Page 37 of Walking Red Flag

I wouldn’t take her inside.

She looked nervous enough as it was.

“Oh,” she said, her eyes going to the lake. “I live across that point.”

I followed where she was pointing and saw what she was pointing at.

I didn’t bother to tell her that I already knew.

Instead, I said, “Big fuckin’ house.”

“The biggest.” She sighed. “That one isn’t mine, though. That’s Shasha’s. The one on the end, that one is my brother, Dima’s. I’m the next to last, and my sister’s sandwiched in between us. Though, when I say sandwiched, I really mean that we have about five acres between us.”

“Prime real estate,” I teased.

She sighed. “My brother’s insanely rich, protective, and overbearing.”

I grinned. “If Keely would, I’d have her sandwiched in between us, too.”

“Keely sounds like a smart girl,” Milena grumbled.

“The smartest,” I agreed as I led her to my bike. “I have a helmet that used to belong to an old girlfriend. It’s been in storage for a year, so I’m not sure how it smells.”

She wrinkled her nose. “We should’ve stopped to get one.”

I walked over to the storage room, pulled down the big tub that I held all my extra gear in, then pulled out yet another box.

I pulled it out and gave it a sniff.

Smelled brand new.

Which tracked, because other than getting it out of the box to look at it, my ex, Dorie, hadn’t much cared about riding.

I took the helmet out to her and offered it to her. “Smell.”

She did, pulling it back with a surprised look on her face.

Fitting it onto her head, she snapped the clasp closed and said, “It’s brand new.”

“Never even worn,” I admitted.

“She didn’t wear it?” she asked in surprise.

I grinned.

“I seem to attract women that don’t really care about my values and beliefs. Dorie, the original owner of the helmet, didn’t like riding with me. She said it made her feel dirty,” I explained. “We broke up because I, and I quote, ‘spend too much time with your club brothers and you might as well go fuck one of them.’”

She blinked rapidly, before her mouth twisted. “If she rode around with you, she might have gotten more time with you.”

I flashed her a grin. “Something I’d told her about a hundred times before we broke up.”

She gestured to the bike. “Where are we going again?”

I smiled. “Somewhere about two hours away. There’s a really nice diner there.”

That I’m going to leave you at while I go talk to my brother.

I didn’t know why I felt the need to have her go with me.

---