I smiled as I stood there, listening to the growl of the motorcycle engine coming closer. I peered down the road, waiting on bated breath as a bike eased around the corner. My heart skipped a beat, and my knees grew weak. I steeled myself as much as I could as Cole rode closer to me, clad in a leather jacket, tight-ass jeans, and sunglasses that somehow made him look hotter and more mysterious. He pulled right into the parking space in front of me before a cheeky grin spread across his face.
And when his sunglasses eased down the bridge of his nose, I watched him undress me with his vision.
“Well, I’ll be damned, Miss Molly,” he said with a low whistle.
I blushed. “Too much?”
He turned off the engine to his bike. “Not one bit. You look amazing.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He pulled two coffee cups out of his cup holders. “Do you want the caramel coffee or the peppermint chocolate coffee?”
I reached for the peppermint one. “Thank you so much.”
He chuckled as he got off his bike. “It’s not a problem. I chug the stuff all day, so this is only a teaser for me.”
I pointed down the sidewalk. “There’s a bench over there near a small flower garden. Would you like to go sit and enjoy our coffee there?”
He held out his arm. “Lead the way, beautiful.”
I giggled. “My pleasure.”
We walked over to the red wooden bench and sat next to one another. And when he sat next to me, our thighs pressed together. Heat crept up the nape of my neck and I tried to drown it out with the warmth of my coffee. But it only served to make me hotter, which in turn made my cheeks blush deeper.
But if Cole noticed, he didn’t say anything about it.
“This is cute,” he said.
I nodded. “It’s a new addition to the property. The owners planted it last year. They say they want to cultivate it across all of this open land for people to come walk around in and for kids to enjoy, but we’ll see how that works out.”
He chuckled. “You don’t put much faith in the people that own this place?”
I pointed off to the left. “See that flattened sort of area on top of that small hillside?”
He looked over to where my finger pointed. “Yeah, I see it.”
“Two years ago, they made plans to put in a playground. They haven’t finished it yet. And you see that chalked-off area over there? Where the grass is sort of yellow in some places?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“Four years ago, they had plans to put in a pool for the complex. They dropped it to try the playground, then dropped that for the garden.”
He snickered. “Sounds like they need help staying on task.”
I took a big pull from my coffee. “Among other things.”
After that, we sat in relative silence and enjoying our coffee. I watched some bees buzzing around, hopping from flower to flower as they did what they do best. I saw Cole move out of the corner of my eye and tried my best not to flinch, and when he slipped his arm behind me to perch on the edge of the bench, my gut clenched.
On the one hand, I felt completely out of place.
Yet, on the other hand, I wanted to throw myself into his embrace just so I could feel safe again.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“Ready to head out?” Cole asked.
I threw back the rest of my coffee. “Ready when you are.”
He stood to his feet and offered his hand. “Would you like to go to the bathroom first?”
I took his hand gratefully and stood. “Nah, I’ll be okay for a little while. Lead the way, handsome.”
He chuckled. “Anything for you, beautiful.”
He didn’t let go of my hand as we walked down the sidewalk, and I liked that. I liked that our fingers intertwined, but he didn’t try to pull anything else. We tossed our empty coffee cups into a nearby trash can before making our way back to his bike, and I almost dreaded the moment where he’d have to let go of my hand.
But when we got to the side of his bike, I realized something.
I’d have to actually get on the damn thing to take a ride.
“Something the matter?” Cole asked.
I snickered. “It’s just that—well—”
He turned his body toward mine. “You’ve never been on a bike before.”
I peeked up at him. “Is that bad? Does that ruin things?”
He winked. “Not at all. Here, I’ll help you. It’s really very simple.”
“Says the man with legs at least half as long as mine are.”
He smiled. “It’s got nothing to do with long legs or any of that other shit. You just need to get used to the feeling. Here, I’ll walk around and give you my hand, and you can steady yourself against me while you swing your leg over.”
My cheeks puffed out with a sigh. “Okay, but if I fall over onto the other side, you better catch me.”
He walked around to the opposite side of his bike. “I’d never let you fall, Molly, you can rest easy knowing that.”
My heart came alive in my chest. “Okay, but I’m trusting you with that.”
“It’ll be the best decision you make all day.”
With a giggle and a pep in my step, I took Cole’s hand in mine once more. I felt more out of place than I had in a long time, and the smallest part of me wondered if Cole was used to being with women that knew their way around bikes. That wore skinny jeans, clad themselves in leather, and were tattooed from head to toe. Girls who knew about the world. Girls who didn’t close themselves away from it.
Girls who could hold their own in this kind of a world.
“Now, throw your leg over and I’ll catch it, okay?” he asked.
I blinked. “You’ll catch my leg.”
He nodded. “Yep. I’ll ease it down so you can slide on, then both of my hands will be free to steady you upright on the seat.”
I cleared my throat. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”
I stepped up to the bike and tossed my leg over, but my heel got caught on something. I tried and stumbled, my stomach falling to the seat as I tried to slide my leg over. Cole released my hand, telling me to cling to his leather seat as he helped me stretch my leg over the back so I wouldn’t get my heel caught up again. And after almost five minutes of struggling to get onto the back seat of his bike, he wrapped his arms around me.
Lifting me to an upright position before our faces came so close that I felt his breath pulsating against my lips.
“There,” he said breathlessly, “not so hard, right?”
I swallowed hard as I gazed into his eyes. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
He chuckled as he slid me back a bit. “How’s that? Feeling a bit more secure?”
I sank down softly, and for some reason I almost felt locked-in. “Actually, that does feel better, yes. Thank you.”
He grinned. “You’re very welcome.”
For a moment, his arms didn’t release me. And for a moment, I wished that they wouldn’t. The thought shocked even myself, and I wondered if this was it. I wondered if this was the moment where I finally shook the chains of my past off my wrists and ankles and moved forward in the way I deserved.
But my thoughts fell to the wayside as he released me and effortlessly mounted his bike in front of me.
“All right, wrap your arms around my waist,” Cole said.
I swallowed and did as he asked. “Now, what?”
He cranked up the engine of his bike. “Now, cling to me and hold on. I’ll go slow at first until you feel comfortable. Then, we can kick it up a notch. All right?”
I drew in a deep breath and pressed my cheek to his back. “Okay. Sounds good. I can do this.”
“Yes, Molly, you can. Just hold on tight and don’t let go.”
He backed us out of the parking space and took it slowly through the complex, and I clung to him for dear life. I gripped his worn, brown leather jacket tightly as he slowly picked up speed. We cruised through town, sticking to the roads that were no more than thirty-five miles per hour. And with every block we put behind us, I grew more comfortable
More confident.
Bolder and more brazen.
There’s something he isn’t telling me.
And yet, I didn’t care.
Sure, we were different. We obviously came from different worlds and were raised in different ways and in different places. But that wasn’t a bad thing, right?
Unless what he’s hiding isn’t very nice.
I cursed my mind and what it tried to do to me. Every time I found something good for myself, my brain always tried to interject and spoil it for me. And sure, maybe it was a coping mechanism to try and head off pain at the cross-section before it did much damage, but Cole hadn’t shown me anything but respect.
So, why did my mind have to try and ruin it for me?
As we continued cruising, we slowly got faster. I clung to him tighter and squeezed my thighs around him, trying my best to suck a bit of his strength through his clothes so I could steal it for myself. But once I smelled the salted air of the ocean, I lifted my head from his back and looked around.
Only to find that the ocean stretched out to our right as far as our eyes could see.
“Wow,” I whispered.
“It’s a sight, isn’t it?” he called back.
I got lost in the smells, the views, and the beauty of it all until he took a hard right turn. A small side-road rumbled beneath our tires as the highway fell behind us. The small road took us down an embankment before it filtered into a gravel parking lot. As I studied the front of the small shack of a restaurant in front of us, my stomach growled out for the whole world to hear.
Which made Cole chuckle as we parked. “Trust me, it doesn’t look like much, but this place has the best fucking seafood in the city. And they have massive portions. You’ll definitely have leftovers.”
I took the hand he offered and slid to my feet off the back of his bike. “Great, because I’m starving, and I love leftovers.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “Yep. I know it’s a weird thing to like, but there’s nothing I love more than leftovers for breakfast in the morning.”
He wrapped my arm around his before escorting me to the restaurant. “A woman after my own heart, then. That’s the best kind of breakfast there is.”
Maybe we aren’t so different after all.
We walked into the restaurant and the hostess immediately sat us outside. The deck overlooked the ocean, and the steps leading off the deck walked right into the sandy beach. It really was a sight to behold, and Cole was even gentlemanly enough to pull my chair out for me. I smiled and thanked him, excited to be at this point in our date. But as he walked around me, I caught a glimpse of something sewn onto the arm of his leather jacket.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Cole sat in front of me. “What’s what?”
I pointed to my arm. “The patch on your jacket. What’s it mean?”
He stared at me and blinked before he scooted his chair under the table. “Just a little emblem some friends of mine and I wear. It’s sort of like our family crest, even though we aren’t blood-related.”
I giggled. “That’s really awesome. Sometimes, family isn’t blood, but it’s who you choose to be family.”
He nodded. “Exactly, and something tells me you get that more than most.”
Not this. I’m not ready for this yet. “I’m sure everyone understands it, to a point. I mean, everyone’s got a best friend, right?”
He smiled softly. “Right. Of course.”
And as our waitress came to interrupt us for our drink orders, relief washed through my veins. I definitely wasn’t ready to expose that part of my life to anyone, much less a man I had met yesterday. Yet, if he had asked me about it, I probably would have told him.
Why?
What in the world was it about him that affected me this way?
“Molly?”
Cole’s voice ripped me from my trance. “Yes? Sorry, I was thinking about something.”
He pointed to my clutch settled at my side on top of the table. “Your purse is vibrating.”
My eyes widened. “Oh! That must be Bridget. She told me she’d check in on me from time to time.”
He chuckled. “You better let her know you’re doing okay, then. I’d hate for someone to crash the party when we’re just getting started.”
And after shooting Bridget a quick message letting her know that I was all right, I turned my attention back to Cole.
Before the two of us launched into an easy mode of conversation that I never wanted to wrap up.
