Page 6 of Loan Wolf
He came around the counter and found that Clara was wearing shorts. They were not the shortest shorts he’d ever seen—Midwest girls were practically willing to bare their cheeks—but they showed off an awful lot of perfect leg.
Gabe wrenched his eyes off them and led her to the rentals. “This is Daisy. She’s just your size and a sturdy workhorse who can handle being off trail. I’ll raise the seat a notch for you.” He lifted it off the stand and got a wrench from his pocket.
“You name your bikes?”
“I’ve found that people treat them with more respect if they have a name attached to them.” Gabe was able to do the adjustment with one hand.
Daisy was light blue, with a few white daisies painted on it. Watching Clara straddle it to test the fit made Gabe’s breath catch in his chest.
“I suppose you don’t rent this one to very many guys.” Clara found the pedal with her free foot and gave it a test spin backwards to check the extension of her knee. Her white sneakers were completely free of scuffs.
“I have a few painted with flames and sportsballs for dudes with masculinity issues,” Gabe scoffed.
Clara gave a surprised and unladylike snort, her foot nearly slipping from the pedal. “Sportsball?!”
Gabe shrugged. “I went to private school. Never got swept up in football fever or whatever, but I can google an image with the best of them.”
“You painted these yourself?” Clara touched the daisy on the crossbar.
Gabe grunted. Should he be ashamed to admit it? It was his favorite part of a bike rebuild, doing the finishing touches that took it from a machine to a member of his family.
He looked over to catch Clara looking quickly away. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with that porcelain skin and deep blonde hair. Her cheeks were slightly flushed in the heat, and her lashes were impossibly long.
“How much?”
How much did he want her? How much was he already hopelessly in love with her? Gabe wrenched himself back to the matter at hand. “Twenty for three hours, fifty for twenty-four hours.”
“Do you have a weekly rate?” Clara walked the bike forward a few steps and then back.
“Two hundred.” It was hard to resist his desire to get down on his knees and just give it to her, but Gabe had sworn a long time ago that he wasn’t going to budge on his pricing once he set it. That way was ruin, and he wanted to be out of debt and independent.
“I could almost buy a bike for that.”
“Not this bike.”
Gabe said it sharply enough that Clara met his eyes in surprise. “I’ll do three hours.”
“If you decide to do more, I’ll apply your payment to the total,” he said.
It was just a business transaction, Gabe reminded himself. He was only loaning her a bike.
6
CLARA
Clara climbed off the bike, feeling as clumsy as an adolescent in front of her crush. Not that she had a crush. She fumbled with the kickstand and finally got it balanced without her.
Gabe, fortunately, had stalked away to get her the rental contract from behind the counter and Clara had a moment to breathe deep and try to compose herself.
Gabe. Gabriel.
Her angel.
Now that she realized who he was, Clara could see the boy he’d been in this chiseled man. He had the same kind eyes and quiet air. But he’d grown up—and out!—just as she had. He wore a torn T-shirt that could not hide the fact that he was absolutely ripped beneath it. Short, spiky dark hair begged for tidying and one pierced ear had a gold stud. That same side had tattoos of wolves, vines, and pawprints twining down around his arm to his wrist. Did they extend up his shoulder? Down his back?
Clara was dying to peel that sweaty T-shirt off him and find out.
Was he shifter strong? Clara wondered. Or was it just the human strength of someone who worked hard for a living?
