Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
There went her hair. She took it without comment. Cody held his leather jacket out for her to put on. She couldn’t help the way her eyebrows shot up in surprise before she accepted his help.
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t think I had it in me, either.”
Did he sound a little embarrassed?
She slid on the bike behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The ride up the mountain yesterday had been harrowing. She’d had a feeling Cody had driven the Ducati fast and loose on purpose, to shake her up. Today, he showed restraint, easing into speed, not leaning the bike as much around the bends.
They wound around unmarked mountain roads, up and down hills until they reached a little hole in the wall market, tucked into a hill in the middle of nowhere. A stump of wood carved into a bear stood near the doorway.
She pulled her helmet off and finger combed her hair. An elderly couple greeted them when they came in, and Cody headed straight to the counter to order two cinnamon rolls. He grabbed a small carton of milk from the dairy case and paid for everything at the old-fashioned register.
He led her back outside. There wasn’t anywhere to sit, so he stood while she perched on the motorcycle seat. Cody pulled one of the breakfast rolls out of the paper bag and held it up to her mouth.
It was enormous—far too big to fit in her mouth—so cream cheese frosting coated her lips when she attempted a bite.
Amusement crinkled Cody’s eyes, but the way he stared at her lips sent heat curling between her legs. He didn’t eat himself, seeming interested only in feeding her.
“You’re right. These are the best cinnamon buns I’ve ever had.”
“Say it again,” he teased.
“Cinnamon?” She feigned innocence.
He stepped closer and stroked a hand up the back of her neck. “Say it, baby.”
Somehow, the simple joke became sexual. His thumb stroked over her lower lip.
She took it in her mouth and sucked, hard.
Cody groaned, looking as if he was in pain.
“You’re right,” she whispered, knowing she’d turned the tables on him.
He closed his eyes, as if gathering control, then opened the carton of milk and chugged it all down.
She fished the burner phone out of her purse and checked for reception.
Cody frowned. “Who do you need to call?”
“My boss. To tell him I can’t come into work tonight.” When his lip curled in disbelief, she explained, “At the nightclub where I bartend.”
Shock sent Cody’s eyebrows flying to his hairline. “You bartend?” Disbelief rang in his tone.
She punched the keys with her thumb. “Yeah. I’ve been working there since I was eighteen. I thought I’d be able to quit when I became a real estate agent, but I don’t make enough yet.” She shrugged as Cody frowned.
Harry, her boss, didn’t pick up, so she left a message about her mom being sick and hung up.
“You bartend?” He still seemed surprised.
“What? You think I don’t know about hard work? I’ve been supporting myself since I went to college. It’s good money. Pays the rent, because Lord knows, Jeremy never did.”
Cody’s scowl had returned in full force. “What did you see in that guy?”
She shrugged and looked away, not wanting to get into it with him.
“No, really.” He grasped her jaw and turned her face to his. “Tell me what you saw in him. I need to know.”
She nibbled her lower lip. “Remember I told you about being kidnapped last year?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, Jeremy was one of my kidnappers. He and a friend flirted with me at the bar and I went home with them after work.”
Cody looked murderous. “He kidnapped you? I’m going to kill him with my bare hands when we find the little bastard.”
“He didn’t know what he was getting into. His friend had just offered him a couple hundred dollars to get me into bed. Once they had me, it got more serious, and then he became a prisoner too. He escaped and came back for me. Freed me before they could kill me. So you see, I owe him my life.”
Cody’s nostrils flared and his fists clenched. “I see. So all I have to do to win you over is kidnap you and then set you free?”
She shoved at his immovable chest. “It’s not funny.”
“I’m not laughing, either. I am seriously going to beat that guy to a pulp.”
“No, you’re not. Did you not hear what I said? He saved my life.”
“I think the favor—if you can call it that—has already been repaid. But for the record, I don’t think you can call it saving your life when he’s the one who put it in danger in the first place.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. Tears were threatening, not because she was worried about Jeremy’s life—which she should be—but because Cody was mocking her personal sense of honor.