We reach my door, and I look up at him.“Would you like to come in for coffee?”
“Nothing I’d like better, babe.But I won’t.I have a hard time keeping my hands off you as it is.I want to treat you right.So, I’m going to kiss you good night, then wait for you to lock your door, then go home and wait for tomorrow to come so I can see you again.”He lifts his hand to my cheek to move a stray tress of hair behind my ear.
“I like you, Motown,” I tell him softly.
“Ditto, beautiful.There’s a lot about me that you don’t know.My life wasn’t easy or pretty.I’m not going to get into it tonight because, for the first time in two months, I feel good, and I’m not going to taint this moment with stories of my past.I got to walk hand in hand with a pretty girl.I’m going to kiss her, then I’m going home.Okay?”
“Okay,” I respond quietly.
His lips move over mine.Our kiss is slow, teasing and light at first, but I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him tighter to me.I open my mouth, and his tongue slips in and playfully toys with mine, until Motown finally breaks our kiss.
“You’re enough to tempt the devil himself, siren,” he murmurs against my lips.He rests his forehead on mine, closing his eyes.“Tomorrow, I’ll swing by and bring you your favorite double espresso mocha latte before I head into the shop.”
I’m stunned.“You know what I drink?”
“Not gonna lie to you.Since that night, I might not have come to see you, but I’ve been watching over you.I tried to forget you, but I found myself driving by your store or house, just to make sure you were all right.”
For two months, Motown was watching me, and he waited until now to come to me.“Why now?”
“Because I can’t imagine anyone else holding your hand,” he answers.“We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
He takes my key and opens my door, letting me in.Motown waits for me to lock it, and I watch through the window as he rides away.
Chapter5
She Doesn’t Hate Me
Tessa
This is the first solid night’s sleep I’ve had since Motown came into my life.He’s consumed my dreams, and the more I tried to push him out of my mind, the more he came to me when I slept.I thought I’d never see him again.I gave up hope weeks ago.The last thing I expected was for Motown to show up at my shop.
When he told me he’d been watching over me all this time, I should have been freaked out.It sounds strange, but I’ve felt his presence.I kept looking around for him, but never saw him.I thought it was because I wanted to see him again that I was having these thoughts.It sounds like stalker behavior, yet instead of being scared, I’m relieved.He makes me feel safe.
I’m not a fool; I can see that he’s fighting his own personal demons.That doesn’t change what I feel for him, because I have my own insecurities.We all do.Motown will tell me about his past when he’s ready.
As I step into my car, the sun seems to be shining a little brighter this morning, and the birds seem to be singing a happy song.Or I’m just feeling really good about riding on a motorcycle with Motown and having the evening end with a kiss that made my toes curl.He makes me feel more than anyone else ever has.
I park in my usual spot and see Ruth waiting for me.I glance at my watch to see it’s barely eight o’clock in the morning.Ruth doesn’t normally get out of bed until noon, seeing as the bar is open until one in the morning and she rarely gets out of there before two and sometimes later than that.She’s the hardest-working woman I know.She turned around a dying business and made it successful.Her father ran that bar for years, but he drank most of the profits.Her mother left as soon as Ruth turned eighteen, leaving her to deal with her alcoholic father and a pile of debts.Her father was a biker, but shit went down, and they took off.Ruth refused to go with them; she’d put down roots here.I don’t know how she did it, but she managed to make the bar a success.
Dressed in her usual uniform of tight jeans and a scoop-necked T-shirt with black ankle boots, her shoulder-length blonde hair hanging loose, she waits for me to approach.
“Good morning, Ruth.This is a wonderful surprise,” I say.I move to unlock my door so we can both go inside.
“Good God, girl.Are you always this cheerful in the morning?”she grumbles, following me inside.
“Maybe you should go back to sleep and come back when you’re less ornery,” I tease, giving her a grin.Ruth rolls her eyes.I set down my bag and begin to turn on the lights.“What brings you out this early?”
Ruth doesn’t mince words and gets straight to the point.“Bronson Sunderland is a bad dude.He’s into some pretty nasty shit.You need to cut him off.”I try to interrupt to set Ruth straight, but she keeps at it.“Yeah, he’s good-looking, but he’s also slimy.His handsome face fools most people.He screws with women and tosses them aside like yesterday’s newspaper.He’s as slick as a used-car salesman.Do you get me, girl?”she huffs, leaning into me to make her point.
“I hear you.Let me reassure you that I have no interest in dating Bronson.I was surprised he showed up with flowers.Especially since I made it clear that I wasn’t interested in dating him.”It dawns on me that Ruth wasn’t around yesterday morning.How did she know Bronson came by?“Wait.How did you know Bronson was here?”
Being the forthright woman she is, Ruth doesn’t mince words.“I’ve seen him sniffing around.I don’t normally get involved in other people’s personal lives, but I don’t hate you and was keeping an eye open,” she replies sheepishly.“I don’t hate you” translates to “I like you,” and that makes me smile huge.
“I don’t hate you either,” I tell her.
“I know that!”she insists, hitching a hip and tossing her hair.“More importantly, do you understand what I’m telling you about Bronson?This guy is bad news.”
“I’m not dating him, Ruth.”
