bathrooms. He had parked close. Only the wooden stubs and a short expanse of grass and picnic tables separated her from the little building. The women’s side faced her. She took a couple of steps in that direction, afraid of her thoughts. She liked Aleksei too much and she didn’t have the right to draw him into her life.
“Wait for me, moya literaturnaya ledi.”
Russian. Definitely Russian. The way he said it in that velvet-soft, low but firm voice vibrated through her just the way the Harley had, sending little wicked flames licking over her skin, rushing through her veins and settling, burning unmercifully between her legs. She was so susceptible to him. That was good. He spoke multiple languages. He’d told her so. She loved languages. All of them. And his literary lady? Hell yeah. She’d take that any day. The way he said it was just plain sexy.
“I prefer to escort you, just to be safe.” He wrapped his hand around hers.
Her heart clenched hard. He was such a big man, towering over her, and his hand was much larger. Instead of feeling threatened as she normally would have, she felt ridiculously safe. She could easily take care of herself. The bathrooms were only a few feet away, thirty at the most, and in plain sight. There were a few motorcycles parked close and two picnic tables with occupants between them, but she’d already sized them up. She could take them if she had to.
To Aleksei she was a librarian, and she hated to deceive him. She wanted him to know the real woman, not the one she pretended to be, not the façade she showed to the rest of the world. On the other hand, for the first time in a very long while someone wanted to look after her and it felt nice. She smiled up at him. “I think I’m safe.”
“I think you are too, but two things, Scarlet. One, I wanted to hold your hand. I like everyone knowing you’re with me.”
She liked that so much she didn’t pull away from him. “And two?”
“I’ve always believed it’s safer with two people looking out for one another than one.”
She wouldn’t know about that. She tilted her head to look up at him and frowned. “Maybe. But if you rely on the wrong person, you’ll be expecting help and it won’t come. You might hesitate that second too long. Then, where are you?”
His fingers tightened for just one second around hers. “My brothers and sisters have never let me down, so I’ve never had that experience. I’m sorry if you have. That would suck.”
“It’s never actually happened.” That much was true. She’d never allowed herself to rely on anyone else. “I was just debating the other side. It’s a bad habit of mine.”
He flashed a small grin. “I like it.”
She loved talking with him. She could do it all day. About nothing. About everything. It might be a minefield and she might eventually step on a bomb, but it was exhilarating just being with him.
They were at the little building and he let go of her. She didn’t want him to, but she had no choice but to go inside. In any case, she really needed to go. He waited for her to close the door. She knew he moved around to the other side of the building to the men’s side, although she didn’t hear him walking. That was another thing about Aleksei. He wore motorcycle boots as if they were natural footwear and he never made a sound when he walked. She loved that he could do that. It freaked her out a little bit, but she still loved that ability.
There were so many things about Aleksei she admired. Mostly, it was his intelligence. She realized, the moment she knew he was capable of understanding everything he read in those enormous reference books he was always reading so fast, that she was pretty much gone on him. It helped that his muscles had muscles. Beneath his tight tees, the ones that stretched across his chest, he had those washboard abs. Muscles rippled when he moved. She felt his strength. She saw it. But another thing about Aleksei she loved was he was never obvious about his strength. He was quiet, he didn’t need to be loud. He could take someone apart with his eyes. Those beautiful, crystal-blue eyes that could look right through someone.
She sighed. When, in the last six weeks, had she allowed herself