Page 15 of Easy Rider
I scan the packed lot. I don’t see anyone, but there—
My eyes adjust to the neon glare as I turn the corner. I make out a hulking figure on the driver’s side of a parked truck. It isn’t the same one from today, but I’d know this truck anywhere. The Johnson brothers have been sharing the same old beater for as long as I can remember.
My stomach flips. Cletus is hunched over the wheel, looking straight at me. He isn’t snarling; he’s just balls-to-the-wall staring. He doesn’t even flinch or pretend he’s not watching me when I stare straight back.
I pick up my pace, rushing to the scuffed-up entrance as fast as I can without breaking into a full run like a maniac. It’s busy out front with cars pulling in and out of the lot. A group of partiers are laughing their heads off as they exit Boondocks and make their way to an SUV.
I finally reach the porch and let go of a sigh. The smell of a warm cozy fire spews from the chimney and permeates the air. I step inside.
Chapter Eight
I’ve never been moreobsessed with a woman before. I thought Emma was gorgeous the first time I saw her riding in the arena at high school. Blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, a tiny thing on top of a massive gelding. Emma rounded those barrels faster than anyone in the ring, with such grace and in total command. She gave me a hard-on even then. Although I was smart enough not to act on it. I wasn’t ready for a girl like her. It’s like the universe knows I’m ready now and brought her back to me for a reason.
The first time we got together, it was like a fantasy come to life, better than I’d imagined, and I have a superb imagination.
My eyes are fixed on the front door. There’s only one way into Boondocks and I’ve scouted the place. She’s not here yet.
She promised she wouldn’t change and would be wearing that same dress with the buttons. I take my drink and roll the glass in my fingers, letting the whiskey coat the sides of the tumbler.
Our kiss today in the barn has consumed me. I haven’t been able to concentrate or think of anything except the taste of her. Christ, I’m addicted again. Her sweet moans and whimpers should be sold to the military. The sound is so goddamn sensual, feminine, and wild it would bring any man to his knees. I’ve been hard all day just knowing I’ll see her again.
I take a sip, keeping my attention on the door. Jesus, I’m like some sort of wild animal, waiting to pick up her scent and pounce.
And then she walks in, and everything else disappears. The only thing I hear is my heart thrashing, pounding like a hammer. Blonde hair in waves, tangling around her shoulders, she swivels, searching the room forme. And, God help me, she’s wearing the dress—same dress and boots I saw her in today.Buttons.My cock lurches for her, threatening to bust out of my jeans.
I catch Travis’s eye. “Hold these seats.” I’m by Emma’s side in a heartbeat.
“You made it.” I grin like a schoolboy as relief washes over me. She didn’t pull one of herit was only that one night, I wasn’t acting like myselfmoves.
“We made a date.” She peers up at me with a smile, and it’s all I can do not to come down on those lips and drag her off to a dark den of sin. I wrap my arm around her, upset to feelmyEmma cold and shivering. I take my leather jacket off and drape it over her shoulders. “Let’s get you warm,” I say, leading her to our seats.
We’re at the end of the bar, in a corner. Emma glides onto the stool beside me, next to the wall. Her delicate shoulders are buried under my jacket.
I lean close, smelling the vanilla in her hair. I’m focused on her lips, but I hold back from kissing her just yet because I don’t want her to bolt. “Something to drink? Whiskey?”
“That would be great. Thanks,” she says, shifting, cozying up to the bar. Travis is watching as I point to my glass and hold up two fingers.
