I trembled as I waited for the aftershocks of pleasure to subside, then stayed still. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to, my body drained.

But completely satisfied.

Max also didn’t move for a few seconds as he caught his breath, then he slowly got me off him and put me down. I had to lean against the wall because my legs were still like jelly.

He touched my cheek. “Are you okay, Lauren?”

His voice was tender now, his eyes soft.

I gave him a smile. “I’m good. Very good, in fact.”

The smile he gave me in return took what little breath I had regained away. Warmth flooded my chest.

He glanced at the water that was still running. “Shall we take a shower and enjoy the rest of the evening like we talked about?”

I nodded. “I would love to.”

Chapter Six

Jake

I hope Lauren is settling in okay.

I thought of her as I tinkered with my old bike in the garage. Because of work and the MC, I had hardly seen her since she started staying under my roof.

Or maybe I was avoiding her.

I still couldn’t believe our paths had crossed again, or that she was all grown up now. In my mind, she was still a little girl with braided pigtails and pink overalls, someone who sat on my knee and whose head I patted, but the truth was that she was now a beautiful, young woman.

And I didn’t know what to do with her.

A part of me longed to coddle her like a child, to treat her as something precious and delicate like I used to. And the other? I wanted to make her feel like a woman and teach her every way that a man could give her pleasure.

Just the thought of her in my bed, of the soft glimmer in her green eyes as she surrendered to me, was enough to nearly make me hard, something I hadn’t felt in a while. I had thought I’d given up on women, so why did I want to make her mine so badly?

I felt like hitting my head with the wrench in my hand.

Get a grip, Jake.

Even if she wasn’t a child anymore, she was still nearly half my age. Besides, she was struggling with amnesia at the moment. I didn’t want to take advantage of that. And what if she suddenly regained her memories and remembered that I was the guy in the building who used to look after her and give her art lessons while her parents worked? Would she really want to be with that guy?

I shook my head, trying to get it on straight and clear it of all thoughts of Lauren, but just when I thought I’d succeeded, she appeared in the garage in a sleeveless black top and denim shorts.

“Max said I’d find you here.” She stepped forward and offered the steaming mug in her hand to me. “Coffee?”

To someone who had been up since dawn, it smelled heavenly.

“Thank you.”

As I took the mug from her, our fingers touched. She didn’t seem to think anything of it. I tried to do the same as I brought the mug to my lips and took a sip of coffee.

Easy, old man.

Lauren looked around. “So, this is where you spend most of your time when you’re at home?”

“Yeah.”

Max had the living room. Wade hung out on the patio. I had the stuffy, messy garage.