Ultimate MC (Romance Collection), page 63
I sputtered at that, even though from the tone of her voice, it was clear she was more trying to convince herself of the fact that we wouldn’t fuck, rather than tell me what’s what. “Excuse me,” I said indignantly. “I don’t know what kind of guy you think I am, but—”
The rest of my response was lost to the sound of Cora laughing on the other end of the line. “Relax,” she said. “I meant that as a joke.”
I raised an eyebrow even though I knew she couldn’t see it. “I didn’t realize that you had a sense of humor, Ms. Cole,” I teased.
“I guess maybe you should get to know me better,” Cora said, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she was flirting with me. She seemed to realize it the moment after I did because she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Just text me the address. I’ll meet you there.”
“All right,” I said congenially. I already knew where I wanted to take her. It had been a while since I had been to Mazzolo’s, and it would be good to go back, whatever the circumstances.
I puttered around in the garage for most of the day, then headed home to take a shower and get ready. I got to the Italian restaurant at seven o’clock sharp to find that Cora was nowhere in sight. I frowned, wondering if she was going to stand me up. Maybe she was having second thoughts.
But a couple of minutes later, she walked briskly up the sidewalk, her expression harried. “Sorry, sorry,” she apologized when she got to me. “You don’t know how much work it is to get out the door when you have a kid.” She grinned ruefully. “It seems like it doesn’t even matter if I’m bringing Piper with me or not; I’m always late.”
I smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “You look great, by the way.”
Cora grinned and ducked her head shyly. She really did look great, with her hair pinned back away from her face and a little bit of makeup around her eyes. She was wearing a simple green dress that was tight around her breasts and waist and then flared out over her round hips.
“Thanks,” she said. “You look nice too. I haven’t seen you in anything other than jeans.” She looked embarrassed to have given voice to that last bit, but I laughed.
“Well, I only pull out the slacks for special occasions,” I said.
“This isn’t a date,” Cora reminded me warningly.
“I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Come on, let’s go inside.” I held open the door for her, and she walked demurely inside.
“Xander Tidwell!” a woman immediately said, bustling over to us. She smacked me on the arm. “Do you realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen you?”
I laughed and leaned in to kiss Laura, the restaurant’s co-owner, on the cheek. “I know,” I said to her. “And I’m sorry. Things have just been busy with work lately.”
“That’s no excuse,” Laura said. “People still need to eat, even when they’re working hard. Or especially when they’re working hard.” She eyed me critically and clucked her tongue. I knew that meant that we were in for a real feast tonight. Laura wouldn’t let me leave the table until I had eaten more carbs than I had in the past month.
But Laura’s eyes had moved over to Cora now. She smiled broadly. “And a girl! You’ve got a girl? One as pretty as this?” She shook her head.
“We’re not a couple,” I hastened to say, but Cora didn’t look like she minded. If anything, she looked mildly amused by Laura’s antics.
“Well, your usual table is free,” Laura said, gesturing to the table by the window. “You’re lucky, though. Place has been popular lately. You should have called.”
“And ruined the surprise?” I asked. “I would never!”
Laura rolled her eyes. “Well, your poor date here would have been surprised if you had shown up and there were no tables available and no reservation made. Now, aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Laura, this is Cora,” I said. “And Cora, this is Laura. Don’t mind her; she just likes to stick her nose into other people’s business.”
Laura laughed and shooed us toward the table, bringing over a couple of menus. “It’s great to see you,” she said to me. “And great to meet you, Cora. Now, I have to float, but don’t you leave without saying goodbye.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said sincerely.
“Wow,” Cora said quietly the moment the other woman had walked away.
I winced. “Sorry, I didn’t bring you here because I wanted this to feel like a date,” I said immediately.
Cora shook her head, though. “That wasn’t what I was thinking,” she said. “And to be honest, I don’t care if you were trying to make this feel like a date. It’s not.” Again, it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that even more than just trying to explain things to me. “I was just thinking, wow, it must be great to have people who care about you like that, just at a restaurant.”
I smiled. “Yeah, Laura’s pretty great,” I said.
“She seems to think that you’re pretty great,” Cora said, giving me a considering look, and I would have given anything to know just what was going through her head right now.
But of course, she didn’t leave me in the dark for too long. “So come on, spill,” she said. “Who are you really?”
I shook my head, grinning at her. “Oh no,” I said. “You agreed to dinner with me. I’m not about to tell you now, before we’ve even ordered food. What would keep you from walking out those doors otherwise?”
Cora frowned, but slowly, her expression turned sheepish. “All right, you’re right,” she said. She flipped open her menu. “So what’s good here?”
We eventually placed orders for both food and wine, and then I sat back, watching Cora study me. “How was your day?” she finally asked.
“It was good,” I told her. “I did some work on my latest motorcycle project. I’m hoping to have her up and running by summer.”
“Won’t be long now,” Cora mused. Then, she laughed. “I mean, maybe it feels like it’s still a long way off for you. Another couple months, really. But this time of the school year tends to absolutely fly by. Next thing I know, I guess I’ll be saying goodbye to my students.”
“You sound pretty sad about that,” I noticed aloud.
“I am,” Cora admitted. “You saw them, didn’t you? This year’s bunch has been great. I hardly ever have to give anyone more than a warning, and they’re all so enthusiastic.”
I grinned at her. “Honestly, I thought that must just be how all of your classes went,” I told her. “I figured it was all about the teacher.”
Cora laughed. “I wish I were that good,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve had some nightmares in my time.”
We chatted for a while about her students, both current and past, and then she turned the conversation back around to my motorcycle hobby. “So how many bikes do you have?” Cora asked.
“At any given time? Usually just two, maybe three. One to ride and then one good project; that’s usually what I strive for.”
Cora frowned. “So what, you build these project bikes up until they’re ready to ride and then you just sell them?”
“Sometimes,” I said. “Or that’ll be the point that I sell the current bike I’ve been riding, in favor of something new.”
“What’s the point of that?” Cora asked, sounding confused. “If you like a bike, why would you want to go to all the effort of building a new bike and then selling the one you already know you like?”
I shrugged, trying to think of a way to explain it. “Every bike is different,” I said. “I enjoy the challenge of learning each new bike. How it handles in the curves or on hills. How far it can get on one tank of gas. And the mechanics of it all. I love building bikes. If I just stuck with one bike for the rest of my life, it would honestly be a little bit boring.”
Cora stared at me for a moment, a frown on her face. I thought back over what I had just said, feeling puzzled. Cora shook her head. “That’s how you feel about women too, I guess. If you were stuck with just one for the rest of your life, it would be boring?”
It was my turn to stare at her. “This isn’t a date,” I reminded her, and she flinched. I wanted to leave it at that. After all, this was just work for me. It wouldn’t do for her to be interested in me, and besides, it was none of her business if that was the way I lived my life.
But something in me relented when I saw the expression on her face. “No,” I said quietly. “That’s not how I feel about women. Although I will freely admit I have yet to meet a woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Cora stared at me for a moment and then nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said, and I wasn’t sure what she was saying okay to, but somehow it seemed to ease the tension in the air between us.
We finished our meal and were halfway through the desserts that Laura brought us when I finally told her what I was doing at the school. “I was hired to keep an eye on you.”
I’d had a long conversation with Dax that afternoon, and we had both agreed that this was the best way to approach the situation. It was true, after all, so there would hopefully be no hard feelings if I needed to continue working with her in the future. And more than that, the hope was that if Cora thought she might be in danger otherwise, then she wouldn’t fight so hard about my continued presence around her.
Of course, this was hoping that she wasn’t involved with the other MC. But even if she was, I doubted they would be stupid enough—or bold enough—to just come after me due to my watch on her. And if they did, then I would just have to watch my back. That was nothing new in life with the Outcasts.
Cora sputtered at my proclamation, nearly choking on the bite she had just put in her mouth. “What?” she said, covering her mouth with her hand. “What are you, some kind of private security guard or something?”
“Not exactly,” I said, but I left it at that. I still didn’t think it was smart to tell her about the motorcycle club. Actually, I would be surprised if she didn’t put together the pieces herself, since after all, she knew that motorcycling was my main hobby. It was a risk I would have to take. But for now, she was focused on other things.
“Who hired you?” she demanded.
“I can’t tell you that,” I said, shaking my head. “Client privilege, you know how it goes.”
“But why?” Cora asked. “If someone is threatening me, then I have the right to know it, don’t I?”
“You do,” I said gravely. “But to be honest, I don’t know if it’s a matter of someone threatening you or what it’s about. I was just hired to keep an eye on you. That’s all I know.”
Cora stared at me for a long moment, and I could tell she was trying to gauge whether or not I was telling her the truth. Fortunately, I was. She sighed and shook her head. “All right,” she said simply.
“That easy?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “I thought you’d try to tell me that I have no right to be looking out for you.”
Cora laughed ruefully. “I get the feeling that my saying something like that to you wouldn’t make any difference,” she pointed out. She paused. “Tell me one thing, though. Do I have to be worried about Piper?” I could see the concern on her face even as the words left her mouth.
I shook my head. “If you needed to be worried, I’m sure my employer would have told me,” I promised her. And that much was true. Whatever secrets Otis might be keeping, he wouldn’t stand by and let an innocent five-year-old get hurt, which led me to believe that this wasn’t about Cora’s protection at all.
Just what was it about, though? Nearly a week into this task, and I still hadn’t the faintest idea what I was doing.
We finished up our desserts, each of us brooding quietly. As for me, I was thinking about this project, wondering just what kind of information Otis would expect me to have come Monday. There was a part of me that was also thinking about this evening with Cora, though, and how much I wanted it to keep going past dessert.
I couldn’t help it. Even though I kept reminding myself that this was work, even though I knew that Cora, now that she knew who I was, was probably itching to get out of there and head home, I couldn’t help thinking of how much I enjoyed spending time with her. It was easy to chat with her. She made me laugh. And she definitely stirred feelings other than amusement inside my body as well. Not that I would act on those, not when she was so cautious around me.
To my surprise, though, Cora didn’t immediately head out. Instead, she lingered, stirring the final bite of her dessert into mush as she contemplated the table in front of her. No doubt, she was still thinking about what I had told her. And everything else I hadn’t been able to tell her. She was probably going through her head even now, trying to figure out who might have hired me and why.
The truth was, though, I couldn’t imagine her having many enemies. I had seen her with her students, and I had seen the way she interacted with me. Even at first, when she hadn’t wanted me there in her classroom, she had been cool towards me, but she hadn’t done anything particularly antagonizing.
No, I couldn’t imagine her with the kinds of enemies that might warrant protection from us, but neither could I think of some other reason why I would be looking out for her, other than her protection.
I paid the bill, waving off Cora’s protests that since this wasn’t a date, she should pay for her meal. “Relax,” I said to her. “You can pay next time, if you’re that worried about it.” Cora rolled her eyes at that, but I thought I detected a faint smile.
Which is why when we got out to the parking lot, I invited her to the garage with me. “Come on, I want to show you the bike I’m working on,” I told her. “We’ll still get you home nice and early, before your babysitter starts to worry about you.”
Cora snorted but then nodded slowly. “All right,” she said. “You lead the way; I’ll follow.”
“Sure,” I said.
I led her into the garage when we got there, flicking on the lights and closing the door to shut out the cool air of a spring evening. “It’s right over here,” I said, leading her over to it. “So see, this is my old bike here, and this is the one that I’m currently working on. You see how the newer one is a lot smaller?” I gave her a quick rundown of some of the differences between the two bikes, and Cora nodded along, actually looking interested.
I grinned at her. “Maybe I’ll have to take you for a ride sometime,” I told her, running my hand along the smooth leather and thinking about her body pressed up behind mine on the bike, the engine purring beneath us and the wind in our faces.
“Honestly, I’ve never been interested in motorcycles before, but you make them seem exciting,” Cora said, and I noticed the pause before “exciting.” Like she’d been about to use a different adjective. Sexy, maybe?
Because I could see the heat in her gaze, knew that it was a mirror reflection of the hungry way I was looking at her right now. I wanted to step into her, cup her cheek in my palm and kiss her until she was breathless. But I held back, knowing that she needed to make the first move here, if either of us was going to.
My objections might be about this being a work project. I didn’t know what her objections were, but I could tell that they ran deeper than that. She had been the one insisting that tonight wasn’t a date, that we weren’t going to end up sleeping together.
Yet, here she was now, pressing her body up against mine as I rested back against the seat of my motorcycle. I gripped her hips, trapping her close to me, but she didn’t seem to mind. Instead, eyes full of wonder and something else, some emotion that I couldn’t name, she turned her face up toward mine, her lips parting ever so slightly.
Even before her lips touched mine in a gentle, featherlight caress, I could feel the zing of electricity between us, pulsing through my blood, coursing through my hardened prick. Cora moaned into the kiss, her mouth opening wider against mine, and that was all the invitation I needed.
Chapter 12
Cora
In some part of my mind, I knew better than to go with Xander back to his garage to see his bike. I knew exactly where that would lead. Because the entire night had been fun. And even though both of us had said at various points during the evening that this wasn’t a date, it kind of felt like one.
And surprisingly enough, I didn’t mind the idea of that.
Oh, not that I wanted to date Xander long-term. I knew that I was just work for him, because someone had hired him to protect me. That was what he’d told me. And the unspoken words I knew were underlying that as soon as his job was finished, I would probably never see the man again.
No, he wasn’t my next husband, the replacement for Jackson I’d thought I would never find. Certainly not that. But I had forgotten how fun it could be to just date for fun. And somehow, after the time I’d spent with Jackson and then married to him, I had managed to forget that sex didn’t have to mean a commitment.
I hadn’t been lying all those times I had told Mandy I could get myself off just fine on my own, but maybe I had also forgotten just how interested my body could get at the touch of someone else’s hands on my skin. I was still fully clothed; Xander was only touching my cheek, thumb lightly stroking along the bone, and yet I was already trembling against him.
Xander pulled back, his fingers still warm against my skin as he stared down into my eyes. “I want—” he started to say, but I was already nodding frantically.
Then, I paused. “But can you, um, be a little gentle?” I asked him shyly. “It’s been a while.”
“Of course,” Xander breathed against my lips, reeling me back in for another kiss. I could barely focus on anything other than the feel of his slightly chapped lips against my own, his tongue gliding against mine. But the whole time, Xander was leading me away from his bike and farther into the garage, I finally realized as the backs of my legs hit a low-lying couch.
Xander lowered me down onto the furniture and covered my body with his, his weight a comfortable press against mine. I relaxed into the soft cushions, twisting my arms around his body to keep him close to me. We made out passionately for what felt like half the night, until my lips were swollen and my panties damp with desperate desire.
