Straddling the Line - By Sarah M. Anderson Page 0,28

truck?

The door latched behind her, causing him to pivot. He was wearing his jacket and jeans again, but this time he had on sunglasses. Slowly, he took them off. A strange look crossed his face, and Josey briefly wondered if she had toilet paper stuck to the heel of her boots or not.

Then he closed the space between them in two long steps and kissed the hell out of her. In broad daylight. On the sidewalk.

Thinking stopped within moments as Ben traced her lips with his tongue. God, he tasted so good. As she met his mouth kiss for kiss, stroke for stroke, she couldn’t even figure out what he tasted like—only that it was manly and good and him. The pressure of his hand in the small of her back seemed as natural as breathing, as did the feel of the muscles in his shoulders under her hands. Some parts of her got fluttery and some got melty, and the combination made her dizzy with desire.

When he pulled away, she wanted to cry. If something as small as a kiss could make her a kind of crazy that she couldn’t ever remember being, what would sex with this man be like?

When she got her eyes open, his eyes—bluer today, but that had to be the late-afternoon sun—were staring at her, the corner of his mouth curled up. “Your mother isn’t going to pop up out of nowhere, is she?”

“Your band isn’t going to barge in?”

With a deep rumble, his chest moved against hers as a slow, easy grin spread across his face. Laughing. God help her. “I think that last time was a group effort.” The grin faded as the look in his eyes intensified. “Just so you know, I’m going to kiss you again later.”

She managed to swallow. Coming from him, it managed to sound like both a threat and a promise. Mostly a promise. “I’m aware.”

He gave her a quick kiss before he pulled her toward the motorcycle. He put the sunglasses back on, making it impossible to read him. “Good. You ever been on one of these before?”

“Nope.”

Ben gave her a decidedly nonerotic once-over. “You’ll be fine in those boots and jeans, but you should braid your hair.”

So much for styling it. He leaned back against the bike and watched her as she plaited the braid, that strange look on his face. It felt like he was watching her undress. When she was finished, he hesitated and said, “I suppose we have to go to this thing, right?”

She wouldn’t mind bailing. The whole concept of walking around a social event with him had her on edge. Would people think they were together? Would there be a scene? But she shoved those worries to the back of her mind as best she could. Mom had invited him; Josey was responsible for getting him there. That was that. “We should put in an appearance.” That didn’t seem to make him happy, so she added, “There’ll be food.”

“And drumming?”

“And drumming.”

“Better be.” For all the world, he sounded like a pouting child. She had to resist the urge to laugh at him. “But afterward, can we agree that there won’t be any musicians or mothers around?”

Was being “with” him crossing a line—a line she couldn’t uncross? Or would sex with Ben be something she could do—something she could enjoy—without losing all the ground she’d gained within the tribe?

She didn’t know. But she wasn’t turning back now.

*

“Of course,” she said, her chin lifting up in what looked a hell of a lot like defiance. “After the powwow.”

Damned powwow. “Good. Here. I brought you a helmet and a jacket. Even though it’s hot, the wind can still get to you.”

So Bobby’s marketing decision to stock Crazy Horse Chopper jackets wasn’t a total waste, and Ben appeared to have guessed right about the size. She zipped the snug leather over the tank top that had him wishing they could forget powwows ever existed. An appearance. Some food. Some drumming. That was it. Then, for the rest of the night, this woman was his and his alone.

He handed her the full-face helmet from a safe distance. It had taken every last ounce of willpower not to drag her up to her apartment and peel those tight jeans right off her. One more kiss—one more touch—would put him past all reason. Damn it, how was he supposed to drive anywhere with her sitting right behind him?

She took the heavy thing, the crease between her eyebrows