“You didn’t have to shower,” Alejandro said with a grin when Ali returned to the porch, dressed in jeans and a tank top, braiding her wet hair. She was satisfied when he looked her over and his eyes lingered on every curve. What had been hidden behind the loose clothes she’d worn for mucking out the stalls was now on full display. She didn’t feel even a hint of regret as his gaze traveled over her. It was as if he was peeling back every inch of fabric, touching her skin, and covering her back up. Her breath caught as his cocky smile faded to something a bit darker. Alejandro’s tongue snaked out to lick his bottom lip and she nearly swooned.

 

After so many months of Bobby worrying only about her outfits, it was nice to be appreciated solely for her feminine charms. “I was filthy,” she replied, loving the way his dark eyes devoured her. “You wouldn’t have wanted me on your bike smelling like Tip.”

 

“He doesn’t smell so bad,” he teased. “But I’d have been tempted to feed you an apple.”

 

She laughed and smacked his arm as they headed down the long driveway to his bike. They walked much closer together than was necessary and Ali caught the slightest whiff of Alejandro’s scent, both spicy and musky with an undertone of something else. Burning wood? Charcoal? Something that brought fire to mind.

 

He gestured to her boots. “Those your old ones?”

 

“Yes. I never got rid of them. I loved them so much. Plus, for a while there I thought I might get my own bike.”

 

“Oh yeah?” His eyes lit up. “You’re gonna be a biker babe?”

 

“Well, not now. But a few years ago, yeah, that was my plan.”

 

“You’d look hot on your own bike.”

 

“Thank you.” Hot, huh?

 

“You’re gonna look damn good on the back of mine.” He grinned as he handed her his helmet. “Put the brain bucket on.”

 

“Where’s yours?”

 

“That’s all I got. I wasn’t expecting company. But your noggin is more important than mine.” He checked the strap under her chin as if she were a child, just like he used to and she quivered at his casual touch. “We’re not going far, anyway. In this sun we’d burn up in no time. This one will be quick.”

 

The words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop herself. If there was any doubt in her mind that she had nothing but sex on the brain, it was dashed instantly. “Let’s go to the Ridge. It’s been so long since I’ve been. Do you remember how to get there?”

 

He studied her face, his gaze curious and somehow more heated. “That’s where you want to go?”

 

She nodded, chest tight, and brushed a stray curl back under the helmet. The look in his eyes threatened to dissolve her from the inside, but she couldn’t look away. Please, God, let him touch me when we get there.

 

“Get on,” he ordered, and she swung a shaky leg over the seat behind him and pressed against his back, enjoying the sweet agony of proximity to the body that haunted her dreams.

 

***

 

Alejandro couldn’t believe Ali was on his bike, snug behind him, her breasts pressed against his back. Her hands circled his waist and his breath caught at her touch. He could smell the fresh, clean scent of her shampoo and he longed to pull the helmet off her and bury his nose in her fragrant locks. He tried his damnedest to focus on the road as her thighs locked around his hips. Thank God they didn’t have far to go. Her nearness was sweet torture.

 

The Ridge was what passed for a mountain just outside Arroyo Flats. Mostly it was a local teenage make-out spot, though there weren’t likely to be any teenagers there on a Wednesday morning. Already the sun blazed in the sky and the heat shimmered on the roadway in front of them as they headed for the secluded, grassy flat at the top of the peak.

 

Alejandro drove gently, enjoying the feeling of Ali on the bike behind him. It felt natural to do this again, and though he knew she belonged to someone else he couldn’t help the fantasy that crept into his mind. Him and Ali, riding across the Southwest on one run after another. Ali, his old lady, wearing “Property of Shakespeare” patches on her jacket. The thought made him not only proud but hard.

 

Just as quickly he shut down the fantasy. It was a fucking bike ride, not a walk down the aisle. Ali knew what was best for her, just like her mother did, and she’d gone for it. She was with the senator’s son, and she was going to marry that rich boy. She’d be safe and taken care of her whole life. The last thing she needed was his lifestyle.

 

But as her hand flattened across the top of his thigh, he wondered what it would be like to kiss her again, to touch her again. No strings, no expectations, just a little something for old times’ sake. He’d seen it in her eyes in the barn. She’d sleep with him, no doubt about that. He could count on his sexual prowess even if he couldn’t count on his pedigree.

 

The Ali he’d seen in the publicity photo was a plastic princess, and he’d assumed Ali had become a woman just like her mother—too good to mingle with plebes like him now that she was marrying into Texas royalty. He’d have fucked a plastic princess purely for the satisfaction of sending her back ruined to her boyfriend. It was tremendously gratifying, the thought of taking a woman places she’d never been and then dumping her back in the lap of a man who could never live up to what he’d given her. He’d done it a few times, and it stroked his ego to think there were women out there who saw his face every time they had unsatisfying sex with their boyfriends or husbands. But Ali wasn’t a plastic princess. She was as real as the wind on his face and as breathtaking as the view from the top of the Ridge.

 

So knowing that, could he have a one-night stand with her? All this time trying to get her out of his head and he had been so sure he was over her. But he hadn’t expected to see her in the gas station looking like a pinup version of the girl he used to know, wearing tiny cutoffs, her hair tousled like she’d just been well fucked. And he hadn’t expected to find her in the barn like the sweet, wholesome country girl he’d always loved, smiling that amazing smile just for him.

 

He didn’t think he could resist her, no matter how hard he tried.

 

He didn’t think if he had her, he could stop after once.

 

He didn’t think the past ten years had made a damn bit of difference to his pathetic heart.