by Lee Wardlow
Then Jamie focused on the beautiful woman standing so close he could smell the shampoo in her hair. Citrus. He liked the smell of her and her shampoo. “He’s a damn fool,” he whispered huskily. “Ever been on a motorcycle?” Jamie wanted to get her away from here for a while.
Nova felt her heart quicken. The thought both scared her and thrilled her. “I haven’t.” The words seemed to catch in her throat and came out breathy.
“Think you can ride in that dress?”
She swallowed. “I’m willing to try.”
He liked her eagerness. He took her hand, pulling her behind him. “Come on.” He started heading towards the drive. “Aunt Mary,” he shouted. “Taking Nova on the motorcycle.”
“Be careful,” she responded shaking her head.
“She’s your aunt?”
Jamie laughed. “She is my aunt by marriage not that it matters. I love her.” Nova liked that Jamie was open with his feelings. “Mark is my mother’s brother.”
They got to the bike. Nova took one look at it. To do this gracefully was going to be an issue. Jamie held the bike while she sat on it. Then she flipped her leg over the leather seat.
“Did I just flash you?” She asked feeling her face flush with embarrassment when she saw the look on his face.
“Are your panties lavender?” He asked knowing very well they were.
She just shook her head at him. He slipped onto the seat in front of her. He put on his sunglasses draped over the handlebar as Kale ran out to the bike. He handed Nova his aviators.
“Wear these or you’ll be pealing bugs off your contact lens,” he told her. “Be careful with her Jamie. Lola likes having a sister.”
“She’ll be perfectly safe with me,” he replied with an indignation born of a long term friendship. The man knew all his secrets. Living dangerously was one of life’s highs for Jamie.
“I know better.”
Jamie started up the bike and let the engine rev a few times. Kale gave him a warning glare over his shoulder. He just laughed at his friend. Jamie looked over his shoulder at her. “Hang on sweetheart. Arms around my waist. When I lean you lean with me. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” she responded.
He backed out of the drive. On the road, the engine made a loud, roaring sound that drowned out any noise Nova made. Her heart raced hard in her chest. Her hair flew about her head as the wind smacked her straight in the face. She clutched tightly to the hard abdominals of Jamie Stone. She was exhilarated and scared to death at the same time.
“How are you doing back there sweetheart?” He shouted over the roar of the wind.
“This is amazing,” she responded as she began to relax a little.
He nodded his head in agreement.
The wind was cooling her skin. She pressed closer to Jamie to keep warm. Jamie took Nova out onto an old road that ran beside the reservation. He pushed the bike to go faster and faster. Nova laid her head against his back and closed her eyes feeling the world pass by her at breakneck speed. Then he slowed down and pulled into a turn-off.
“Where are you going?” She asked resting her chin near his shoulder.
“I want to show you something.”
He drove down a dirt lane until the road ended in a drop-off where he stopped the bike. The moonlight danced off the hills casting shadows among the rocks and trees. It was kind of creepy actually, Nova thought.
Jamie stopped the bike. “Hop off for a minute.”
“You won’t leave me here, will you?”
He pushed his shades up on his head. “I’m trying to impress you not piss you off.”
She had to chuckle at that remark. Nova slipped off the bike holding onto Jamie’s shoulder. “That was a lot easier than getting on.”
He got off beside her and walked her to the edge. She leaned over and he grabbed her around the waist. “Not too far sweetheart or you’ll be going for a swim.”
She saw the water below them about twenty feet. The moonlight dappled the surface of the water like tiny crystals of light had been tossed across the surface. Trees grew out of jagged rocks and cliffs along the sides.
“This is beautiful.”
“This is where we spent our summers. Swimming. Usually buck naked unless some girls came with us.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t go ahead and swim in the nude,” she teased him.
“Our mothers taught us to be gentlemen. Besides we were scared teenage boys.”
She leaned back against him. “I can’t imagine you or Kale being a scared teenage boy.”
“Oh we were,” he replied. Then he was quiet. Lost in his memories of a time when life was still easy even though he had more responsibilities that any teenage boy should have had.
“So where do you live Nova?” He asked breaking the comfortable silence between them.
“I live in Goose Creek with my cousin Zachariah Daughtry. I teach in Bakersfield. Where do you live Jamie?”
“I have a loft in Atlanta,” he replied. Hesitated as if he had something more to say then he didn’t.
She cocked her head to the side. “Why do I get the feeling that isn’t your only home?”
“It isn’t. Do you have feelings for the Senator’s son?” He asked surprising her by changing the subject.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “That’s kind of a dumb question when I’m standing in a beautiful, romantic setting, in your arms.”
“A valid one though.” He liked this woman already and Jamie Stone wasn’t eager to opening his heart up to be broken. If her heart was with someone else, he knew better than to get involved.
She sighed heavily. “Jamie, I’m sure that I thought I did. He made me feel great when he was with me. I kept hoping that he would develop feelings for me but he didn’t. I wasn’t the right kind of girl for him. You see what he is with now. He actually takes her places. He’s not ashamed of her.”
Jamie turned Nova in his arms and pulled her into him a little tighter. He cupped her cheeks in his hand. “Nova, he had no reason to be ashamed of you.”
She glanced up at him then back down just as quickly. Then Nova smiled. Jamie made her feel that way. Like she just couldn’t stop smiling.
“So are you open to the possibility of a new relationship?”
“I don’t know if a guy came along that appealed to me, I might be interested.”
He pulled Nova’s body flush against his rock hard body. She put her hands on his chest to steady herself as her gaze traveled up the broad wall of his chest. His strong jaw covered in whiskers now at the end of the day. His dark eyes not revealing anything about his emotions at the moment.
He dipped his head towards her. Nova’s hands slid over his shoulders and laced around his neck as his lips touched hers. His kiss was gentle and enticing. His lips full and soft against her mouth.
The kiss full of want and need. Promise of what else he could give to her that would be so much more pleasurable. He cupped her jaw holding her to him. His fingertips caressing her jawline gently. Before she wanted it to end he pulled back.
His eyes were smoldering as he gazed down on her. “How was that for a first kiss?” He asked.
“As soon as I can catch my breath, I’ll let you know.”
He laughed then. “I had better get you back before they send out a search party.” He scooped her up in his arms. She could feel the cold air going up her dress. She was laughing as Jamie sat her on the seat of his bike. “I thought maybe that would be easier than your previous attempt at getting on.”
“And I didn’t flash you,” she replied.
He climbed on the bike in front of her. “Trust me,” he told her over his shoulder. “That flash of your pretty lavender panties was not nearly enough of what I want to see of Nova Daughtry.”
She executed a perfectly arched brow and directed it towards him. He just chuckled at her. Then he started up the bike and headed back towards the reservation. She was sorry to see the ride end when they pulled into Mary
’s drive.
“I was about to come looking for you,” Kale told them when Jamie stopped the bike.
“We weren’t gone that long.”
“You’re going home with me,” Kale told her.
“Did Beau leave me?” She asked. She held onto Jamie’s shoulder and stepped off the bike as gracefully as she could. “Don’t you laugh at me Kale.” She could see the amusement on his face as she exited behind Jamie as gracefully as she could. “That was so much fun.”
“Zachariah wanted to go. He said he had classes tomorrow.”
Nova looked at him in confusion. Zach didn’t have classes tomorrow. What the hell was he doing?
“When are you leaving?” Nova asked.
“Soon. We were just waiting on you to get your ass back here with him.” He pointed to Jamie.
“Sorry that I kept you Kale but have you ever ridden a bike?” He nodded. She was following Kale. Rambling on and on about how much fun she had. Jamie was following her. Not only was she beautiful on the outside; the dress she wore hugged her luscious curves. What appealed to Jamie was inside; Nova’s sweetness. A gentle nature that tugged at his heart strings.
“Are you ready to go?” Lola asked her.
“I am. I’m sorry if we kept you,” she replied. Her sister took her hand. This was the happiest she had seen Nova in a long time. She didn’t mind at all.
“It’s fine Nova. Really it is. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”
“I did.”
She carried diaper bags to the car after Kale loaded the babies into the back seat. She peered inside the car. “Where am I sitting?”
“In between the car seats,” Kale replied.
“Seriously Kale. One of my ass cheeks wouldn’t fit in between those babies.”
“I’ll take her home,” Jamie offered.
“On the bike?”
“My jeep is at the hotel. She can ride with me to the hotel then we’ll take the jeep from there.”
She turned to Jamie. “Jamie, my home is an hour and half one-way.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Kale looked at Nova. “Riding with me or him?”
“I’ll go with him,” she responded.
Kale looked between them. “Okay.” Kale didn’t seem too happy. Nova kissed her sister on the cheek and hugged her goodbye.
Then she turned to Jamie. “I’m ready.” She didn’t know if that statement was really true.
Chapter 4
They decided to spend the night in his hotel room and drive back in the morning. Then he could hitch up the trailer to his jeep and load up the bike before heading back to Atlanta.
He had given her one of his shirts to sleep in. There were two double beds in his room so they could each take a bed. Nova decided she had rushed into things with Tyler Danner. She wouldn’t rush things with Jamie Stone.
She was sitting on one of the beds when he came out of the bathroom in nothing but shorts. Her eyes followed him to his bed. Shorts that revealed what was hidden beneath his clothes was way better than her imagination could ever have pictured. He sat on the edge of his bed and picked up his phone checking his email oblivious to the fact that she was ogling him.
“I’m going to make a call.”
“Sure,” he replied absently.
She dialed Zach’s number. “Yo, biker chick. Where the hell are you?”
Jamie looked up hearing every word Zach had said. He was a teenager still at only nineteen. She rolled her eyes at her cousin. “Zach, why did you tell Beau that you needed to get home early because you have classes?”
“I didn’t.”
“Zach, do I need to call Beau and ask him if that is why you two left me at the reservation? Because the tiny space Kale would have shoved me into wasn’t big enough for a twelve-year-old child.”
“Sorry, I had something important to take care of.”
“Zach, what are you doing?”
“Nothing,” he lied. She knew that Zach was lying to her.
“Zachariah Daughtry, I love you. Are you going to get hurt or killed?”
She felt Jamie’s eyes searching her face. She refused to meet his intense gaze. She could hear Zach’s snort of disdain in her ear. “No, Nova. Stop being ridiculous.”
“Arrested?” She asked.
“No,” he replied although she could hear the unease in his voice.
“Zach,” she sighed. “What the hell are you up to?”
“Quit worrying. So where are you?”
“In Jamie’s hotel room,” she replied.
“Wow, you move fast Nova just like with Tyler.” She knew he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings but he had. She assumed he was only being concerned about her wellbeing.
Nova guessed she should expect people to assume they were sleeping together since she was staying in his room. She had jumped into Tyler’s bed this quickly. “Not what you are thinking. He offered to bring me home in the morning. It was getting kind of late for him to drive me all the way to Goose Creek then come back here tonight.”
“Okay.” She could tell he didn’t believe her with the tone of his voice.
“Zachariah,” she started to say something else. To try to convince him that what they were doing was perfectly innocent but then she paused. “Never mind. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodbye Biker Chick. See you in the morning.”
“Don’t call me that Zach.”
He loved to tease her. She knew that wouldn’t be the last time that she heard that nickname because once he found something that got under her skin he kept using it.
“So,” Jamie said. “Teenagers.” He was trying to ease her embarrassment.
“He means well. We became really close when Lola and I moved into Beau’s house. His mansion. Talk about culture shock.”
“Tell me about you,” he said softly. He wanted to know everything about her. What made her tick. What made her the person she was. There was just something about this woman that had already pricked his skin like no other woman had. He wanted to understand why.
“Not on the first date,” she replied.
He snorted. “Is this our first date?”
“We’re having a sleepover. You took me on an amazing ride on your motorcycle. You kissed me. I think it is.”
“You know you can tell me anything.”
She scooted back against the headboard and slipped under the covers. “I was thirteen when my father died.”
“I was nineteen. Overseas. The Red Cross let me know he was gone.”
She leaned around the lamps hanging off the wall so she could see him. “Could you either come over here or I’ll come over there so I can see you?”
He stood up. “Scoot over. You look comfortable. I don’t want to make you move.”
Nova moved over and Jamie stretched out across the bed beside her, on top of the covers.
“How did your father die?”
“He was murdered,” she replied. She was playing with the edge of the blankets. Jamie stopped Nova and took her hand in his.
“You were only thirteen?”
She nodded. “My mother killed herself shortly afterward. Sent me off to school like nothing was wrong then slit her wrists in the bathtub. I’ve never told anyone this but every time I took a shower or a bath I couldn’t get that image of her out of my head.”
“Did you find her?” She could hear the surprise in his tone of voice.
“Lola did. My mother was gone by the time I got home.” Nova glanced at him. “I never saw her. It was just something that I could imagine when I looked at that tub knowing that is where she died.”
“She didn’t want to live without your father?”
“She did not,” Nova replied.
“Nova.”
“What?”
“Come here,” Jamie said. He held his arms open and she snuggled down into the curve of his warm body. He felt like he had his own personal heater installed inside him. His skin was warm and inviting. He wr
apped his arm around her. “Tell me what happened after that.”
She told him about Lola having to fight for custody of her. She was only eighteen at the time. She wiped her tears away from her eyes a time or two.
Nova told Jamie about how her sister had worked two or three jobs to make ends meet while she graduated high school, then college. “She wanted me to focus on school. She gave up her life for me Jamie. Then she met Kale.”
“Was that all right?”
“Oh yes.” She nodded against his chest. “I was so happy for her. She had sacrificed enough for me. It was time for her to live her own life.”
“How old are you?” He asked.
“Twenty-four. How old are you?”
“A lot older than you.”
“What’s a lot?” Nova asked.
It didn’t really matter to her. He might be ex-special ops, Navy Seal badass but he had a sweet, gentleness that appealed to her. She felt a connection to Jamie.
“I’m thirty-one. I’m actually Walker’s age but Kale and I were best friends.”
She smiled at him. “Oh my gosh, you are so old. I just don’t know if I can sleep with you.”
“Were you planning on sleeping with me?” He asked hopefully.
“Just sleeping,” she replied. “Jamie, I jumped headfirst into a sexual relationship with Tyler. I built my hopes on an empty relationship and didn’t see the reality of it until I got my feelings hurt.”
“I’m pretty good with taking things slow.”
Man, he was either really smooth or really sweet. She was still trying to decide which.
“Good, I need slow right now.”
It wasn’t long before Jamie realized that Nova was asleep in his arms. Her breath was warm against his chest. Her hand lay flat against his ribcage. He examined her soft, delicate hands. Then he covered it with his own.
Jamie kissed Nova’s temple and stared at the ceiling for a while. Telling her, he was between jobs had been a defense mechanism.
He didn’t know why he was worried about her. She wasn’t the type that would want him for his money and Jamie had a ton of it too. More than he would ever spend.
Would she be scared off by his wealth? Nova was worried that she wasn’t good enough for the likes of Tyler Danner. He still chuckled at the way the man had treated him. His own father had raised his eyebrows at his slight of Jamie Stone because of the woman in his arms.