Oh my God, kill me now.
Saint winked, then grabbed his duffel and headed into the bathroom as she sat there stewing in her own awkwardness.
The snick of the locking door shot her into action. She dug through her bag, then scrambled to get changed into her sleep clothes before he could walk back out. Hopefully, he’d take a while, and she’d be long asleep before he emerged.
As soon as she had her T-shirt and sleep shorts on, she dove beneath the covers. Screw brushing her teeth. She had excellent dental hygiene. Missing one night wouldn’t kill her. All she wanted was to sleep and wake to a brand-new day.
But her body and mind had other ideas. Despite extreme exhaustion, she lay in the bed, eyes wide open, staring into the darkened hotel room. All of a sudden, she became intensely aware of the fact that Saint was showering on the other side of the wall at her back.
Naked.
With warm water running over all that tattooed skin.
With a groan, she flopped to her back. “Go. To. Sleep,” she whispered.
Her brief pep talk didn’t work. She rolled onto her side again, with her back to the wall, which did nothing to help. All of her senses went on high alert, listening for every sound, inhaling to catch the scent of his body wash through the door, and trying to see out the back of her head and through a wall into the shower.
After a few moments, the shower shut off. Beth sucked in a breath, keeping it in her lungs as she strained to hear what was happening. Was he shaving? Brushing his teeth? Staring at himself in the mirror?
No more than sixty seconds passed before the door opened and steam floated into the room. Saint killed the light immediately, then strode into the room.
She froze.
Did he think she was asleep?
Should she pretend to be?
By now, her vision had adjusted to the dark, and she zeroed in on his form as he strode across the room to his empty bed.
Holy shit.
He was bare-chested, muscles and tattoos on full display, with nothing but shorts riding low on his hips. Muscles rippledup his stomach, and his hairless chest looked firm and lickable. Every inch of him screamed power, heat, and trouble she had no business wanting.
She squeezed her eyes shut, but it was too late. The image burned itself into her memory. It would be all she saw every time she closed her eyes for the foreseeable future. An untouchable torture she’d have to endure all night long while she breathed slowly and evenly, wishing to be asleep.
At least it was a hundred times better than the memory of Jason’s hand around her throat.
CHAPTER FIVE
“YEAH, PREZ, I expect we’ll pull into town early this evening.”
Saint leaned against the cement wall outside their motel room. The early morning sun warmed his face and boded well for another good day of traveling weather.
“Why don’t you come straight to the clubhouse. Shell and I will be here all day,” Copper said.
Saint rolled a small rock back and forth beneath his boot as his suspicions rose. Straight to the clubhouse, huh? “Uh, Prez, Shell isn’t planning some big welcome home thing for Beth, is she?”
Copper grunted. “Nah. She wanted to, but I managed to talk her out of it. Figured y’all would be tired from the trip and whatever the fuck else you’re not telling me. Wasn’t sure Beth would be up for it.”
Yeah, that sounded like Copper. Grumbling and suspicious but not pushing,yet.
Saint still didn’t know Beth all too well. Most of their time had been spent in peaceful riding, and even when they’d been in the motel rooms, Beth had stayed quiet for the most part, processing the shift in her life. They’d chatted, but mostly surface level, and mostly him filling her in on the tea back at home. He hadn’t tried to force her to open up, mostly because he hated when someone did that shit to him. What she needed was time, and he was happy to be a silent supporter if that was what she needed or to fill the silence with clubhouse gossip.
A rowdy party with all the attention on her didn’t seem like it would go over too well, given her current introspective state.
“Yeah, good call,” Saint said. “I think she’ll need some time to adjust to being back home and might not be ready for a big party.”
His stomach twisted. Copper wasn’t a fool. He’d played along when Beth called yesterday, telling him she was overworked and under-rested and that was why she’d been off lately, but he sure as hell didn’t buy it. A man didn’t run a group of outlaw bikers for two decades without developing a Grade-A bullshit detector. Still, Saint had made her a promise and wouldn’t break it unless absolutely necessary.
