Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“Always suspicious,” he says with a playful smile that nearly unravels my resolve to stay distant and unaffected. “Do you want to get out of here or not? Last chance.”
Taking a deep breath, I muster my resolve. “Give me ten.” Slamming the door with more force than necessary, I rush to change. The black silk headscarf Kelsey gave me a few days ago is perfect for tonight. Slipping into one of the girls’ form-fitting black jeans and lace butterfly top, I smirk, picturing Nova’s reaction.
I’m not wrong. When I open the door, his eyes make a slow journey from head to toe. “Damn, Maggie.” He’s clearly in shock. “Uhm…let’s go.”
I follow him past the bar and straight to the door. “Where exactly are we going?” I should have asked the question before agreeing, but now I need to know. “Nova.”
He stops and turns slowly. “Out.”
I cross my arms. “That’s not good enough.”
“Dinner,” he says stubbornly.
“Fine, but I’m not getting on the back of your bike.”
“Scared?” He’s teasing me, but this is no teasing matter.
“You wish,” I say. “Just don’t want to be your shield on that death trap, especially with the Devils lurking around.”
I prepare to keep fighting him on it, but I don’t need to. “Fine. Let’s take the truck.”
I frown and jog to keep up with his long legs as they cross the parking lot. “That was easy.” Too fucking easy.
Nova chuckles. “I’m an easy guy.”
I pause at the passenger side of a sleek black pickup, looking him up and down. “That cool demeanor you’re frontin’ might fool others, but I see the fire in those eyes.”
For a split second, there’s an unspoken tension between us. The raw intensity in his gaze ignites something within me. “Remember that fire, Maggie,” he whispers, breaking my trance.
Oh. Fuck. I think my ovaries just exploded. The ache in my lower belly tells me so.
No, no, no. I can’t go there!
I’m leaving this place and starting over. Nova isn’t part of my plan, not at all. I tell myself this on and off all night, starting at the fancy pizza joint he takes us to for dinner.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” I tell him when we drive up to a nice restaurant with an awning and valet parking.
“The pizza is incredible and too upscale for most people.” He shrugs as he helps me from the truck, and we snag a seat in a dimly lit corner with a prime view of a landscaped park. “You like pizza, don’t you?”
“Who doesn’t? But I’ve never had fifty-dollar pizza before. I eat that five-dollar stuff from the hood.”
“Then you should enjoy it. I don’t buy fifty-dollar pizza for just anybody.”
That much, I believe. “I don’t imagine you have to buy dinner for most of the women you come across.”
He shrugs, but I respect that he nods instead of deflecting the question. “True. That’s not what most women I come across want from me.”
“Bikers don’t exactly scream long-term relationship, but that whole bad boy thing you got goin’ is enough to set a pair of chonies on fire.”
His nostrils flare, and he leans forward. “Are your chonies on fire, Maggie?”
Fuck, yes.
“Nope. Not at all. I don’t like it when a man runs away without a word after fucking me.” His eyes widen at the words coming out of my mouth that I can’t seem to stop. “I mean, I’m not expecting you to put a ring on it, or even a stack of hundred-dollar bills, but even a hey, thanks for letting me bust one in ya, would have been better than nothing.”
He opens his mouth, probably to give me some bullshit explanation, but the waiter interrupts his excuse, and we place our order.
“I’m sorry, Maggie. I’m not good at the talking part,” he says when we’re alone again.
“You didn’t try very hard,” I say with a dismissive wave. “It doesn’t matter. It was a good and satisfying fuck, no need to get all girly about it. I don’t know why I even brought it up.”
“You want answers,” he says. “You deserve them.”
Damn right, I do, but I’m learning my lessons earlier this time. I’m spotting red flags and dodging them like a ninja. “I’m going to give your MC what you want, but I need something in return.”
Nova’s expression doesn’t change, but his blue eyes stay on my face, studying me silently with so much intensity I grip the table to keep from squirming. After a beat, he says, “I’m sorry I ran away like I did. It wasn’t you.”
“If you give me that stupid fucking line, I’ll keep everything to myself and leave you to find your friend without my help.”
Something flashes in Nova’s eyes, and he nods. “I shouldn’t have attacked you like that. You were still healing, and technically, you were my patient.”
I frown. “You don’t have to make excuses, Nova. You got what you wanted.”