I worked hard to keep the smile off my face, but damn, it was hard.
“Babydoll, do you know where you are?”
She looked around, not commenting on the endearment that slipped unwittingly from my lips.
“Bear’s Bikes?”
“I’m Bear.” I walked around the counter, stopping in front of her and holding out my hand. Her skin was just as soft as I’d imagined, and as I wrapped my rough hand around hers, an electric shock of recognition shot through me.
“Holy shit. It was you,” I said, eyes wide.
“What?” she asked.
I realized I was still holding on to her hand like a fucking weirdo and I reluctantly released her.
“The other night. You were on your bike and fell over.”
Her lips parted as she peered at my face. Then her nostrils flared, and I guessed she was breathing in my scent. Fuck, I hoped she liked it. Then she bit her lip, looking unsure. “Oh, yeah, that was me. Um, thanks for stopping.”
I cleared my throat. “I’m glad you got home safe.” I’d been kicking myself for not insisting on following her home to make sure she got there safely, but there would have been no way to offer that without sounding like a fucking creep. “Wait,” I said, my brow furrowed. “What happened to your bike?”
“Nothing happened to it that night,” she said. “It’s just… broken.” I caught a brief flash of emotion on her face before she masked it. “I’m Westin, by the way.”
“Westin.” Even her name was fucking pretty.
She smiled, meeting my gaze. Her eyes were brown and warm and fucking mesmerizing.
“The bikes are in the back of the shop,” I said, gesturing to the door. “After you.”
She headed towards the door, glancing over her shoulder at me as if checking that she was doing the right thing. Fuck if that didn’t make my inner alpha puff up, even as I mentally scolded her for allowing herself to be alone with an alpha twice her size.
She opened the door and I grinned at her choked laugh as she whirled around to face me.
“Motorcycles?” The look on her face was one of betrayal.
“Motorcycles,” I confirmed, ushering her into the warehouse. It was empty today. My guys could set their own schedules, so they were in and out. “Not sure we have anything in the fifty-dollar price range.”
Westin covered her red cheeks with her hands.
“God, that’s embarrassing. Why would you call them bikes? That’s so confusing.” Her lip pushed out in a pout.
She was fucking adorable. My fingers itched to pull at the neckline of her top to check for bond marks decorating her delicate collarbones. My alpha was roaringmine mine mine.
“I work at the bakery down the street and there were some customers talking about how they got a really great deal on bikes here and I just thought…” She looked around at the lineup of custom bikes ormotorcycles. “Sorry for wasting your time,” she said, moving towards the door as if she was going to leave.
“Don’t be embarrassed, baby,” I said, grasping her wrist gently. “Let’s see if we can find you a used bicycle, okay?”
I didn’t care what I had to do. If Westin wanted a bicycle, I was going to do whatever the fuck I needed to get her one. Even though I didn’t love the idea of her biking around town, especially not in the dark. I should be the one to take her wherever she needed to go.
“Where are you going to find a bike? With pedals?” she asked, a hint of fire in her tone.
Fuck if that didn’t just get me harder.
“I’m very good at finding things.” I winked.
Westin snorted and rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, we were interrupted.
“Hey, boss,” Spider said with a wave as he walked into the warehouse from the employee entrance.
