Page 4 of Slide
Chapter Two
Bella locked the flower shop and laid her forehead against the warm glass front of the door. The second she stepped outside, perspiration broke out across her body. The heat was bad but the moisture in the air was oppressive.
She’d been dreading the clock striking five, dreading the walk home even more. She should have asked Travis if his offer of a ride earlier would have extended to taking her home. Oh well. There was nothing for it now. She turned and—
“Travis?” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice to find him leaning against his truck in the front parking spot. “I thought we decided on Friday?”
“We did. Figured maybe you could use a ride home.”
“Oh. That would be … You don’t have to do that. It’s out of your way and—”
“C’mon.” He cut her off and waved her forward. “I don’t mind.”
Bella stood at the edge of the curb, uncertain what to do. Travis was a secret, a wet dream, a fantasy she’d never be able to have.
“I won’t bite,” he teased and Bella laughed. They’d never had a real conversation before. Or any conversation for that matter. Laughing. Teasing. She’d lusted, wanted, desired. But all together? Mind-blowing.
“From what I remember hearing around town, you like biting.” As soon as the words were out, she clamped her hand over her mouth. She glanced around to see if anyone was within hearing distance.
Travis grinned when she met his gaze again. He gave a slow wink and shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. The move pulled the denim tight across his cock and that did things to her insides she’d only dreamed of experiencing with the hotter-than-hell mechanic.
“I’m so sorry,” she rushed to say. “That was out of line.”
Travis waved a hand through the air. “No need to apologize and no need to stand on polite ceremony with me. There were stories about you too, so don’t go thinking you’re any more innocent than I am.”
Bella groaned and hid her face behind her hands. “Hush,” she urged, when she’d pulled herself together. “This isn’t the time or place to discuss any of this. We shouldn’t even be discussing this at all.”
“You started it.”
“I know and I’ve already apologized for it.”
“Which I accepted. But …” He leaned casually against the front quarter panel of his truck and chuckled. “If I recall the rumors right, you liked your sex a little rough and tumble.”
Bella blushed “You heard about that?”
“Nothing you did was a secret in this town. Those private-school jocks you dated from down in Knoxville? They weren’t worth shit when it came to keeping their mouths shut. Word traveled fast. You were a naughty girl, Arabella Drake.”
Oh dear God. Had her parents known? Her brother? She wanted to look away. She wanted the ground to swallow her whole, but she wouldn’t hide from who she’d been. And she wouldn’t hide who she’d had to become.
She kept her gaze leveled at Travis. “Werebeing the operative word.”
“Pretty and perfect on the outside,” he continued, “never a hair out of place. But behind closed doors, seems like you were something else altogether.”
Bella could only imagine what exactly the rumors were about her. “Lord, Travis. I don’t think anyone has ever been so bold, so … direct. Especially someone I hardly know.”
“I told you. There’s no standing on polite ceremony with me. If you and I can’t be real with one another, then it’s going to be a very quiet drive out to your place.”
She studied him. He’d changed out of his work coveralls and replaced them with well-worn, faded jeans and a tight black t-shirt. The shirt hugged his chest and arms while the jeans hung low on his hips.
He made her mouth dry up and salivate at the same time. She licked her lips with a parched tongue. “So this is you being real?”
“Part. Yes.”
His eyes were steady on hers and she couldn’t read what was in those dark orbs. He didn’t shun or shy away from her and he spoke with a forthrightness she appreciated.
Damn. Her greatest temptation was offering her a ride home and melting her from the inside out.
“That’s all in the past.”More’s the pity. “I’m completely respectable these days.”Or trying to be.Too much time spent in Travis’ company and everything would go up in a pile of smoke and ash. Settling down. Being sensible. Earning trust.
