“A gentleman would have stayed on the other side of the door,” I said as I unbuttoned my black shirt.
He shoved his hands into his pockets as he leaned against the door. “I’m not a gentleman.”
No, he isn’t.
His whiskey eyes ate up every inch of me as I slid off my shirt and stood there in nothing but my turquoise bra and matching underwear. His face may have been schooled, but there was desire in those eyes. I liked seeing that. I may have enjoyed it a little too much.
“Keep looking at me like that and we won’t be going anywhere,” he said.
Trying not to smile, I went over to my closet. I grabbed a pair of ripped light blue jeans, a black cami, socks, and a pair of whitetennis shoes. I tried to ignore his gaze as I put on the jeans and the pulsating tension that increased between us when I took off my bra before putting on my spaghetti-strap cami. It wasn’t as bad to sit on the bed to bend and put my socks and shoes on today, which was such a relief.
Once I was changed, I grabbed my phone and wristlet again. Reid opened the door and gestured for me to walk ahead of him. He let Vivian know that he was taking me out. She told us to have fun and be careful.
As we approached his bike parked in the driveway, I took multiple calming breaths.
He grabbed his helmet and put it on my head. His fingers tucked my hair behind my ears and fastened the clasp beneath my chin. “It’s going to be fine.”
I nodded. He straddled his bike and held out a hand for me to take. I slid my shaky hand into his as I stiffly climbed on behind him. Right away, I wrapped my arms around him tightly as he turned the bike on and it roared to life.
Riding through the neighborhood was easier to handle than the main road. As we passed other, slower vehicles, I didn’t realize I was squeezing him tightly until he put a hand on one of my thighs, which were pressed against him. He rubbed back and forth with his thumb as if to say,It’s okay. I got you.
Just when I started to relax slightly, he pulled up to a small seafood restaurant. Reid parked and climbed off the bike. “Do you like lobster?”
I nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and went inside, leaving me sitting on the back of his bike.
People walked by, coming and going from the establishment. I received a few looks, more out of curiosity than anything. It wasn’t long before Reid returned with a brown paper bag inhand. He put it in one of the bike’s saddlebags and we got back on the road.
We didn’t ride for long. I couldn’t help but be confused as he took us to the Kendry Bridge and parked on the side of the road by its south entrance. He retrieved the food bag, took my hand, and led us onto the west-side pedestrian walkway that went across the bridge. We walked to the halfway point and stopped. He let go of my hand and dug into the bag.
I grabbed the bridge’s railing so I could look down at the water about sixty to seventy feet below us. Right now, the creek was shallow and peaceful, but when it rained, the water would rise and rush by rapidly and roaringly.
“Why did we come here?” I asked him.
“To watch the sunset,” he said simply, but it didn’t feel completely true. He pulled a can of soda and something wrapped up in parchment out of the bag and held them out to me. Then he retrieved another set of the same items for himself before setting the bag on the ground by his feet. I watched as he set his soda on the railing and unwrapped his food, revealing saucy lobster meat on a long roll. “It’s a lobster roll.” He gestured to the food in my hand before taking a bite.
I also set my drink on the railing before unwrapping my roll and taking a bite. It was good. We ate in silence for a bit as we watched the sun go down.
“Want to talk about why you needed Bram so badly?” he asked when we were done with our rolls.
I shook my head and took a sip of my soda. It was a very sugary drink. “I want to talk about you.”
“What about me?”
I shrugged. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Never thought about it.”
“Food?”
“It changes all the time.”
“Favorite song?”
“Depends on the genre.”
I huffed a laugh while shaking my head and shifted my questions in a more serious direction. “What do you plan to do when we leave here?” Roe had mentioned that Reid was undecided. I wondered if that was still the case.
