He patted the inside of the truck, the muscles in his tanned forearms flexing and shifting. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
He said goodbye to Molly and started walking backward. I panicked and called after him. “Then what?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Then we talk.”
I stepped to the window. “About what?”
He smiled, flashing white teeth surrounded by dark, alluring beard. “Don’t be so nervous, Delane. If I bite, I promise you’ll like it.”
Turning around, he darted across the street, leaving me nervous for an entirely different reason now.
“Vera,” Molly asked in a quiet voice, “Do you just spontaneously orgasm all the time when he’s around?”
I leaned against the window and bugged my eyes out. “Yes,” I agreed. “All the time.”
“Seriously, though, are you okay? What does he want to talk to you about?”
I shook my head, tension curling inside me once again. “I have no idea. He makes me so nervous.”
She released a bubbly laugh, reminding me my fears were probably unfounded. “Why?”
Shrugging, I moved back to the galley so I could start cleaning up. “Habit, I think? I don’t know. He’s so intense. I never know whether to call him on his bullshit or just strip naked so he can have his way with me.” I looked up at her. “Maybe I’ll try shrinking into a ball and seeing what that gets me.”
Molly lifted a finger, wiggling it at me. “No shrinking. You’re done shrinking, Vere. You were meant to shine, friend. End of story.”
I wrinkled my nose and tried to believe her. “That’s not as easy as it sounds.”
“The best things in life never are,” she reminded me. “Doesn’t mean they’re not worth pursuing.”
My breath of relief came from some deep recess of my soul, filled with truth and understanding and hope. For the first time in a long time… hope.
“Thanks, Molly. For tonight, and for everything else too. For being there for me even when I shut you out and became someone I’m not proud of.”
She closed the distance between us, wrapping me up in a hug. I hugged her back, finding closure in our relationship I hadn’t let us breach before. “It doesn’t matter,” she promised. “All that matters is that you’re someone I’m beyond proud of now. You’re someone that didn’t break beneath the weight of something so ugly. You got out. You left. And you fought and fought and fought until you made something amazing. You’re my hero, Vera.”
I squeezed her tightly. “You’re my hero too, Molls.” And she was. For being the friend that didn’t judge and only supported. For being the woman who didn’t get herself into bad relationships. Not just because she was quiet, and so sweet and nice, but for always sticking up for herself. For never being the doormat. For being beautiful and kind and giving. She was exactly who I wanted to be when I grew up.
“Now do what you need to do before Killian comes back and bites you.”
I stepped back from her laughing, smiling, happier than I could remember in a long time.
Killian returned an hour later, just like he’d promised. He stepped inside the truck without an invitation and picked up a crate of leftover food. “I’m taking these to Lilou tonight, so you don’t have to drive all the way over to the commissary.”
“Do I get a say?”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s one-thirty in the morning. Do you want a say?”
I repressed a smile. “Is it okay? I mean, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
He moved toward the door. “It’s my kitchen. I decide what goes in it.”
Okay, then.
After he’d dropped off my crates of food in his kitchen and locked up Lilou, he stood by while I locked up Foodie. There was something about the moment that sent warm tingles spiraling through me. The late fall night, the sounds and smells of a city I had come to adore, Killian at my side after a long, fulfilling night of doing something I loved so much… it felt right.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me back against his chest, resting his chin on my shoulder. “Where’s your car, Molly?”
She pointed at her Jetta parked on the street. “Just there.”
“We’ll watch to make sure you’re okay?” Killian told her.
There was an awkward silence where Molly and I had a nonverbal conversation using only our eyebrows. Eventually, she waved at both of us, a grin plastered across her smug face. “Call me tomorrow, Vere.”
“Drive carefully,” I answered noncommittally.
True to his word, Killian and I stood there until she’d gotten in her car and safely driven away. His arms tightened around my waist. “Ready?”
I struggled to swallow through a suddenly very dry throat. “For what?”
He kissed the spot just below my ear. “Our talk.”
“Do I have a choice?”
I felt his smile against my neck. “You always have a choice, but I’d like it if you stopped being such a little chicken, got on the back of my motorcycle and let me take you home with me.”
Nerves pelted my insides so abruptly I jerked in his arms. “I thought you wanted to talk?”
“We’ll start with talking,” he amended. “We can see where it leads.”
This was a trick. I knew it was a trick. He hinted at fun things to get me to say yes to the un-fun things.
But it worked.
I linked my hand with his and let him pull me across the street to where his bike was parked. We decided to leave my car at Vann’s shop so I could ride with him.
He threw on his leather jacket and pulled out the helmet for me. I had to redo my hair in a low ponytail to get it to fit, but I made it work. He gently cradled my helmet-covered head with two hands and grinned at me. “Fucking sexy as sin,” he murmured. Then he climbed on his bike and tilted his head for me to join him.
I had jealous flashbacks of watching him take a different girl home on the back of this bike. But I quickly shooed them away. We’d both been tested since our naughty night at Lilou. We were both clean and committed to this thing between us. I didn’t have to worry about nameless blondes riding home with Killian or riding him.
I just had to worry about me doing those things.
Gulp.
Leaving my chef’s coat on to protect my arms during the drive, I climbed on the back of Killian’s motorcycle feeling beyond bad ass. My thighs hugged the backs of his, and I linked my arms around his solid core. A shiver rippled through me, heating my body with bright awareness.
“Hold on,” he called over his shoulder. I did as he said.
He started the bike and took off out of the plaza, zipping through the cool night with smooth efficiency. I clung to him, enjoying the ride and the flight of butterflies tumbling around my belly.
To calm my racing pulse, I focused on the city zooming by. The night air was crisp and just damp with the heavy dew that settled on the ground in these middle of the night hours. The streets were mostly dead, leaving plenty of room for Killian to navigate smoothly.