Page 55 of One Bossy Date
“Anders, I’m really, really not feeling this.”
“I know. Don’t be a chicken.”
After a moment of consideration, she gave in and took the helmet from me. “Okay, but drive carefully.”
“You have nothing to worry about. Come closer.” She stepped closer, and I stood and helped her tighten the strap under her chin.
In the moment of silence between us, me working close to her face, she did all she could to not look at mine. The softness of her skin against my fingertips drew me in, and I took extra time with the buckle just to make sure it was secure, while being tortured and distracted by her subtle but sweet scent. When I lifted my eyes, I caught her gaze. She was staring at my lips again.
Dax was right. I was fucked.
“There,” I said, and tugged at the helmet. “It’s not coming off unless you want it to.”
She chuckled and looked at the bike nervously. “I’ve never been on a bike before.”
“I sense that.” I climbed on the bike and rotated to face her. “Now, sit behind me, and make sure your dress is tucked under you.”
“Why?” She seemed stressed.
“Relax, girl. Well, otherwise you might just give the whole of Manhattan a good look at whatIsaw this morning.”
She gasped, turned bright red, and her lip curved up. “All right. Okay.”
“You’ve got this. Calm down. Just focus on getting comfortable first.” I was doing this to show her one thing: Fear can be conquered. Not by avoiding things, but by facing them. When the dogs had come barreling into the bathroom earlier, I’d seen her waking up faster than before from the shock the fear was giving her. Sure, I enjoyed pushing her a bit—and then a bit more—but I could also see that Zoe got stronger with every challenge she conquered.
She lifted her leg over the seat, clasping her dress in front of her, and sat down. She tucked the material tightly under her ass on both sides, then scooted closer to me so the dress was pinned between our bodies. I didn’t think she’d really thought it through, though, because the moment her thighs touched me, she hesitated, flinching with uncertainty. To help her along, I put my fingers behind her knees and pulled her forward and against me. Her responding gasp and then silence told me she was settled.
“Now, hold on to me.”
“Um—” She put her hands gingerly on my arms, and I laughed.
“No, like this.” I took her hands and pulled them around me, leaving them on my pecs intentionally, just to mess with her. Just to get her relaxed. She seemed to think about it for a moment, then moved them down to hold onto my abs more securely.
22
ZOE
Ohmigosh, holy hell.
What was I doing?
Anders revved the engine, almost making me jump out of my skin, then pulled away. I stressed about the balance and whether my knees would hit the pavement when he turned. But when I peered around Anders’s shoulder, I saw his knees went out way farther than mine, so if anything, his knees would be knocked before mine, anyway. Not that I wanted that to happen. It was just my panic speaking.God, help me survive this.Trying to take stock of where I was and what I was doing, I didn’t know what to focus on first—the actual motorcycle I was risking my life on, or the fact that Anders was between my legs. Literally, between my legs. I could feel his body against my inner thighs, and I seriously hoped he couldn’t feel the warmth of my center, getting warmer by the second, so close to him.
I held on to his body for dear life and realized I was squeezing way harder than necessary. I loosened my grip, looked around, and told myself everything was fine. I didn’t want him to think I was such a chicken. Just as I let out a steadying breath and thought that I had this, I felt my dress give way. No, no, no, stupid dress. I couldn’t let go!OMG! Don’t give way, don’t give way.
To my relief, Anders noticed the pink material flapping vigorously next to him and reached out to grab the seam. He then reached back and tucked it under my ass. Like, lifted me with his large hand, and got that material all the way under me. Oh, Lord. It felt too exciting.It wasn’t even sexual, Zoe!(It totally was.)
The whole situation—the fall, the towel slip, the almost-kiss on the counter—had me cringing in embarrassment but was freaking hot at the same time. Later, when I was in Anders’s bath, I’d had to do something about it. But I knew it would be so wrong. It would be so wrong to touch myself to those scenes in my mind, to rid myself of the need I had for him. It would be even more wrong to already be touching myself when he said goodbye through the door. It definitely would be wrong to come so fast and so hard within seconds, right there in his bathtub. And it definitely, definitely would be wrong to come twice.
I’d thought it would get him out of my system, especially the second time, but obviously that had been a long shot, because now I sat against him, on his sexy-ass bike and felt that heat simmer right back up. My hands were on him, and I’d felt his hard pecs through his jacket—I knew right away he’d been messing with me—before I moved them down. And no, feeling his abs wasn’t any less sexy.
We were circling the block a second time now—jerk didn’t stick to his promise—but I was finally enjoying it. I really was. To my own surprise. It felt freeing, refreshing, and again, incredibly sexy. I wasn’t used to seeing Anders in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket. This morning was the first time seeing him in jeans, and now, the first time seeing and feeling him in a leather jacket. It was super-hot. That salt-and-pepper hair of his blew in the wind, and the gray came through in his weekend scruff as well. To top all that, he wore a very expensive-looking pair of aviators. Damn.
We parked right outside the coffee shop and Anders cut the engine. “So?” He turned his head to look at me. “Was that not fun?”
I slid off the seat and stood next to him, still a little wobbly, tugging at my dress, bringing it in order again. “Yeah, okay, okay. It was fun.” I laughed in exhilaration, speaking a bit too loudly now that the engine was off.
Anders reached out and helped unfasten the helmet. “Are you telling me that I was right again?”