Page 10 of Bred Winner

We ride west up the mountain pass and through two tiny towns before stopping at the Colorado Winery. I know Oakley well enough to know he never drinks and rides, but this is also a nice restaurant with a scenic view overlooking the valley at the base of the local fourteener.

We’re seated with our orders placed when Oakley stands up and moves over to my side of the table. “Mind if we sit together?”

“I’d love it.” I interlace my fingers with his as we sit hip to hip.

“Have you thought about what your work-life balance is going to be once you have a baby?” Oakley turns toward me and gently runs his fingertip from my ear down my shoulder.

“Well, Eliad Corp is really flexible. We have a program manager who is pregnant now with her second child. After she finished her maternity leave with her first baby, she rearranged her schedule to be in the office for six hours a day, Tuesday through Thursday. That’s when she schedules all of her customer and key staff meetings. Otherwise, she works from home, doing her financial reports and anything else that doesn’t require face-to-face interaction. I can do the same, and senior leadership supports it as long as the work gets done with the same timeliness and quality I produced before having a child.”

“Sounds like a great company.”

“I’ll find a nanny for the days I go to work.”

He frowns. “You have us. You don’t need a nanny.”

I duck my head, tracing my fingers over our joined hands. “I don’t want to uproot your lives by asking you to babysit three days a week.”

Hooking his finger under my chin, he lifts my head. “Let’s get one thing straight, love. Hopefully, one of us will be the father, so it won’t be babysitting, it’ll be parenting. And if we aren’t the father, we will still be a part of your child’s life. Always.”

I place my palm flat against his cheek and lean forward, brushing my lips tenderly over his. “I love you very much, you know that?”

“I love you, too. Always have. Always will.”

I grin. “You know what I was thinking about on the ride up here?”

“What’s that, bird?”

“Remember our senior year, during finals, you made me take a break from studying, and we rode to the French Quarter and walked around and danced and drank Hurricanes until all my troubles went away?”

He smiles. “I remember dancing and other things.”

Using my free hand, I trace his full lips with my fingertips. “That was a hot night—making out on your motorcycle like that.”

He kisses my fingers and then my palm. “Keeping the bike steady required concentration and took a lot of control.”

“You’ve always been controlled with me. A perfect gentleman.” I smile as he takes both of my hands in his and brings them back under the table, as if to remind me we’re in public.

The server stops by with our meals, giving us something else to focus on for a few minutes. I ordered the smoked brisket on creamy potatoes with a green chili sauce drizzled on top, and it is divine. After taking several bites, I offer him a forkful, watching how his eyes crinkle in the corners. “That’s good. Try mine.”

Forty-five minutes later, we’ve finished our meals and are back at the bike. The sun has set, and the parking lot where the scenic lookout is sits empty. Just as Oakley moves his hands to my hips, I cup his face and flash him what I hope is a seductive smile. “Want to recreate a memory?”

“Here in the parking lot?”

“No one can see us.”

Oakley lifts me onto the back of the bike again, but this time he straddles the seat and faces me, pulling me forward with my thighs wrapped around his hips. He cups my face, swiping the pads of his thumbs over my lips and cheeks, and the look in his eye is heated. “I’ve loved you from the moment we met at the library. I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I feel like I should tell you something before we go further.”

“What’s that, sweetie?” I lick my lips. He’s so serious most of the time. I think I’m going to make it my mission to make him laugh with me tonight. Just me.

“It hasn’t only been you I’ve controlled myself around over the years, Alora.”

“What do you mean?” I ask as I pepper his face with kisses. I thought I would be nervous, but after last night with Tristan, I’m not. Maybe it’s because we have already crossed that mystical friends-only bridge and there’s no going back. We have to go through with this ninety-day agreement, and then from there, who knows? The only thing we know for sure is that our friendship will remain intact, no matter what.

We promised each other nothing less.

Oakley sighs and pulls out of reach of my lips. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this or take it to my grave.”

Stress rolls off of him in waves. I rub his legs, pressing along his inner thigh with my thumbs. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”

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