Page 5
She meets my gaze head-on before holding up an impertinent finger. “Let me send your info, my location, and tell my friend where we’re going first.”
Her thumbs fly over the screen before she tucks her phone into her pants pocket with a sigh. “Here goes everything.”
I face forward, feeling her hand on my shoulder as she swings a leg over the bike. Then she settles behind me, gingerly gripping the fabric of my dress shirt.
“Hang on.”
“I am.” Her answer has a bit of an edge to it, and this time, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.
Instead of arguing with her, I jolt the bike forward and then clamp down on the brakes. Willow gasps, her arms tightening around my torso.
Better.
Much better.
I ease into the throttle, even though I want to gun it for time’s sake, turning out of the parking lot as a group of scrub-clad people spill out of the back door.
“It only looks like a kidnapping!” Willow shouts at the blonde woman waving her arms in the air.
My head shakes on its own before I realize my mouth has curled at the edges.
It only takes four short minutes and a few broken traffic laws before I’m pulling in front of the ER, parking my bike illegally, closest to the doors, and cutting the engine.
“Sir, you can’t—
“Ticket me,” I bark at the hospital employee before looking over my shoulder at Willow. “You need to get off first. I have to balance the bike.”
Her eyes are wide through the eye port, making me wince internally. She would have been more comfortable during that breakneck ride with the visor down. I shift my weight, but Willow doesn’t move, her arms snug around my waist.
“You have to let go,” I try again, tone softer.
The slight shake of her head is almost imperceptible.
“Willow.”
“I don’t want any of this.”
The way her voice cracks does me in.
My hand settles over her knee with a gentle squeeze. “I know, honey, but you need to go inside.”
Honey? Where did that come from?
I only ever called my former fiancée, Brielle, by her first name. Though…maybe if I’d used a pet name, she wouldn’t have left me for another man.
My eyes press closed as I settle myself with a controlled inhale. The whole reason Willow is on the back of my bike—a spot Brielle refused to take because it was too dangerous—was to get her here. Now, we’re within feet of the ER’s fluorescent lights, and she won’t dismount.
I open my mouth, but Willow speaks first, her voice a whisper.
“Stay with me?”
The urge to say no, to maintain my rigid boundaries, rears like a savage beast, but even I’m not that heartless.
I nod, mentally telling myself that I’ll only stay until her friends get here. Though Willow hasn’t noticed, her phone has been glowing in her pants pocket since we’ve arrived. I’m sure someone else—someone better equipped to take care of her—is on their way.
Willow exhales against me, her shoulders shuddering, before shifting until her shoe touches the cement. Once she’s safely on the ground and tugging off my helmet, I dismount.
“What do I get if you’re wrong?” Willow asks, her voice upbeat as we stride toward the hospital doors.
