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She never rode. That was one of her mother’s things, not hers. “I never—”
He grinned. “That’s okay. I’ll go easy on you. See you at eight.”
He left, and she finished up work for the day, mostly in a fog. Marco was thrilled to have the commission on the sale.
“He asked me out,” she mentioned when they were going through receipts.
“He did not.” Marco’s dark eyes widened. “Tell me you didn’t say no.”
“I didn’t say no.”
Marco feigned disbelief. “Why, Miss Elena. I’m shocked. You always say no. Mr. Muscles must have the magic touch. Too bad he’s not gay or I’d have lusted after him myself.”
She laughed. “Yeah, and Torrance would have kicked your ass all the way to Miami.”
Marco sighed. “True. But just because I’m in a relationship doesn’t mean I’m dead. I can still look.”
Marco left when she closed up the shop. She locked up the windows and doors, enabled the alarm system and headed upstairs, changed clothes and put on her tennis shoes to head outside for a run.
It was a cool night so she threw on a hoodie, stretched and started off easy, relishing the brisk air. She crossed the street to the beach side, enjoying the crowds that had gathered for bike week.
Motorcycles zoomed by, their engines roaring as she got into the rhythm of her run.
Her mother was a bike fanatic, had always gotten so excited whenever the bikers came to town. She’d make tie-dyed T-shirts or some kind of jewelry to sell to the bikers, happy to be a part of the throng of incoming tourists. Sometimes she’d hook up with a biker group and go off riding. Elena would worry they’d kidnap her and she’d never be seen again. Her mother told her she worried too much. She told her mother she wasn’t careful enough. It was a common argument.
She hadn’t seen her mom in a few weeks, was surprised she hadn’t popped into the store. Her mother always managed to show up during bike week. Elena wondered where she was, though tracking her mother down was something she’d long ago given up hope of ever being able to do. Though she had a cell phone, she rarely answered it and often lost it. For a grown woman, she often acted like a child.
Elena had long ago given up hope of ever changing her mom. Her mother enjoyed her free-spirited lifestyle, the ability to pick up and charge headfirst into whatever new adventure caught her fancy. It was probably why Elena chose to be so grounded in one place, in one career, determined never to live with her head in the clouds.
Dusk had settled over the ocean, the sun sinking fast over the vast array of hotels to the west. She made a quick turn and headed back to her apartment, took a shower and dried her hair and surveyed her closet, trying to decide what to wear to dinner tonight.
No dress since she’d be riding a bike. Now there was a departure for her. She was going out with a biker tonight, one of her strict taboos.
But oh, what a sexy biker he was. And it was just dinner, right? She could deviate from her hard rules for just one night.
THREE
Elena Madison was one sexy package of slender curves, tanned, long legs and a perfect face with mesmerizing green eyes all rolled into intelligence, wit, charm and—oh yeah—the most kissable full lips Jed had ever seen.
And she was hands off because she was General Lee’s niece.
Didn’t that just suck?
But he was in, had done the job of getting his foot in the door. Now he just had to stay there. He’d had his eye on her for a full day, watching the shop, monitoring her clientele and how she related to them. She was no nonsense but nice to her clients. She took her lunches on the rooftop of her business, which doubled as her living quarters. Nice digs, too, with a beach overlook.
The general had set him up right next door at this kick-ass condo with a balcony view directly onto her shop and apartment.
Considering some of the assignments he’d had with the military and the FBI, this one had definite benefits.
And now he got to take the hot girl out to dinner?
Beat the hell out of eating sand or being bored to death by paperwork.
Except for that whole “hands off” thing. But he’d deal.
He left the condo, climbed on the bike and rode the short distance to Elena’s shop, curbing the bike on the side street. He went to the side door and rang the bell. She came outside and everything that made him a man tightened.
Some women instinctively knew how to dress for riding on a Harley.
