To Love Someone (Baytown Boys #14) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,49

makeup and applied blush, eye shadow, and mascara with a light hand.

She eschewed the idea of a dress and pulled on dark jeans, pairing them with a jade-green wrap-around shirt. After drying her hair, she wondered what to do with it since she’d be wearing a helmet. Finally, deciding that simple was best, she pulled the front away from her face with a clip and left the length to hang down her back.

She had just slid her feet into ankle boots when she heard the roar of a motorcycle approach. The sound made her heart beat faster, and she sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, willing her body to calm. Frodo was pawing at the door, and she peeked out before throwing it open, laughing as Frodo bounded around Joseph’s legs, cataloguing all the scents.

Joseph didn’t bother pulling off his helmet before leaning down and rubbing his hands over the large dog’s head, scratching behind his ears. She stood and stared, struck dumb with the realization that Joseph had never looked more sexy than at that moment, straddling his motorcycle, his dark boots planted on the light oyster shell drive, a wide smile on his face, and scrubbing his hands over her beloved dog. The idea of those hands doing the same to her flashed through her mind, and her breath caught in her throat.

Joseph turned his gaze to her and cocked his head to the side. She jerked out of her drooling, lust-induced zombie stance and offered a goofy wave. Even though his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, his wide smile gave evidence he surmised the trail her thoughts had jogged down.

Clapping her hands, she called for Frodo, and he dutifully returned to her. She led him around to the pen and fastened him in. By the time she’d walked back to the camper door, Joseph was waiting on her, Rose’s helmet in his hand. She feasted her gaze on him, noting the light blue button-up shirt underneath his jacket and dark jeans. With his sunglasses no longer shading his eyes, she warmed under his perusal.

He leaned forward and placed his hand on her waist, and she looked up, readying for—and hoping for—their first kiss. Instead, he veered to the side and kissed her cheek, close to her ear.

“You look beautiful, Samantha,” he whispered.

She felt his words move through her, their simple sincerity causing a smile to spread across her face.

“You ready to ride?”

A multitude of thoughts rushed through her head at the idea of riding Joseph, and the heat of a blush moved from her chest to her forehead. She began to think he was a mind reader when another wide grin from him indicated he guessed exactly what she was thinking.

“Absolutely.” Determined to recapture some of her dignity, she turned quickly and grabbed her cross-body bag. Locking the front door, she faced him with what she hoped was an ‘I’m cool’ expression.

He was still grinning as he took her hand and led her over to his bike. She fastened Rose’s helmet on securely, and with a little more finesse than the first time, she climbed onto the seat, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing tightly to his back.

For a split second, she wondered if she’d enjoy the ride as much as she’d looked forward to it, but just like the first time, it surpassed her imagining. With the wind whipping her hair behind her back, the sight of the rural farmland rushing by, and the feel of his body so intimately held by her, she couldn’t imagine anything better… well, other than being held by him.

13

Turning at the intersection that led into Baytown, Joseph could not help but compare this trip to the one he’d made a few months ago. Then, alone, with no other thought than to connect with a couple of old Navy buddies. Now, with Samantha’s breasts pressed against his back, her legs against his thighs, her arms wrapped around his waist, her fingers linked and yet perilously close to his crotch, he fought to keep his mind on driving and not running off the road. And yet it was her joyous laughter that made his heart beat faster. For once glad that the town’s speed limit was greatly reduced, he slowed, wanting to prolong her enjoyment.

Parking outside the Seafood Shack, his abs tightened as she slowly dragged her fingers along his muscles before placing her hands on his shoulders for leverage as she climbed off his