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I almost laughed when she curled into my back with a squeak.
The rest of the ride was spent like that, driving about thirty-five miles an hour with her tucked into my back and shielding herself from the rain.
When I finally pulled into her driveway and patted her thigh, she gasped.
“Thank God,” she muttered darkly. “I thought that ride would never end.”
I tried not to take exception to the fact, but my mind automatically went to the fact that she didn’t like being touched by me, not because of the rain.
I nodded once. “Have a good night at work, Princess.”
She waved at me. “Thank you.”
I tipped my chin up at her and backed out of her drive, only to turn right into mine a few feet later.
Since I was already wet as fuck, I decided to put the bike in the garage, which required me getting off, lifting the garage door manually since I’d never had an automatic opener installed, and getting back on the bike to get it inside.
All the while, I had the distinct feeling of someone’s eyes on me the entire time. However, when I looked up to glance around, nobody was there.Chapter 6If you are lonely, dim all the lights and put on a scary movie. Then you won’t feel so alone.
-Text from her dad to Harleigh
Harleigh
I didn’t know why I was walking into the bakery when I’d already been twice this week.
Sure, the cookies were good, but usually I had more control over my cravings.
Though, those cravings weren’t for food.
They were for a man.
I was stalking my neighbor.
Well, not stalking, per se.
More like going places that I knew he would be.
Yesterday over the phone, my father had explained that he’d hired Slate to work for Free part-time. And…I hadn’t been mad.
After seeing him with his grandmother, a woman that I’d come to adore since moving to Bear Bottom, I’d been looking at him in a different light.
And now, I found myself going to a bakery that I knew he probably would be at, to get some cookies and danishes to take over to my father’s house because I knew he’d be there later.
What the hell was wrong with me?
Slate had ‘bad news’ written all over him. Honestly, I would be surprised if he ever colored inside the lines.
Swallowing hard, I curled my hand around the bar and opened the door, smiling wide when I saw the wall of men in the middle of the bakery.
A wall of men that had ‘Bear Bottom Guardians MC’ stamped on their leather cuts.
The silent man that hadn’t wanted to shake my hand turned, saw who it was, and gently stepped out of the way.
“Go ahead,” he gestured. “We were wanting to get something, but we still have to look. This is our first time here.”
I could imagine his unsureness.
The place was a diamond in the rough.
From the outside, you wouldn’t think that it was as special as it was, but on the inside? Well, there was so much to choose from that it was unreal.
I smiled at Bayou and walked past the barrage of muscle, grinning at a few of the guys that took a quick glance down at me before making my way up to the front counter…where there was no one in sight.
I looked at the metal bell on the counter that said, ‘Ring for service.’
Then pressed it.
Only once. Even though, after an entire minute, nobody came.
I looked back at the man that was directly behind me and saw that more people had arrived since I’d come in.
I bit my lip and found Hoax grinning at me.
Hoax worked for my father and was also married to Pru. Pru and her sisters, Phoebe and Piper, had all grown up on the Free compound. My father and five of his buddies had formed a compound of sorts when they’d gotten out of the military. As each man had expanded his family, they’d all built houses on the same plot of land.
Hence how the compound had formed.
Though I hadn’t seen Hoax other than at the compound, he still seemed approachable.
Technically, I suppose, I should’ve known Bayou a little better, too, seeing as he was married to Phoebe now.
But, he never came to visit at the same time that I did, and we’d been able to avoid each other quite successfully—not because we were actively avoiding each other but because we both led separate lives that kept us busy. Busy enough that when I was around, he wasn’t. And when he was, I was busy.
I’d been invited to a few dinners that they were all a part of, but being the new man on the totem pole at work meant that I worked nights for now. It also meant that when everybody else was awake, I wasn’t, and vice versa.
I hadn’t quite figured out how to manage my time on my days off, either.
