CHAPTER 20
“Something wrong with your new bike?” Not that Parker was complaining. He’d give anything to fiddle around with the Ducati.
“I’ve decided I want to get Dad’s old bike out. You know,” she winked up at him, “for old time’s sake.”
“How many hours did we spend working on that thing when we were younger?”
“I didn’t lift a finger. I still don’t know how the dang things work.”
He tsked, shaking his head. “I’ve always told you, you shouldn’t be driving it if you can’t fix it.”
“I can’t even fix a pair of roller skates, Park.” She laughed, reaching behind her and lacing her fingers through his. “Please?”
The smile she gave him melted him. He never could say no to her pleading smile. Especially when her eyes were so bright and sparkly. His throat grew tight with emotion, and it made his voice rough around the edges. “I’ve missed you, Cassie.”
She looked at him with soft eyes and reached up on tiptoe to kiss him. Her mouth was soft and sweet against his. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Parker Hansen,” she murmured against his lips.
He tightened his embrace but still allowed her kiss to be gentle. Hope spread across his chest, taking root in his soul. A lightness he’d never felt took wing. He would fix her bike and more. The possibilities stretched before him as their kiss grew deeper. When they finally came apart, he couldn’t hold back. “I know I’m in love with you.”
She gave him another soul melting smile. “Lucky me. I thought for sure you’d be married when I came home.”
That she’d even wondered about him at all, stunned him. His chest puffed in satisfaction. “Did you now?”
“Of course. You’re a catch, Park.” She rubbed along his chest, and he fought the urge to throw her over his shoulder and march straight to his bunkhouse with her. “But I’m curious, there must have been someone?”
Probably best to clear the air. Prairie was small enough, you never knew when the gossip mill would start to turn. “Well, there was a girl at junior college, but she didn’t want to live in Prairie. And I couldn’t leave.”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”
“Okay, wouldn’t. Cody had just left to join the rodeo circuit, and mom took it hard. I wasn’t going to leave her alone.”
“You just have to save everybody don’t you?” Laughter tinged her voice.
“That’s me. Park Kent, Prairie’s one stop superhero. Saving treed cats and damsels in distress.”
She threw her head back, laughing full and rich at his joke. God, he loved that sound. So free and easy, as if she wasn’t burdened by ghosts and violent memories.
“So what about you? You must have met someone you thought you could marry?”
A shadow crossed her face, and for a moment her eyes went bleak. Then she wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Nope. I’m too much woman for most men, and with a military career?” She shrugged. “Settling down was never a priority.”
“And is it now?” He shouldn’t be asking this. He didn’t want to scare her off, but at the same time, he had an overwhelming desire to know where he stood. If he even had half a chance with her.
“Settling down?” She grimaced. “I’ve always been happy with my career. I love what I do. And most men don’t want to compete with that.”
He wasn’t most men. Parker pulled her in for a kiss. “Maybe it’s not a competition.” He punctuated his words with more kisses. “Maybe someone might actually like that about you.”
Cassie barked out a laugh. “Sure. ’Cause every man loves to get tackled in his sleep.”
A laugh rumbled through his belly. “Tackle me all you like, sweetheart. But first, we’ve gotta fix your bike. And that means stopping by Mom’s to collect my tools.”
She looked confused. “Wait. They’re not here?”
He shrugged. “I stopped riding my bike when you left.”
“Why?” She sounded incredulous, as if not riding a motorcycle was a travesty.
“It’s not that big of a deal, Cass. I didn’t have as much fun riding with the guys. So I stopped. I ride it enough to keep the engine working. But that’s it. And Gunn has tools here if I need them.”
Cassie shook her head. “We are so changing that.”
Parker flashed her a grin. “You bet we are. Starting today.”
“Deal.”
Cassie practically bounced in her boots as he wheeled his dad’s old Harley Davidson out of the barn. She ran her hand appreciatively along the seat. “I think they used a bike like this in the last Captain America.”
“Hmm. Then we should name it Steve.” Once he’d donned his helmet, he swung his leg over the bike and waited for her to settle behind him. “I could get used to this,” he rumbled as her hands slid around his middle and she molded herself to his backside.
“Definitely better than riding horses.”
“Feel like taking a ride before we collect our stuff?”
Cassie nodded, tucking a stray lock of hair under the helmet he’d given her. “Heck, yeah.”
As soon as they hit the main road, Parker opened up the throttle and headed for what had been their favorite stretch of windy road as kids. Maybe it was the woman on back, but Parker didn’t ever remember enjoying a ride so much. A buzzard circled lazily in the deep blue sky as they made their first big turn.
Cassie leaned first, catching him off guard, but he corrected and kept going. A minute later, she did it again. Was she afraid he was going to lay down the bike? On the next turn, he shifted to counter her weight, but this time the bike wobbled.
“Enough,” Parker growled, confusion and displeasure roiling through him. She was going to cause an accident. When he found a safe place to stop, he pulled over and hopped off, biting his tongue to keep from chewing her out.
Cassie pulled off her helmet, shaking out her hair. “What?” she asked, a look of confusion on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Can’t you feel what’s wrong?” he bit out incredulously. “You’re backseat driving and unbalancing the bike.”
Her eyes grew wide.
“I’m driving. I’m the pilot here. You have to trust me, Cass. Let me be in charge. At least while I’m driving,” he finished wryly.
“I… Oh… wow. I’m so used to–”
“Being the one calling the shots. I know. I get it.” His boots crunched across the gravel, and he took her hand, placing it over his heart. “Do you remember the first time you rode on the back of my bike?”
Cassie grinned up at him. “Yeah. I was sixteen. And totally in love with you.”
Even then? “Yeah?”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “You men. Clueless. Why do you think I went home and asked my dad to teach me how to ride his motorcycle? I wanted to get your attention.”
“Oh, you definitely got my attention.”
She rolled her eyes again. “But not in the way I wanted. It doomed me to being one of the guys.”
“You were never just one of the guys, Cass.” He cupped the back of her neck with a hand and tilted her chin with the other, brushing his mouth across hers. He could grow drunk on her kisses. Slowly, he flicked at her lower lip with his tongue and braced for the jolt of awareness that always came when he first tasted her. His tongue slid against hers, languorous and lazy as the day in front of them.
He shifted his stance to make room for his stiffening cock as she moaned quietly against him. So this is what it felt like to kiss someone you were crazy about. Pretty damned good. “Mmm. You taste like sunshine.” He mumbled as he kissed the sensitive spot underneath her ear.
“You taste like blue sky and soft air,” she responded, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him in for another kiss.
The horn of a passing truck pulled them apart. But he kissed her once more for good measure as soon as it passed. “As I was saying, do you remember the first time you rode on back?”
“Yeah. I loved feeling your muscles.”
He puffed up at her confession. “Well, I like how that feels too. And that’s my point. No more anticipating. Can you trust me?”
For the tiniest second, her fear was back. It flickered like a spark and then was gone. He’d have missed it if he wasn’t watching her closely. But she nodded and gave him a dazzling smile. He was putty in her hands when she smiled like that. “I promise, I won’t let anything happen to us.” He took her helmet from where it rested against her thighs and gently placed it on her head, buttoning her chin strap, and giving another kiss to her perfectly freckled nose. “When I get back on, I want you to snuggle up and then shut your eyes. I know it’s been awhile, but you’ll remember. And let. Me. Lead.” He punctuated each word with a light kiss.
Parker slid onto the seat, and this time Cassidy settled behind him, pressing tighter. He didn’t have to close his eyes to visualize her breasts crushed against his backside, or the muscles in her thighs stretched tautly around his hips. They were going to have to ride tandem more often.
“Park?” Her voice slid across him like liquid silk, going straight to his cock.
“Yeah?” he said hoarsely.
“Thanks.”
He nodded, a sudden lump in his throat. Instead of answering, he revved the bike and tore off down the road. With Cassie behind him, he could conquer the world.