Page 16 of Cruise

In minutes, they’d paid the bill, and the group heading to Twist’s room for poker had left. It was just her and Booker.

“I thought the parks closed after sunset?” Lexi asked.

“One of the Bluff Creek guys’ cousins works for the park system. He’s letting us in after hours. He has some maintenance to do, and he said it would take him about two hours. I figured you wouldn’t want longer than that with the day you had.”

“Then let’s go.”

Lexi followed Booker to his bike. He handed her his helmet and helped her put it on.

“What about you?”

“I want you safe. The park is only about an eight-minute ride. Have you ridden before?”

Lexi shook her head. She’d always wanted to ride on a motorcycle.

“So let me get on, and I’ll help you on. Then your feet go on the pegs. Hold on to me.”

Lexi felt like the most awkward female on the earth trying to swing her leg over the bike, keep her balance, and not look stupid. Once she was situated behind Booker, he had her slide a little closer. She tried to figure out where to put her hands and finally decided she’d have one on his shoulder and one right under his arm. Her little seat was a tad higher than his. She didn’t remember anyone else in her romance books having these issues.

Booker started up the bike, and the bike shook a little. He patted her knee and then moved forward. Once she got used to the bike, she loved it. In fact, the short ride could have been longer. Booker pulled around to an entrance and helped her off, then got off. He grabbed a couple things from his saddlebags.

He grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers, and led her to the gate. A man opened it and let them through.

“Appreciate it, man.”

“No problem. Dodge said it was fate that you ended up in the same place as your girl from high school. I’m happy to do my part.”

Booker chuckled and led her into the park. She breathed in deep. How many nights had they gone to their neighborhood park, spending their time walking and talking about their dreams and everything else? Sometimes they’d play on the equipment like kids, and other times, they’d just talk. The air wasn’t too chilly by her standards. It had been a high of seventy-eight today and was just barely dropping now.

They walked slowly, not saying anything at first. She was surprised how comfortable she was with the man, even though she’d only known him as a boy.

“How did you end up with the MC?” Lexi asked. The question had been plaguing her.

“After high school, I joined the Army. There wasn’t any reason for me to stay around, and being around your dad made me want to serve. I know he was Air Force, but I visited the different offices. The Army recruiter was the one I felt saw what I wanted. I stayed in until 2022. Twist, myself, and another friend got out and wandered on our bikes for a while. We checked out different places until I was at a tattoo convention and loved the tattoo the competitor gave me. When I wanted to go to her shop, I found out she was going to a shop in Kansas. Her boss was a veteran and in an MC. He offered to have us come check out the Chapter. Bluff Creek is almost all former military or first responders. But something was still missing.”

She waited to see if he’d go on.

“How about you tell me about how you ended up at the signing.”

She smiled. “It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the abbreviated version. So we moved, and Dad was stationed overseas. I completed high school there, then attended college. You knowI loved the business and the money aspect, so I thought management was for me. I’d helped teach a couple of summer groups for kids and decided that teaching wasn’t for me.”

She chuckled. “Turned out that people can be really whiny, and I didn’t enjoy enforcing a company’s rules. So I started looking at other things to do. For a while, I worked in accounting, which at least made sense to me. Then when ebooks and independent publishing became a thing, I let an author I liked know how much I loved her books. From there, it changed to helping with her social media. Within a couple years, I realized that I could do things for authors and get paid for it. And the rest is history, with a couple of bumps along the way. Now I travel in my RV most of the signing season and then hang out with Mom from around Thanksgiving through January or thereabouts, depending on the first signing and weather. Then I go back on the road again.”

He led her over to a bench and then slid his arm around her when they were situated.

“I can tell from your voice that you love it. Does your mom travel with you?”

Lexi shook her head. “That’s part of the let’s talk about it tomorrow. She usually only does a couple signings a year, but she might be with me a little longer.”

She shivered, and Booker turned toward her with the small backpack he’d been carrying. He pulled out a sweatshirt with his club logo on the front and helped her slide it on. It was warm from being in the saddlebags and smelled faintly of Booker’s scent. She wasn’t sure if it was his soap or a cologne, but it was comforting.

Once he finished, he stared into her eyes and then brushed his finger against her cheek.

“I didn’t realize until I spent time with you how much I’ve missed being around you. When you had to leave and we wereboth in high school, I just assumed I’d never see you again. But somehow, you’re here with me. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you immediately.”

She smiled at his rueful tone. “We’ve both changed, and you weren’t expecting to see me. I didn’t recognize you either, but then you’ve definitely filled out in the muscles area.”

She loved hearing Booker chuckle.

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