Page 31 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

Why was she out there? It wasn’t quite ten in the morning, and he was on his way to the bar to get ready to open later. What was she doing with a bike? Her mom’s place was at least five miles away and he couldn’t imagine she’d ridden the bike all this way. Was she okay? If she hadn’t ridden out here, then had she been dropped off or her car broken down nearby?

He stopped his truck, confirmed no one was behind his vehicle, then backed up to her. She frowned up from where she crouched next to the bike. Cyril popped off his seat belt and slid over to lean out the passenger side window. When she noticed him, her eyes widened with surprise before her frown returned.

“I can’t escape you two,” she said with a toss of the hand.

“Are you in trouble?”

She stood, winced and rubbed her hip, before shaking her head. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re on the side of the road squatting next to a bike. If you’re good, I can leave.” He moved to go back to the driver’s side, though he had no intention of leaving her there.

She held up a hand. “Sorry. I guess I do look like I’m in trouble. No, I’m okay. I’m just...” She sighed. “Just tired.”

He studied her more closely. Sweat beaded across her forehead, several strands of hair escaped from her ponytail and stuck to the side of her face. Her long-sleeved thermal T-shirt and black workout leggings were covered in dust. She looked tired, and beautiful.

“Did you ride that bike all the way out here?”

She cringed and scratched the back of her head. “I did.”

“What for?”

She shrugged. “I used to do this ride all the time. Right up there—” she pointed in the direction he’d been driving “—is a trail over to Ridgeview Lake. I used to hang out with Halle and Tracey there all the time. I was going there to see how much it changed.”

“And you couldn’t drive there?”

“Again, I used to bike out here all the time.” She frowned and rubbed her hip again. “I guess spin class is not the same as riding my old bike out to Ridgeview Lake.”

Cyril tried and failed to suppress a chuckle. “Nah, it’s not.” He got out of the truck and walked around to her. “Give me the bike.”

She clutched the handlebars. “Why?”

“I’ll put it on the back of the truck and drive you the rest of the way.”

Her stance relaxed. “The trail is literally right up the road.”

“And you literally look as if you’re about to pass out. Come on. Besides, in all the time I’ve lived here I didn’t know there was a trail to the lake off this road. I’ve only been to the public access side and that was once.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

She bit her lower lip to consider. Cyril took the bike from her instead of focusing on the way seeing her bite her lip twisted his insides. She didn’t argue as he put the bike on the back of the truck.

“You know, everyone really should see the lake from this side,” she said. “I’ll let you drive me, only because I feel like I should show you the way.”

“That’s the only reason?” he said raising a brow.

She gave him an innocent look. “What other reason could there be?”

“Not that you’re tired.”

She opened the passenger door. “Not at all.”

Cyril chuckled and shook his head. Her lips twitched with her own amusement, and he had the strongest urge to brush the hair back that clung to her cheeks. The attraction he was trying to pretend he didn’t feel picked the worst times to show up. He’d been worried she would still be upset with him from the cake tasting the day before. Ignoring his attraction was easier when she scowled at him, but when she smiled...her smile left him dumbstruck and wanting.

He looked away quickly and hurried to his side of the truck. He was being romantic, and except for the out of character moment when he first met her, he was not a romantic. He was a realist. Realistically, anything between him and Imani wouldn’t turn out well.

He put the truck in gear and started down the road. “Tell me when to stop. I’ve driven down this road every day since moving out here and I’ve never seen a tra—”

---