It’s empty today, but I bet come summer it’s full of tourists. The view is stunning. It looks over the valley and a sea of green treetops. Some of them still have a dusting of white snow.
There’s a grassy area with picnic tables, and a path winds its way to a stack of large boulders.
Luke parks the bike, and I reluctantly slide off. A cold shiver goes through me at the loss of his body heat.
Luke wheels himself off the bike and opens the saddle bag and pulls out a blanket. He puts it on his knee and we take the path to the boulders. The ground is uneven, but I know better than to ask Luke if he needs help.
We stop at the boulders and Luke angles his chair right up close. He fists his hands and puts them on the boulder, then hauls himself up.
I can see why he spends so much time at the gym. His upper body strength is incredible. I scramble up next to him and shiver as the cool air hits me.
“Here. Come in close.” He wraps the blanket around both our shoulders, and for a while we sit in silence looking out at the valley. Just two people enjoying the view.
Luke twitches, and his face screws up in a wince.
“What is it? Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” He reaches under the blanket and presses on the end of his stump. “I get phantom pain sometimes. It’s been over two years, and my brain still thinks I have legs.”
I can’t imagine what that’s like, trying to scratch an itch that’s not really there.
“How did it happen?”
We’ve talked a lot in the past few weeks, but Luke’s never mentioned what happened. He doesn’t answer for a long time, and I worry I’ve crossed a line.
“You don’t need to answer.”
“It’s fine.” He looks down at his lap and tugs on the corner of the blanket. “I was a bike mechanic in the army. That made my mother less anxious, the fact that I wasn’t on the frontline.”
He chuckles, but it’s a hollow laugh. “I was in a convoy moving between bases, and we hit an IED. Next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed in Germany. I don’t remember anything about the explosion or how I got out. Everyone kept telling me I was one of the lucky ones.”
He shrugs. “For a long time I didn’t feel lucky. I was in a dark place until Raiden dragged me out of it. He served with my father, and my old man asked him to meet me. Raiden offered me a place here with the MC. A job, a new start.”
Luke turns to look at me, and his eyes blaze with fierce loyalty. “He saved my life.”
“You’re loyal.” It’s a nice quality. “I wish all men were as loyal as you.”
I’m thinking about Ian and how it’s only when I left that he cared about me.
“Do you miss him? Your ex?” Luke asks as if reading my mind.
I think about Ian, and all I feel is a sense of freedom. “No. I should have left a long time ago. I don’t know why I didn’t. I was scared of what he would do and embarrassed.”
I look down at my hands and pull at a loose bit ofnail. “I don’t know how I got into that kind of relationship. I’m a smart woman; how did it happen to me?”
Luke takes my hand. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Isla.”
His hands are cold, and I run my fingers over them. There’s grease under his fingernails and the skin on his knuckles is scraped raw over hard calluses. It’s a reminder of his grit and determination. I’ve seen him getting himself around by hauling himself up on his fists. What kind of man is tough enough to break the skin on his knuckles, let them heal, and break them again and again and again?
“I don’t even think about Ian,” I confess. “It’s a relief not to have him in my life. I don’t want to think about him now.” My heart’s hammering in my chest, and I glance up at Luke to find him staring at me.
His gaze flicks to my lips. “I want you to be selfish for a little while, Isla, I want you only to think about yourself.”
Then his lips are on mine, firm yet gentle and with a tenderness that brings tears to my eyes. This is how I need to be kissed; this is how I need to be loved.
“Let me take care of you,” Luke whispers against my lips, and my body sparks to life as I surrender to him.
8
