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Dad: What friends? Need me to send a patrol car to follow you home?
Hell no!
Holly: No! DO NOT DO THAT!
Dad: You’re safe?
Holly: Of course. Diner tomorrow at 12?
The three bubbles appeared then disappeared three times before he finally agreed and said goodbye. Yeah, decision made, they needed boundaries. She’d have died if a patrol car showed up to escort her the five miles to her home like she was some untrustworthy kid. She’d just have to work her ass off to make them see her point of view.
LJ returned, holding up a bottle of red, two plastic cups, and wearing a grin. “Ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
“What’s wrong?” His arms dropped to his side. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just making plans for an uncomfortable conversation with my father tomorrow.”
“Ooh, girl, I don’t envy you that one.” Jazz said. She shot a scowl at Screw who had rubbed his nose along the shell of her ear. “Hands off, Screwball. Follow the rules. I’m only sitting here because I’d feel bad making you sit on the floor.”
“Rules?” Screw kissed her cheek. “I haven’t heard of this word before.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Jazz grumbled.
Their banter was just what Holly needed to shake off the impending conversation with her father. She stood. “Thanks for everything, Toni, Jazz. I can’t tell you how excited I am to start working with you ladies.”
“Please, I’m the one who should be thanking you. You’re about to do wonderful things for my business.” Toni stood and hugged Holly, as did Jazz. After promises to get together before their debut Monday, Holly followed LJ to the door. One last goodbye over her shoulder revealed Jazz hadn’t returned to Screw’s lap but took the spot on the couch vacated by Holly and LJ.
If Screw’s frown was any indication, he wasn’t thrilled with the development.
Interesting.
“You ready to get that sweet ass on the back of my bike?” LJ asked as he stored the wine and cups in his saddlebags after wrapping them in a T-shirt.
“Your bike? I’ve never been on one.”
Well, once when she was a kid, but that didn’t count.
“Figured.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her against his body. The man was huge and he didn’t give anywhere. Every part of his body was just so freakin’ hard. “I’m excited to be the man who pops your cherry.”
Huh? That ship sailed long—oh, right, the bike.
He kissed her, those firm lips and that skilled tongue wreaking havoc on her ability to rationalize.
“Okay,” she said in a dreamy voice.
At this rate, the man could get her to rob banks and steal from little old ladies just with the power of his kiss. As it was, his lips had the power to make her forget the fact that the only other man to get her on a motorcycle ended up murdering her sister.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LJ HADN’T BEEN a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast like many of his brothers. In fact, the first time he so much as sat his ass on a bike hadn’t been until he’d left the military. Rocket introduced him to the high of riding on two wheels a few weeks after they started working together. In the years since that eye-opening first ride, he’d sure as hell made up for lost time and missed miles.
Freedom. That’s what he’d experienced the first time he flew through the mountain roads on Rocket’s spare bike. Back then, his head had been fucked up far worse than it was now. Nightmares had plagued every sleep he’d dared to slumber, and the daytime hadn’t been much better. Panic attacks and frequent loss of time and reality were constants in his life. To this day, he swore riding his motorcycle was worth more than any qualified therapist.
The peace, the freedom from four boxy walls. It allowed him time to get shit straight in his head and plod on another day. Without it, who knew what drastic measures he might have taken in those early days, when bitterness and anger clogged his thinking.
As much as he loved riding solo, and he fucking loved it, his favorite activity turned out to be infinitely better with Holly behind him. Shit, having a woman he genuinely liked clinging to him, those big soft tits cushioned against his back as they cruised to a destination where they would no doubt be unable to keep their hands off each other?
Fucking heaven.
“I freakin’ love this!” Holly yelled as he followed the curve of the mountain road. She gasped. “Oh, my God! That view…”
Yeah, it was something to see. Especially now, as twilight faded to night and the sun slipped behind the mountains.
LJ slowed to a roll while pulling off to the scenic overlook. This spot wasn’t an official tourist overlook, more a clearing he spotted a few years ago when his head had been a jumble of fucked thoughts. A quiet, peaceful stretch of the Smokies overlooking the picturesque towns below.
