Page 37 of Jake

Once everyone had parked and dismounted, they stood clustered on the sidewalk, just milling about.

“All right. This main drag,” Jake used one hand to motion the street they were on, but toward the east as they were close to the edge of town to the west, “is dotted with eateries, shops, and museums. I figured by the time we got this far, we’d be ready for a bite and to stretch our legs a bit. We’ll gather back here at—” he glanced at his watch, then did a bit of math in his head, making sure to give everyone plenty of time to wait for food to be prepared, then to eat, “three o’clock. You know how it works, if something changes, you can’t make the meet for whatever reason, reach out to me or Lurch. Go have fun. But not too much fun.”

He watched as several couples drifted away, then turned to Heather.

“What are you in the mood for?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it. What is there?”

“Why don’t we take a walk and look?” He motioned down the street with one hand.

“Sounds good to me.”

They hadn’t taken more than five steps before she slipped her hand into his. It felt a little odd at first. Unfamiliar. But she had reached out to him, and he wasn’t going to tell her no. Not unless he absolutely had to, and at least this time, he didn’t have to.

28

Aftereatinginasmall café, Heather enjoyed strolling down the street of the little town where they’d stopped for lunch. It was a pretty town, and she could tell, set up for tourism with a street full of trinket shops, cafes, and grills, all set up so you could park and hit them all without having to drive from one to another. It made for a great break from the road, whether on a bike or in a car.

“This is nice. How did you find it?” she asked, knowing he hadn’t been on the ranch all that long.

“Talon mentioned it when I suggested we take the Arizona chapter to Rushmore.”

“Is that why you had him lead us into town? Because it was his idea?”

“No, that was because he’s familiar with the town. He grew up not far from here. It just made sense for him to get us parked rather than have me wander around hunting for a good space where we would all fit.”

She nodded, watching the windows of the stores they passed.

“Seeing something you want?” Aaron asked when she stopped to peer in a window for a moment.

“Not really, just wanted a better look at something.”

“We can go inside and look.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m good. But thank you.” She didn’t have a lot of cash left and she didn’t want to spend it if she didn’t need to. She had taken Matt’s warning not to use her credit or debit card’s to heart and hadn’t touched them since that night in Tennessee when he’d had her get all the cash she could.

Heather didn’t know if Mitch or any of those jerks he’d been mixed up with were still looking for her, but just in case, she wasn’t going to make it any easier for them than she had to. If that meant not buying a few little trinkets she didn’t need anyway, she could do it.

As they made their way back to where they’d parked the bikes, she watched Aaron’s face and wondered what he was thinking. He’d been nothing but fun, nothing but great to be with and she wondered if he was always like this or was it a face he was putting on for her.

She had no doubts that he had a hard side, nearly everyone did. But was it something he only dipped into when he needed to, or was it something he worked hard to keep hidden?

“What you thinking, Lynnie?” he asked when he noticed her watching him.

His use of his twist on her middle name sent sparks of heat through her, though she couldn’t have pinpointed why. Could it be because he was the only one who used the name? or just because it was him? Things between them had moved faster than she’d planned, not that she regretted it. He’d made her feel things the night before that she couldn’t say she’d ever felt before.

“Just thinking about you,” she said, still watching him as they walked hand in hand.

He shot her a frown, and she wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t believe her or he didn’t think he was worth her thoughts.

“You ready to get back on the bike?” He watched her as he asked.

“I am.” She assumed he was looking for any sign she wasn’t being truthful with him, but she didn’t have to hide what she was feeling. She hadn’t lied earlier when she’d said his bike was more comfortable than Matt’s. She didn’t know if that was on purpose or not, but it made her wonder how many other women Aaron had on the back of his bike. She hadn’t wondered that about Matt’s not because of how uncomfortable it was, but because she’d been on the bikes for different reasons. Matt, she expected to have had several women and didn’t care. She was only there as a relative who needed help. But things were different with Aaron.

The more she thought about Aaron, his bike and who he might have had on it in the past, the more agitated she got so she did her best not to think about it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

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