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Gunner shook his head, but he didn’t say anything else, and now it was hard for her to keep her gaze off the side-view mirror and those glowing bi-colored eyes of his. If the wind bothered him, he didn’t show it.
They were quiet for a long time after that, and she relaxed into the cadence of the ride and the sway of the road through the mountains. It was summertime, but the wind drew gooseflesh from her bare arms. The tank top had been a good decision for a bar, but not for a ride.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You nervous?”
“That you’re a stalker? Take a number, get in line,” she deadpanned. She thought she saw a flash of a smile in the mirror, but it was gone just as soon as it appeared.
He slowed and seemed to be looking for something in the dark. There were no streetlights out here, so she was surprised when he turned off on a single-lane dirt road.
“Hold on,” he told her as they climbed steadily up and up, up the winding dirt road. Gunner didn’t so much as spin out his back tire the entire ride up. When he finally came to a stop beside a huge machine, she was so confused.
“What is this?” she asked as he offered his hand to help her get off.
“An old worksite.”
She got off and wrung her hands as she looked around. It was so dark out here, and the half-moon wasn’t giving enough light. “Am I…am I safe?” she asked nervously.
She’d really gotten on the back of a motorcycle with a stranger and let him take her deep into the mountains.
“Pull your phone out and drop your location to your friend,” he said as he got off the bike and rested it on its kickstand.
He pulled his gloves off, set them on the seat, and then strode for the huge machine that sat on the edge of the steep mountainside.
“Right.” Surely he was safe if he was telling her to give Corey her location.
“She’s my cousin,” Hallie called. “Not just my friend. Her name is Corey.”
“Ask her for the video of us leaving,” he called from somewhere in the dark.
“Is that why you blasted out of there? For the video?”
He didn’t answer, but that was okay. She was busy dropping a location pin to Corey just in case.
Bright side, the reception out here was fantastic.
“Here,” he said out of nowhere.
She yelped and startled hard, but he was just holding out a hoodie.
“You look cold. I heard humans are fragile.”
She took the hoodie and considered arguing, but she remembered how he’d smiled after he’d been shot. Yep, compared to him, she was freaking fragile.
She pulled on the giant hoodie, and the hem fell to her knees. Adorable.
She laughed and jogged to catch up to him, stumbled, and barely caught herself. He sat down on a bench and gestured for her to sit at the other end of it. She sat in the middle of the bench, but he shooed her farther away.
“What, no cuddling?” she teased.
An annoyed flash of those glowing eyes told her he wasn’t amused.
“I don’t cuddle, and this isn’t like that.”
“Not suitable for pairing,” she recited. “You and me both, buddy.”
“Buddy,” he growled.
