“I get you’ve got this whole manchild thing going on,” I said, wriggling in Damon’s grip but that just made him groan in response. God, somehow this was foreplay for him. “But some of us have responsibilities.”
“Yes, you do. So very many of them.” Damon’s voice was much lower now and more serious. “What are they today, Lily?”
I was ready with a snarky quip, about what he wouldn’t understand but something stopped me.
“I need to get the shop opened and make sure a new release is on track to get to us on time from the US. Shipping’s a mess right now. You can’t rely on anything making it here in time and if readers can’t get the hot new book when they want it, they’ll bugger off to somewhere else that does have it. I’ve built a reputation on always havingthatnew release in.”
“And…?”
“And I need to check in with my bookkeeper to make sure we have everything ready for the next BAS statement and find out how much I owe the tax man.”
“And…?”
He kept prompting me, making me list each thing, over and over, until I sank against his strong frame, it all feeling like that list had taken on a tangible weight, crushing me. I stopped describing each thing then, even though there was more.
“How much of it do you want to do?” Damon asked. “How much of it do you enjoy?”
“I like helping customers,” I said, brightening. “I like getting a sense of what regulars enjoy and finding some more obscure books that they might enjoy. I have fun when the older ladies come in and hang out for the day. They talk about hardcore smut like it’s no big thing, which always gives me a cackle.”
“And will you be able to do all those things tomorrow?” I turned around, but Damon’s hold didn’t loosen on me for a second. “Is there anything time sensitive about what you enjoy? Will you miss out if you come for a ride with me today?”
I let out a sigh then, my brain searching for a reason, an excuse, but not coming up with one. The shop would still be there tomorrow. The ladies wouldn’t even be coming in today because they were in yesterday and… I glanced up in time to catch those green eyes glimmering, his lips twisting into a smile.
“You’ve been good,” he announced. “So very good. You were prepared to do all of this on your own. Raise our cub, keep a roof over your head, be a successful businessperson, all because you thought we had a future that for some reason needed to be protected more than your own. I don’t want you to be good today.” Damon’s fangs flashed as he grinned at me. “I want you to come and be bad, and what could be more badass than riding on the back of a motorbike?”
“Being the one driving it, I guess,” I mused, and he stiffened.
“Would you do that? Have you ever rode a bike before?”
“Ah, no. And I’m not going to start.” I shifted then, prising myself out of his grip. “So where are we going? What’re we going to do?”
Damon smiled then, seeming to know he’d won.
“Get ready and you’ll find out.”
Chapter 39
So I’d showered and put on jeans and a t-shirt, then a leather jacket that had been left on the bed for me finding it fitted quite well. We’d been forced to go around to the bookshop, first, as Jasper didn’t have the safe combination. Damon watched me run through the operating procedures for his brother with a patient eye, until the point when he decided enough was enough, then hooked me around the waist and dragged me out the door. I’d been yelping instructions even as we stepped outside until I was finally forced to face my reality for the day.
It was gorgeous, the motorbike, black and sleek, but I glared at it like it was responsible for all the world’s sins, not really knowing what I was supposed to do. Damon walked over and grabbed a helmet, putting it on me and ensuring it fit snugly before donning his own on. I was drawn closer to the bike, almost like it was a planet whose orbit I was being dragged into. Then I watched him throw a leg over it (why was that so fucking hot?) and kick the engine over. He held his hand out to me, leaving me to decide whether to take it nor not.
What was I supposed to do?I thought wildly, then glanced back at the bookshop. I could be inside, coffee in hand, sipping away at all that caffeiney goodness as I caught up with the latest romancelandia crap. Damon could spend the day dusting the bookshelves or lugging boxes for me, if he wanted to be a part of my life. He could… But then I eyed his hand, saw those green eyes staring at me through his visor, and knew that this is how it would be, if I agreed to this. They’d be forced to find a place in my life, and I’d be forced to find one in theirs. So when I stepped closer, then took his hand, I felt a strange thrill, although it wasn’t entirely pleasant. Because I knew that I was walking towards more than an overpowered death trap, and what was there could really hurt me.
“Put your feet here and here only,” he told me over the rumble of the engine, pointing to the foot pegs. “You touch this.” He indicated the mufflers. “You’ll get burnt.”
“This already sounds terrifying.” I took a step back, but his grip on my hand tightened.
“I’ll look after you, Lily. I have so far, haven’t I?”
“After you put me in the danger in the first place,” I spluttered.
“You need that sometimes, just to remind yourself that you’re still alive. Now jump on.”
I did, with undue care, no doubt looking like a complete tool to the passers-by on their way to work, but that seemed unavoidable. I heard, felt, Damon’s chuckle as I gingerly got on, finding the foot pegs first go, thankfully. Then I started looking for somewhere to put my hands.
“You’ve gotta hold onto me,” he insisted. “We have to work together on the bike. Lean when I lean, move when I move.”
“I think I’m beginning to see why you suggested this,” I said, the act of putting my arms around his waist feeling insanely intimate, which was weird, when you considered he’d caught me blowing his brother this morning. He grabbed my hands, tugging me closer so I was plastered against his back, and then with a loud roar of the engine, we were off.