Page 35 of Pleasure Games

CHAPTER EIGHT

FORASECOND, Jasmine thought she’d been wrong about Luca, that he didn’t care about the police and might actually drive away.

Except he didn’t.

Oh, he revved the engine like he wanted to drive away. He even put the bike into gear. But after some muffled sounds that Jasmine was certain were a string of curse words, he lifted his visor and said, “What do you want from me?”

Jasmine glanced up and down the street. There was no way she could articulate exactly what she wanted from this man. Half of the things were illegal—maybe only in Alabama, but still. “I want to come with you.” She wet her lips. “Wherever it is that you’re going.” She had no idea where he was going but she was pretty sure it wasn’t back to Paris. And if he wasn’t going back, either was she, but for very different reasons.

She blinked as a random imaged popped into her brain...

Luca standing bare chested before his shower, only this time he invited her to join him...

He cut the engine. “Why? Why don’t you want to go back to Paris and continue your nice holiday? Why would you want to come with me? You don’t know me.”

How could she answer that without sounding ridiculous? She wanted to stay with him because when she was with him, her senses were heightened. Colors were brighter, food tasted better and nothing was predictable. He was the first man to make her feel alive. She knew it wasn’t a forever thing, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to experience more of how Luca made her feel.

Electric. Sensual. Feminine.

He was exactly what she needed at this juncture of her life. He was the key to her getting over the disaster of her engagement.

He was what she needed to move on.

But of course she couldn’t tell him any of that. So she told another equally true story. “The person who has all the papers and documents I need for a passport is not someone I’m keen to speak to right now.” She didn’t even have to pretend. The excitement and thrill of the motorcycle ride evaporated instantaneously at the thought of talking to Parker. For the first time in over an hour, the lump on the side of her head throbbed like someone had shoved a knife into her temple. Once the pain abated, she said softly, “I know I have to, at some point, but not yet. I’m not ready.”

Reaching down into the bag, she fished out the notes and tried to pass them back to Luca. “Please. I promise I won’t cause any problems. Let me come with you, just for a few days.”

He tilted his head to one side, his blue eyes so much bluer in the sun. She could see the wheels turning and a spark of hope filled her when he exhaled heavily and took the proffered notes from her hand. “Bien.”

“Does that mean good?” She kind of recognized that word, but the way Luca said it made it sound like it was anything but good.

“It means fine. Come with me. For now.”

Jasmine fought the urge to clap and jump up and down. She had to play it cool. She had to show him that he was making the right decision by taking her with him—and she was going to make sure she paid him back.

In whatever way possible.

Preferably on her back.

Or on her knees in front of him.

Perhaps on her hands and knees with him behind her.

Oh, God...

Jasmine climbed onto the back of the bike, her clit throbbing against the leather seat as she snugged herself up against him, the bag of clothes squished between their bodies as she shoved her hands into his pockets.

Yes.

This felt good. It felt right.

“So, where are we going?” she called.

“You’ll see.”

Without another word, Luca took off, doing a U-turn in the street and heading back the way they’d come in order to merge back onto the highway. While he still drove fast—maybe about ninety miles an hour?—it seemed positively leisurely compared to the earlier frenetic speeds.

The traffic was lighter when they got farther south. And the countryside? Well, the traditional French landscape was like something out of a movie. Rolling hills of pastureland, vineyards and fields of wildflowers. On the top of every other hill sat little villages built out of stone with black tiled roofs, and every so often she caught sight of a river as the road wound up and down and around.

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