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“Okay,” she rasps out, stepping back until she’s at the break room door. “Soon,” she promises before disappearing for the next hour.
The sun is high in the sky when I step out onto the sidewalk in front of the clinic. The heat isn’t quite oppressive yet, but with the early morning breeze sweeping in off the ocean, it’s just warm enough to know that today will be another scorcher.
“You know what you’re doing?” Stone’s question brings me up short.
“Not at all, but I’m doing it anyway.”
Stone flashes a wide cowboy smile and nods as if he understands. “Be careful and be safe, brother. Call if you need anything.”
“Always.” I take his hand, and we shake like brothers. He’s not officially a member of the Reckless Souls MC, but Stone has been around since I got here, and that makes him as good as a brother to me.
Then I see Sophie standing less than a foot from me, her dark eyes wide and bright. “Everything okay?” she asks, looking first at me and then at Stone before her gaze sweeps the street.
“Perfect now,” I tell her and wrap an arm around her waist as we walk down the street, perfectly in sync like old lovers who know this walk and have a routine. “I can still smell you,” I growl as I inhale deeply.
Her face turns an adorable shade of pink, and she laughs.
“It’s all in your head,” she says, gripping my hand as we walk toward the little bistro. “But fuck me, your words are enough to make me come again.”
My steps stutter at her words, and I stop, turning to stare at her. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”
“Maybe,” she agrees with a bright smile. “But don’t die before we get pancakes with whipped butter and warm maple syrup.” Sophie leans her head on my bicep as we walk to the restaurant right on the water.
The first sight that steals my breath is the ocean, sparkling like gems under the morning sun. Boats float by, providing a picture-perfect view for this, technically our first date. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Soph.”
She grins as she turns to me, pressing a soft, almost chaste kiss to my lips. “I think you might be a little lust crazy,” she whispers against my face just outside the diner. “Are you sure it’s okay that we’re out like this?”
My brows dip, but I nod, confirming that we’re safe. Working for Nova for the past few years, Sophie knows what MC life is like, even though she’s not technically a part of it. She’s well-versed in the life without being involved in it, which I should find problematic, but I don’t.
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s early, and this place isn’t on anyone’s radar.”
I know Bloodthirsty Devils are surely on the hunt for us, but they aren’t even stupid enough to attack this place.
We step inside the diner and choose a table on the water with a view of the sun rising into the sky.
“This is perfect,” she says, admiring the boats sailing by.
You’re perfect.Luckily, I don’t say those words, but they bang around in my head as I watch her smile at the waiter and the morning manager before placing her order. “It’s better than whatever the fuck perfect is.”
Her lips tug into another grin. “You have a way with words, Tank.”
As she looks at me with those dark eyes full of life and heat, I realize that I don’t want her to be just another hot fuck. I want to know more about Sophie and her life. What brought her to Angel Harbor and the clinic? Why the fuck isn’t she scared about being tangled up with a motorcycle club?
“Why the fuck is a beautiful woman like you single, Soph?”
Her grin is wide and brilliant as she shakes her head. “In a nutshell? A history of bad choices. You name it, and I’ve dated it. Cheaters, deadbeats, guys who look good on paper, controlling assholes, jealous and insecure. All of it, I’ve dated and discarded. And now here I am.”
I want the name of every man who’s done Sophie wrong so I can hunt them down and make them pay, but I don’t say those words to her. “Idiots. Every last fucking one of them.”
“Thanks,” she sighs. “But honestly, it’s a learning process, and I’m sure the bad choices also reflect on my own circumstances.”
“Circumstances?” Does she have issues or is she one of those women always searching for her happy ending?
“You know,” she shrugs. “Wanting to see the best in a person despite the red flags.” She studies me for a long time, head tilting gently to the right. “What about you, Tank. What is it you’re after?”
“Good question,” I shoot back quickly. “I don’t fucking know. I’m not really a long-term relationship kind of guy, but lately, my whole mind is full of thoughts of you.”
“That’s bad?”
