Page 31 of Roses Are Dead
Carl would have enjoyed my suffering.
He certainly wouldn’t have tucked my hands inside his coat pockets like Bear did on the short ride to his home.
A light came on inside the house next door as Bear pulled into his driveway. He made a sound of frustration and braced the bike to quickly text a message.
A woman walked out of the house, phone in hand. “Just checking it was you.” She stared at me. “I didn’t realize you had company.”
Bear dropped his hand on my leg again. “Yeah, should have warned you. Speck doing his job?”
“His name is Kane,” she replied.
“I know that. All the same, he ain’t out here and you are. Tell him he’s in trouble for that.”
The woman shook her head and laughed quietly. “You bikers. Good night, Bear.”
“Night, woman.”
“Kate.”
That must be her name. The way she fired it at Bear was exactly how she mentioned the other’s name. Kane. Speck… was that short for prospect?
Kate stared at me for a moment. “Good night, whoever you are. Good luck with this one. He’s a handful and a half.”
With that, she went inside.
Bear didn’t move. He stared at the door well after it closed and the light went off.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
His fingers squeezed my leg. “Just fine.”
He lied.
“What are you waiting for?”
My question nudged him into action. He pushed a fob that activated the garage door. Inside, the automatic lighting revealed an SUV, a jet ski on a trailer, and another motorcycle. He had more vehicles than Carl. And a nicer home. It wasn’t lost on me that this subdivision was so new most of the lots didn’t have grass growing yet. Bear’s only had straw laid down to stop erosion.
He stopped the bike inside, and I took the rumble of the garage door coming back down as a cue I should climb off. I was much less clumsy this time. I’d practically fallen when he ordered me off the first time. The second time, I was a bit too nervous to execute the maneuver smoothly. But this time, I almost handled it like a pro. Except for my heel catching and my boot sliding off, leaving me lopsidedly barefoot.
I hopped around to avoid setting my flesh on the chilly concrete. One braid threatened to fall loose, so I slapped a hand on it as I bent over to retrieve my boot.
Bear laughed. “Are you always so…”
“Clumsy? No.”
His gaze was glued to my ass.
“Are you always so lecherous?”
That gaze slid up and locked on my eyes. The corner of one eye twitched into a squint. “You’d be prettier if you smiled more.” The corner of his mouth lifted.
I opened my mouth to berate him, but the gleam in his eyes stopped me. He was enjoying this. Far be it from me to entertain him. I shoved my foot in my boot and waited for him to lock the bike down and open the house.
8
Bear
No wonder Carl called her “Rose.” She was prickly as hell. My quip barely dented her composure. Which was disconcerting. She’d already picked up on my tells. It took Jackson all of a month to figure them out. Wolf? Hell, I don’t know if he figured all of them out yet.
