Rory (Coded for Love 1)

“Okay.” She stared at the ground. There was something worrying her.

He hadn’t finished warning her off, but her fretful expression mellowed his mood a bit. Instinctively he reached out for her, putting his hands on her shoulders, stepping in against her where she was sheltered in the doorway. “I told you what I’d planned.”

She snuggled in, hands on his chest, face turned sideways against his leather biker’s jacket. “I know, but I thought you might have just said that and you were really meeting a girlfriend.”

He stroked her hair. “There’s no girlfriend. You’re the only girl I’m spending time with right now.”

She looked up at him. The nearby street light illuminated her face, and he saw surprise in her expression. That surprise morphed into longing.

For a moment he forgot his plan to tear a strip off her, forgot to tell her off for daring to follow him. Instead he kissed her, and drew her in tight against him where he could hold her safe in his arms and feel her soft mouth parting under his. The sound she made when he kissed her—like a moan from deep inside of her—made him want to get her indoors and naked, hold her tighter still, tight enough so they were bonded.

She shivered in his grasp and he pulled back when he realized how cold she was. “You’re freezing.” He rubbed her bare hands inside his. “Your jacket is too thin to be any use. Why the hell didn’t you go home?”

“I missed where you went in, so I decided to wait.”

“Come on, let’s get away from here.” With one arm around her, he urged her down the steps and along the road. He held her protectively, but inside he was still stewing. He’d sit her down somewhere warm and explain things to her. It was his own fault, he realized, he shouldn’t have told her what was going on. She’d been right about the USB though. Flushing it wouldn’t get rid of Jackson. She was canny, but he didn’t need a wannabe-sidekick he had to worry about.

A nearby café bar beckoned to him. He’d been in there a couple of times. It served coffee and light meals during the day then went full bar at night.

“Let’s grab a drink. It’ll be warm inside.” He ushered her in the door. The place was busy, the crowd a mixture of business types sharing bottles of wine at the end of the day and people already out on the town for the night.

He led her over to two high stools by the window. “There’s a heater on the wall under the drinks shelf. Sit there and get warm, I’ll go get us a drink.”

He was going to get them two bottles of beer, but when he got to the bar he saw they had mulled cider on the go and decided to get Sky a mug to warm her up.

“Oh, wow, thank you.” She wrapped her hands around the warm mug, picked it up and breathed the aroma in “This smells delicious, thanks Rory.”

“Have you eaten?” He pulled a bag of peanuts from one pocket and some potato chips from the other, placing them both on the nearby shelf.

Sky smiled and tore open the snacks. “You’re such a hero.”

“That’s the last thing I am.” He grabbed a handful of the nuts and chomped his way through them. “You shouldn’t have followed me, it’s dangerous. Promise me you won’t do it again.”

She lifted her eyebrows.

“I don’t want to bring trouble to your door,” he continued, “but if you follow me and are seen—”

“No one saw me,” she interrupted.

“I did.”

She gestured at him. “You were the only person who noticed me.”

“I’m good at this stuff.”

She laughed. The sound of it warmed him, lessening the tension he felt about her being there. “Why on earth would you think I’ve got a girlfriend?”

“You’re a good looking guy.”

“I’m not going to argue.” He flashed a grin. “Seriously, did you really think I’d sleep with you if I had a girlfriend waiting at home?”

She shrugged

“I wouldn’t do that.”

She sipped at her cider, her expression thoughtful. “Rowan’s boyfriend slept with someone else while she was in the hospital, right after she had the baby.”

Rory was shocked. “Really?”