"Yeah, well, my roommate is my ride and she's still in there. So it's me and my feet."
"I'll give you a ride."
She rolled her eyes at me.
"Yeah, right. I'll just bet you will."
She started walking again. This was insane, I couldn't let her walk around in the dark! It wasn't safe. Especially looking the way she did. She’d get harassed by every damn guy that drove by!
Or worse.
“Wait!”
I ran in front of her and held my hand out. That did it. She crossed her arms, waiting for me to speak.
"I'll get you a job. Give me your phone."
She stared at me in exasperation. Then she chewed on her lip, considering her options. She must have come to the same conclusion I had: she didn't have much of a choice.
She pulled out her phone and held it up.
"Fine. But don't be calling me for booty calls. This is strictly business."
"Yes, absolutely. You got it."
She sighed deeply and handed her ancient looking phone over. I felt triumphant suddenly as I typed in my number and texted myself. Then I texted her back with an address.
"Be there tomorrow morning. 8 am. Now come on, let me drive you home."
I grinned at her and held out my helmet.
Slowly, very slowly, she reached out and took it.
Chapter Ten
Elle
I was trying my best to hold myself at a respectable distance from Jake Delancey's broad back and shoulders. And his bum. His very tight, very cute little bum.
But it was not easy to do.
Oh no it was definitely not easy to do.
He was riding fast on a winding road. Faster than I would have liked, but he seemed to know what he was doing. I couldn’t lie, it was exciting. The way he handled the bike was sending thrills through my body.
He took a sharp turn and I gasped, gripping him more tightly. I was pressed up against him now, my breasts mashing against the thin cotton of his shirt. He'd insisted I wear his jacket and helmet. Which meant that right now I was getting a really good, strong whiff of Jake Delancey.
And he smelled good.
Really good.
My inner thighs were pressed up against his jeans. And since I’d still been wearing my uniform, the skirt was pushed up to the top of my thighs. I felt very exposed and more than a little bit naughty.
If he was facing the other way, we would practically be… doing the deed. And that didn’t sound all that unappealing at the moment. Even thought my life was in shambles, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if Mr. Peabody hadn’t arrived…
Oh dear.
I shook myself and tried to pay attention to holding on for dear life. My cheek kept brushing his shoulder, no matter which way I turned. Finally I gave in and rested my cheek against his back. Now I could really smell him.
Oh lord. He smelled so good… so warm and manly.
Sweet Mary and Joseph, you sound ridiculous Eleanor!
He must have gone the long way because it was another twenty minutes or so before I recognized any of the streets near my apartment building. It was nothing fancy, that was for sure. But my apartment was clean and safe. It was more than I could have asked for really.
So, what if all the neighbors were geriatrics? At least they were quiet. For the most part they were very sweet. Almost every day one of them baked us cookies.
Miss Jansen lived just next door and was almost like a second grannie to me.
I wondered what she would think of Jake. The woman never slept. I just knew she would be peeking her head out the curtains.
Jake pulled into the lot and parked the bike. He was off in a flash, forcing me to hastily yank my skirt down over my thighs. He grinned at me, making me positive that he'd done it on purpose. He'd been trying to catch a look up my skirt, damn him.
The man was incorrigible.
Bloody gorgeous, but incorrigible.
I pulled off his soft leather jacket and handed it to him. I missed the warmth and the smell of him almost immediately. Meanwhile I could still feel him pressed against me… especially his gorgeous lips.
"I suppose I should thank you for the ride."
He leaned back against his bike as he slid the jacket on. Somehow the man made even that simple action look over-the-top sexy. It was hard to imagine how good it would look if he was taking his clothes off.
No Elle, don’t spend too much time thinking about that!
"No need. I'm more than happy to give you a ride whenever you want."
I narrowed my eyes at him. I just knew he was offering me more than a ride on his bike. He was talking about taking a ride on him.
Too bad he'd had so many other riders. If he wasn’t so obviously a player, I would have had a hard time turning him down. I was having a hard time resisting him now, even though I knew I was just another notch on his bed post.