Page 65 of Fallen Flame

I looked at Oliver.

“We do have time,” I said.

He gave a small shrug that basically meant whatever you want.

I dumped the dry cereal back into the bag and folded the top over. “I’m down.”

I grabbed my coffee and dumped it back into the coffee pot. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Fifteen

Oliver

The gas pump clicked. I pulled the nozzle from my tank and glanced at the total before sliding my card back into my wallet.

The whole morning felt... different.

Not because we were stopping at Kwik Trip before work.

Because I couldn’t stop thinking about Lark. The kiss.

Hell. The kisses.

For years, I’d been perfectly content keeping people at arm’s length. It was easier that way. Simpler. Nobody expected much from me, and I never gave them a reason to.

Then Lark crashed into my life like a tornado in worn-out Converse and somehow convinced me to smile.

She laughed too loud. Talked too much. Never respected personal space.

And somehow... I liked every damn bit of it.

I should’ve been keeping my head clear.

Wrecker had trusted me with keeping her safe, and getting involved with her wasn’t exactly following orders.

But every time she smiled at me...

Every time she called me Ollie...

Every time she looked at me like I wasn’t some quiet, broody biker she had to tiptoe around...

The reasons I kept telling myself to stay away got harder and harder to remember.

I shoved the gas nozzle back into the pump.

Across the lot, I looked toward the front of the gas station.

Jude was still standing at the register talking to the cashier while Ever and Lark walked out balancing coffees and a paper bag that probably held Ever’s breakfast.

Lark laughed at something Ever said.

Even from thirty feet away, I found myself smiling.

The girls stepped off the sidewalk and started across the parking lot.

A black van rolled slowly between the pumps.

Nothing unusual until it stopped.