Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
It took Gracen longer than she wanted to admit to stop herself from entering the liquor store for an emotional shopping spree. The last thing she wanted was to break down in sobs inside the store for all the employees, one of which was a friend of her ex’s sister, which would only add to the town’s stew pot of gossip that constantly churned. She even opted to turn her vehicle around in the parking lot so it didn’t face the liquor store, and she was left watching the vehicles pass or turn off on the highway and the people wandering the nursery’s outdoor selection of trees across the road.
It didn’t matter. She didn’t need a bottle of wine or a box of beer to confirm what she already knew. Nothing good came from drinking away pain, or that’s what she kept telling herself. So far, Gracen’s self-control proved to be better than she thought.
Surprisingly.
The only thing that might make her wallowing worse was doing so with a hangover. Not to mention, working. She had appointments booked for tomorrow.
Of course.
If it wasn’t one thing to remind Gracen how the world kept moving around her when hers felt like it had stopped, another waited nearby.
Except those thoughts just seemed silly and overdramatic, even Gracen told herself so, but that did nothing for the hiccup of emotion lodged in her throat. Or the single tear that escaped from her eye as a sporty, sleek motorcycle parked alongside her black Honda Civic. She wiped the streak of wetness off her cheek as the reflective shield covering the front of the rider’s helmet slightly turned her way.
Great.
Maybe someone had seen her tears.
There wasn’t even a window separating the two as Gracen had rolled it down after turning the car into a new parking spot and cutting the engine. Save the planet, and all that jazz. Really, constant air conditioning blowing in her face—like inside her small car—gave her migraines, and since she hadn’t decided to go home and face Delaney yet, never mind answering her friend’s numerous texts and calls, sitting in her car on the top of the hill it was. Gracen would not go home until she’d made sense of her feelings, and what she wanted to say to Delaney. Not something she would regret, or worse, couldn’t take back.
She owed them both that.
Next to her car, the rider of the bike with Suzuki branding on the front and back pulled off his helmet only to hang the safety gear on the handlebar. Not wanting to draw more attention to herself than she might have already done when he first pulled up, Gracen tried to focus on sipping what iced coffee remained in the bottom of her cup.
Which wasn’t much.
It wasn’t enough to stop Gracen from checking out the person in the parking spot next to hers. With shaggy brown hair that hung down around his ears and eyes, she didn’t get a very good look at his profile other than the sharpness of his jawline, but she wasn’t willing to get caught outright staring at the man.
Not that her choice was easy; the stranger happened to be cute.
Or maybe she’d always been a sucker for a guy in a leather jacket on a motorcycle. Never enough to act on the urge, obviously, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fantasize occasionally. Even if the very idea of riding one down the highway terrified her to no end. The closest she’d ever came to the experience was being passed by riders on the highway going thirty over the limit with nothing but asphalt ahead of them on the horizon. The only thing she could think about was the fact nothing remained between the rider and pavement except the bike, but it wouldn’t offer much protection once they both hit the ground.
Gracen settled herself with admiring the cute stranger and the way his thighs hugged the bike parked next to hers, but nothing more.
“Would you keep an eye on my bike for me?”
Gracen blinked.
First, she glanced toward the guy who had leaned closer to her opened window where his striking blue eyes could get a better look at her, but then she just as quickly looked back out her window. Positive he hadn’t spoken to her.
Surely not.
Why on earth would some random stranger want her to look after his bike in the middle of town, of all places? She was wrong.
“Yeah, I meant you,” the guy said, leaving no room for question.
Gracen peeked his way again.
Now, he leaned against his helmet on the handlebars with a grin as he watched her from his perch. Only one of his booted feet rested to the ground. The longer bits of wavy hair that had fallen in front of his eyes got shoved back by his fingers raking over the top of his head.