Page 43 of Seasons of Love
"Is that your name? Harley?"
It totally made sense now. Only Slade would have a cat and name it after his favorite bike.
"Well, hello, Harley. Nice to meet you," I said.
Harley jumped from the bike frame straight onto the workbench, making my heart skip another three beats.
She sat on the box again. "I guess you're not helping me with this delivery, are you?"
Harley purred and raised her paw as if she wanted to play.
"I think you better scoot before your daddy comes over and tells us both off."
She jumped back on the floor and left the garage through the gap under the metal door.
Slade was still with his customer, so I allowed myself a moment to admire him from afar.
I wondered if he ever noticed how often he stroked his beard. The man was sex on legs and, okay, I'd always had a thing for older men, but Slade was more than his appearance.
The way he'd cared for me yesterday had been unexpected.
With Richard, I'd felt like I was always playing the same part. Even though we were both versatile, it had been rare when he'd let me top him. And if he was extra horny, he could be rough to the point of pain.
I pushed those thoughts aside in favor of memories from yesterday. We hadn't switched, but there was something about Slade that told me we could have. I'd been so desperate to have him that I hadn't given him a chance. He'd only drawn the line at taking me twice so I wouldn't end up too sore.
"I thought I was the only one who got hard staring at bikes."
I snapped up to see Slade leaning against the door separating the shop from the garage, a heated smile on his face.
"Harley kept me company while you were busy, but I was actually just thinking about you," I said, walking over to him until we were only inches apart.
"Oh really? And what were you thinking about that caused that problem in your jeans?"
"Unless you suffer from short-term memory loss, you'll know exactly what I was thinking," I said in my best attempt to sound seductive.
He put his hands on either side of my face and pulled me in for a kiss that ignited the need for Slade that hadn't really gone away since he'd left my apartment very early this morning.
"Hmm…I remember now. You see, us old folks sometimes have a hard time remembering things."
I wanted to make a joke about how hard he was, but he kissed me again, and then I was the one with the memory loss problem.
"How about I take you to dinner? I just sold a new bike, so we can celebrate…and if you're lucky, you can have me for desser—"
"Deal."
17
SLADE
I closed the shop and grabbed the paperwork to lock it in my office.
Aiden had been meticulously buffing the engine case for the Harley, following my instructions, while I'd dealt with another bike purchase inquiry.
Business was good, and I'd been spending all my free time with Aiden. Not all of it with clothes on.
In fact, while initially Aiden had been as shy about being with me as he was upfront about what he wanted, in the last week, he'd let go of all his hang-ups, whatever they might be.
We'd even switched from having dinner at Benny's every night to eating in, or ordering in when we couldn't be bothered to cook. Or to be more exact, when we'd been so tired from having sex that we couldn't be bothered to cook.
