Page 21 of The Biker and the Gamer
“Not being selfish,” he begins, scuffing his steel toe boots on the concrete floor, “’cause I knew at some point you’d want something bigger for ya life. But you know this place don’t run straight without you, yeah?”
Sighing, I drop my hands. “I’m not saying I’ll be here forever, but for now I’ve got no plans to leave. And if I ever do, you can trust me not to leave you with your dick in the wind. I’ll find you a better me.”
He shakes his head and scoffs. “Only one you, Kenny Kens. There’s only one you.”
I smirk and offer a one-shoulder shrug. “True.”
Judge jerks his head to the parking lot monitor. Seems he’d been watching Alec and me. “You datin’ that fool?”
An actual guffaw leaves me. “Why on earth would you thinkthat?”
His expression as he observes me is sobering. “Cause I’ve never seen you smile like that before.”
I dip my head, hiding my eyes. “That’s because he’s just what you said: a fool. A total idiot.”
With a beardy, lopsided grin, he shoves to his feet. “And that’s what you women always say…” As he’s brushing past me in the doorway to leave the office, he pauses and whispers above my head, humor in his voice, “Right before you fall in love with us.”
Well…dammit.
Alec
Boot shopping.
I offered her the reigns again today and she drove us straight to the gear shop. Biker jackets, biker boots, riding boots, combat boots, helmets, and leathers.
I sit on the worn-leathered bench in the punk-rock boots section and watch from behind the lens of the video camera as she tries on her fifth pair of boots.
She’s so damn sexy it hurts to look at her. Instead of her biker jacket and tank today, she’s wearing a skin-tight long-sleeve top that has horizontal slashes down the sleeves, showing slices of her silky-smooth skin. No jeans or leather pants, either, but a mid-thigh black denim skirt with frayed edges and fishnet stockings.
Maybe I’m overthinking it, but something about her style today is a little less defensive and a little more…suggestive.
I’d be getting ahead of myself to eventhinkthat it’s for me. I’m attracted to her on an intense level, yeah. Might even be a little crazy about her. But even the pigheaded, risk-taking side of me knows she’ll never go for a man like me.
Sure, I’ve been embroiled in quite a few debates and boardroom fights before, but I’m not a “bad boy” by any means whatsoever. I mean, I have such a low pain tolerance that I’ve “been meaning to” get a tattoo since I was seventeen.
Sure, I’m confident enough that I can wear her down and charm my way into her leathers, but Kendra isnotthe kind of girl you can have a hook-up with and then forget about. She’s the kind of girl you’ll fall in too deep with and get your heart hurt.
“What do you think?” she asks, turning her booted foot this way and that in the mirror.
“They all look the same to me,” I reply with a shrug.
She blows out a frustrated breath. “Christ, you’re useless.”
I chuckle. “But it’s the truth. They’re all black, leather, and have either buckles, chains, studs, or all three.”
She waves me off. “Whatever.”
I’d lied to her. I didn’t give the team “time off.” The team was done with her, had all they needed to authenticate the game version of her. But her contract doesn’t expire for another two days and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. These little moments I’m capturing are not for the team. They’re for me. For my eyes and ears only.
“Think I’m gonna go with this one,” she muses, chewing thoughtfully on her thumbnail. She looks so child-like in this moment.
“Or just take all five,” I suggest as my stomach begins to growl, begging me to feed it.
“Dude, have you seen the prices on these things?” She throws me a dirty look over her shoulder. “Not everyone’s loaded like you.”
“On me.”
At that, she whips around from the mirror and her eyes narrow to slits at me, checking if I’m joking.
