Page 2 of Wild Forever
I’m brought down to earth by her suspicious tone.
The woman crosses her arms across her chest and glances around us. I don’t blame her. I’m a hairy bastard on a huge Harley with an MC patch on my leather jacket, and I’ve been staring at her, dumbstruck, for the last minute.
I hold my hands up in the universal gesture showing her that I mean no harm.
“I’m Snips.” I don’t realize I’ve given her my road name until her eyes narrow suspiciously. “I mean Grant. I’m Grant.”
I’m fumbling like a damn fool, but this woman has got my tongue tied all up in knots.
“Which is it, Snips or Grant?” There’s a smile in her eyes, but she’s still wary.
“Both. Snips is my road name, but you can call me Grant.”
She doesn’t offer her name, but she seems to relax a little. She rubs her lower back, and I’m reminded of why I came over in the first place.
“You look like you’re in pain. Do you need help?”
She shakes her head. “It’s an old injury. It acts up sometimes, that’s all.”
She arches her back in a stretch that pushes her chest out. My gaze dips to her breasts, straining against her blouse so hard that the top button is about to pop undone. What I wouldn’t give to rip that button open…
“Do you know if there’s a bus to Wild?”
My attention snaps back to her face, and she’s looking at me pointedly. I’m totally busted staring at her chest, but when her breasts are so luscious, it’s hard not to.
My gaze settles on her eyes, which are flecked with golden amber.
“Umm…” Jesus, I’ve never stuttered in my life, but this girl has me behaving like a teenager with a crush, not a fully grown man.
I clear my throat, trying to regain control of myself.
“There’s a bus twice a day at ten and two.”
She glances at her phone and swears under her breath.
“I knew I shouldn’t have stopped at Babyland.”
She’s got a branded shopping bag by her side and a small backpack leaning against the boulder. If I squeezed everything up, I could just fit it in my saddle bag.
“I’m going to Wild; I’ll give you a lift.”
She eyes me skeptically, but I detect curiosity behind the barrier she’s put up. I don’t blame her for holding back. I’m a stranger on a bike. I wouldn’t accept a lift from me either. But if she’s going to Wild and I’m going to Wild… it seems like fate to me.
I slide off my bike and open my saddle bag.
“I’ve got room in here for your things.”
I pull out the plastic bag of baby clothes that Dylon gave me, and a pink dress falls in the gravel.
“I’ll refold these so there’s more room.”
“You’ve got a little girl?” She eyes the pink dress with curiosity.
“It’s too small to be mine,” I say.
She smiles for the first time, and I catch my breath. If I thought she was beautiful before, she’s stunning when she smiles. For a brief moment, the suspicion and the wariness fall away, and she’s radiant. Youthful and carefree.
But it’s gone in a moment.
