Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
And when the big man in front of me moves, I go still.
Oh, shit.
What the hell am I doing?
Is he going to rape me? Kill me? Film me and make a big scene? What the hell was I thinking getting on a bike with a complete stranger and riding off into the night? I’ve lost my mind.
“Calm down, sweetheart,” he murmurs, peeling my fingers off his jacket and throwing his leg over the bike, getting off. “I’m not here to do any of the horrible shit you’re thinkin’ right now.”
I glance at him, looking up from under my lashes at the massive biker staring down at me. He really is bigger up close. God. So big. So beautiful. His face takes my breath away—it’s the nicest, most dangerous face I’ve ever encountered on a male. It makes my heart do funny things and my stomach clench in a way I’ve never felt before. I won’t get started on the tingle between my legs.
“Why did you help me then?” I say, my voice small. “And why have you been following me?”
“I helped you because it was me or that group of drunk bitches with phones. Pretty sure you don’t want your face all over the internet by tomorrow morning. Not to mention you’re about five foot nothing. They’d carry you off without even making an effort.”
He makes a valid point.
“And the following me part?”
“You told me your name at the fountain. I was curious.”
I blink.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it, darlin’. Now get off the bike.”
I do as he asks, climbing off the bike and rubbing my arms. It’s cool out with the wind whipping in from the ocean. Maverick nods his heads toward a park bench underneath one of the street lights. “You want to sit?”
I study him. His explanations were so simple. So straight to the point. That either means he’s telling me what I want to hear to lure me to some sort of trap, or he’s telling me the truth. Something about the way his eyes hold mine, without hesitation, tells me he’s telling the truth. After all, he could just throw me over his shoulder and take me anywhere he wanted, and I’d not be able to fight him off.
So, I walk toward the park bench and put my bottom down onto it, turning to face the mysterious stranger, just slightly. He places his big, ringed hands onto his faded-out jeans and stares straight ahead.
“Want to tell me what you were doin’ walkin’ around so late at night all by yourself? Isn’t a girl like you supposed to have bodyguards?”
A girl like me. I bristle at that but don’t say anything. Because I know he doesn’t mean it the way it sounds. They never do. It’s just a common observation, and one I have no right getting angry at him over.
“I am, yes. But I’m still a person, you know? I don’t have to live every second of my life being followed.”
That comes out a little snippier than I’d like, and I feel bad about it right away. He was only asking a question.
He looks over at me, and cocks a brow. “Calm down, darlin’. I wasn’t saying that.”
“Sorry,” I murmur, staring down at my hands. “It’s hard, you know? Not being able to have a life. I forget what it’s like to just walk out my front door and go to a store, or walk down a street without being noticed. It’s hard for me to find any time alone. Right now, I can promise you my manager is losing her mind. She probably has dogs out, sniffing me down.”
He chuckles, low and sexy, and I feel it right in my core. I cross my legs, flushing.
“I can imagine that wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun.”
“No,” I say. “It isn’t.”
“Why tonight? What made you venture out so late on your own?”
I shrug. “I got into a disagreement with my manager. I wanted something, she didn’t want to give it to me. I know that sounds bratty, but I don’t ask for much. I do as I’m told, I sing what I’m told, I give every single piece of me to this life. So, when I ask for something, it’s important. It matters. She can’t seem to see that.”
“Might need a new manager,” he murmurs, studying me, his eyes dropping to my lips. God. My heart. “What did you ask for?”
His voice is husky.
Being so close to him, it’s making me body feel some strange things. The urge to shuffle closer, to feel what it would feel like to be wrapped up in him, is intense. So intense I shuffle a little further away.
“I don’t bite, sweetheart.”
He looks amused.
I flush. “I’m not convinced of that.”
He laughs.
It’s a perfect sound.
Dammit.
Damn him.
I don’t even know him!
I nervously continue by answering the question he asked. “I wanted a girl in my band. She doesn’t want to allow it. I’ve got enough people already, granted, but this girl ... I can’t explain it. She’s incredible. She’s partially deaf, but she feels the music, and she plays the piano unlike anyone I’ve ever known.”