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I gulped and took a step forward. Liam held out a hand to me, but I ignored it and set my foot on the peg without assistance. Resting my hands lightly on his shoulders, I pressed up and swung my leg over, then collapsed onto the seat. My legs shook as I pressed my damp palms against my thighs.
The motorcycle started to shift under us as Liam searched his pockets for something. I sucked in a breath and grabbed for the back of his jacket, afraid we’d topple over. But, a moment after I touched him, the bike stopped moving and he turned toward me, holding out a pair of fleece gloves. I exhaled in a sigh and tried to relax. The gloves were huge, but my fingers felt much warmer once I’d slipped them on. I stuffed the baggy ends into my jacket cuffs so they wouldn’t fall off, then returned my hands to rest on my thighs.
He’d been watching with his head turned, looking back over his shoulder at me. I couldn’t see more than a corner of his face, but I could tell he was smiling. My stomach flipped.Just nerves, I thought.
He sat down, and his warm body settled between my legs. He lifted one hand off the handlebars and reached backward. His gloved fingers closed around the fleece covering mine, and he lifted my hand and placed it on his waist. I sighed and lifted my other hand and placed it on the other side of his waist, but I maintained a wall of air between our bodies.
Liam patted my leg, revved the engine, and shifted the motorcycle into gear. The wheels started to roll, slowly, down the drive, and I tilted my head up to watch the trees arching over our heads. The bare branches against the gray sky mesmerized me. Liam pressed on the brake at the end of the drive, and my body came crashing forward, pressing me against his back. Before I could shift backward, he reached for my arm and held me in place.
Fine. I held tight and leaned against him as he accelerated onto the country road, but only because I’d convinced myself it would be safer that way. Not because I had changed my mind about hooking up with my uncle’s secretary. And definitely not because I liked the feel of Liam’s body against mine.
When we pulled into town, I had an enormous grin on my face. I hadn’t been able to stop smiling since the moment Evelyn gave in to physics and leaned against me. I told her I’d take it slow, but I don’t think she realized I’d need to lean into the curves, and there were quite a few nice bends in the road on the way to town. The first time I leaned the bike, she grabbed my jacket in her hands and scooted even closer to me. I kept the speed low and the ride smooth, but I loved the way she clutched at me when we leaned.
I almost didn’t want to park the bike, but I did want to check on her and make sure she was okay. She’d barely said two words since agreeing to this ride. I found an open spot and parked the bike with the back wheel against the curb. I cut the engine and placed one of my hands over hers, but she’d already started to lean away from me. My smile faded. Of course she’d let go as soon as we stopped. What was I expecting? She’d already as good as told me she wasn’t interested.
“Can I get down?” she asked.
I pulled my helmet off and ran a hand through my hair. “Sure. I’ll hold her steady for you.”
She touched my shoulders briefly. Then she was gone. She’d already pulled off the gloves I’d given her and started fiddling with the helmet straps by the time I’d dismounted and had the kickstand down.
“All right?” I asked.
She tugged at the straps and grumbled. I pulled off my gloves and reached over to help. My fingers grazed the soft, tender skin under her chin and her eyes met mine.
“We made it,” I said. “And you’re still all in one piece.” That was an easy promise for me to keep. I always had my magic to fall back on if we encountered anything truly dangerous.
“Thanks.” She tugged the helmet off and handed it to me. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Not bad?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” she said, sweeping her hair back and twisting it up. “It was fun.” She frowned as she secured the elastic around her hair. “But not fun enough to make me want to run out and buy one of these when I get home.” She slipped the gloves back on her hands and tucked the ends into her jacket sleeves.
“I could teach you to ride, if you wanted to learn.” I patted the seat and smiled.
“No.” She shivered. “Thanks, but I think I’ll stick to cars. Or walking.”
“You’re cold.” I didn’t feel cold, but then again, I wasn’t human, or from California.
She rubbed her hands on her upper arms and nodded.
“Let’s go get something warm to drink and find you a hat,” I said, leading her across the street to the cafe.
I held the door open for her and followed her inside. “This is it for coffee around here,” I said. “It’s a pretty small town and there’s only the one cafe.”
“Do you even drink coffee? I thought all English people preferred tea.” She glanced around inside the coffee shop, which did in fact feature more tea than coffee.
“I do prefer tea, mostly because I’m hopeless at making coffee. But I’ll drink it, if someone else makes it.”
“What’s your drink?” she asked.
“Espresso.”
“That’s it? Just an espresso?” She held up her hand and curled her fingers above her thumb as though she were holding a tiny espresso cup between them.
I shrugged. “I can drink tea all day long, but I don’t like the taste of coffee enough to drink a whole pot. Or one of those supersize cups you Americans prefer.”
She laughed. I liked making her laugh.
