Blood & Bones: Ozzy (Blood Fury MC 9)

Just like that.

Yep, a complete asshole.

After that she blocked his number, hired an attorney and the rest—and her marriage—was history.

Luckily, they never got around to having children. But then, he already had two with his first wife and had been paying a pretty penny in child support. Maybe it was one reason he kept putting off the discussion of children with her. She should’ve known. It should’ve been a red flag.

He probably wanted to avoid any more of his salary being garnished in the future.

But now she was glad she didn’t have any children who would be tied to that man. Even though he’d made excuse after excuse on why he “couldn’t” see his children, Shay realized he’d gotten bored with them, too.

Asshole.

Before the ink was actually dry on their divorce papers, the jerk was signing a new marriage certificate with a woman who was ten years younger than Shay.

Thank goodness tonight it wasn’t Darren waiting outside her door.

Yesterday—especially last night at the bar—Ozzy had been easy to talk to and didn’t seem to be any kind of creeper.

But looking back at Darren, maybe she wasn’t the best judge of character.

Even so, it was only dinner and a motorcycle ride. Surprisingly, she looked forward to spending more time with the biker before she hit the road in the morning.

She took a quick last glance at herself in the mirror hanging over the desk and tucked a few stray dark strands back into her French braid, even though she knew the second they took off the wind would rip them right back out and mess up her tightly plaited hair.

She had pulled on a cream sleeveless blouse that showed just enough cleavage but not too much, a pair of clean jeans and tucked her feet back into the boots she had worn last night and earlier today on her hike.

The outfit wasn’t sexy but she wasn’t out to impress the biker. Was she?

No.

She had no reason to.

She ran an anxious hand down the front of her blouse, anyway, pulled her shoulders back, lifted up her chin and opened the motel room door.

Ozzy had backed his bike into the empty spot next to her Lexus and had something in his lap. He gave her a grin that shot bolts of lightning to the parts of her body that no one but her and her doctor had touched in the last year. Or so.

He held the item out to her. “Borrowed a brain bucket if you wanna wear one.”

Wow. That was really sweet of him and very unexpected.

“Wind-whipped hair and dealing with knots afterward, or helmet head?” She pressed a finger to her bottom lip and raised her eyes to the late afternoon sky. “Hmm.”

The helmet he offered her had a full face shield so it would keep the bugs off her face, too, but it would also make communicating with him while on the bike more difficult.

It would be reckless of her not to wear it…

Or she could live her life to the fullest and feel the wind on her face and be able to press her cheek to his back as she hung on tight. Her father’s Harley had a backrest and she only ever loosely held onto him since she preferred to lean back and keep her eyes on the passing landscape.

During the time she spent on the back of his bike, all her troubles would seem to simply disintegrate. Sometimes she’d even get lost in her own little fantasy world. While her father’s goal when they went for a ride was to always find a new route so Shay could see new things. To expand Shay’s world a little more each time.

A soft smile curled her lips at the memory and she realized her eyes had shut as she relived it.

“You okay?”

Ozzy’s deep voice did the same thing to her as his grin.

She ignored the helmet, walked right up to him, grabbed his face with both hands and planted her mouth on his, giving him a solid, but closed-mouth kiss. When she pulled away, she whispered, “Thank you.”

He was frowning when she stepped back and confusion filled his beautiful gray eyes. “For what?”

“For taking me back to some of my fondest memories.”

“Didn’t even leave the motel yet.”

“It doesn’t matter. Instead of me reliving all the bad memories of my youth this weekend, you’ve obliterated them with the good ones.”

“With your pop?”

She nodded and took the helmet from his fingers. “I won’t be needing this but I appreciate the offer.”

She took the few steps to the office next door, and quickly put it inside where it would be safe, giving a wave to the young woman named Josie working behind the desk.

“Have a great night!” Josie called out, a sly smile on her face. She’d been the one to let Shay know what time to be ready for dinner with Ozzy.