Page 9 of Crazy for You

He turned his head to look at her, so sexy in his helmet and riding glasses. “So how was it?”

“Even better than I thought it would be.” She gulped for air. His lips were way too close to hers, and she was still a little bit drunk on beer and a whole lot drunk on her first motorcycle ride. Mandy’s words echoed in her ears. Bonus points if you kiss him. Just stand up a bit, lean over his shoulder, and…

Emma leaned forward, her chest sliding up his back as she tipped her face to his. Holy hell, she had completely lost her mind, but she was going for it. Every nerve in her body went haywire.

Clunk. Her helmet smacked into his, drawing her up an inch short of his lips.

Ryan sucked in a breath, his dark eyes locked on hers.

She froze. Oh God, this was so embarrassing! She was pressed against him, her hands still on his waist, her face so close to his, so awkward, so obvious she’d been about to kiss him. Foiled by the stupid helmet.

“Emma.” His voice was low, his face a blank mask behind his glasses.

“Um—” Well, now the moment was ruined, and she felt like a total idiot. She scrambled off the bike, pulled off her helmet and glasses, and turned her back to him.

He came up behind her, put a hand on her shoulder, and gently spun her to face him. “What just happened?”

She just shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

He stared at her for a long second, looking so disreputably rumpled she almost went for it again—this time without helmets to get in the way.

“You had too much to drink tonight.”

“I’m not drunk.” Or wait—maybe she should have let him think she was. That might be less embarrassing, and it wasn’t like she was totally sober, after all.

His gaze slipped to her lips. “It wouldn’t be a good idea.”

And there it was. She absorbed the sting of his words. “Oh. You don’t—I mean, I get it. Those other women at the bar are a lot more?—”

“Emma,” he interrupted her, his dark eyes nearly knocking her off her feet with their intensity, “it’s got nothing to do with them. You’re…any guy would be lucky to kiss you, but I can’t.” Something flickered in his expression. It almost looked like desire…for her.

Whoa. “Why not?”

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “You know why.”

She jabbed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare bring up my brother right now.”

“I promised him I’d look out for you. I specifically promised him that I would not take advantage of you.”

“Well, that’s insulting because I wouldn’t call anything that happened tonight you taking advantage of me. And that was over ten years ago, Ryan.” She paused as hot tears pressed against the backs of her eyes. “Derek’s gone.”

The words hung between them, crisp and cold. Ryan had been there beside her at Derek’s funeral. He’d always been there for her. But he didn’t want to be with her. And it hurt even more than she’d feared.

His eyes shone with regret. “And I can never get his okay on this.”

Emma woke up the next morning to the ding of an incoming text message, followed by another, and another. Her head ached, and ugh, her pride stung even worse. She pressed a hand over her eyes with a groan. A heavy weight plopped onto her chest, knocking the breath from her lungs.

“Meow.”

Emma peeked through her fingers at the gray cat perched on top of her, regarding her from wide blue eyes. “Morning, Smokey.”

She shifted the cat to the side so she could grab her cell phone off the nightstand. The screen showed five new text messages, all from her friends.

Rumor has it you did indeed catch a ride on Ryan’s bike, Gabby said.

Details. We need details! from Mandy.

I’ve got fresh cinnamon buns. Come and get ’em and let’s gossip, from Carly, who owned A Piece of Cake bakery and made the best cinnamon buns Emma had ever tasted.

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