Rough Ride (Riding with Honor) Read online

  She was getting much more comfortable riding the motorcycle and was surprised to find she was disappointed when he opted to take the truck instead. Though it made more sense considering there would be bags of office supplies. She enjoyed the wind on her face… and the feel of Bobby in her arms. Shoving those thoughts aside she hopped up into the truck.

  After enjoying a sandwich at a local deli they headed to the office supply store where she got the items she would need to better organize the office. Having thought ahead to write down the last check number in the checkbook, she was able to order a small amount of checks for the software program. She could order more online using his company’s logo… if he had one.

  She was surprised afterward when they pulled into a large shopping mall. After parking the truck he turned to her and said, “I’ll meet up with you in a little while, I need to get a few things.”

  Maybe he was serious about the jeans instead of skirts comment. He was so hard to read.

  “More than you know”.

  She certainly didn’t miss the heated tone of those words and the look in his eyes. Darren had been a gentleman when they dated and though he flirted with her, it was more with flowers and gifts. This man flirted in a way she was not only unfamiliar with but unprepared to handle.

  They parted ways and she headed into Macy’s. With the help of a saleslady, Lilly was able to find several pairs of jeans and a few blouses that she thought might do for her new work environment. Heading to the fitting room she tried on one of the outfits then stepped out to look in the three way mirror right inside the doorway to the dressing room. As she approached the mirror she glanced out the doorway and was surprised to see Bobby standing there propped up against the entrance.

  His dark stare made her want to shrink back into one of the dressing stalls. After a few moments he twirled a finger indicating she should turn around and model the new outfit for him. Feeling a little unsure in clothing that was not her normal style, she did as he had silently requested.

  “Slower,” he murmured upon her turning in a complete circle.

  Oh God. Somehow simply modeling an outfit for him had charged the air between them. As she slowly circled again she glanced over her shoulder at him. His gaze swept her backside and it felt as intimate as if he were looking at her naked. She fought the urge to run back to the dressing area and completed the turn. Since he did not say anything she glanced up and met his heated gaze.

  “Better?” she asked, feeling insecure from his scrutiny.

  Stepping through the doorway into the women’s dressing area, he approached her. She swallowed hard as he reached up and pulled out the flowered hair comb that she had used to pull her hair into a twist.

  Handing it to her he then ran his fingers through her hair shaking it loose so that it fell around her shoulders. His hands were like a brand that burned her with a delicious heated sensation that traveled the entire length of her body.

  “I’m not sure which is more tempting… your bare legs and thighs in those smokin’ hot skirts you wear or these jeans that show off every inch of you,” he said.

  “Yum,” a woman standing a few feet away from them said.

  Embarrassment that his comments had been overheard heated her cheeks and glancing away from him she said, “You shouldn’t be in here. I need to change… I’ll be right out.”

  “Leave it on… just remove the tags. They don’t need the clothes to ring up a purchase just the price tags,” he said and then without waiting for her to respond he left the dressing area.

  As she headed down the narrow aisle back to the dressing area the woman who had overheard Bobby’s comments stopped her.

  “Your boyfriend is hot, you are one lucky girl,” she said with a wink.

  “He’s umm not my boyfriend… he’s my boss,” she replied.

  The woman smiled, “That must make the work day a little more exciting.”

  She half smiled at the woman and then quickly headed into the dressing stall where she sat down on the changing bench and attempted to get her breathing and heartbeat under control. Good God! Why did he insist on saying those kinds of things to her?

  Sherri already warned her about Bobby’s appetites where women were concerned. Sherri’s friend Leah had gushed about the things she would do to Bobby if she got him alone. Lilly had tried to ignore them both but being around him she could see why women would throw themselves at him.

  Unsure which outfit to wear out of the dressing room, she heard the salesgirl outside her door speaking to another customer before knocking lightly on the door. “Ma’am, your boyfriend is paying for your outfit now and said that you would be wearing it today. If I can come in I will remove the security tags for you.”

  What? Lilly wasn’t sure she’d heard right and opened the door a crack. “Excuse me?” she said.

  “You’re so lucky, you’re dating Bobby Jackson!” the younger girl gushed. “He is paying for your clothes right now and said you wanted to wear them. Can I come in and remove the tags?”

  Too stunned to deny that he was her boyfriend to the second person in less than ten minutes, she simply opened the door a little wider and allowed the girl to enter. After the girl removed the tags and left the room, she put her heels back on and stared at herself in the full length mirror. Her mousy brown hair looked as though she had just got out of bed rather than the smooth French twist style she had worn when she came into the dressing area.

  Gathering up the clothes she had worn into the store and her purse she exited the dressing room coming up short when she caught Bobby surrounded by three young girls. The salesgirl was one of the three and as Lilly approached, she was astounded that they didn’t attempt to curb their flirting even though she was supposedly his girlfriend.

  Stopping in front of the group, his eyes seemed to devour her and the three girls seemed to suddenly disappear from view until only the two of them remained. She wasn’t a complete stranger to being ‘checked out’ by other men, but most would turn away when they were caught staring. He didn’t seem to care and openly gazed at her lips and then the tops of her breasts that showed in the low cut blouse.

  “You didn’t have to pay for my clothes…” she said.

  “Don’t worry it came out of your clothing allowance. Let’s go,” he said sarcastically as he headed toward the entrance.

  The ride back to the shop was quiet. Several times she had almost got up the nerve to tell him that he shouldn’t flirt with her since she was an employee and that she wasn’t interested in being another bed partner for him. Each time she took a deep breath to begin he would look over at her with his dark, intense and completely breathtaking gaze. Then she would let out the breath and focus out the window again. This tension between them had to stop.

  Maybe once he realized she wouldn’t just jump into bed with him, his interest would move on to a newer, easier target. Did she want that? Would it be so bad to have one meaningless fling? She’d only ever been with Darren so her sexual experience was limited in comparison to his. Images of him kissing her and devouring her body as his bold gaze did came unbidden to her mind.

  No! He was not the type of man she should be involved with, even as a meaningless fling. She forced the erotic images from her mind. She couldn’t imagine what the ladies in her social circle would think or say if they knew about her new job, let alone if they knew what kind of man her boss was.

  She had spent her entire married life trying desperately to avoid being scrutinized by those women and had been fairly successful until… If they could see her now, she felt certain between the scandal after her husband’s unexpected death and her current situation they would have more than enough ammunition to gossip about her for years to come.

  Why did she even care what they thought? Darren’s illegal and unscrupulous business deals were at the heart of the scandal, not anything she had ever done. Yet the scorn she had felt whenever she went to the club had eventually worn her down until she just had to get away. Th
ank God for Sherri and her offer to let her hide out for as long as she needed. She had expected peace and quiet, time to think and plan where to go from here… not this intense attraction to a man who was all wrong for her.

  Shaking aside those thoughts she focused on putting away the office supplies that Bobby had carried into the office for her. As she worked she took a phone call from Sherri who told her where the key was hidden and that she was headed to her job as a bartender. From the sounds of it, Sherri wouldn’t be home until very late. She heard Bobby enter the office while she assured Sherri that she would be fine there by herself and that she was a grown up, able to handle a few hours of solitude.

  When she ended the call he said, “Come on, let’s get out of here. I got some place I want to show you, since you’re on your own for the evening.”

  As she entered the garage she saw his bike parked just outside the service bay and pulling a clip out of her purse she pinned her hair back up as best she could without a brush or a mirror. Putting on her sunglasses she climbed on behind him and after he closed the garage bay and started the bike, she wrapped her arms around his chest.

  “Where are we going?” she said loudly over the roar of the bike.

  He covered her hands that were wrapped around his chest with one of his and gently caressed them. Then without answering her, he gripped the handle bars and took off. They rode for a long time and the sun was starting to sink low in the sky when she saw it. In the distance she could make out a small stretch of beach that appeared to be deserted and private. The sun shining along the horizon took her breath away.

  He maneuvered the bike down an embankment and then finding a stable area parked the bike and helped her make her way down to the beach. As she stepped onto the sand, she grasped his arm to steady herself while she removed her heels. She carried them back to the bike and stuffed them in one of the saddle bags. She could not tear her eyes from the beautiful scene of the water and the setting sun as she made her way back to where he stood looking out. Unable to resist she made her way to the water’s edge to stand in the surf.

  He followed her to the edge and stood directly behind her. She tried to ignore his closeness as it seemed he was unaware of how to maintain an appropriate distance from her. Leaning down he whispered in her ear, “Takes your breath away doesn’t it?”

  “Yes… it does,” she said quietly.

  He moved even closer and wrapped his arms around her waist and locked his fingers as she did to him when she rode on the back of his bike. She stiffened briefly in his arms.

  “You wanted to tell me something earlier in the truck on the way back from the mall. What was it?” he asked.

  After several minutes she said, “You shouldn’t say things to me like you did in the store. It’s obvious you could have your pick of women who I’m sure would appreciate hearing those things. Your time and effort might be better spent with one of them.”

  “What do you feel about what you are seeing right now and me putting my arms around you?” he said his voice low and husky in her ear.

  “The sunset is beautiful… your arms around me make me feel…guilty. I know I shouldn’t feel guilty about my reaction to you but somehow I do. The things you say…I’m not ready for that…do you understand?”

  “Do you want me to release you?” he whispered.

  “Yes… no… I don’t know. I do but I don’t…it’s been a while and I…” she stammered.

  “Wait here. Have a seat. You’re in jeans now so sand won’t get anywhere it shouldn’t,” he said, releasing her and walking back towards his bike.

  Her heart was going to pound out of her chest. Her body burned for him. How was that possible since she’d only known him for a day? She’d been married to Darren for a decade and never once felt the kind of heated sensations that just his nearness caused. And his touch… it was more than she could handle. How could he expect her to explain her body’s reaction to him when she didn’t fully understand it?

  She sat down and continued to stare out at the setting sun. It seemed to get even more beautiful the lower the sun sank in the sky. He approached and sat down next to her placing a paper bag in between them.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Something I hope will help you relax around me. I don’t bite, unless we’re having sex,” he said.

  “That…is one of those things you say that…” she started.

  “Make you feel guilty?” he asked as he reached in the sack and produced a bottle of Zinfandel wine and a small bag of strawberries. “We will have to drink out of the bottle because that’s what I’m used to but I’m willing to try it… I’m more of a Jack Daniels man myself. I realize that your late husband probably beat me to the punch on this and I’m not trying to compete with his memory, but I thought you deserved this for bailing my ass out this morning.”

  Lilly was astonished that he seemed to have produced the wine and strawberries out of thin air. “Where did you get this?” she asked.

  “I know some people…” he grinned producing a wine corkscrew.

  As he worked on removing the cork, she couldn’t help but stare at him out of the corner of her eye. God he was hot! Remembering the wine and strawberries thing only seemed to make him harder to resist. He’d paid attention to what she said and what she liked. Did he try this hard for all his girlfriends? If he was this attentive to other women she could not fathom how was he not married or at least in a serious relationship.

  He took a small drink from the wine bottle and handed it to her. Then he pulled a strawberry out of the bag, and bit into it. “Not bad,” he said.

  She took a small sip out of the bottle which felt awkward but she managed not to spill it on herself. He reached in the bag and retrieved another strawberry and leaning over close to her, held it to her lips. Heart pounding she opened her mouth and bit into the strawberry. He watched with great fascination as she chewed and swallowed. Her nerves got the better of her and she took another swig from the bottle of wine.

  “Can I have a taste?” he asked.

  His face was way too close to hers and it seemed to make her tingle all the way to her toes that were curled in the sand. “Yes,” she said breathlessly extending the bottle to him.

  His hand captured the side of her face and suddenly he was kissing her. Shock gave way to incredible heat as he seemed to devour her mouth. It was not the gentle kisses she was used to. This was urgent and needy and her body responded in ways she had not thought possible. His tongue licked at her lips until she opened to him. His mouth on hers was incredible and her resistance melted at the touch of his tongue to hers and she was unable to keep from kissing him back.

  At her response to his heated kiss, he groaned into her mouth and his hand slid down her face to her neck where his roughened fingers caressed the side of her neck down to her collarbone. A gasp escaped her lips at the feel of his hands on her and she broke the kiss.

  “I can’t do this.” Yes you can her body screamed.

  He stared at her with heat in his eyes. She was captured and couldn’t look away from him. He was breathing as heavily as she was.

  “If you’re waiting for me to apologize for kissing you, you can keep waiting because I won’t say something I don’t mean,” he said. “In fact, I enjoyed the hell out of that and I’ll probably pay for it later when I’m awake at 3AM taking a cold shower but…”

  “I can’t sleep with you… you’re wild and… and a bad boy… and my boss!” she said standing up and handing him the bottle. “We should go back… now”

  “Don’t bad boys usually get a spanking?” he asked with a grin that left her weak in the knees and wet. Oh God!

  She wanted to hold him down in the sand and kiss him again and again, feel his rough hands on more places than just her face. Her body was on fire and she needed space… away from him. Turning she started walking toward the bike.

  “Come back. I am sorry for that… the comment I mean… it was inappropriate,” he laughed
.

  As she approached the bike she stood there, with her back to him, trying to calm her breathing. No more going places with him alone. He was breaking down her defenses very quickly. Much more of his brazen talk and hot kisses and she would give in to him.

  He would take what he wanted then she would be left hurt and alone while he moved on to his next conquest. She was just now starting to move past losing Darren and getting her own life back.

  Christ! She had to ride back with him, holding him tightly against her for the whole trip!

  Looking over her shoulder she was shocked to see him still sitting back in the sand drinking the wine. Several minutes later she headed back to where he sat, having pulled herself together. As she approached he looked up at her and handed her the bottle of wine.

  Sitting down next to him but keeping some distance between them, she took a couple of drinks of the wine and handed it back to him. Silence reigned for some time until he spoke up.

  “I want you. I’m not real sure why I want you so bad, but I do and it seems to get worse the more time I spend around you. If you honestly aren’t interested or attracted to me at all, I’ll leave you alone and keep my thoughts and comments to myself but you have to tell me… out loud… that you don’t think about my mouth and hands on you.”

  The sharp intake of breath happened before she could control it. The same gasp as when he had touched her. His words were like his touch and kisses… heated and raw.

  “I’d appreciate it if you would take me home now before this goes any further. I’m really enjoying my job… it’s the first one I’ve had since I was in college and… I don’t want to lose it. Or for things to be uncomfortable between us,” she said.

  “Say it,” he said, his dark gaze burning into her so intensely, she looked away.

  “I… I’m just not ready,” she whispered, looking away from him so he could not see her face.

  He grasped her face in his hand and pulled it back around until she met his eyes. “Then I’ll wait until you are, but I will keep doing and saying things that make you feel guilty. They make you feel guilty because you want me too. Now that I’ve tasted your sweet mouth, I want to taste your hot body too.”