“Such a smart one, aren’t you?” Blaz put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “When you getting outta here?”
“I can have Marlena close up if you want me to head up there now.”
Blaz glanced over at me. “You ready kid?”
I shoved away from the bar, digging my keys out of the inside pocket of my cut. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I’ll be up there first thing in the morning, sweetheart.”
“Okay, Dad.”
* * *
“Here.”I handed my leather jacket and spare helmet to Harlow.
“You’re sweet.” She took the stuff from me and climbed onto the back of my bike, wrapping her arms tightly around my middle.
“That’s a word I don’t hear very often,” I admitted before letting the engine of my hog roar to life.
Burying her face in my back, she replied, “Get used to it if you’re going to be around for a while.”
Riding up the winding roads to the cabin with Harlow was nothing short of perfect. The stars blanketed the clear night sky and the moonlight danced on the pavement beneath us. It was the kind of night bikers live for, and I never wanted the memory to slip from my grasp.
It didn’t take long for us to be pulling up into the drive of the dimly lit home. It was strange to be alone with Harlow. Usually we had to steal moments when her father wasn’t looking, and I couldn’t believe he was trusting me alone for a night with his daughter. It felt a little too much like a test.
After helping Harlow off of my bike and taking my bag inside, I sat on the front porch in a rocking chair smoking a cigarette.
“Have one of those for me?” Harlow asked while handing me a longneck.
“Of course.” I pulled out the pack of cowboy killers and lit the stick for her.
She planted herself right down in my lap with her face an inch away from mine. “This is a long time coming,” she muttered before letting her lips dust over mine.
Instinctively, I laced my fingers in her hair, pulling her into my hungry kiss.
Within seconds, my mind snapped back to clarity, forcing a retreat. “This isn’t a good idea, Low.”
“Why?” She pouted as rejection assaulted her smile, letting it fade into disappointment.
“You know why.” I ran my thumb over her soft lip, which I craved to taste again.
Letting her head land on my shoulder, she sighed. “I guess you’re right. Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “Trust me, I want nothing more, but I don’t want my head to be the next trophy on your father’s wall.”
Chapter 3
Harlow
Curling up in bed alone while sharing a wall with Collin was the cruelest form of torture I could have imagined. Finally, we were in the same place at the same time, but it still wasn’t right. I damned my actions of lust, the nagging sting of refusal destroying me slowly.
Need and desire bellowed up inside me. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I took care of it one way or another. Forcing myself to stay put, I fought the overwhelming desire to crawl into his arms to at least sleep next to the burly biker I’d had a crush on for most of my life.
Images of the time I accidently walked in on him changing in the bathroom flashed in my brain: the way his back had flexed as his tight muscles worked while he took his shirt off, the club ink decorating his tanned skin, how good his ass had looked in his snug boxer briefs. I’d practically drooled as I peeped through the cracked door. He hadn’t caught me, and it was my little secret I had kept close to the vest for years.
Discouraged, I turned on the TV to drown out my tantalizing thoughts with droning, dreary news. Rambling reporters carried on about the devastating fires in California and the funeral for George Bush Sr., but nothing was tempering my shameless yearning. You’d think devastation and heartbreak would be able to snap a girl out of love-drunken need, but it wasn’t working, to say the least.
I flipped the input of the Apple TV and logged into the drive all the guys used for porn. It wasn’t ever talked about, but I knew they all watched it when they were hiding out at the cabin for one reason or another. Days in isolation were long, and I was happy for the aid to my deviance.