Ethan (Devil's Flame MC #9) - Romi Hart Page 0,23

people than she felt with Ethan. Something just felt right, and she let out a long breath of contentment when he pulled out of the space and turned down the road. She didn’t know where he was taking her. It didn’t matter. She enjoyed the ride, not having felt companionable riding with anyone in a very long time.

It reminded her of when she was younger and had first learned to ride, when she would just go with Martin, like a free spirit, wherever the wind pointed them for the day. They would stop and explore wherever they landed, then turn around and ride back. Four or five hours on the road, every time.

This didn’t last as long, but with Ethan here, sharing a bike with her, it was far more satisfying. She could have ridden like this for hours, and that was something she’d never wanted, to be a passenger to someone else. She liked being in control and had never trusted anyone else to take the lead.

But Ethan inspired her, made her want to trust him, believe in him, the way he seemed to believe in her. Anyone else would have her convinced it was an act, but he’d shown her nothing but respect and had backed her every move, even offering to put himself at risk, taking the ride with her and even offering to sit front and center. It was a real show of faith in her, and she basked in it.

When he finally pulled into a steakhouse, Brett was impressed. She climbed down reluctantly and smiled as he cut the engine. “Nice choice. This is actually one of my favorite places around here.”

“Yeah?” he asked, pulling off his helmet. “How’s their New York strip?”

“To die for.” She was pleasantly surprised as he took her hand, wrapping his fingers tightly around it, and guided her toward the door. “Is this a date?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him when he glanced over his shoulder at her.

“You aren’t going to accuse me of requiring that it be a date, are you?” he asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.

Brett smirked. “Maybe I want a little forced submission.” This time, both Ethan’s eyebrows went up, and she laughed.

He stopped walking and turned to face her fully, stepping close enough that she could feel his breath on her face. It sparked physical memories, and her lungs heaved, making her breaths come quick and shallow as butterflies in her stomach took flight. He stood there, locking eyes with her, and he turned her hand, threading their fingers together. It sent shivers down her spine with a wave of intimacy she had no right to feel.

In a low voice she had to strain to hear, he told her, “We agreed we shouldn’t pursue anything, sexual or otherwise.”

“I know that, Ethan—”

He put a finger from his free hand to her lips to stop her. She wanted to kiss it, draw it into her mouth and suck it until he moaned. But she held back. “Let me finish. We agreed we shouldn’t pursue anything, sexual or otherwise. However, it’s a beautiful night, and I’ve taken a beautiful woman for a ride on my bike and plan to buy her a delicious dinner. I think we could safely call that a date, regardless of how it ends.”

Damn, when he put it that way, Brett knew exactly how she wanted it to end, between the sheets without a stitch of clothes between them. But that wasn’t in the cards, couldn’t be, and she nodded, swallowing the unwanted emotion that had risen in her throat. “That sounds good to me.”

He smiled and turned back toward the building, not speaking again until they’d been seated. When he released her hand, it felt cold, and she sighed. Brett could get used to the roughness of his palms, there and in other places, if she wasn’t careful.

Needing to find another topic to distract her, she asked, “How exactly did you end up in the MC? Did you grow up in the life?”

He froze and then laughed. “No, definitely not. In fact, my entire family is in law, one way or another. Both my parents were lawyers, and they were going to ship me off to Harvard so I could get in line with the family profession. Even though I didn’t want to.”

She gaped at him. “Seriously? So, what, you rebelled?”

He shook his head and averted his gaze. “No, I screwed up, and my family basically disowned me.” She waited,