At first, staying away from Maverick had been her idea—all self-preservation. So it hadn’t mattered when Grant had made it clear early in their relationship that he didn’t want Alexa seeing Mav—or any of the Ravens, really—anymore. In her grief for her brother, she was already avoiding Maverick. In her need to focus on taking care of her shattered mother, she’d already cut him off. So honoring Grant’s preference had been easy because it went along with her own intentions. Either way, it’d been a long time since she’d spent any time with Maverick like this.
And staying away from him had worked. It had made it easier to avoid feeling what she most desired where Maverick was concerned. Which was him. Had always been him. Since she’d been a girl who was way too damn young to be crushing on a teenager, and then a man, who was four years older than her. A man whose lifestyle had scared her on so many levels and made her choose what seemed like the more rational—safer—choice.
Grant Slater.
But now . . .
Today was the third day in a little over a week that Alexa had seen Maverick. And damn if that desire wasn’t still there. Even after all this time.
And that was a total sucker punch because she’d convinced herself a long damn time ago that she was totally and completely over this man. Emotionally. Physically. In every way.
Maverick took a fast turn, tilting the Harley at what seemed to Alexa to be a dangerously low angle. It’d been years since she’d ridden a motorcycle, but when they’d been together she’d done it all the time with him. As if on instinct, her body leaned the way it needed to handle the turn. Still, she clutched her arms and legs around him tighter, and his laughter floated back to her on the wind. And even though her heart was racing and her belly was flipping from the unexpected move, Alexa had a big smile on her face, too.
She and Maverick had sometimes butted heads, but mostly things between them had been easy, natural, effortless. She hadn’t realized just how true that was, but being with him again held a mirror up to her relationship with Grant. And maybe the comparisons were unfair since they were working on merging their lives as soon-to-be husband and wife, something she and Maverick had never broached during their time together, something Maverick had said he wasn’t sure he’d ever even want. Not after how his parents’ marriage had turned out. And it was far easier to be fun and lighthearted when forever wasn’t on the line. Right?
Right. Stop talking yourself into thinking there are problems where none exist, Alexa. Maybe Grant was right. He said all the time Alexa worried and overthought things too much. This sure seemed like proof.
Gah. Why hadn’t she just stayed at her mother’s?
“You up for going fast?” Maverick’s voice yanked her from her thoughts.
Without really thinking, the old answer she used to give when he asked that spilled out of her mouth. “Always.”
Nodding, Maverick smiled over his shoulder, and then he turned off the busy commercial route that led most directly to the Raven Riders’ compound and toward the more rural back way to his house. It didn’t take long to reach the open country road, and then they were flying.
The roar of the engine. The rush of the wind. The sheer power and speed of the bike.
Joy bubbled up inside Alexa until she was smiling and laughing. She wished she could throw out her arms and tilt her head back and let herself just float on the wind. She settled instead for letting out a loud woohoo that made Maverick laugh and had him giving the bike just a little more speed.
A nagging voice in the back of Alexa’s head reminded her how dangerous a bike could be. Doctors didn’t call them “donor cycles” for nothing. Motorcycles versus . . . just about anything was more likely than not going to be worse for the motorcycle, which Tyler’s death had proven. It had just been him versus a wet mountain road and a guardrail. And he hadn’t survived it. Once, that had terrified Alexa for Maverick. Made his bike-riding a risk her heart couldn’t tolerate. And there was still some fear there.
But there was more than that. There was just a sheer exhilaration, too. When was the last time she’d felt this alive, this free, this . . . happy?
Maverick slowed the bike as they approached the back driveway into the Raven Riders’ compound, off of which his house sat. Maverick was one of the few members of the club who lived on the Ravens’ compound, a privilege reserved for those related to the club’s founder, who was also Maverick’s uncle. Though she’d been young, Alexa could still remember the day Maverick and his mother moved into the old cottage on the club’s land to get away from his abusive father. Bunny had moved out years ago into her new husband’s house, but Maverick had stayed here, content to keep his life centered around the club and starting his then-new custom bike-building business.
The forest hung all around them as they approached a secured gate. Maverick swiped a card and they sailed through, then took a turnoff that went farther up the mountain. The trees opened up on Maverick’s house, an old two-story white cottage with a killer view over a small pond and the valley below.
Alexa hadn’t been there in years, which meant every change Maverick had made to the place jumped out at her. The house had a fresh coat of paint and a new roof. New landscaping lined the front of the house. The circular driveway had been paved. The detached garage had new doors. The place looked . . . fantastic. Homey and comfortable and charming.
The bike came to a stop in front of the garage as one of those doors rolled up, and then Maverick eased it into the empty space inside and killed the engine. Alexa pulled her helmet off and handed it to Maverick.
He smiled at her as he helped her off, his big hand warm and strong around hers. “Good time?”
She couldn’t help but smile back. “Really good time.”
“Good.” He dismounted the bike and raked his hands through his hair, and everything about his actions was so freaking sexy. The way his big body moved. The way his T-shirt rode up, revealing a sliver of toned abs and a dark blond happy trail just above the waistband of his jeans. The way he grinned at her all smugly and annoyingly and knowingly when he caught her watching him.
Alexa turned toward the open garage door, needing a break from touching and admiring Maverick freaking Rylan. She scanned her gaze over his house and yard. “Your place looks great, Maverick. You’ve been doing a lot of work.”
He came up beside her. “Checking things off my project list one at a time.”
The house had always been charming, but the TLC he’d put into updating it gave it a curb appeal it never had before. “It really shows.”
“Yeah?” he asked, pride clear in his tone. “You should see the inside.”
Truth be told, the designer inside her was seriously tempted. As was the woman who’d spent many nights here in another lifetime. But Alexa had told her mother she’d be back in less than a half hour, and a part of her also wasn’t sure it was a great idea to be alone with Maverick at his place. Not after what she’d been feeling while riding with him. What she was still feeling . . . “I’d love to, but—”
“Right. I know,” he said abruptly. “We gotta get back. Another time. Maybe.” He turned toward the pickup.