Back at home, Ashley paced up and down Kady’s bedroom, while Kady took her time leafing through her closet and outfits, before setting them out on the floor.

“I guess it’s hard because I don’t know what we’re going to be doing,” she said aloud as she bit her lip and scrunched up her nose.

“Well, you have to consider the possibility that you may be getting on the back of a bike,” Ashley chipped in. “And you definitely don’t want to be wearing a skirt or dress for that.”

“True,” Kady said with a little smile. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. When he had said he would pick her up, she had just instinctively thought he would be coming in a car. But, of course, it would be on a bike. He was a biker. It’s what he rode day in and day out.

She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach and she had to take a deep breath.

“Suddenly, I feel hella nervous,” she said as she sat on the end of the bed and put her head in her hands. “Are you sure I’m doing the right thing going out with this guy?”

Ashley looked at her as if that was the most ridiculous question she had ever heard.

“Are you kidding me?” she asked with a half laugh. “Of course, it’s a good idea. You like him, he’s pursued you. Even after you first turned him down, he came back for more.”

Kady thought on it for a moment and she knew she was right. But it wasn’t just the way Flash had acted with her before and after their night of passion. It was the way she felt about him too. She knew he was different than any other guy she had met before. Their connection was there, even when it hadn’t been nurtured. Ever since their night together, she had felt as if, in some way, he had always been there alongside her.

She looked down at the outfits on the floor and pointed to a pair of tight gray skinny jeans and a black vest.

“Biker chic?” she asked with a raised brow to Ashley.

Ashley grinned and nodded.

“I may even don a leather jacket to complete the look,” she mused.

“And a black choker,” Ashley grinned. “And a black cuff, I know I’ve seen you with one somewhere.”

Ashley dove over to Kady’s vanity table and started to root through her drawers and jewelry section. When she found what she was looking for, she held it up and nodded her head in approval.

“With this and your dark hair, you’re going to look like the ultimate vamp,” Ashley laughed. “He’s not going to know what hit him.”

And even though Kady was a bit nervous about being so overtly sexy, she was also kind of excited about it. She had always wanted to go overboard with some red lips, dark eyes and leather, and now she had the chance. She just hoped she wouldn’t scare him off.

As if… she thought to herself with a wry little smile. As if a man like Flash would ever be intimidated by a girl like me… 

“Not a word to Breaker,” Kady said as she looked over her shoulder at Ashley. “I know it’ll be hard, but until we see how things go, do you think you could keep it on the down low? He did say we were going just as friends and there was no added pressure.”

“Of course,” Ashley smiled. “I know the score, you don’t have to worry. Gossip with you is my forte, not with my boyfriend.”

Kady sighed with relief and reached down for her little leather purse. She put all of her essentials inside: red lipstick, a comb, eyeliner and mints. She also slipped in her cell phone and little bottle of perfume that was just small enough to fit and stay hidden out of sight.

“Cash,” Ashley said. “Not that he’ll let you pay for anything if he’s anything like Breaker, but a girl should always be prepared.”

“Good point,” Kady nodded as she reached into her wallet and pulled out some crisp twenties before she slipped them into the little side pouch of her purse and then slung it over her shoulder and down across her waist.

“You look like a total fox,” Ashley grinned. “I feel like I want to take a photo of you, like you’re my daughter about to head out the door for prom.”

“Oh jeez,” Kady laughed with an eyeroll. “Don’t be getting all sentimental on me.”

Ashley reached up and adjusted a small strand of hair which they had backcombed and now needed fixing back into place. It was strange for Kady to have someone helping her with her look for a change, but it was also nice. And there was no one she would rather have there to help her than Ashley. After all, if there was anyone who knew how nerve-racking it was to be getting ready to head out on a first proper date with a Forsaken Rider, it was her. She had been in the exact same position only a few months before.

“You look incredible,” Ashley reassured her as she held onto her shoulders and gave her a bracing squeeze. “Now, I better get the hell out of here before he arrives.”

She squealed with excitement and grabbed her purse from the corner of the bed and turned back to face Kady.

“Honestly, Kady, you better call me the second you get home tonight… If you get home, that is!” she winked and Kady felt her jaw sag.

“There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll be coming home, don’t you worry. And yes, I will be alone.”

Ashley rolled her eyes and pinched her lightly on the arm.

“No one would judge you for bringing him back again,” she teased. “He’s fucking hot.”

“Ashley!” Kady protested, half with embarrassment and half with exasperation. It was so close to eight o’clock and for all either of them knew, he could have been waiting right outside the door at that very moment. The idea made Kady want to cringe.

Imagine if he had heard them going on like that. Surely, he would think she was massively immature and silly.

Got to pull it together, Kady, she coached herself. He will be here any second.

She walked down the stairs to the porch with Ashley and saw her out the front door. The sun was low in the sky, dipping down behind the houses and casting a pink glow across the neighborhood.

“Perfect night for it,” Ashley winked as she crossed over Kady’s lawn and blew a kiss over her shoulder. “I shall await your call.”

As Ashley walked away into the growing night, Kady hugged her arms around herself and smiled. There was something different about this night than any other she had spent in her hometown. For the first time, she had watched the sun go down and she didn’t feel lonely. She had a great career, some wonderful friends, a home of her own, and now she had the added excitement of a date on the horizon. A man literally on his way to find her at that very moment in time.

She left the front door ajar and slipped back through the hallway and into her kitchen. She tidied a few remaining bits and pieces away and looked at herself again in the mirror, adjusting the straps on her top and smoothing the corners of her lips to ensure there was no lipstick smudges in sight.

She smiled at her reflection, and then, as if on que… the roar of the bike’s engine thundered toward her from the other end of the street. She felt her heart do a little dance in her chest and the butterflies she had worked so hard to subdue came beating their wings forcefully back to her as she turned off the lights in the kitchen and made her way toward the front of the house.

She waited for a moment until she heard him stop the bike and dull the engine, and then she stepped forward and opened her front door.

Flash was sitting there on the back of the Harley in the setting sun, the glow of pink and gold cascading behind him and making him look even more like a god. Her breath caught in her throat as she stood there and took him in, and when he turned to her and caught her eye, she noticed how his jaw sagged down a little too.

He looked so damned good. Better than she thought he had ever looked. His leathers were open and she could see his muscles ripping underneath the t-shirt below. His hair was windswept from the ride and he slowly pulled his sunglasses down off the end of his nose and smiled at her widely.

“Hey, babe,” he said as he held out his hand.

Kady faltered for a moment, wanting to let this moment drag out as long as possible.

She had thought about Flash so often since their wild night six weeks before, and even though it had been fractured and she hadn’t been able to recall it all in perfect detail, she had still built up seeing him again. She had thought late at night of this moment many times. She had wondered if he would ever ask her out again after she had denied him brutally the first time, and if he did, how it would feel when he came to collect her.

She wanted to savor every second.

She wanted to remember how this felt, to be looked at in such a way it made her palms sweat and her heart race even more.

She walked slowly toward him and slipped her hand into his. When she felt his touch and he stared into her eyes, it was something else. Like it was a brave new world for them both. She dipped her gaze shyly and he helped her onto the back of the bike.

“You been on one of these before?” he asked her.

Kady laughed and shook her head.

“Well,” he began as he grabbed her hands and locked them around his waist from behind. “You better hold on tight.”

Kady grinned and held him when he had placed her palms on his stomach.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked coyly.

“Well,” he said with an arrogance that was more endearing than off putting. “I didn’t think we’d go in for hearts and flowers. Plus, we’re only friends… So I thought maybe we could head on over to Faith’s. What do you think?”

Kady smiled and felt a rush of relief. There had been a small part of her that had been worried he would take her to a fussy restaurant and they would struggle with conversation. She knew that if she sat opposite him, all she would be able to think about was the fact that she had already seen him naked. That she’d had him inside of her. That he had rocked her world.

“That sounds good to me,” she said as he revved the engine and it made Kady jump. “But take it easy, yeah? I don’t want to fall off.”

Flash threw his head back and roared with laughter.

“Fall off?” he looked at her over his shoulder. “Come on, Kady, as if…”

He revved the bike again and it growled so loudly it made the tiny hairs on the back of Kady’s neck stand on end. She couldn’t help but laugh and let out a small shriek as he floored it and the incredible machine burst to life between her legs. He spun them around the end of her street and then headed out toward the highway.

Kady felt the wind whipping past her and she hugged him tightly. Just being this close to him again was bringing back memories and sensations from that night, and it felt good to have him there with her.

He made twists and turns effortlessly around the desert roads, and it wasn’t long before he was coming up against a huge rise that was going to take them toward Main Street.

Out to the side of them, the sun was setting over the desert sand and she turned her head to look. It was such a beautiful sight as the mountains and terrain were all illuminated in the most incredible colors, it was like nothing she had ever seen before and it gave the moment a certain romance that Kady craved.

She had never realized how much she wanted it before, but now that she was there with Flash, she knew what it meant to yearn for love. She knew what it meant to want someone so close you couldn’t imagine a life without them.

Hell, Kady, she scolded herself. This isn’t even technically a date. You’re going to have to pull it together or this guy is seriously going to break your heart.

Flash slowed his pace and Kady’s hair stopped whipping so much around her face and settled to trailing out behind her. It felt so exhilarating being on the back of the bike, she felt higher than she had ever been and it was almost as if she were flying. She still kept her hands tightly clasped around his waist, and when she saw the opening to Faith’s bar up ahead, she was both relieved and disappointed that her first ever ride on the back of a motorcycle was coming to an end.

Flash pulled over to the side of the street and parked. And when the engine of the bike dulled and she was still once more, Kady realized how hard her heart was pounding. She reached up and pushed her palm against her chest and looked up at Flash with shock as he climbed off ahead of her and smiled.

“It’s a rush, isn’t it?” he asked as he held out his hand as an offer to help her down.

“Damned right it is,” she laughed. “I didn’t realize how much it had shaken me until we stopped just now.”

Flash nodded.

“I remember my first ride,” he said as he pulled off his shades and tucked them down the neck of his t-shirt. “That sort of thing, it never leaves you.”

She looked into his eyes and was caught off guard at how deep and dark they were. Every time she looked into them, she seemed to see something new in him and it always startled her.

She found herself nervously casting her eyes to the ground and Flash began to walk on ahead of her toward the open door of Faith’s Speakeasy. It was propped open and the dulcet tones of jazz worked their way out into the street.

“Sounds like she has someone playing,” he said as he looked back over his shoulder.

And Kady couldn’t think of anything to say or do but to nod. Suddenly, she was lost for words and incredibly nervous.

They stepped inside and the sweet smell of liquor and smoke mixed in with the sugar from the cocktails came drifting over to meet them. Flash strode strongly over to the bar and nodded to a table in the corner.

“Want to grab a seat?” he said to Kady.

She liked that he knew what he wanted and he wasn’t afraid to direct her, and she did as he asked and went to bag them a booth in the corner of the room.

She watched him from behind as he slipped off his jacket and exposed his wide, strong shoulders. Kady bit her lip and tried not to stare, but she couldn’t help it. The more she was seeing of him the more she was remembering. Flash leaned across the bar and spoke to Faith. From past experience, Kady knew they weren’t the best of friends, she had seen them wind each other up and Faith was in the same position as Kady in the respect that she leased the space for the bar from The Forsaken.

Faith nodded sweetly and started to pull out some glasses before she looked past Flash and noticed Kady sitting in the corner. She raised her eyebrows and gave her a little knowing smile, and Kady instantly felt as if she wanted the ground to swallow her up.

Slate Springs was basically a goldfish bowl. For someone like Faith, who was in the middle of town life each day and all night, it sure wouldn’t take long for wild whispers to become rife. She rubbed her forehead and tried to calm herself down.

Come on, Kady, she told herself. What does it even matter if anyone knows? You’re a grown woman and you’re entitled to go on a date. You’re not doing anything wrong…

She twiddled her thumbs nervously and tried to keep her cool. She hadn’t been on a date in such a long time, it was almost as if she had forgotten how to act. She wanted to be herself, funny and full of life, but she also didn’t want to act a fool. What if she was overly silly and it made him think she was an idiot? Or what if she was too cold with him again and he thought he was being rejected. It all felt like such a delicate balance, and it wasn’t until he came walking back over with a large grin on his face and two drinks that she realized she didn’t need to worry. He sat down and passed her a beer, and then he sat back with his arms wide open and acted more relaxed than she had ever seen him, and it put her at ease too.

“So,” he started as he took a swig of his drink. “Thanks for coming out.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” she smiled.

“Well, I almost didn’t,” he looked at her cheekily out of the corner of his eyes and then he started to laugh. “You know what I mean.”

“Kind of…” she said as she eyeballed him back. “I wasn’t exactly very welcoming the last time we saw each other.”

“You certainly weren’t,” he said with a smirk.

“Well, I’ve said I’m sorry about that already,” she said cockily. “So I think it’s about high time we drop it.”

Flash grinned and nodded his head and then he turned his body to fully face her.

“I was just playing with you,” he said warmly. “I can’t help it, you’re too easy to wind up.”

“Likewise,” she took a swig of her drink and raised her eyebrows. “Clearly.”

Flash threw his head back and laughed and then he nodded his head in acceptance.

“Fair play,” he smiled.

“So, where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you around town since… since…” she felt her face begin to burn. Even just referring to that night sent her into a frenzy. Even if she couldn’t remember most of it, she knew what they had done, and it made her very hot under the collar.

“Yeah,” Flash smiled as he looked down at the table. “A few of us have been out of town.”

She could see that he felt a bit embarrassed too, but he certainly wasn’t shy about what had happened between them. She could tell it was more her embarrassment that was catching on to him. He looked straight back up and into her eyes.

“I don’t know how much you’ve been told about what’s going on around here…” he began. “But our club has been having some serious problems.”

“I know about the bikers from Iron Hill coming over here, because of Ashley and the fact that she came to town,” Kady confirmed.

Iron Hill was a town around fifty miles away and it was home to a rival gang, The Iron Riders. Ashley had arrived in Slate Springs looking for her Iron Rider brother and had ended up falling in love with Breaker, Flash’s fellow Forsaken Rider.

“Yeah, the guys from Iron Hill are cool,” he said with a half laugh. “I never thought I’d hear myself saying that.”

He raised his eyebrows and took another drink.

“But the truth is, right now, there’s a lot of other things going on out here that are more dangerous. And us bikers are having to stick together.”

Kady had heard whispers that had filtered around town but she couldn’t be sure if there was any truth in them. She scratched the back of her neck and waited for him to continue.

“We had to get out of town because we wanted to keep the wolves from the door,” he said seriously as he looked into her eyes. “The last thing I wanted to do was take off, especially after what had happened with us, but I had no choice.”

Kady’s heart skipped a beat. He had longed for her too.

“I had to get out of here with everyone because if we didn’t, then things were going to get very bad, indeed. We needed to head over to Iron Hill to gather up the others and then we all headed out into the desert to keep these goddam Russians away from our towns.”

“Russians?” Kady asked, wide eyed.

She had heard whispers of these mythical Russian gangsters for several months, but she had no idea what was going on with them, who they were, or what they wanted.

“They’ve been picking off towns like ours, and they were in the midst of taking over Star Valley when we had to intervene,” he said. “It worked out well because it kept them away from here. We were worried if they came to town they would never leave.”

“What would they do?” Kady asked with confusion.

“Well, they want our land and our businesses,” Flash said ominously. “And they have the backing and fire power to potentially take them. That’s why we’ve had to join forces.”

“Yikes,” she said with an exhale.

“Yeah, it’s all been pretty tense,” he nodded. “And dangerous.”

Kady felt a chill roll over her.

“With guys like that, you just don’t know what they’re capable of,” he also looked worried. “They’ve been bandying threats around to do with people’s families and all sorts. Nasty pieces of work.”

He took another swig of his drink, and Kady felt the need to have one of hers too. Suddenly, she felt at risk and uneasy.

“Doesn’t sound like much fun,” she said sympathetically.

“No,” he agreed. “It hasn’t been. Not at all.”

“And what was the outcome?”

“Well,” he sighed. “We’ve managed to keep them at bay, for now. But we decided to shut down the motel and some of the other avenues into town for people to potentially slip through the net. We discovered a few of them had been staying there, and we wanted to make sure no one was taken advantage of, especially Sarah.”

Kady nodded, suddenly things were starting to make sense. Sarah was vulnerable when it came to being on her own out there at the motel, and she could easily imagine her being intimidated into letting someone stay, even if she had been told otherwise by The Forsaken.

“So, where’s Sarah?” she asked.

“She’s fine,” Flash laughed. “In fact, she’s living the dream. We sent her off on a coach to some hippy spa for a few weeks out near Sedona. The last we heard, she was trekking around vortexes and dining every night with the resident Native American chief.”

Kady laughed.

Even though Sarah was a Slate Springs gal through and through, she could imagine her loving an adventure like that. It was the sort of thing Kady herself would have liked to have done at some point. To go out into the desert and reconnect with the land. To feel the power and vibrations of the earth. She smiled, and liked the thought of Sarah being safe and out of harm’s way. Especially, if the Russians had been sniffing around the motel already.

Flash grinned down at her and, already, Kady had forgotten they were sitting in the middle of one of the most popular bars in town, with some of the people they knew surrounding them. It could have easily just been the two of them and no one else in the room.

“And how has Kady been?” he asked genuinely.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She almost felt embarrassed that she didn’t have anything exciting to tell him. She had worked and she had thought about him, and that had pretty much been it. With Ashley being out of town, she hadn’t even had her best friend to hang around with, so it had been a lonely few weeks.

“I’m good,” she smiled. “Business is great. As busy as ever. And I’m looking into starting some new avenues shortly.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked with intrigue. “Sounds good, what kind of new things?”

“Pamper parties,” Kady laughed. “I can’t imagine they’d be your kind of thing exactly, but I’m sure the ladies of Slate Springs may find some fun with them.”

“Pamper parties?” he nodded his head. “Yeah, I can’t imagine many of the guys over at the clubhouse wanting to be signed up. But I’ll let you know.”

He winked.

Kady grinned and took another swig of her drink.

“Well, it’s good to see you,” he said suddenly.

Now the ice was broken, it was almost as if they could dive right in and talk about something more intimate. Kady flicked her hair over her shoulder so she could see him properly and she took in every inch of his handsome and chiseled face. He really was incredibly good looking. It was almost as if she had forgotten how much so. Whenever she had laid awake at night and thought about him, or tried not to think about him, his features had all blurred together and become one. The intricate details, such as the way his eyebrows were thick and almost constantly furrowed, the crinkle around his eyes from spending too long in the sun, and the way his teeth were perfectly straight. It had all been lost in her memory bank. But now that it was right there in front of her, she was dazzled by it all over again.

“It’s good to see you too,” she smiled.

The silence hung between them and she wanted to say something else but she didn’t know what. They had always had such a natural rapport, but with the issue of the last time they had seen each other properly still hanging over their heads, it was making it all a bit awkward.

“I didn’t want to just disappear and not call you,” he said finally as he played with the label on his bottle of beer. “In fact, I was going to come back to see you the same night but I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do.”

For someone who she had only ever seen being the ultimate alpha male, he suddenly seemed unsure of himself.

“I wish you had,” she confessed. “My memories are all a bit hazy from that night, but I know I had a good time.”

Flash locked his eyes on hers and gave her a cheeky grin that made her knees go weak.

“We had a very good time,” he confirmed.

“You looked out for me,” she smiled. “I remember falling from the bar and you caught me, you made sure I was safe.”

“You’ve always been a good friend, Kady,” he said genuinely. “I didn’t realize you wanted more…” He was searching her face for answers.

“I… I…” she stuttered and felt herself going red. “I was very forward. I’m not usually…”

“I’ve never seen you with a man, ever,” he smiled as he reached out and touched her hand gently. “And I have to admit that makes me like you even more.”

Kady’s heart started to flip in her chest.

“I’m really glad I asked you out tonight,” he smiled as he leaned back and took a swig of his drink. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot since back then. And to be honest, I thought I may have blown it.”

“Well, you haven’t hit a home run just yet,” she teased. “But keep going with the compliments, they won’t do you any harm.”

Flash through his head back and laughed.

“Good to know,” he winked.

A group of rowdy drunks burst through the door and unturned a table as they jeered at each other and Flash growled as he got to his feet and turned to face them. Kady sat back in her seat and watched how he seemed to rise out of nowhere, his shoulders wide and powerful, and his stance full of strength.

“Come on,” he said as he took a step forward. “You’re not going to come in here and throw yourself around like that, guys.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and it was so sexy to see him standing up for Faith and his property that it made Kady’s heart race and her pussy twinge.

He really didn’t have any fear.

He was strong, he was alpha, and he was hot, hot, hot…

“What the fuck are you saying to me, bro?” One of the drunks turned around, red faced and with drool hanging from his lip. His eyes were all over as if he clearly couldn’t even see straight and Kady had to lower her head a little to try not to laugh.

Flash cracked his knuckles and took another step forward, and in that moment, it really hit home to her what she was getting involved with. The Forsaken Riders were gentlemen to their women, but when it came to trouble and business, they were a whole ton of bad. Flash looked as if he was about to crush the entire group of drunks, and when he stood in front of them, he towered above them all, his arms wider than each of their heads.

“I said no trouble in here,” Flash snarled through gritted teeth. “Now pick up all of this shit and get the fuck out of here.”

Kady’s heart pounded again and she felt herself becoming hot and bothered. It was such a turn on to see him so confident and strong. She bit her lip and fanned her face with her hand.

The group of men all stumbled forward together and kicked at the smashed glasses and the broken table they had just knocked over. Flash didn’t even blink, he stayed standing tall and proud with his fists clenched beside him and his gaze fixed firmly on them.

The leader of the group, the man with the mouth and the shitty attitude, went to square up to him, but the moment he approached, it was as if he noticed something and then he took a step back.

He looked around and faltered, before he looked back up at Flash and held his hands up in mercy.

“Sorry, man,” he said. “I didn’t realize.”

He suddenly seemed to be sobering up and he stepped backward again and tried to disappear amongst the gang he had arrived with.

“If I ever see any of you in here again,” Flash began. “I’ll make sure it’s the last time.”

The men all nodded their heads and turned and ran toward the door. Kady couldn’t believe what she had just seen. He had literally owned them in front of the entire bar. There had been five of them and only one of him, and they had run away.

Faith wandered around the side of the bar and tapped Flash lightly on the arm.

“Thanks, Flash,” she said sincerely as she bent down and began to sweep up the smashed bits of glass and reset the table. The leg was damaged and bent, but she still managed to get it standing.

“Fucking drunks,” Flash said as he reached into his pocket for his smokes and clamped one between his teeth.

He turned on his heel and looked down at Kady. She was trying not to look so impressed, but her heart was racing and she knew her skin was flushing all up her chest. To see him act like that, so dominate and certain, was more than a turn on. It was changing the way she felt about everything.

They may have been criminals. But they held a lot of power. And Flash had no fear.

“You okay?” he asked as he sat down.

Kady nodded and smiled and breathed out deeply.

“That was pretty impressive,” she grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Do you always get groups of troublemakers running from you like that?” 

Flash laughed and shrugged.

“Depends how ferocious I’m feeling, I guess.”

“I like the ferociousness,” she admitted. “It was fun to watch.”

Flash smiled and downed the rest of his drink before he motioned to ask if she wanted another.

“No, thank you,” she smiled. “I’ve got work tomorrow.”

“Ahh, of course, I should have realized that a school night would mean an early finish,” he said. “And I don’t want to lead you astray again.”

He winked and it made her heart flutter even more. She knew he was being kind. It had been her that had led him astray the time before, she knew that much. But at least he didn’t seem to mind.

“I can stay out longer,” she smiled. “But I just won’t be drinking anymore.”

“That’s cool,” he said as he sat back and took her all in.

He couldn’t stop smiling at her, it was as if he couldn’t even believe his luck that he was sitting there with her either. And it was both endearing but unnerving. He was such a powerful presence, and to have all of his attention was making her heart race. It was almost as if she didn’t truly believe she deserved it.

Don’t lose your cool, Kady, she told herself. He asked you out, remember?

“Well, I’ll tell you what then,” he said as he got to his feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

He nodded toward the door and got to his feet.

“There’s no point in us sitting in this dingy place, with our conversation being overrun by music and drunks. Why don’t we take a walk?”

Kady couldn’t think of anything better.

She jumped out of her seat and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes,” she grinned. “I think that’s a great idea.”

He held out his arm like a gentleman and she linked it while trying not to laugh. She could feel Faith’s eyes on them as they wandered toward the main door, and she could only wonder what she was thinking.

Faith had always been good to Kady, but she was sure she could sense a slight pang of jealousy. But maybe Kady was just being overly sensitive to the situation. After all, Faith had never particularly shown much interest in any of the bikers before. Even if she did work alongside them.

When they got out onto the street, Flash moved his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. When he touched her, it made her whole body tense, but she quickly relaxed and went with the flow. It was such a strange sensation to be close to someone. She had spent so much of her life running away from intimacy that it was hard to let it in. But, at least, with Flash, it seemed to come naturally. None of the moments they spent together seemed forced, even if there was the occasional embarrassing glance or awkward silence. They still recovered from them seamlessly and within a few seconds, everything was right in the world.

He walked with her across the street and headed toward Middle Park. It had been a while since Kady had set foot in there, but she was glad to be out in the fresh air and wandering the streets of her town, rather than underneath Faith’s magnifying glass back at the bar.

Flash pushed open the park gate and they went inside. The grass was lush and green, and the sprinklers were already on, spitting their way around and soaking the pathways and flowerbeds.

“Do you remember when this place was just empty?” he asked as he looked down at her from his towering height.

“Kind of,” she smiled. “It seems so long ago, all of my memories of back then are pretty hazy.”

Her stomach dipped a bit when she remembered why. The time before Middle Park was there, Kady was still a child. It was back when she still had her mother, but her mother had been very sick. Very, very sick. And times had been hard.

“I can,” he said as they continued walking. “And I always used to say to my folks, why don’t they do something with that empty patch of land in the middle of Main Street. They could make a community park or some shit.”

“And they listened to you?” Kady looked up at him with a wide smile.

“I don’t know if it was my influence, exactly,” Flash laughed. “But someone clearly had the same idea. It wasn’t even six months later, I don’t think, when work began. I saw them digging up all the old wasteland and laying the soil down. Dragging up the ground and laying the turf. They made a good job, considering,” he said with a hint of nostalgia.

“I had no idea you would be so passionate about a community park,” Kady teased.

“Well, I can guarantee there is a hell of a lot you don’t know about me just yet,” he jibed. “We’re all mysteries in our own way.”

She nodded and smiled.

“I couldn’t agree more,” she said.

She slipped her arm through his and they walked on, it had been a lovely evening and she wanted nothing more than to stay out and talk with him all night long, but she knew she had an early start the following day. And she didn’t want to give him all of her time right away. He was going to have to earn that right.

“It’s been lovely,” she smiled as she stopped and he turned to look down at her. “Thank you so much for tonight.”

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and all she wanted to do was jump, wrap her legs around his waist, and kiss the hell out of him. But she had to resist. She had to keep her urges under wraps, however hard it may be.

Flash reached up and brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder and held her chin in his thumb and forefinger. Her heart was racing and she could sense that he was going to kiss her. But when he leaned in and gave her a solitary but strong kiss on the lips, it was so simple but intense that it took her breath away.

Her lips were hungry and searched for more, but he pulled away slowly and gently, and looked at her in the eyes with his gorgeous smile.

“I’ll take you home,” he said. “And then I have to get over to the clubhouse.”

Kady nodded. She felt lost without his hands on her and after being teased with such an amazing kiss, she wanted to do it again and again.

She reached up and touched her lips. They felt tingly and on fire. He had woken up her desire all over again and now she was hooked.