***
I stared at Ridley’s bike.
“I’m not getting on that,” I denied forcefully.
I hadn’t been on a motorcycle since I was a teenager, and dumb enough not to realize how badly I could be hurt if I got on one and an accident were to have occurred.
“You already missed your bus,” he pointed out, sounding almost cheerful about that fact.
I glared at him.
“I know,” I said.
It had been his fault, too.
He’d held me up talking to a few of the members of his club that rode down with him, and I’d let time get away from me.
So, I’d missed the bus, and now I had no other option but to ride with him or wait for the next bus. Which wasn’t until tomorrow at two in the afternoon.
I couldn’t wait that long, either.
Gritting my teeth, I held out my hand for him to hold on to, then I mounted the bike behind him.
And I got a good look at the patch on his back.
The Uncertain Saints lettering was curved along the top of the top curvy patch. In the middle was a grim reaper, and on the bottom it said Uncertain, TX.
My belly clenched as I read those words.
A long ago memory of my brother and me talking after one of our many fights about him riding a motorcycle had centered on The Uncertain Saints MC.
Mainly, my brother had been considering joining their club, and I kind of lost control.
I wouldn’t say it was one of my finest moments.
Now, I wished I could take back all the ugly things I’d said about The Uncertain Saints.
Now that I knew Ridley, anyway.
I’d only known Griffin, Wolf and Peek for about two hours now.
I could only go by what I’d learned over these last couple of hours, but impress me they did.
“You’re going to have to get closer to me,” Ridley said, his voice rumbling softly.
I scooted forward until my thighs were just barely touching the outside of his thighs and ass.
He chuckled.
“More,” he said. “You can get further away once you’ve learned how to lean with me. Until then, I need you plastered to my back. Your crotch up against my ass.”
I licked my lips and scooted forward more, not stopping until there was nothing left between us but our clothes.
“Better,” he said. “Just hang on.”
I nodded, pressing my face against his leather vest.
It was rough against my skin, making me yearn for his bare skin against mine.
Things started to throb to life…things that hadn’t had any life to them in a very long time.
And then he started the bike.
I moaned and closed my eyes, the vibrations ripping through my body like live wires.
Everything tingled.
“God,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Ridley yelled.
I felt his growly voice as well as heard it, making me shiver.
“You didn’t give me a helmet!” I lied through my teeth.
He reached forward and pulled his helmet off his gas tank, handing it to me without another word.
I took it and strapped it on, but I fumbled the buckles one too many times, causing Peek, who was still standing next to his bike, to come over to me and fix the straps with smooth, practiced movements.
“Thank you!” I yelled over the roar of the engine once he was finished.
Peek smiled, making me tremble.
He was older, yes, but he was still handsome.
“You’re welcome, girl,” he said.
And that Irish accent of his did funny things to my hoo-ha too. Not anything like Ridley’s words did to me, but still effective enough that I was very aware of how nice the vibration of the bike felt against my body.
Ridley’s hand on my thigh had me turning to him.
His face was turned to the side, and he was studying my interaction with Peek.
I bit my lip so he wouldn’t see me smile.
He was jealous.
I could read that easily on his face.
Then I frowned when I realized I’d taken his helmet.
“You need a helmet, too,” I told him harshly.
He shrugged.
“I’ll stop on the way and get one,” he said unapologetically. “You can have mine until we get it.”
I leaned forward slightly, pulling my phone from my back pocket as I did.
Then I quickly Googled bike shops in Houston, finding one within two miles of where we were currently located.
“Here’s one,” I said, showing him the map.
He snorted and yelled something at Peek I didn’t quite catch, then we were merging into traffic.
My heart raced, pounding so hard that I wondered if Ridley could feel it.
The bike accelerated and I tucked my chin down, resting my head against his broad back, right over the grim reaper patch.
I watched traffic pass us by, breathing starting to come in shallow pants as adrenaline coursed through my veins.
By the time we arrived at the Harley Shop, less than five minutes later, I was actually starting to enjoy the ride.
Bikes pulled up next to us scant moments later, and I smiled at Peek who did nothing to hide the charming smile that graced his sexy face.
Then Wolf came up behind me, drawing my attention to his dark and dangerous face.
He really was beautiful.
Way hotter than any man I’d ever seen before.
But it was in a haunting, don’t get too close, kind of way.
Ridley was sexy, sure. But Wolf was to die for.
But he also gave off an ‘I’ll kill you’ vibe that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.
And the tattoos were really disconcerting.
Not to mention he didn’t talk at all and happened to be Ridley’s best friend.
Something I’d learned through our lengthy text message conversations over the last months.
Ridley took my hand, capturing my attention once again, and pulled me into the store behind him, not letting me go the entire time.
He headed straight for the helmets, completely ignoring the salesperson who’d given him a greeting upon entering the store.
I waved at her, and she smiled politely at me.
It was nothing like the smile she’d given Ridley when he’d entered the building, though.
“Pick one,” Ridley ordered.
My eyes roamed over the multiple helmets, automatically stopping on the most girly one there.
It was black with hot pink swirls spanning the length of the helmet, and on top was neon pink spiked faux hair that was shaped into a Mohawk.
Then I saw the price and blanched.
My modest twenty-three dollars an hour wasn’t anything to sneeze at, but spending five hundred dollars on a helmet wasn’t something I could fathom.
Instead I looked at the cheaper black helmets meant for women, finally choosing the one that was cheapest.
It was plain black.
“This one,” I said.
Ridley looked at me, looked at the helmet I’d chosen, then shook his head.
Immediately his hand went to the one right next to the one I wanted, and I shook my head.
“No?” he asked. “Hot or cold.”
I smiled, shaking my head.
“Get her the one with the green swirls,” Peek suggested from across the store.
I shook my head again.
“I don’t like that one,” I lied.
I did, but I didn’t want it. It was three hundred dollars, and I still didn’t want to spend that much.
“This one?” he asked, pointing to the flowered one.
“Uh-uh,” I crossed my arms, trying not to crack the grin that was threatening the corners of my mouth.
“This one?” he asked, finally pointing at the one I really wanted.
My eyes must’ve lit or something because he grabbed it off the shelf, then immediately settled it onto my head.
I looked in the mirror, then laughed at my ridiculousness.
Admittedly, I did look pretty cute, but anybody would.
However, I couldn’t get this one.
I started to take it off, but he stopped me.
“Let me get it,” he said. “You look good in it.”
“You’re not paying for this,” I unvelcroed the strap.
He stopped me once again.
“I don’t think you realize it yet,” he said softly. “But you saved me by allowing me to leave that shithole a lot earlier than I expected. Let me get this for you. I owe you that.”
The look in his eyes stopped me from arguing, and I nodded my head.
“Okay,” I said softly.
He grinned and took my hand once again, leading me to the register.
He grabbed a pair of sunglasses that were on display next to the register, and placed them on the counter.
Then he reached forward and grabbed the price tag, ripping it easily off the helmet with such ease that I blinked.
I always hurt my hand when I tried to do that, but he’d done it as if it hadn’t even fazed him.
“That’ll be six hundred and two dollars,” the cashier said huskily.
I glared at the girl, sending her death rays with my eyes as well as ‘back off’ vibes.
She didn’t take the hint, leaning forward on the counter and handing him a pen as she did.
The move made her breasts squish together, allowing her shirt to gape open with the movement.
Ridley didn’t look.
Not even a little bit.
His eyes never strayed from the countertop as he signed the receipt, then handed it back to her while holding out his hand for the customer copy.
The cashier gently laid it in his hand. He wadded it into a ball and shoved it into his pocket before grabbing the glasses and tugging me along behind him as we left the store.
I had to practically run to keep up with him, but the smile I got from the rest of the guys when I came out of the shop’s front doors, being dragged by Ridley, was worth it.
“I like that one,” Wolf muttered, turning his back on us and mounting his bike.
He’d backed in directly beside Ridley, meaning he saw the smile that overtook my face when he looked over after cranking the bike up.
Once we reached Ridley’s bike, he ripped the tag off the glasses that were in his hand, then held them up to the sun to inspect them for smudges.
Once they passed inspection, he slipped them onto my face, pushing them in the middle to settle securely against my face.
I smiled at him, and his eyes went from my mouth to my eyes, then back again.
“Thank you,” I said to him.
“You’re gonna wear a leather jacket,” he ordered.
I blinked, looking at his vest.
“Really?” I asked, touching the material.
He snorted.
“You won’t ever wear that,” he said. “That’s only for club members. I was talking about this one.”
He pointed to the jacket that he’d pulled out of his saddle bags at some point.
It was wrinkled, but nothing that wouldn’t straighten out once I had it on.
Picking up the jacket, I slipped it onto my shoulders, surprised to see how well it fit.
“Where’d you get this?” I asked.
His lips tightened and he shook his head.
My stomach dropped when Ridley turned without another word and mounted the bike, this time not offering his hand.
Butterflies took flight in my belly as I mounted behind him, then scooted up until we were touching all over the place once again.
This time, though, I felt like maybe I wasn’t wanted.
And when I put my arms around his waist, his belly became so hard and unyielding that I instantly got the feeling that I should take my hands away.
But when I tried, he stopped me before I could move by grabbing my wrist and forcibly holding me there until I got the point.
Which I did…eventually.
I wasn’t the least bit excited anymore. I was annoyed.
And I had to endure another five hours on the back of his bike, when I could tell he didn’t want me there.
Fucking perfect.