Page 27 of All Wrong
“Okay. Well, thanks. For tonight, I mean. The ride and the company.”
He nodded. She walked him to the door.
He paused, as if he wanted to say something, then said, “Good night, Corinne.”
“Good night, Nick.”
She closed the door behind him and leaned against it. She heard the faint ding of the elevator arriving, andthen she moved over to the sliding glass doors and stepped out onto the small balcony. Down below, he emerged from the main entrance and got on his bike. He sat there for a minute, maybe two, then looked up at her. Her heart raced. Was he having second thoughts?
Shaking his head, he kicked down hard and took off.
Corinne remained on the balcony until the rumble of the Harley faded away. Then, she went back inside, feeling more confused than ever.
Had any of that really happened? Had she ridden on the back of Nick’s bike? Had she invited him up to her place, offered him snacks, and then word-vomited her personal problems and asked him about hisfeelings?
No wonder the guy had felt the need to bolt. She was surprised he hadn’t left skid marks.
CHAPTER TEN
NICK
Nick opened the throttle, relishing the rush of fresh air on his face as he sped through the night. This was familiar. This he understood.
Unlike the past couple of hours.
Yeah, he knew where he’d been, what he’d done. But it didn’t make sense. It was all wrong. He didn’t give women rides on the back of his bike. And he sure as hell didn’t go up to their apartments to eat ice cream andtalk.
The real shocker? The absolute rightness of how it had felt.
That was some heady shit.
And a complete break from sanity because it complicated things.
If he’d been smart, he would have taken her straight from the store to her apartment, let her off at the door, and driven away. The ride could have been written off as the return of one good deed for another, nothing more. However, following her up to her apartment had taken them from circumstantial acquaintances to something more.
The worst part? He’dlikedit. And when she’d asked him what he’d like to change? Fuck, he’d almost told her.
Thank God he’d come to his senses because regardless of what Corinne said, they werenotalike. And while that wholeopposites attracttheory might have a sliver of truth to it, it wasn’t sustainable. That kind of attraction didn’t last.
Bullshit, his inner voice piped up.You’ve been attracted to her for more than a decade.
He told his inner voice to shut the fuck up.
He still remembered the first time he’d met her. It was at one of those Callaghan get-togethers Nicki had insisted he attend. They’d crossed paths a few times before that, but they’d never spoken. He’d noticed her, sure. It was impossible not to. She was an attractive woman with a contagious smile and ahint of wicked in her gorgeous blue eyes. Wickedness she’d let out to play every now and then, much to his delight and her family’s consternation.
Sometimes, they’d exchange glances, and she’d wink or gift him with a secret smile, making him wonder if she somehow knew thatshewas the reason he showed up to those events. Wondered if he was one of the reasons thatshedid.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter because he knew what side of the tracks he belonged on.
Nicki might have made the jump, but he was still standing on the other side, watching as massive cars continued to rumble between them. No matter how many times Nicki pulled him over to her side, he always managed to find himself stumbling back to the comfort and familiarity of his own.
That was what being with Corinne was like. Straddling the rails, knowing a train was barreling down the tracks, forcing him back to his side. Worse, she seemed to be right there with him, stuck between one world and another.
With that in mind, he turned the bike toward Birch Falls and set a course for Hog Heaven.
The biker barlooked like it had every other time he’d been there. Dimly lit and on the dingy side. Furnished with rustic wooden tables and chairs. The familiar scents of whiskey, leather, and sweat hit him the moment he walked through the door.
The owner, Liam, looked up and nodded his bald, tatted head in greeting.
