemed to forget just how monstrously tall he was until he stood next to her again, that visor hiding his face and his shoulders all… shouldery.
Using an adjustment of her jacket as an excuse to hide the fact that she was absolutely checking out her stalker, Cecilia replied, “Well, keep it up. I’m not a good liar, so it’s nice to have someone who tells the truth as often as I do.”
Sloane tucked his hands behind his back and spread his legs a little, assuming what she recognized as his military stance. “Understood.”
Not sure if she was doing it sincerely or if she was trying to get him to let his guard down a little, she gave his chest a reassuring pat. “Relax, champ. We’re on a date, not a mission.”
His helmet titled to one side. “You are my mission.”
“I thought you wanted me to be your girlfriend.”
His shoulders straightened. “I do not.”
It didn’t make a damn lick of sense, but a spear of hurt pierced right through her gooey center. Cecilia flinched, her face heating with embarrassment and no small amount of confusion. Snatching her hand from his chest like he’d burned her, she breathed, “Oh. Got it.”
Before she could even begin to guess what hedidwant her to be, Sloane clarified, “I intend to be your mate.”
Suddenly all the heat in her face wasn’t from embarrassment at all. It was from a feeling that was a lot more dangerous.
“Oh,” she said again, more of a squeak this time. “That’s… huh.”
“I’m inexperienced,” he admitted, so flat and yet so honest. “I haven’t trained for this. You will have to explain the steps to me so I can properly complete them and meet your standards. But I will not fail.”
It was the strangest thing, having a conversation like this one on the side of a middle-of-nowhere road, touched by the glow of a burger joint’s fluorescent lights. She couldn’t even see his face or hear his real voice.
And he’s a killer,the tiny part of her brain that still cared about self-preservation reminded her.And a stalker. And probably, like, way worse.
It said something truly dire about her that even as those thoughts popped into her head, she could see the stars shining in her eyes reflecting back at her as she stared up at that dark visor.
“You sound awfully sure of yourself for a man who hasn’t even finished our first date yet,” she whispered.
“It’s easy to be sure about you, Cece.”
She rolled her lips between her teeth and bit down gently. He had no way of knowing how hard that would hit her, or how deep the words would sink into the mire of insecurities she’d carried all her life. As far as she could recall, the only person who’d ever chosen her was Dahlia.
Her parents were so wrapped up in their own misery that they never put her first. Every boyfriend she’d ever had inevitably shuttled her to the backburner sooner rather than later, believing her sunny disposition and easy to please nature meant they didn’t need totry.And, even though it wasn’t fair to be hurt by it, Dahlia had left her, too.
