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She gave him a look that he couldn’t quite read. It wasn’t a yes or a no…but he did know she was hiding something deep inside. And he’d guessed, from what he’d gone through himself, it was whole lot of hurt, and it wasn’t just about a husband who had left her.
When she didn’t say anything, he said, “Hey, you want to buy anything from the store before we leave. A gift?” He brought his bottle up and emptied the last drops into his mouth.
“For you?” she asked.
He set the bottle on the table, swallowed, and smiled. “Nah,” he said. “Nate.”
Her face lit up. They stood up out of their chairs and she wandered over to the little shop.
While she was looking at the souvenirs, Cruz bought snacks and a couple of bottles of water. It was another hour and a half to Lake Charles from where they were…depending on traffic and whether they stopped off along the way. Cruz didn’t want to ride hungry.
Eden came back with a toy alligator, and when Cruz looked at it and gave her a funny look, she said, “What?”
“Trying to scare the boy?”
“You’d scare him more than this thing,” she said.
Me? I’m going to meet Nate? Maybe I’m reading more into this than I think.He laughed. “You like scary things?” he asked her.
“Some of them,” she said with a smile.
“Well, we’d better get going. Don’t want to miss dinner.”
“Are you always hungry?” Eden asked.
Hungry for you…yes.“Mostly,” he replied. “Gotta feed these big muscles.” He held up his arms and flexed them. She was still staring at them when he dropped them to his side and he said, “That’s just the arms.”
She rolled her eyes. “OK, I’m ready,” she said.
They packed their things in the carrier behind her seat, and then he got on the bike, and she followed, resting her hand on his shoulder, and sending a tingle up his spine.
They stopped off twice more along the way, to stretch their legs and have a bite to eat. Mack’s bike was like a Rolls Royce. They could have done the distance without a break, but any chance Cruz got to stop and spend time with Eden was worth every minute. The thing he didn’t like about Mack’s bike was, it was so damn comfortable for Eden sitting up and back, she no longer had her arms wrapped around him. He missed that, but they’d be back on his own bike soon enough. It might not be as comfortable, but it was a lot moreintimate.
8
TWO-UP
“You’ll never fuckingwork for me again,” Jimmy told Bo.
“Come on, man. I told you I haven’t heard from him,” Bo said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t fucking believe you.”
“Then what can I do about that?”
“You can tell me the fucking truth,” Jimmy spat over the phone.
“Jimmy, you know I’m telling the truth. You can’t get a hold of Brian, and neither can I. Why don’t you try asking around if anybody has seen a bunch of bikers riding through there?”
“Are you fucking joking? Have you never been to Baton fucking Rouge?”
“I’ll call you back,” Bo said.
Jimmy could hear a Harley in the background as Bo was talking. “Don’t you fucking hang up on me.”
“Gotta go, Jimmy. Call back soon.” Bo ended the call.
Jimmy was ready to toss his phone again, but it was the only thing he had that could get him what he wanted. As he sat at the side of the road, he wondered how he would ever find Cruz if he couldn’t even get a hold of Brian. Without someone telling him where the Jokers were, he was fucked.
