Five

Rider was shaking. Shaking. Fuck. Whether from fear or desire, he couldn’t tell, and both of those emotions felt like they were swallowing him whole. Like he was the tiniest fish in the ocean, and this thing with Sally—these feelings that sunk their claws deeper into his heart than he had realized—was too big.

Shit. She was important. It happened, and there was no pretending she wasn’t. He’d been doing that for a while now already. But lying to himself wasn’t what he was about.

So now he had to deal with it. Deal with the fact that this woman had wrapped herself around his goddamn heart. It was the reason he couldn’t find anyone at the bar last night. His goddamn heart… the sensitive fucking bastard… wouldn’t let him.

Even more so because now he’d seen the real her. The secret her. The deep parts she never showed anybody.

And fucking hell, he remembered holding her hand last night. Couldn’t remember anything else. Not the stars, not the falls, not the bike ride. Just holding Sally’s hand, and the fact that it didn’t hurt. It didn’t bring memories of Evie flooding back.

He picked it up now, watching as his trembling fingers threaded with hers, and he pressed their palms together.

How. How was he going to do this? How could he be what she needed when he was scared shitless of any commitment. He needed guarantees, but he couldn’t offer her any either.

He was so fucked up.

Sally’s legs tightened around his waist, and desire flooded back. Her body was so soft and delicious pressed against him. He could take her now, right here. Probably should. He was better at communicating through sex than he was at opening up. But he’d already done a little of that.

And it helped.

Goddamn it, it actually helped. Who would have guessed?

He drew in a breath and even his chest trembled. He stared at his hand interlocked with Sally’s.

“Her name was Evie. We were high school sweethearts. I loved her. Good enough to marry her. Good enough I wasn’t ever going to be with anyone else. Only wanted her. We had a good fucking life. I was happy. Thought she was too. She left without saying goodbye.”

Halfway there. If they were serious about taking this further, he had to tell Sally everything.

“She was gone two whole fucking weeks. I tore my hair out looking for her. Called everyone we knew. Then one day, I got a letter in the mail. She said she wanted ‘more than Cedar Valley had to offer’. She’d gone to…” A humorless laugh crawled from his throat. “…goddamn Hollywood. Can you believe that? Said she wasn’t coming back, but she’d send for her things.”

Sally squeezed his hand so hard, his fingers were turning white. He didn’t care. Holding her hand was the only thing making the words come out.

“Next day, I was served divorce papers. Day after that, I burned every bit of her shit in the back yard and boxed up the ashes so they’d be ready when who-the-hell-ever came for it. That was the last I heard from her. And I decided to never let someone else mean that much to me. Ever. Until this.”

“It’s why you don’t get close to people. Your wife. Aaron. You’re used to people leaving. Shit, Rider. I get it.” Her voice quivered, but there was understanding there. She didn’t judge him, just like he’d never judge her. They both had their reasons for the lifestyle they’d lived.

And now… now things were changing for them. Like it or not. Scared or not.

“So I know a thing or two about not feeling good enough, Sally. Not anything enough. I know what that shit feels like.”

She nodded, her pretty throat bobbing with a hard swallow. Rider pulled his hand from her grip, and curved it around her neck, his thumb caressing the dimple at the base.

“Her loss,” she whispered, her eyes flickering with her animal. “Hope she at least got a Purina commercial for her efforts.”

Rider barked out a laugh, and with it, all the pain of recounting the worst years of his life. Sally did that. Made him wonder what the hell had been bothering him all along anyway.

Shit, maybe Sinful Sally was a miracle. Maybe she was an angel in a sexy disguise. A sexy foxy disguise.

“Close enough, I guess. I saw her once on a Farmers Only dot com commercial. It was a special kind of satisfaction watching that one, since she hates the small-town life and all. Bought rounds for the guys that night. To celebrate her suck-sess.”

Sally’s mouth twisted in a smirk. “Karma’s only a bitch if you are. Be a peach, and life’ll be peachy.”

“Is that another one of your Sally-isms?”

“I didn’t know I had Sally-isms.”

“You do.”

“Then yeah. I guess it is.”

His smile felt new. Like he hadn’t ever smiled this way before. Or at least that it had been a long damn time since he had. “I like it.”

They stared at each other, but it didn’t feel awkward. It felt like… growing. Like they’d graduated from something painful to something fresh. He didn’t have a clue what came next for them. But he knew he wanted to kiss her again. Taste her again. Feel the way the supernatural part of her vibrated just beneath her skin.

The power of Sally’s vixen was addictive.

Rider bent to press a kiss to her mouth. But before their lips touched, a knock to the door stopped them.

“Adam’s here,” he whispered against her skin. With a sigh, he pulled back, letting her legs fall to the floor.

Some mumbling outside the door grabbed their attention.

“Someone’s with him,” Sally murmured. “Aw, shit.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Barb.” Sally grimaced, but Rider couldn’t see the problem. “She’s going to smell us the minute she opens the door.”

Rider frowned. “Smell us?”

“We’re part animal. We have the senses. She’ll scent what’s been going down in here.”

Rider was still confused.

Sally gestured to his hips. To the erection behind his jeans—it hadn’t deflated an inch—and his eyebrows shot upward.

“Y’all can smell boners?” he hissed.

She shrugged, reaching for the door. “It’s a talent.”

Swinging it open, they found Barb with a keycard poised where the handle used to be. “Hey, peach,” Sally drawled.

“Hey, y’all. Adam says he’s here to look at the washing machine—” Her voice cut off as she stepped into the room. Her eyes went wide and then narrowed on Sally.

Rider cleared his throat. “Over here.”

He slapped his friend a side-five and pointed him in the direction of the broken machine. The ladies followed them, standing by as Adam crouched to check it out.

“So, he really is here to look at the machine?” Barb asked. There was a tinge of disappointment in her voice.

Sally nodded.

“Told you, princess,” Adam groused, digging through the wires to find the guts of the thing.

Barb sighed, annoyed. “Why does everyone keep calling me that? I’m not royalty. I like glitter, sure, but I like dirt more. And I’ve never worn a crown a day in my life.”

“It’s the pink,” Adam muttered, grabbing a wrench from the box nearby.

“Excuse me, sir. But no one in this town has ever seen my pink.”

Adam froze, staring up at her. Rider stared too, not quite sure if he’d heard her right. Sally snickered like a teen boy who’d just seen his first titty.

Barb tipped her head to the side, tapping a finger against her chin. “Correction: no one anywhere has ever seen my pink.”

“That… that is not what I meant,” Adam stuttered. “I-I meant…” He waved his hand at her haphazardly. “I meant you wear a lot of pink. The color. Pink. Not…” He swallowed hard, and Rider wanted to laugh at how he was tripping over himself. “Not your… your… goddamn it. Go away. Let me work.”

“Hmph. Go away? Go away? You talk to your mama with that mouth?”

“Sometimes,” he snapped, but Rider saw the flicker of interest in his friend’s eyes.

“Say please,” Barb demanded.

“What?”

“Say. Please. Damn it,” she repeated.

“Please, damn it.”

This seemed to satisfy Barb. She jutted her chin, spun on one heel, and marched right out the door while Adam stared after her, looking confused.

He shook his head, turning back to the machine and cranking angrily at it. Rider and Sally watched, silent, waiting for Adam’s diagnosis. Ten minutes later, he stood, wiping his hands on a rag from the pocket of his work uniform.

“I can fix it,” he said, but it didn’t sound like good news for some reason. “It’ll take some new parts. Need to order ‘em. Could be expensive. I’ll drop a list with Seraphina and y’all can talk it over with the old man.”

Sally nodded. “And how much for labor?”

Adam roped his hands around his hips, staring at the floor. “For the old man… eh, I’ll do it for nothing.”

Old Lady Hubbard had taken Adam many of her homemade casseroles and pies just after his wife, Karly, passed away. She crocheted snuggies for little Megan. She’d taken both father and daughter under her wing for a time, until they could function again. Rider knew it meant the world to Adam even if the man had never said a word about it.

Adam was paying it back now. Choked Rider up a little. Goddamn it, they’d all been through so much, hadn’t they? Each in their own way. But the entire Dirt Track/Cedar Valley crew was stronger because of it.

And somehow, Rider knew they’d keep getting stronger. Day by day, heartbeat by heartbeat.

He looked at Sally, and her gaze met his, softening.

Yeah, they’d keep getting stronger. And more all-right. With time.