Page 16 of Fighting for Irish
“Fine, don’t tell me,” he said as they passed the turn to her street, “but we’re gonna do things my way.”
“What exactly is your way?”
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but I wanna help you.” He glanced over to meet her speculative gaze. “Can you trust me, Kat?”
She didn’t speak for an endless half a minute where he counted the white dashes in the middle of the road like the ticking of a clock on fast-forward. Finally, she said, “What have I got to lose?”
Not the encouraging answer he’d hoped for, but it’d do for now.
Keeping to the speed limit, he continued until they got back to Lou’s. If these people were following her now, he could only assume they’d been following her before. Which meant they’d expect her to drop him off at the bar so he could pick up his bike and go home.
As he predicted, when Aiden turned into the parking lot, the Caddy kept going. They’d probably turn around a ways up the road, pull off to the side, and kill their lights while they waited for Kat to go back home.
He parked the Celebrity in the back and turned it off. “Come on,” he said.
She got out of the car and met him around the back. “We’re going to hang out at work? I’m no expert or anything, but if I had to guess, I’d say this plan kind of sucks.”
A wry grin twisted his lips. “That’s not the plan, kitten. Stay here a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Using his keys, he ducked into the back of the bar and grabbed his helmet out of his locker. Usually he rode his Panhead, but he’d been tinkering around with the engine, so lately he rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
He locked everything back up and crossed to where she stood by her car, arms crossed over her middle like she was trying to hold herself together.
“Put this on.” She accepted the royal blue helmet and followed him to his bike.
“Irish, I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but I don’t understand the point of going someplace new when they’ll just follow me there, too.”
Aiden unlocked his seat and retrieved the clear glasses to protect his eyes from the wind, since he didn’t have another helmet. After sitting astride the bike and knocking back the kickstand, he took the helmet and helped her put it on so she wouldn’t tear her stitches.
“You’re probably right,” he said, as she sat on the seat behind him. “But they’ll have to catch us first.” He inserted the key, flipped the switch, and pressed the start button. The engine roared to life, and he used the throttle to give it a couple of quick revs.
Kat leaned forward, pressing the front of her body to his back and sliding her arms around his waist. Though it wasn’t the time or the place, he’d have to be missing a pulse not to feel the hard points of her nipples through their thin shirts, or how her groin fit against the curve of his ass.
Stop thinking with your dick.He was looking into things too much. Trying to see and feel shit that wasn’t really there because it’d been so long since he’d had anything more than a superficial relationship.
But those were the only kinds he could afford to have. He needed to focus on helping Kat and getting back to that simple and detached way of life. End of fucking story.
She tightened her arms and something about the way she held him felt like more than just a way to stay on the bike.
End of story? Yeah, right.
“Hang on tight, kitten.”
…
Kat’s stomach fluttered so hard she was positive he could feel it where she pressed against his back. Not only had she never ridden a motorcycle before, but now she worried they wouldn’t be able to shake Sicoli’s watchdogs and she’d only succeed in pissing them off for having to chase her.
He turned his head to the side and looked at her from the corner of his eye through the clear wraparounds. “Relax, Kat. If you’re stiff it’ll make it hard for me to turn. All you need to do is lean when I lean, okay?” She nodded, unsure if he’d be able to hear her through the closed helmet.
As he rode them through the parking lot, she felt a little silly for being so nervous. It wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d thought. They stopped where the gravel lot met the paved road. Kat turned her head to the right and squinted. She couldn’t see any sign of—
Headlights switched on about a half mile down. Apparently seeing her break routine was enough reason to drop the espionage thing. Irish revved the engine several times, reminding her of a bull pawing at the ground in warning before charging those who threatened his territory.
Then all at once the bike took off in the direction of the Cadillac. Her heart lodged in her throat, and she was fairly certain her stomach lay on the ground back at the entrance to Lou’s. Thank God she’d been holding on as tight as she was, or she’d be lying there next to it.
Whoever sat behind the wheel of the car must have anticipated their move and put his foot to the floor. The tires spun, kicking up dirt as the ass end of the car swung around to point its nose right at the motorcycle. As soon as the tires caught purchase, it lurched into the street as though trying to cut them off.
Kat screamed and squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to feel her bones shatter to dust from the impact, but all she felt was a quick right-left swerve of the bike and then…nothing. Well, nothing different. She still felt the vibrating hum beneath her and she definitely felt Irish’s hard body against her smaller one. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes to see the landscape rush by in a blur of shadows on either side. Laughter bubbled in her chest, but where it came from or why now was an appropriate time for it to surface, she hadn’t the slightest idea.
