Fanning the Biker's Flame - Piper Davenport Page 0,37
going to take us to get there?”
“Pee before we go.”
I let out a groan. “Nothing? You’re giving me nothing?”
Shadow chuckled. “It’ll be worth it.”
I sighed and finished my coffee and granola bar, then brushed my teeth.
“Did you pee?” he asked when I joined him at the front door.
“Yes. What should I do with my purse?”
“We’ll stow it.” He helped me into his leather jacket, despite the fact it was three sizes too big. “Come on.”
We locked up the house and Shadow led me to his bike.
“Need me to run through some safety points?” he asked, dropping my purse into a saddlebag and handing me a helmet.
“Nope. I actually took lessons a few years back.”
“No shit?”
I nodded. “No shit.”
“You can ride?”
I laughed. “Oh, no, I totally suck, but I’m a pretty good passenger.”
“You obviously had a shit teacher,” he said, throwing his leg over and waiting for me to climb on behind him.
“This jacket is way too big.”
“Do you have one that fits?”
“You didn’t think to ask me that when we were in the house?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”
“No,” I grumbled, and he smiled.
“Then you’re in mine. We’ll get you something that fits this week.”
“What about you?”
He wore a denim jacket with his club leather vest over it. “I’m good, baby. Got my cut.”
“You got cut?”
He chuckled and pointed at his vest. “My cut.”
“Oh, it’s called a cut?” I asked, throwing my leg over the bike and settling behind him.
“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t have a walkie system in the helmets, so if you need to stop, tap my shoulder and we’ll pull over, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, then lowered the visor.
He put on his helmet, then started the bike and we were off.
It took several minutes before I realized where we were heading and I let out a quiet squeal.
Tybee Island.
I love, love, love the beach. I always had.
I gave him a squeeze as we stopped at a stoplight and he settled his hand over one of my arms around his waist.
“I’m so excited,” I yelled, and Shadow nodded.
I couldn’t see his face, but I imagined him smiling.
The light turned green and Shadow took off again, driving the bike so expertly, I almost fell asleep I was so relaxed.
We arrived at the beach and I could smell the sea air, and a little eau de dead fish, as he turned off the bike. I set my hands on his shoulders and swung off, removing my helmet as he did the same. He took them and locked them in a special box on the back of his bike before running his hands through his hair and resecuring it with a ponytail holder.
“I love Tybee.”
He chuckled. “Well, if you didn’t, I wouldn’t wanna know you.”
“You know, if I’d known we were coming to the beach, I would have brought shorts and flipflops.”
“I’m a step ahead of you,” he said, opening a saddlebag and pulling out one of my favorite maxi skirts and a pair of shorts. “Figured you could wear either, but either way, you could use the skirt to hide pulling off your jeans.”
I grabbed his cut and leaned on my tiptoes to kiss him. “You’re a genius.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
I rolled my eyes, bending down to take off my boots and socks, then his leather jacket. I pulled my skirt on over my jeans, then Shadow helped shade me as I used the skirt for cover.
In the end, I kept the skirt and decided against the shorts. Shadow had grabbed a pair of my flipflops, so I stepped into them, grabbed my purse, and waited for him to secure everything in his saddlebags.
“You warm enough in what you’re wearin’?” he asked.
“I’m great, honey.”
He grinned, kissing me gently, then taking my hand.
For the next three hours, we were tourists, pretending everything was unfamiliar and new to us. Some of it literally was for me, considering I’d been raised by a single mother who worked long hours, so a trip to Tybee Island was well out of her budget.
I’d gone with my high school junior class the summer before senior year, but again, I’d had to stretch my money, so I was limited on how much I could do. Today, however, we tried everything, including buying a little trinket from almost every shop within walking distance, and grabbing fresh seafood any time we were hungry. We walked on the beach and I reveled in my toes in the sand. Shadow removed his boots and rolled up his jeans, lifting me