Page 8 of Adoring Ink

“Would you want to do this again?” he asked, his voice a growl.

She looked over at him and nodded. “Riding a motorcycle? Yes. Riding with you?” A pause. “Yes. I mean, if you want to.”

Knowing he might be doing something stupid, he turned to her and cupped her face. She licked her lips once again, and it took everything within him not to kiss her right then. “Any time you want to ride, just ask.” Something else came to him, and he blurted the next part without thinking. “And, Holly? I want to show you more. Not just riding with me. But all the adventures you said you wanted to do. You’ll have to explain them to me a bit, but I want to show you things. Have fun, and just do stuff you haven’t ever done. Will you let me be part of this with you? Will you let me show you that adventure?”

“Why are you doing this?” she breathed.

“I don’t know exactly,” he answered honestly. “But I want to. Is that enough? At least, for now?”

“I think…I think this might be exactly what I need.”

He lowered his head so his lips were right above hers. “And this? What about this?”

“I think you need to show me to make sure.”

His thrill seeker seemed to have more to her than the innocence she portrayed, and that was perfect for him.

He held back a laugh and kissed her. Her lips were soft and smooth beneath his, and all he wanted to do was deepen the kiss and keep going, but he fought the need for more and pulled away to rest his forehead on hers.

“Now?”

“I think that is one adventure we can cross off the list.”

He laughed. “But what if I want to try it again?”

“Practice makes perfect, right?”

So he kissed her again, aware he could be making yet another mistake but not caring. He’d make sure she had the time of her life, and in the process, he’d get to spend time with her.

Once again, he just hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. Because if there was one thing Brody Deacon was good at, it was making things worse when he didn’t mean to.

Chapter Three

Apparently, Holly had jumped right into the deep end without looking. She hadn’t meant to kiss Brody the night before, hadn’t meant to keep kissing him until they were both breathless and pressed together like there was super glue involved.

Holly leaned her head against her bathroom wall and blew out a breath. She needed to take a quick shower and head over to Maya’s, but all she wanted to do was curl up back in bed and have more dreams about a certain motorcycle-riding mechanic who happened to send her body into overdrive.

Going out on a date with a man who was practically a stranger, getting on the back of his motorcycle, and making out with him under a blanket of perfect stars wasn’t like her.

And maybe that was the point, hmm?

She’d wanted a little change, a little adventure, and boy did Brody deliver in spades. But, as always, Holly worried. It was what she did. She fretted, she chewed her lip, she made pros and cons lists, and she inevitably backed away from things or people that could not only hurt her but end up hurting themselves. She couldn’t help it, considering how she’d been raised, but no matter how hard she tried to change that, she couldn’t seem to make it stick.

Brody had said he’d show her a few things, and as soon as her mind had pulled itself out of the gutter, she’d figured he might actually be telling the truth. Her friends trusted him and had actually pushed her to say “yes” in the café. He knew the crew of Montgomery Ink, and they kept letting him back in, so that had to count for something. If Maya or Austin or any of the others didn’t trust him or felt as if he wasn’t a decent person, they wouldn’t work on him. They had enough business to be that picky, and apparently, Brody had passed muster.

So maybe hanging out with him wasn’t as dangerous as she’d thought at first. As long as she didn’t fall for him or get any grand notions of something far more serious than him showing her how to let loose, she’d be fine.

Only Holly didn’t do casual, and she was afraid she’d end up being an idiot in the end.

“Crap.” She pulled away from the wall and stripped out of her pajamas. She was going to be late to Maya’s, and she really wanted to avoid the wrath of the Inked One.

Holly quickly showered, knowing after they were finished with their plans for the day, she’d require another shower anyway, but she really needed to at least get the sleep out of her eyes. One day, she’d be able to sleep in until noon, and that day would be glorious. But for now, she wanted to make sure her days were filled with plans with friends since she didn’t get to see them often during the school year.

Once she was clean, she pulled on her workout gear and grabbed her prepacked bag of regular clothes and other things she might need, as well as a water bottle. Maya was still trying to lose the last of her baby weight, and Holly wanted to eat cake later, so they tried to work out together at least once a week. She worked out on her own a couple more times a week, too, but these sessions were a little more fun because she and Maya weren’t as coordinated as most people thought, and tripping in front of each other had become a new form of entertainment.

She just hoped Maya’s husbands, Jake and Border, weren’t there this time. Last time had been humiliating when she’d fallen right on her butt in front of them as they played with baby Noah.

Her phone buzzed on her way out the door, and she stopped to look at the incoming text.