Page 30 of Cowboy

“About two. I want to make it a decent ride, give this thing time to even out and break in a little. That good for you?” He looked up from where he was connecting wires to watch his VP’s reaction.

“Two is good. Make sure you answer your messages from Miles. He gets a little pissy when you don’t.”

Cowboy nodded, his attention back to the work he was doing on the bike. He needed to stay busy on it if he was going to be done in time to take it out with Deke.

Deke hung around for a few more minutes, then left, headed back over to the clubhouse, Cowboy assumed, but he hadn’t asked. His mind had already skipped past the test drive and was on Ava and his plans for tonight.

20

Ava’s day seemed to crawl by. Not because she wasn’t busy, she was. But it wasn’t what she wanted to be doing. She’d hated watching Cowboy leave that morning, even knowing she’d see him again in a few hours.

Nor could she not keep him off her mind, but every time she moved, her body reminded her of all the delicious ways he’d shown her to find pleasure. She had several aches and possibly a couple of bruises, not that she regretted a single second of it. Every twinge and throb were a reminder and she wanted to close her eyes and relive every moment, not that she had time to indulge.

Finally, at the end of the day, she clocked out and headed out to the car, digging in her purse for her keys and phone as she walked. When she reached the car, she started it and sat inside with the door open, scanning her messages while she waited for the AC to cool down.

She frowned at the screen when she saw a message from Aaron. He didn’t text her often. She wondered what he wanted. When she opened the message, she stared at the screen for several seconds.

Aaron: WHY AM I JUST FINDING OUT NOW THAT YOU’RE DATING A BIKER. HOW COULD YOU BE SO IRRISPONSIBLE. WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS. CALL ME.

He didn’t text her often enough to know if this was just how he used his phone. She didn’t think so but would hate to jump to the wrong conclusion.

Ava closed the door, dialed Belinda, and put the car in gear, knowing the call would go over the speakers in the car.

“Hey, you must have just gotten out of work. What’s up?”

“Is Aaron still out of town?”

“Yeah, he won’t be home until the middle of next week, why?”

“I got a text from him while I was at work. He doesn’t text me often. Does he often leave it on caps when he texts?”

Belinda was quite a moment. “Um. No. He is usually really careful not to do that. What did he send you?”

“He found out about Cowboy and is apparently not happy I’m dating a biker.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was a secret. It came up when I talked to him this morning, and I told him what you’d told me.”

“No worries. It isn’t a secret. I’d just not told him until I decided I was going to keep seeing Cowboy, and the subject hadn’t come up since then.”

“I’m sorry he shouted at you over text. I’m even more sorry it’s my fault.” Belinda’s voice was sincere.

Ava didn’t blame her but now that she knew she hadn’t taken her brother’s text wrong, she needed to figure out how she was going to respond to him.

She chatted with Belinda for a few more minutes, then rang off just before she got home. She had a few things she wanted to get done before Cowboy arrived. One of them was contacting Aaron.

Inside, she put away her bag and headed into the bedroom to change clothes. On the way, she typed up her text to her brother.

Ava: Yes, I’m dating a biker. We can discuss it after you get home, and only if you’re going to be an adult. I will not listen to you yell at me over my choices.

She stared at the screen a moment after she hit send, wondering if she’d done the right thing. Then she added another message and hit send.

Ava: and no, I’m not going to stop seeing him just because you don’t like the idea. It would have to be some damning evidence about him specifically. Or you can meet him and maybe get to know him. Like an adult.

With that chore done, she tossed her phone on the bed and peeled out of her work clothes. She stood in front of her closet for a couple of minutes, trying to decide what to wear. She wanted to be comfortable, but she also wanted to look nice for Cowboy.

After a bit she settled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, opting to go barefoot because her feet ached. She’d just finished dressing when someone knocked on her door. A glance at the bedside clock told her it was a quarter to six. A little early for Cowboy, but not out of the question.

At the door, she assumed it was Cowboy and opened it without checking to see who it was. It wasn’t until she stepped back to let him in that she realized the man on the other side of the door wasn’t Cowboy.

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