For the third time in twenty-four hours, I found myself riding through the hills with Rome. We’d gone south this time. He still wouldn’t say where we were headed, just that it was a surprise.
That worked for me.
The wind cleared my head, and I kept thinking how dark and depressing Mom’s apartment felt. Kayden and Lexi deserved light and clean air. There had to be a better place, although with mom’s housing subsidy, her options were limited. Maybe Tinker had something available in the apartment building she’d inherited from her dad. The place was small and relatively old, which meant most of the units had windows on three sides.
That’d be almost like living in a real house.
I’d talk to her about before I left town, I decided.
It wasn’t long before Rome pulled off the main highway. We turned onto a side road that wound its way up through foothills peppered with evergreens, many of them showing fire damage. Then we took a left onto a gravel road, passing a large ranch-style house before pulling off in front of an old wooden barn.
It was like something out of a movie.
The roof was steep and slanting, with a high peak in the front that poked out almost like a horn over the hayloft. The wood was dark brown and weathered. A line of green marked a little stream not far away, shaded by a massive willow.
He turned off the motorcycle and quiet descended.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, hopping off and handing him my helmet.
“It’s the original family homestead,” he said. “We passed my folks’ place on the way in. The old farmhouse was a mess—built without a foundation. The historical society hauled it away before I was born. We still use the barn, though. It’s in good shape. Come and see.”
Wow. He’d talked about his family last night, but I hadn’t realized the McGuires were original settlers. Somehow I’d never considered him the settling down type. I wondered if he planned to live on this land someday, too.
Catching my hand, he pulled me toward the big sliding door, which was padlocked. It didn’t take long for him to unlock and then he was pushing it to the side. He reached for a cord, turning on a series of shop lights.
The whole place was full of motorcycles.
Or rather, it was full of parts of motorcycles, all in different stages of restoration and repair. There was a trailer, too, and a big hoist hanging up high on the cathedral-like ceiling. A second level ran around the sides of the barn, open in the middle. A loft. In the back corner I saw something that looked almost like a giant shower curtain, mounted on metal tracks.
“What is all this?” I asked.
“It’s my shop,” he said, pulling me in close. I fit under his arm perfectly. “This is what I do when I’m not working EMS. My dad taught me. He’s got arthritis now, so it’s all mine. Motorcycles, fighting fire, jumping out of planes… McGuire men are adrenaline junkies.”
“So it’s your hobby?” I asked, although the minute I said it, I felt stupid. Clearly this wasn’t a hobby—this was a passion.
“No, it’s actually how I make most of my money,” he replied, looking pleased with himself. “I love the work, and people pay top dollar for a good restoration.”
“Wow,” I said, impressed. “I had no idea. Have you ever considered leaving fire and rescue to do it full time?”
“No fuckin’ way. I love my job,” he said, then his face sobered. “Well, I love it most of the time. Not the accidents.”
We fell silent, and I thought about the kinds of things he must see as a first responder. Children in who’d been in car crashes. I knew there’d been a real bad one about six months back. One of the boys in Lexi’s class had been killed, along with his dad and little brother. She’d called me that night, crying. I wondered if he’d been working that night… Reaching up, I rubbed Rome’s back, feeling the tension wound up inside.
“Want to see the hayloft?” he finally asked.
“Sure. Are we planning to talk up there, or…?”
He answered my question with a hard kiss. I opened for him, hoping to distract him from whatever dark memory had just run through his head. The kiss deepened quickly, growing almost desperate in its intensity. Then he pulled away, panting, and whispered in a low, throaty voice, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this, Randi.”
His hands came down, catching my ass and lifting me up and into his hips. The move put me off balance, and I’d have fallen over if he wasn’t holding me. He nipped the side of my neck before opening his mouth, sucking and kissing like he planned to eat me alive. His dick was hard and ready against my stomach. It pulsed, reminding me that while I’d gotten off at the Starkwood, he’d never finished.
“I’m gonna fuck you so deep you’ll have trouble walking tonight.”
His intensity startled me, and I felt suddenly nervous. Rome’s body surrounded me, keeping me from finding my balance. It felt like his hands were everywhere and his cock demanded attention. I had no doubt he was telling the truth about the walking thing. That shouldn’t have been a problem. I wanted to do this. There were condoms in my purse—I’d come here planning to have sex.
But this was moving really fast.
Grinding against a guy in a dark bar while half drunk was one thing. Taking off your clothes in broad daylight for someone who’d just declared you wouldn’t be able to walk afterward was another.
“Rome—”
“Don’t worry, babe. I may be a horny bastard, but I’ll take care of you first.”
“Rome, slow down,” I gasped, closing my eyes. “You’re scaring me.” Would he be mad? I wasn’t trying to tease him, but this was happening too fast.
His entire body stiffened, and his arms tightened around me. I realized how alone we were. How easy it would be for him to take what he wanted.
What I’d already made clear he could have.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, hoping I wouldn’t do something stupid, like cry. “I’m not trying to tease you. I just got a little overwhelmed.”
He shuddered, then lowered me, letting me find my balance. For a minute we stood there, both of us breathing hard, and as I studied his face, I wondered what happened next. I really did like him. I wanted to kiss him and pet him, and then I wanted to let him inside me. But not until I was ready.
“You shouldn’t be sorry,” he said finally, taking a step back. “I’m a fuckin’ asshole.”
But he wasn’t, and the fact that he’d stopped was the proof. For a moment, he’d gotten caught up in something dark. Then I’d offered him a distraction, and he’d taken it.
Sort of like I’d been planning to do with him. I’d come here with him because I wanted to get away from the apartment and the problems I’d found there.
If Rome was an asshole, he wasn’t the only one.
“Can we start over?” I asked. He reached out, catching my hair and tucking it behind my ear. Then his finger traced the edge of my black eye.
“I don’t know,” he replied, his face serious. “Can we?”
I took a deep breath, raising my hand to lay it on his chest. His heart pounded, and I could feel how much he still wanted me. But he wasn’t scaring me, not anymore. My own desire flared back to life, and my legs felt suddenly weak.
“Yes.”
He nodded, then turned away for a second, running a hand through his hair. When he turned back, he was smiling again. The smile seemed a little strained, but it was definitely there.
“Let’s go up and check out the hay loft,” he said, reaching out his hand. I took it, feeling the spark of sexual tension that still hummed between us as he guided me across the shop to a set of stairs in the back.
They were more of a ladder than steps, I realized. I started up, torn between nerves and excitement. I didn’t know what would happen next, but I thought it would be good. Maybe we’d talk, maybe we’d roll around in the hay. Either way, Rome had listened. He wasn’t mad, and I had the feeling that even if we didn’t have sex today, he wouldn’t treat me like shit the next time he saw me in the grocery store.
And he would see me, I realized. Because I was moving back to town as soon as I found a job.
That would complicate things. But we were here now, and I wanted to be here and maybe I didn’t need to worry about the rest until later. Maybe I should just enjoy the moment.
The loft surprised me. I don’t know what I expected—hay bales and dusty streams of sunlight, probably. What I found was an open gallery that might have held hay decades ago but was mostly held dust now. There was storage along both sides, but toward the back sat a couch, a chair, a coffee table, and an old TV.
“Is this your man cave?” I asked, giving him a shy smile.
“I don’t think I can answer,” he replied lightly, coming to stand next to me. “I’m still recovering from watching your ass go up the stairs in those jeans.”
“Maybe I should’ve made you climb up first,” I said, feeling daring.
“Climbing those stairs may be the highlight of my day. I have no regrets,” he announced, and I laughed, looking around.
“How did you get this stuff up here?”
“Me and my brother used the old block and tackle that they hauled the hay up with. Back in high school.”
I walked over to the couch, which had a comfortable, broken-in look to it. There were a few blankets, too. I half expected to find a bong on the table. “Party place?”
Rome didn’t answer for a moment, and I wondered if I’d said something wrong. Then he caught my hand, swinging me around to wrap me in his arms. Must’ve imagined it.
“Sometimes. We pulled a lot of shit and the folks took it in stride, but I don’t think any of us were brave enough to throw a real party here. There’s a lot of valuable equipment downstairs, and the wood is old and dry. The whole place is a fire trap.”
I tilted my head up and looked at him, trying to decide how brave I was feeling. Brave enough to kiss him again, I realized. Putting my hands on his shoulders, I rose up on my toes and touched my lips to his neck. Rome stood still for a few seconds, his muscles hard. My tongue darted out against his skin, the invitation clear. He groaned, hands reaching down to cup my butt, and I felt his length swell against my stomach.
Moving slowly, he boosted me up. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, and our mouths met for the second time that afternoon. This time it was right.
It was still intense.
Rome wanted to fuck me. Bad. I felt it in the restrained tension of his shoulders, and the way his breath caught when I twisted my hips against his. But he also let me take the lead. Not in a passive way, just patient. Our kisses deepened, and the need burned hotter, waves of desire pulsing up and down my spine. My breasts seemed to swell, and my nipples tightened. I tried to imagine what he’d feel like inside me.
Over me.
All that restrained power of his was terrifying, but it was thrilling, too. Rome could carry me around like a doll, yet one word earlier and he’d let me go. He was strong but controlled.
What could a man do to a woman with that kind of control over his body?
I wanted to find out.
“Rome,” I whispered. He stilled, his name hanging between us. “I’m ready to do this now.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered.
Giving me another kiss, he swung me around and sat down on the couch, my body straddling his. His dick pressed up between my legs, pushing me in exactly the right place. I swiveled my hips, wondering if it’d be slutty to just rip off my jeans and go for it.
Or had the slut ship sailed last night when he’d dry humped me to climax against a wall?
Probably.
Rising to my knees, I slid my hand down between us, our mouths still glued together. Rome moaned into my mouth, his head falling backward as my fingers found his cock through the fabric. Attacking his neck again, I jacked him once, twice, and his entire body shivered.
Then he shocked the hell out of me.
“Stop,” he said, reaching down to catch my hand.
“Stop?” What had I done wrong?
Rome swallowed, eyes dark with desire, but he pulled my hand away. I settled back down over him, wondering if he’d felt this confused when I freaked out earlier.
“We need to talk,” he said, his voice rough. “Remember? We were going to go for a ride and talk.”
I nudged my hips forward, rubbing my jeans-covered clit against the painfully hard ridge in his pants. White hot pleasure ran through me as I tried to think of anything we could possibly talk about that was more important than this. Shit. Stopping was really hard.
But he’d listened to me, and now I had to listen to him.
Talking is good, I reminded myself. Usually women have to beg men to talk. I should be thrilled. Except right now, all I really wanted was to ride him like a cowgirl.
“Last night you said you weren’t in the mood for a hookup,” he said, catching my hips and steadying them. His hands were big, and the message clear.
I sighed, settling back onto his lap.
“I am now,” I replied, frustrated. His cock still pulsed underneath me. Every muscle in his body had gone tense—he clearly wanted this as much as I did, and he obviously wasn’t scared. What was the hang up?
“I need to get something straight,” he said, reaching up to slip his hand around the back of my neck. “I’m not looking for one afternoon with you, or one night. I want more.”
That caught me off guard.
“But I live in Missoula,” I said carefully, even though I knew it wouldn’t be for much longer. Where was he going with this?
“Did you know there’s a road between Hallies Falls and Montana? It’s paved and everything,” he said. “Coincidentally, I happen to own a motorcycle that I like to ride on roads.”
“That’s a long ride just to get laid.”
“You really think I need to go to Missoula to get laid?” he asked. I flushed. “This isn’t about getting laid, Randi. I just want it clear—I’m staking my claim. I missed out the first time we met. I won’t let it happen again.”
His eyes held mine, dead serious.
“Rome, we hardly know each other,” I said carefully. This was crazy. His dick was still hard as a rock between my legs. Maybe he didn’t have enough blood to supply that and his brain at the same time. “It’s nearly four hundred miles.”
“So we’ll visit each other,” he replied, like it was no big deal. Like traveling didn’t take up precious vacation time, money, and effort. Except for him, maybe it didn’t. His family owned all this property, and the stuff down in that shop had to be worth a fortune. Was he actually serious? “We’ll go on that second date, see what happens. I’m not asking you to marry me, Randi.”
“I’m moving back to Hallies Falls,” I blurted out, the words coming out in a rush. “I decided this morning. My family needs me. You think you’ll be getting a nice, safe, long-distance relationship but I’m going to be right here. In the grocery store. You’ll see me and it could get really awkward.”
Rome gave me a funny look. “Seeing each other is the goal, Randi.”
“But how could anything last between us? We have nothing in common,” I said. “Nothing. You like motorcycles and airplanes and bar fights. I like… macaroni and cheese.”
“Randi.” His voice grew serious. He looked down, and one of those little muscles in his jaw flexed. Shit. I’d pissed him off. I held my breath, waiting. Then he looked back up and pulled my head in close until our foreheads touched. “Randi, sweetheart.”
“Yes?” I whispered.
“Baby, I need you to listen to what I say and believe me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Everyone likes macaroni and cheese,” he said, the words slow and deliberate. “If you don’t like mac and cheese, you’re a fucking lizard person, and I don’t sleep with lizards. Not even when I’m drunk. Do you sleep with lizards?”
I gaped at him.
“Randi?”
“No,” I finally managed to say. “I don’t sleep with lizards.”
“Good,” he continued, still serious. “That means we got two things in common. We both like mac and cheese, and neither of us fucks lizards. It’s a start. We’ll figure out the rest along the way.”
I blinked, trying to think of a response.
Nope. Couldn’t think of a damned thing to say.
Rome’s lip twitched. The twitch turned into a smirk, and I found myself holding back a giggle. Lizard people? What the actual fuck? Suddenly his fingers attacked my sides. I giggled, then shrieked as he started tickling me without mercy. I writhed and twisted, trying to escape, but he wrapped one of his giant arms around my back and wouldn’t let me go. I kept trying to tell him to stop, but every time I opened my mouth, his fingers got me again.
To make things worse, his cock was still down there.
Poking me.
I couldn’t stop laughing. Not only that, I was getting turned on again. This wasn’t fair. No one should be this sexy and this strong. He was evil, I decided. Pure, delicious evil.
“Stop!” I finally managed to shriek. Rome raised his arms instantly, ending the torture.
“See?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “I’m very well trained. Practically an altar boy. You’d be crazy not to give me a second date.”
I tried to collect my thoughts. Rome was good at this, I realized. Charming. Playful. And when he settled his hands back down around my hips, his touch felt more than sexy.
It felt safe.
I wanted to say yes so bad. I wanted to lean forward and kiss him and tell him that of course we could have a second date. And a third and then someday move in together and maybe even adopt a puppy or something.
Except I still had a giant black eye from last night.
That wasn’t his fault, of course, and it would heal. But I couldn’t see myself going back to the Starkwood Saloon on any of those dates. Rome liked to go there a lot, though. So did everyone in his motorcycle club. They lived a different kind of life than me—one I didn’t understand. I had no right to judge them for that, but I wasn’t sure I could join them, either.
Sooner or later, this guy was going to break my heart.
“Rome,” I said softly, reaching up to smooth out the collar of his T-shirt. It’d gotten twisted while he was tickling me. I kept my eyes focused on the fabric because I wasn’t sure I could look him in the face. “I like you a lot.”
“Don’t do it, Randi.”
“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say.”
He caught my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“Nobody ever says ‘I like you a lot’ unless they’re about to dump someone,” he stated bluntly. “And you’re not going to dump me. It’s better to stop now, before we have our first fight.”
“You listened earlier,” I whispered. “It’s why I trusted you enough to come up here.”
“And I’ll listen now,” he replied. “If you insist. But then I’m gonna argue with you and it’ll probably get ugly. We might even have angry hate sex. And I’m totally down with angry hate sex—especially since it’s usually followed by hot makeup sex—but this is our first time. It should be sweet. Happy. It should be so fucking beautiful that unicorns dance on the ceiling and my dick shoots rainbows instead of come. We can fight later.”
Before I could respond, he pulled me in close for a long kiss. His other arm still held my hips tight across his, and he flexed upward. I felt him right in my core.
Rome had just beaten me, fair and square.
Either I could argue about hypothetical relationship incompatibilities, or I could enjoy hot sex with a man who was not only gorgeous, but very into me. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have standards. He’d been very clear—no lizards.
I’d already had one fight today. I didn’t need another.
The kiss ended, although his hands had started roaming around my body. I shivered, ready for more.
“So where are we going on our second date?” I asked.
Rome’s hands tightened.
“Thank fucking God,” he said. “Second date starts now.”
In an instant, he’d flipped me flat on my back, his legs still firmly between mine. The expression on his face was pure triumph. My hands reached for my jeans but he was already there. It took all of two seconds for him to rip them off. He didn’t waste any time on himself, either, tearing his fly open and fumbling with a condom.
“Let me help put it on.”
Rome shook his head, still smug.
“Yeah, I’d last about two seconds if you did that.”
Another minute and he was on me, catching my arms and pinning them up and over my head with one strong hand. The other reached down between us, sliding around my clit before slipping a finger in to make sure I was ready. Yeah, that wasn’t going to be a problem. Bucking my hips, I demanded more.
Rome found my entrance and slowly pushed inside. It’d been a long time since I’d slept with anyone, and while a part of me just wanted him to slam it home, another appreciated the consideration. Every inch stretched me to the brink of delicious pain. The man was almost—but not quite—more than I could handle.
He watched my face the entire time, eyes dark with possession and deep satisfaction. He’d been telling the truth—Rome truly wasn’t looking for a quick fuck.
There was something almost terrifying about that.
Terrifying and thrilling.
Then he started moving faster, and I felt a familiar pressure grow deep inside. He had a knack for bringing his pelvic bone down against my clit with every stroke, pausing every third or fourth time for a quick grind. I squirmed against him, feeling almost desperate as the waves of my orgasm started to build.
God, it was almost too much.
Rome surrounded me, overwhelming me. All I could see or smell or feel was him, covering me, stretching me, carrying me toward the end. There was a sense of inevitability and purpose in his movements, and my heart strained.
He was doing all the work, but I still couldn’t catch my breath.
Then he let my arms go. Bracing with one hand, he brought the other down and around my waist, somehow lifting my pelvis into his for a deep, hard grind.
I exploded, eyes closing as my world filled with stars. Waves of pleasure rolled through me as I spasmed, and then he was coming, too. I felt his cock pulse as he collapsed over me, his face falling into my shoulder.
We lay there for long seconds, catching our breath as I tried to process what’d just happened. That was the best second date I’d ever had in my life.
Chemistry. Pure chemistry.
I’d felt it when he’d kissed me. I’d known we’d be incredible together. But Rome wanted more than sex—he wanted me. Whatever this was, it was just the beginning.
Damn… Maybe moving back to Hallies Falls wouldn’t be so bad after all.
I’d never seen a unicorn in Missoula. Not even one.