Page 10 of The Biker's Hidden Obsession

“You okay?” she asks, feathering her fingers back through her long blonde hair as a soft breeze blows between the pines.

“Yeah,” I clear my throat and step into the sand, “just grabbed the fishin’ gear. You ready?”

She holds her gaze on mine. “Thank you for getting me out today. I really needed it.”

God help me! I want to kiss her more than I want my next breath.

“Yeah, no problem. You work hard and you deserve a break.”

A sweet smile lifts her cheeks softly, and I swear to fucking God it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I shift the tackle box in my hand, not trusting myself to speak. She steps closer. Close enough that I could trace the freckles on her cheek or the curve of her jaw, but I don’t.

I can’t.

Her hand rests on my shoulder, and she leans in slowly, pressing her soft, tiny frame against mine. “I mean it. I appreciate you. I’ve been alone out here since I ditched my insane family, and… it’s nice to have someone to count on.”

My cock stretches hard down the inside leg of my jeans, though there’s a red flag waving around in my head.

She ditched her family and moved here?

“Where did you move from?” My heart slams heavy against my ribcage as I wait for her response.

“Miami. My parents are total assholes.”

“Miami?”My voice barely escapes my mouth. This can’t be a coincidence. “Your dad,” I stop myself but the name burns my tongue, “is your dad Victor White?”

The air thickens as a hawk screeches on the other side of the lakeshore.

“How do you know my father?”

I drag in a deep breath as my heart is replaced with a cinder block anchor. “It’s a long story.”

She crosses her arms across her chest and narrows her brows as the hawk calls again.I’m starting to think it’s an omen.

“I’ve got time. How do you know him?” Her eyes widen. “Oh my God! You said you were going to medical school. Is that where you met him, in some medical thing?”

I nod slowly, pinching my lips together as I try to keep the terrible things I want to say about her father to myself.

“Why did you quit? I thought you were lying back at the shop.”

“It was just a thing,” I say, breaking our stance to tread toward the lake with the pole.

The girl follows. “Wait. You can’t leave me hanging like that. You know my dad. That’s… weird.”

“Why is it weird?” I ask, setting the box on a downed, waterlogged tree. “It’s just a thing that happened.”

“It’s not, though. You’re upset about something,” she presses, standing between me and the lake with her dress blowing in the breeze. “What happened with my father? If you fought with him, I’d understand. He’s an asshole.”

I hook the shiny lure to the end of the wire and step to the side of the girl I most definitely need to forget before casting my line.

“Hey, are you ignoring me?” she continues, stepping into the turquoise lake. Snow-capped mountains rise up behind her and I take a mental picture of the moment. “Oh my God! What—” She steps to the side and trips on a rock, landing herself splat in the water beside my fishing line.

I drop the pole and go in after her, immediately feeling guilty that she’s soaked her pretty pink dress and drenched the hair it looks like she spent all morning primping.

“You okay?” I ask, crouching next to her in the freezing shallows.

“Soaked, but I’ll live,” she laughs, sinking her hand into mine, allowing me to help her up from the rocky shoreline.

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