Page 24

Weston never answered as he signaled to the left before pulling into the parking lot of the small two-story hotel. I followed him and found a large spot for the RV before going to the front of the place to take the bike from West. “Stay here and walk around to cool down. I’ll get our stuff and be right back.”

I hurried out to the RV to grab our bags so we could check into our room, and West could relax. The hotel had an indoor pool and spa on the first floor, and it might do him some good to sit in the warm jets for a while.

I came back to where he was sitting on a bench with a bottle of water from his saddlebag. I relieved him of the hydration backpack and the spare tire, taking his gear to the RV and coming back for his bike.

“Come on. Let’s check in so we can go to the pool for a while.” I placed my hand on his back as he walked into the hotel in his socks, having shoved his bike shoes into one of the saddlebags before I took the bike and put it inside the RV.

Once we were in our room, West and I took turns in the bathroom, changing into swim trunks to go down to the pool. We stepped onto the elevator, which was empty, and I punched the button for the pool level.

“Can you swim?”

West chuckled. “Yeah. We had a pool at our... My brother and sister inherited the beach house, as you heard at the reading of Dad’s will. Obviously, I’m not invited out there any longer. When I was a kid, I used to swim in the pool and the ocean. It was fun.”

I nodded. The pain from his father’s actions was evident in his voice, and I wasn’t about to push him further. What Claude did to May and Weston was shameful.

“Okay, well, let’s go down to the pool so you can soak in the hot tub. Life’s too short to be in pain before bed.” There were a few other things I wanted to say, but I was tired. We’d been up since five. It was time to relax.

There was a family in the pool area—two boys and a girl with their parents—but they were in the heated pool. The young boys were jumping from the side where their parents could catch them, and the daughter was floating on her back. They looked happy.

We stepped into the bubbling spa, and we sat on the built-in bench. The water was warm, and the way West relaxed made me smile. He needed to loosen up. He had another hundred miles to do the next day. His knees were healing quickly, but he’d need to bandage them the next day. Flexing as they would during a ride made them crack when they dried out.

“So, Weston, have you learned anything about yourself today when you were riding in solitude even though we were in contact pretty much most of the time?”

West dunked himself under the water in the spa, and when he came up, he slung his head to move his hair before his hands wiped the water from his eyes.

“I learned that I have a lot to learn. Thank you for agreeing to teach me.”

I remembered when I felt the same gratitude toward his father.

Weston Aames was a damn smart man, and something inside me said that I needed to figure out how to make him mine.

Chapter Eleven

Weston

I joined Bridges on the underwater bench that circled the hot tub, the small of my back against a damn powerful jet that was soothing aches and pains I had yet to acknowledge.

I truly appreciated that Bridges secured a stay in the two-and-a-half-star hotel so I could recover. I couldn’t lie and say the ride was easy.

The small hotel was clean. After riding on a slender-seated bike for about ten hours, it was a luxury I truly appreciated.

“Add the room to the tab of things I owe you, Bridges. I don’t want you paying for stuff on these practice rides. And the gas for the RV. And the campsite we were at last night. I should have thought ahead to secure reservations myself. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

I felt like a failure—or at least an idiot—for not thinking about reservations and food. “And breakfast at Bonnie’s Biscuits this morning. Add that to my tab as well.”

Bridges chuckled. “Relax, West. I’m having Alexis order us jerseys with Eaton Cycles on the chests. Like I said, I’m going to sponsor your ride, and I’ll donate to your charity. Also, I’ll ask Alexis to come with us on the cross-country ride. She can drive the RV, while I ride with you. On a ride that long, I don’t like the idea of you riding alone on some of the trails where the SAG car can’t follow behind.” Bridges said it as though it was gospel.

To say I was shocked was mild. “You don’t have to do that, Bridges. I can do it by myself, I swear. I’ll pay you back for everything, but you don’t have to get Alexis to come with us. You don’t have to do any of that.”

Did Bridges not have faith in me? If so, I’d prove him wrong or die trying. I could do something selfless.

“I want to support you, Weston. Look, it’s great advertising for the Eaton Cycles brand. I can get Alexis to set up a few photo ops for us along the way to promote your ride and get some free advertising for my company. It’ll be a win-win for both of us. You’ll be able to use my sponsorship to pitch to other possible donors that you’ll solicit for support. I promise you any business worth its salt will be grateful to have their patch on your jersey to show the world that they support your cause. That type of promotion pays for itself ten times over.

“If we can drum up media interest in the cities we pass through, it’ll be great and bring in donations to your chosen charity. You should reach out to the charity to get input from their marketing team.”

Bridges pushed his wet hands through his hair to get it off his forehead. It was short with salt and pepper woven into it, and sexy as hell. His short beard was mostly grey, but it fit his face better than any alternative. How his ex-husband could cheat on him was a fucking mystery to me.

“I can’t let you do that, Bridges. Alexis won’t want to take that much time away from your joint project to babysit me on this ride, and I’m not sure how I’d ever pay her for her time.” God, that was no joke.