Page 95 of Wild Catch
Sliding my arms into the straps, I say, “No, you’re not. An evil person wouldn’t care if my helmet is tied properly.”
“That’s not why I was doing it. You were probably going to take two business days to tie it.”
I harrumph because, yes, that’s true. But also because I know it’s a deflection. “How about earlier when you fended that creepy guy in traffic off me?”
Logan stops in the middle of raising his leg to ride his bike, and almost loses his balance. At the last second, he just drops his leg onto the seat. “You saw that?”
“Yes, I did.” I fold my arms. “That was very nice of you.”
“Nice?” He snorts with a littleha!“I didn’t do it out of being nice.”
“Then why?”
“What if I had ulterior motives?” he asks while completing the motion of sliding over his bike. Damn it, he even looks gorgeous from the back with that impossibly wide back and tiny waist.
I shake my head hard and approach to climb on. Hands on his delicious shoulders, foot on the peg, and hoisting myself up until I find the opposite peg. I lower myself down behind him and he does the thing again, the one that sends my pulse from normal to Speedy Gonzalez: he grabs the backs of my knees and slides me forward until I fall on him. I wasn’t prepared for it and my hands land on his thighs, right against his hips.
“What ulterior motives?” I squeak out, lifting my hands quickly to hug his waist.
His chest expands with a big intake of air that he releases slowly. He turns the key and the engine roars to life beneath us. Twisting, he turns over his shoulder to look at me. Or at my helmet, I guess.
“Rose.” My name comes out like a growl that can rival the engine. “When you’re on my bike, you’remybackpack. And I don’t let anyone covet what’s mine.”
I suck in air.
Then the jerk kicks the stand back and accelerates hard enough that my body pulls back, forcing me to grab tight onto him.
Okay, I’m sure he can definitely feel my heart about to burst from my chest and tear into his. That’s definitely what the traitor muscle wants to do, but I can’t let it.
Logan saidwhen I’m on his bike, as if I was an extension of his property.
That’s not it either. I want to be loved hard and openly. I don’t want to be a guy’s possession. That feels too close to what I was to Ben—just a conquest, not a real person with her own feelings and needs.
Neither of us speak at any of the stoplights or stop signs, and the half an hour drive feels like it’s been an entire hour by the time he pulls into my residence. I key in the code to open the gate and since we’re going a lot slower now, I only grab onto his waist until he stops in front of the townhouse I share with Audrey and Hope. The lights are on inside, which means it’s early enough and Audrey’s still awake.
We do the whole operation of getting off the bike smoothly, like we’ve done this a million times. But unlike earlier, Logan doesn’t release my waist right away.
I reach for my visor and lift it. “What?”
He tilts his head slightly and his hands tighten, making me jolt a bit.
I lift his visor too, hoping that looking into his eyes will help me understand what’s happening. It doesn’t work that way, though. I know it’s dark and the light from the streetlamp is weak, but why do his eyes look like that? All dark and intense—unprovoked.
“What, Logan?” I ask again, my voice less certain.
“A really nice guy wouldn’t be thinking the things that are going through my head right now.”
My eyes widen. My heart kicks hard. “What things?”
His hands splay wider, covering more territory of my waist and the top of my hips. “How I would make you mine if you let me.”
I gasp—and choke.
“Unthinkable, huh?” He shakes his head and slowly eases off my waist, his hands sliding across my stomach until he lets go. “That’s not part of the deal and I know that. But I can’t help thinking… and wanting…” He takes a step back, eyes lowering down my frame. “To kiss you. And more.”
I hope it’s dark enough that he can’t see the goosebumps breaking all over my skin. I wrap my arms around myself. Out of breath without any reason, I ask, “Is that it?”
His eyes snap back to mine.
