Page 46 of Enforcing the Rules

“You ready?” He turned to me and patted the seat. I climbed on behind him, and we roared away from the curb. I hung on tight to Utah’s waist, tucking behind him to shield my face against the cold wind.

I’d never ridden on a motorcycle before, and it was more thrilling than I expected.

Utah reached back with his left hand and patted my jean covered leg, then gave it a squeeze. He turned his head. “You doing okay back there?”

I put my chin on his shoulder. “This is awesome.”

His chuckle caught on the wind and carried to me. He squeezed my leg again. “We’ll have to go riding sometime.”

A few minutes later, he backed to the curb in front of Peking Palace.

I scrambled off the back, and he stowed the helmets.

The bell over the door tinkled as he held it for me.

I pointed to the table in the front window. “Here?”

Utah shook his head, snagged my hand, and led me to a booth toward the back.

A waitress came over immediately with glasses of water and menus.

Utah studied his. “Know what you want?”

“Kung Pao Chicken. You?”

“Mongolian Beef. And bring us some eggrolls and a couple of bottles of Tsingtao Beer.”

The waitress smiled, took our menus, and left.

“So, Kate. Why didn’t you say goodbye?”

I drew my fingertip along the condensation of the water glass and shrugged. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Why not?”

“I thought maybe you’d try to get me to stay. I was already late for work.”

“I get that. Still, a goodbye kiss would have been nice. Or a note on the nightstand with your number, which, by the way, I still don’t have.”

I grinned and lifted my brows. “Dear old mom didn’t give it to you?”

“I didn’t ask. I figured that was for you to give, not her.”

“But my place of employment was fair game?”

He gave the barest smile. “Yup.”

“What did you think of my mother?”

“I hardly know her. I’d hate to give an opinion.”

“Abrasive and rude?”

“Let’s just say direct. I see where you get it from.”

“You find me direct?”

“I do. You rarely look away when you talk to me. When you do, I know there’s a problem.”

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