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He looked happy.
And dangerous.
“Thank you,” he said, eyeing me the same way I was eyeing him. “Anisa has told me a lot about you.”
My brows rose as I looked at the bride.
She smiled and touched her nose with a tattooed hand. Or henna. Whatever it was.
“I’m glad you’re not bad.”
As in, I’m glad that you’re not the person I thought you were when I rented out a hotel room to you.
“Thanks,” I said. “I see that you have a line forming. We should let you mingle.”
Anisa sighed. “I’d rather eat.”
Taj wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close before whispering something in her ear that made her blush.
“I’d rather have real food,” she muttered, and I didn’t have to guess at what he’d said.
Taj said something else that had her blushing for real this time, then looked at Gracie helplessly.
“I’ll see you all later,” she whispered.
Then they were hauled to the next set of welcoming arms.
That’s when I put my arm around Gracie and started to lead her to the doors. “I know that you want to stay here and all, but that’s the last time that we’ll be seeing Anisa tonight.”
Gracelynn looked up at me with her eyebrows raised. “What?”
“Yep,” I said. “Once they make the rounds, Taj is about to make her his.”
“Oh.” She paused, then started laughing. “Anisa talks a good game, but she’s still a virgin. She’s terrified.”
I could imagine.
Based solely on how the evening when I’d taken Gracie’s had gone. And Gracie had definitely wanted it a whole lot more than Anisa did. Or, as she appeared to want, anyway.
Having an arranged marriage sounded like the second sun of hell.
But… to each their own and all.
We headed out to my bike among the sea of cars, and my eyes automatically started to scan the parking lot.
I took in everything, but from what I could tell, there wasn’t a single soul out there with us.
Straddling the bike, I held my hand out for her to help her mount and smiled when she cursed as she got on.
She was wearing a fitted pantsuit—since it was the middle of winter and all and the wedding was practically outside—and a jacket that she’d left on the bike.
A leather one that’d been in my closet for so long that I’d all but forgotten about it.
Yet, it fit her like a glove, and I half wondered about my old high school self if it fit her so well.
“Does this get easier?” she asked about riding on the bike.
“It’s not hard right now,” I teased. “But yes, you’ll start to get more comfortable on the bike the more you’re on it. It feels much better now, right?”
The ride earlier was slightly brisk. But now it was a nice, mellow seventy degrees. And it felt like pure heaven outside.
“Yes,” she admitted. “You’re lucky, because I almost walked home.”
I snorted. “It was a two-minute drive, and I drove slow enough that your hair wouldn’t get messed up. I’m thinking you would’ve been okay.”
The bike of mine was much more maneuverable during high speeds. And if we needed to evade or get away… I could do it ten times better than my only other vehicle—the company van.
Though, I could’ve taken her in her own truck. But that wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun with her all the way across the seat instead of plastered up against me.
She scooted forward until she was exactly where I wanted her—and had thought about her being—then wrapped her arms around my gut.
“You ready?” I asked, taking one final look around before starting my bike up.
“Yes!” she replied over the loudness of my motor. “You going to get me a helmet now?”
I didn’t have a helmet for her.
The one I’d had for my ex-wife had been burned, right along with everything else that reminded me of her upon our divorce, and when we’d left, I’d told her we would be going to get her a helmet after we were done at the wedding.
With it being only two in the afternoon, that gave us a full day to do absolutely fuckin’ nothin’.
I loved it.
“Yes,” I said. “Be thinking about where you want to stop to eat, too. And whether you want to go back out for dinner tonight, or if you want to cook something in.”
She hummed and said, “Okay!”
We slipped out of our parking spot, then weaved through the traffic in the lot before making it to the main drag.
From there, it was a hop and a skip to the Harley store where I’d get her helmet.
It took her two seconds upon arriving inside to find the sparkly pink helmet with a lightning bolt emblazoned on the side.
Once she had it securely on her head, and I had it paid for, we set back out for a restaurant that was over thirty miles away.
