Page 65 of The Price of Love

She gets a faraway grin. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“Oh, god, if we do this, are you going to make me read Shakespeare?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Good. Then—”

“I’m gonna read it to you.”

I groan, but the thought of her reading Shakespeare to me isn’t unappealing. I imagine her raspy voice quoting words that only half make sense.

“All right. If I agree to Shakespeare, does that remove the complication?”

Her smile fades. “Cinder Ridge is two hours from here.”

“Got it covered. The way I ride, I can do it in an hour and a half.”

I get a slight smile from her. “And then there’s my ex and the girls.”

“Your girls are adorable. I’m not scared of that.”

“My girls are my world.”

Tears well in her eyes, and I want to brush them away. I don’t because I doubt she’d want me to.

“As they should be,” I say. “I get you don’t wanna see me when they’re here, and I’m okay with that.” Kinda. “We need to get to know each other better first.”

“Shit. Why are you making this so difficult?” Her tone tells me she’s not really angry, so I grin. She points at me. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Why are you so fucking adorable?”

I shrug. “To fuck with your mind.”

“It’s working.”

“Good.” I pull her to me. “Please give this a try?”

She looks up into my eyes, and I melt. She doesn’t answer me in words. Instead, she puts her hand behind my head and draws my lips to hers.

We stand in the middle of her living room kissing for some time before she breaks the kiss. It was better than the first. My wobbly legs had about recovered, but now they’re jelly again.

“Wow.” I’m sure I have a glazed look in my eyes, so I blink several times trying to clear my vision.

She grins. “You didn’t just say wow, did you?”

My face heats. “The fuck. Did I say that out loud?”

“’Fraid so.” She shakes her head. “You’re not pulling off the big bad biker thing very well.”

“I’m not, huh?” I back her up against the wall and press my body against hers. “Is this better?”

Desire flashes in her eyes before she puts her hands against my chest and lightly presses. I take a step back, not wanting to crowd her.

“While this side is sexy, I prefer the other.” She flashes me a smile and looks up toward the ceiling. “I can still see you carrying that teddy bear at the poker run.” She puts her hand against her chest. “You had me then.”

“Then we can blame this whole thing on the teddy bear.” I smile. “I was lost when you hugged it against your chest.”

A crease appears on her forehead. “I didn’t do that.” The crease lessens. “Did I?”

“You did.”