Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
I unlocked the door and pushed it open, letting Riley step inside first.
The room wasn’t fancy, but it was solid. A desk sat against one wall beneath a framed photograph of a Redline Precision car crossing a finish line with smoke curling behind the tires. A low couch faced the opposite wall, already pulled out enough to make it clear it could turn into a bed. The carpet was clean, and the blinds worked. More importantly, the door had a sturdy lock, and an exterior window faced the fenced back lot instead of the street.
I set her duffel on the couch. “Door locks from the inside. Nobody comes up here after hours unless they have a reason, and tonight they won’t because I’m letting the right people know you’re here.”
Riley crossed to the window and looked out over the back lot, where a couple of customer vehicles waited behind the security fence. She stood with her arms wrapped loosely around herself, pretending she was just checking the view. The more I watched, the less I liked the story her body was telling me. She was likely wondering whether anyone could reach that window from outside.
When I opened the cabinet beside the desk and pulled out a folded sheet, blanket, and pillow, she turned with one eyebrow lifted. “You keep bedding in an office?”
I tossed the pillow onto the couch and shook out the folded sheet. “My brothers’ old ladies decided we were too pathetic to be trusted with couches and no blankets.”
That got me a real smile, just big enough to cut through the tension in the room. “They coddle you?”
“They try. Usually with food, blankets, and opinions nobody asked for.”
“Sounds terrible.”
“Brutal.” I laid the bedding on the couch. “We suffer.”
Her smile lingered long enough that my body took notice all over again. Standing in that quiet office with the shop noise muffled beneath us, it was too easy to imagine closing the door, backing her against it, and taking that mouth until all the suspicion in her eyes turned into heat.
I wanted to know what she smelled like after a shower in my house, wearing one of my shirts, with her hair damp and her skin warm. So badly that my hands flexed at my sides, and I had to remind myself that she was exhausted, scared, and not ready for the kind of claiming my body was already planning.
“Need anything else?” I asked.
She glanced around again, slower this time. “No. I’m good.”
She wasn’t good. Not completely. But she was safer than she’d been an hour ago, and for tonight, I’d take that.
Pushing now would cost me ground I wanted to gain. Gauge, the enforcer, could get answers from almost anyone. Ryot, the man, wanted Riley to give them to me because she trusted me enough to stop carrying her shit alone.
“Like I said, you get hungry, help yourself to anything in the kitchen or fridge,” I reminded her, forcing myself to move toward the door before I started making excuses to stay. “Set the alarm before you settle in. If something feels wrong, call the number I’m writing down. Doesn’t matter what time it is.”
She looked at the sticky note I scribbled on. “Is this yours?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought you said to hit the panic button.”
“I said both.”
“Overkill much?”
“Frequently.”
That earned another tiny curve of her mouth, and I knew I needed to leave before the sight made me do something that would spook her. I gave her one last look, then I stepped into the hall and pulled the door mostly closed behind me, taking my questions with me.
Most of my guys had clocked out, and the rest were putting away their tools and getting ready to head out. I helped them finish up, making sure to spread the word that the upstairs was temporarily off limits to everyone. I’d decided I didn’t want anyone on the floor with her, not just in the room she’d settled in.
Once we’d finished, I waited until the last person left, then flicked off the lights before glancing up at the interior window. As I’d hoped, Riley was standing in front of the glass, looking down at me. I gave her a short wave, then pointed at the alarm panel. She nodded, and I jerked my chin up in farewell before forcing myself to leave.
Outside, the evening air hit heavy and humid when I walked across the lot to my bike. The sun had dropped low, turning the metal fence around The Pit into dark lines against the light.
I swung a leg over my Harley but didn’t start it right away. Instead, I waited until I saw the notification on my watch that the garage’s alarm had been set. Then I pulled out my phone and called my prez, because if a woman was sleeping upstairs in his office, he needed to know before he or some other brother walked in and scared the shit out of her. Also, Kane finding out from anyone else would be a pain in my ass I didn’t feel like dealing with.