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I turned in the direction he’d indicated to see Lionel stomping across the parking lot toward his car. Lionel cast one final scowl in our direction before he revved the engine and peeled out onto the road.
A giggle bubbled up my throat and I clamped a hand over my mouth.
“He looks like he sucked on a lemon.”
“I’d probably feel the same way if I let a girl like you slip through my fingers,” the biker replied.
A blush heated my cheeks.
“First date?” the biker asked.
“Boyfriend,” I replied. “Or…ex-boyfriend now.”
He hummed. “Good to know. Just for the record, I don’t usually do this sort of thing.”
I cleared my throat and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, self-conscious. Now that I realized I was in the middle of a parking lot, alone, pressed up against an incredibly attractive stranger who had just given me the best kiss of my life, I suddenly didn’t know what to do with myself.
“You mean you don’t go around kissing random girls?” I countered.
The biker shook his head, a small, mischievous smile curling the corner of his mouth up.
“I can honestly say you’re my first random girl. I’m glad you were gentle with me.”
Oh.
I blinked and my mouth went dry. He wasflirting. And he wasgoodat it, too. I sputtered a nervous little laugh.
“Now you’re just angling for another one.”
He didn’t miss a beat.
“Damn right I am.”
His fingers flexed with the slightest pressure and that’s when I realized he was still cradling my elbow. Making sure I was steady on my feet.
“Under normal circumstances, I prefer to know a girl’s name before I kiss her.”
“I would say these aren’t exactly normal circumstances, wouldn’t you?” I pointed out.
He nodded. “Definitely unusual.” Then he moved his hand away from my elbow, gliding down my forearm to take my hand. “I’d still like to know your name though.”
“Beth,” I whispered, my heart somewhere in my throat.
Lionel always called meBethanywith a mixture of reprimand and formality in his tone.
My mother always called meBethany Marie, like I was a child in trouble constantly.
With this stranger—this biker who had rescued me with a kiss that would be forever seared on my soul—I wanted to be simplyBeth. A name of my own choosing. Short, sweet, and familiar.
His small smile broadened into a grin that was utterly devastating. A lethal dimple flashed in his cheek. My stomach did a somersault and my knees threatened to buckle all over again.
“Pleasure to meet you, Beth,” he replied. “I’m Axel.”
I ducked my head and shifted closer, inexplicably drawn toward him. I traced a fingertip over one of the patches on his leather vest with a blazing sun suspended over sand dune.
“If you offered to kiss me again, I wouldn’t say no.”
Axel hummed a laugh. I swallowed hard at howgoodthat sound made me feel.
