And then he could move on to another mission.
He tossed his plate, grabbed both beers, and walked out onto the balcony. It was cool outside tonight, but he liked it. Bikers lined the streets and he wished he could hop on his Harley and join them. Instead, he handed her a beer, grabbed a chair and just watched and listened to the thunderous rumble. All he could see for miles were single headlights in both directions, horns honking, bikers riding or walking on the sidewalks. He got up and looked down the road.
“There are vendor and beer tents set up, and bands, too. You can go. I know you’d rather be out there riding with them.”
/> He picked up his bottle. “Got beer right here, and I’d rather be with you.”
She laughed. “Liar. We could go for a ride.”
He shook his head. “It’s not safe.”
“If you think I’m going to become a prisoner in my own house, you’re wrong. Just because two assholes tried to threaten me today doesn’t mean I’m going to be afraid to go out.” She stood. “I’ll go change.”
He grabbed her wrist and stopped her, hooking her gaze with his. “I’ve been to plenty of rallies. There’s nothing new out there I haven’t seen before.”
He pulled her down on his lap, swept his hand down her back. “Here now, there’s definitely something new and way more interesting than anything down there.”
EIGHT
There was nothing more enticing than a man who focused his entire attention on you. Elena’s breath caught as Jed’s gaze captured hers.
His eyes revealed so much—heat, intensity and desire.
She’d opened up to him, told him about her mother in more detail than she ever had before with anyone else. She barely knew him, and yet she’d spilled her secret pain to him. Why?
Because he’d made it easy. He’d asked, she’d answered—just like that.
And he was still here.
Most men didn’t want all the deep dark secrets. They wanted easy and uncomplicated. Jed had dug deeper, forging a connection she wasn’t sure she was ready to forge with him—with any man.
Now he looked at her as if he wanted something deeper, the kind of connection that would require them to move forward on a physical plane.
Though they already had, at least on her side. Until he’d backed away, and she’d wondered if maybe he’d had second thoughts. But the looks he gave her now told her something else entirely.
“Don’t think so much all the time, Elena,” he said, sweeping his hand to the back of her neck and drawing her closer. “Just feel.”
His breath whispered across her mouth as he fit his lips to hers. She sighed and leaned against the hard plane of his chest and let her fingers slide into the silken strands of his hair.
She was lost in the sensation of his mouth, the way his tongue swept along hers. She breathed in the clean male scent of him, smoothed her hands along the muscles of his arms and felt him tense. When he deepened the kiss, she was lost, wanted to dive in and forget everything but the way she felt right now.
And what was so wrong with that, other than she was always in possession of her faculties. She never threw her sensibilities out the window, was always in control.
She hadn’t felt in control of anything since she’d met Jed.
He stood, his arm wrapped tight around her waist until her feet touched the ground. He maneuvered her to the wall of the balcony and moved into her, pressing his body against hers.
And then he pulled back, one hand on the wall, the other on her hip, his eyes locked with hers.
She zeroed in on his mouth. Damn, he had a fine mouth. Her lips tingled as she remembered how good he was at using it to kiss her. She wanted more of that—a lot more of it, which made her mind wander to what else his mouth was good at.
He must have been watching her, because she saw the upward tilt of his lips.
She lifted her gaze to his and was hit by the blast of unshuttered desire in his eyes.
“I want you, Elena.” He moved his hand along the side of her rib cage, inching her tank top up, too.
Her body flushed with a sudden rush of heat. “Right here?”