Page 4 of Property of Kevlar

Running her hand up and down his arm, she nodded. “I’m sorry to cut this short. But I had a good time.”

Kelsey hated lying. The words left a bitter tang on her tongue, but she couldn’t risk offending and pissing off anyone even remotely affiliated with criminal bikers.

He nodded, reached for her hand, and bent his arm. Resting her palm in the crook of his elbow, he smiled. “At least let me walk you out.”

Dammit.

Though it could be worse. He hadn’t offered to drive her home. Of course not. He had a full beer, and the bar was filled with women. Why would he leave?

“Sure.” She forced a smile. Kelsey could endure a few more minutes.

Reaching for the longneck on the table, he brought it to his lips and tilted his head back.

Unimpressed, she watched his throat bob as he chugged the rest of the beer.

Charming.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she shifted her attention to her phone and searched for the rideshare app. The sooner she got out of there, the better.

After he slammed the bottle down on the table and let out a manly belch, he led her toward the door. Thankfully, she didn’t vomit. The unnecessary show of bravado was such a turnoff. Why did men do those things? Did he think his burp would impress her?

Ugh.

This setup couldn’t end fast enough.

Pete wasn’t skilled at navigating a crowd. He plowed through, causing quite a few dirty looks in their direction. He seemed unfazed by the people he bumped into. Kelsey, on the other hand, couldn’t focus on summoning a ride, so she tucked her phone away and mumbled apologies.

Finally, they made it to the door. Bursting through it, Kelsey welcomed the cool evening air on her face. Between the warm bodies, the stage lights, and the alcohol, inside the Knucklehead was balmy as hell. Stepping out into the night was damn refreshing.

The only thing that could make this better would be when she ditched the guy at her side.

“Here.” Pete urged her toward the left of the building. “Let’s get out of the wind.”

Wind? What was he talking about? This was barely a breeze.

He didn’t give her the opportunity to protest. He all but dragged her away from the front of the bar, the man checking IDs at the door, and in the direction of the row of motorcycles. Maybe he would offer her a ride home after all.

Should she accept it?

She’d never been on the back of a bike before. The way Carrie described the experience made it sound as if it was essentially orgasmic. It’d been a while since Kelsey had a good O.

Though she doubted Pete would be the one to deliver in that aspect. He wasn’t exactly attentive.

No. She shouldn’t get on his bike if he asked. Nope. Bad idea. Ditch him as soon as the opportunity presented itself. That was her plan. She’d stick to it.

As they rounded the corner, Kelsey dug her heels in.

Wait a minute.

Pete tugged her along. Her minor protest hadn’t registered with him.

Blaring alarms rang in her head.

They shouldn’t be going away from the light and stepping into the shadows. If she were to summon an Uber, it wouldn’t find her there. They were hidden from prying eyes.

“Wait,” she said. “Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer.