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“You okay?” he says. “Better hold onto me. These e-bikes go fast.”
E-bike. That explains the speed, but also makes our escape more fun than dangerous. My adrenaline drops at the same rate the bike picks up speed, but my heart feels safe when I wrap my arms around his waist.
I let go long enough to wave to Evie as we pass her.
“You’d better have her back by nine, Sebastian!” Evie calls, followed quickly by directions for me. “Don’t do anything stupid!”
Too late for that but running away on an e-bike feels like it will end in a much better way than a motorcycle escape would. We can’t be going more than ten miles an hour, and we probably look like a couple of kids. Instead of the roar of a motorcycle engine, the bike hums softly.
I thought I was grabbing a tiger by the tail. Turns out, I’ve got a regular old house cat.
Possibly a tomcat, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt there.
“Sebastian? That’s your name? Like the crab?” I tease, as a precaution. Because there are other more dangerous Sebastians, like Ryan Gosling’s character inLa-La Land.
“Or the narrator inFight Club,” he says over his shoulder while pressing the throttle.
We pick up speed, and I tuck the loose hair blowing in my face under the helmet.
“Never seen it.”
I only know it’s got a young Brad Pitt in it. I hope he’s not Sebastian. That’s not a safe Sebastian-association, at all.
“Or Lil’ Sebastian inParks and Rec?”
“What?” His head whips around. “Isn’t that a horse?”
The bike wobbles, forcing me to hold him tighter. His shirt is thin, and his stomach is firm. With a mind of its own, my thumb traces the outline of his abs.
I stop when I realize what I’m doing, but the image is etched in my brain. “A miniature horse,” I say, swallowing hard. “He’s adorable.”
Sebastian scoffs and turns the bike out of the Little Copenhagen resort onto the bike path paralleling the main road.
Cartoon crabs and miniature horses. That’s what I’m going to think about when I think of the name Sebastian. Not dark-haired, very nicely cut Sebastian Stan, aka Bucky Barnes fromCaptain America.Because the resemblance between superhero Sebastian and e-bike Sebastain is much, much too close.
“Just call me Seb.”
“How about Lil’ Seb?”
E-bike notwithstanding, he’s still throwing off bad boy vibes, and my willpower may not be as fireproof as I think it is. So sarcasm is my shield.
“I thought Evie was warning me to stay away from you for your protection. I’m starting to think it was for my own.” He talks over his shoulder, barely watching the road, loud enough to be heard over the line of passing cars.
I laugh. “You’re not the one who's been voluntarily kidnapped and has no idea where she’s being taken.”
“That’s fair.” He speeds up to pass a family of bikers struggling to pedal in a way Sebastian doesn’t, thanks to the motor. “Have you got a swimming suit on under that dress?”
Now is my chance to get the upper hand. I press myself close enough for my lips to nearly brush his ear. “I think I need to know a little more about you before I tell you what’s under my dress.”
Seb laughs. “What else do you want to know?”
“Do you have a last name?” I put a few inches between us, satisfied I’vereallygot his attention.
“Sparks. I’m twenty-seven, single, and run my own business.” He slows as we approach the one stoplight in Paradise.
“What kind of business?” I sit up straight, moving my hands from around his waist to his sides.
“I’m an electrician.”
