James chuckled.
“I’ve got no problem with you leather types. When you first moved in the neighborhood I told our Maureen, we’d have to leave. Now, I get more worried if someone normal moves in.”
Cora laughed. “Please, Bill, you were worried about me living here.”
“Not at all. You’ve lived here before. Anyway, I better go inside. Have a lovely evening, you two.”
“Sleep well, Bill,” Cora said.
James followed Cora inside. She wore a pair of shorts and a shirt covered in dirt.
“You been getting your hands dirty?”
“I like a bit of gardening. It relaxes me. I was going to go for a run, but I didn’t want you to accuse me of running away.” She pulled out a pitcher of tea. “Want a drink?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
He took a seat at her counter, and watched her. This was what he could get used to, and now he understood exactly what Teri was talking about.
There was a high risk of him falling in love with Cora. A very high risk.
Chapter Six
“Are you going to spend the rest of the day watching me?” Cora asked, handing him the tall glass of tea. She liked it when he looked at her. His attention gave her a thrill, and it turned her on.
“Nah, just a couple of hours, I think or until I get bored.”
She chuckled. “Did Ryan get home okay?”
“Yeah. It’s sad news.”
“I’m not going to pry if it’s private.” She wasn’t interested in gossip, especially if it was all lies. It was the one downside to living in a small town. There was so much gossip that was complete lies.
“Not really private. Long story short, Ryan’s the kid of one of the patched in members, Dane. You ever met him?”
Cora took a long swig of her drink, thinking. “Twice, I met him. Once he had to come in and settle some kind of trip money that had gotten lost. T
he next time was at a parent-teacher night. I don’t recall him recently though.”
“Well, about a year ago, he went off to the supermarket, and he’s not been back since. There’s no sign of him anywhere.” James sat back, removing his jacket as he did. She licked her lips, imagining him completely naked. “The brothers have searched for him. Admittedly, we’ve not broken our backs trying to find him. We’re from a certain way of life. If we want to go, we go. There was not even a sign that he was going to leave.”
“Certain way of life?”
“None of us had any family before the club. We’re all from foster homes or ran away from home. Kitty Cat, the woman you saw getting the spanking of her life, and her ass fucked, she was one of the women we grew up with.”
His words were only making her hot around the edges. She remembered that scene, and it had been damn hot.
“Dane hasn’t come back?”
“No. He’s gone, and I don’t know if he’s coming back. He didn’t take his leather cut, so I’ve got a feeling he’s looking for something he’ll never find.”
“What’s that?”
“To wipe away the past.” James shrugged. “We’ve all got a past we’re not proud of.”
“Is that because of your scar?” Cora asked, pointing her own nose.
“No. That just pissed me off when I got it. I had a damned good face until that fucker.”