Page 7 of Viper

“My pleasure, baby.” When I tried to step away, he tightened his hold on me. “If surprises get me hugs like this, be prepared for more of them.”

I leaned my head back to smile up at him. “I guess it’s a good thing I like them so much.”

“Very good,” he agreed, finally letting me go so he could tangle our fingers together and lead me to the nearest path.

As we wandered around, we made a game of pointing out different plants to each other. Dean’s knowledge far surpassed mine, and he was able to identify just about every genus and species of the ones I wasn’t sure about. In Latin, no less.

“You’re surprisingly good at this, even for a guy who owns a landscaping design company.”

He bent down to pick up a crape myrtle flower that had fallen on the path and handed it to me. “I have a degree in landscape design, but I also have one in horticulture.”

“Impressive.” Lifting the stem to my nose, I inhaled the floral scent that was similar to a lilac, which was one of my favorites. My low hum of appreciation had Dean covertly shifting his hard length in his jeans, and I used the large red flowers to hide my blush until the heat started to leave my cheeks.

“Harvey mentioned you’re planning to go to college. Is that what you want to study while you’re there?” he asked.

I blinked up at him, my lips curving into a smug grin. “You asked my boss about me?”

“Damn straight,” he confirmed, looking not even a tiny bit embarrassed to have been caught.

“I get that you’re a big client of his, but I’m surprised he told you that much about me. He’s usually pretty tight-lipped about his employees.”

“That was about all he shared with me about you.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Mostly, he tried warning me off you.”

My eyes widened. “Really?”

“You can’t be too surprised by that, baby.” He looped his arm around my lower back and pulled me against his side. “There are thirteen years separating us, and I’m in a motorcycle club.”

“True,” I conceded with a nod.

“But Harvey knows better than most that there’s nothing to fear from an Iron Rogue when it comes to the woman he’s falling for since his son recently patched into the club.” His palm was hot against my hip while he grinned down at me. “He hasn’t spent a ton of time around the club, but he’s seen our prez and VP with their wives and kids. So he’s seen up close how protective they are.”

I tried not to assume too much with what he said—this was only our first date. But my heart yearned to have someone in my life who wanted to look out for me. My relationship with my mom wasn’t all that great, and my dad had walked out on us when I was in middle school. Money had been tight after that, which was why I needed to save up for college. And with my mom hightailing it out of the state as soon as I graduated from high school, she certainly wasn’t going to help. I’d been lucky to find a studio apartment near the garden center, even though it wasn’t the best part of town to live in. Not that I’d known that when I signed the lease since I grew up about an hour away from Old Bridge.

“If my boss has seen your president and VP with their wives and children, does that mean your club does like…family days or something like that?”

“Something like that,” he echoed with a laugh. “Every day is family day at the Iron Rogues compound. Wasn’t always like that with the club, but things changed once our top two officers fell for sisters who grew up in a club centered around family. For the better.”

“So you’re not one-percenters like the club on that popular TV show?” I asked.

He shook his head. “They got the hierarchy and loyalty to the brotherhood right, but that’s about it. Our lives are too fucking tame to entertain the masses for hours on end. We’re on our bikes a hell of a lot more than those guys were, probably because unless some shit was going down during a ride, it was too boring to show.”

His answers eased some of my concerns about what his motorcycle club was like. “You don’t strike me as boring. At all.”

He quirked a brow. “Not even while we’re taking a leisurely stroll through the botanical garden?”

“Definitely not.” I smiled up at him. “I think it’s great that we have an appreciation for plants in common.”

“How about a love for all things pumpkin?” he asked, tugging me toward a small village of houses built out of pumpkins and surrounded by chrysanthemums in every color imaginable. “Except for coffee. That should be black and unflavored.”

“I’m more of an apple person when it comes to fall flavors.”

He jerked his chin toward a food stand. “Their caramel apples are the best you’ll ever taste.”

I rubbed my hands together in excitement. “Let me at them. I’m all for having dessert before dinner.”

They had more kinds of caramel apples than I expected, and Dean bought one of each. Then he fed me nibbles of each flavor to see which was my favorite. By the time we got to the turtle one with caramel, chocolate and pecans, my panties were drenched. “That’s definitely the best one.”

There was a gleam in his dark eyes as he asked, “You sure?”

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