Chapter 6
Honey slept in on Saturday morning. She’d gotten up twice to use the restroom during the night, so she welcomed getting a few more minutes to rest. Lounging in bed was a heavenly indulgence.
“Maybe I should stay here all day, Beatrice,” Honey told the plush insect in her arms. Beatrice didn’t answer her, but the bee’s cute antennae waved happily in the air.
When her stomach growled a few minutes later, Honey reconsidered. “Beatrice, we’ll starve if we keep being lazy. Let’s get up and go raid the kitchen. After trashcan nachos Thursday night, I think we can cheat a bit on the diet the doctor gave me. I’ll eat twigs and berries next week.”
Beatrice looked like she wanted to tell her something, so Honey held her stuffed queen bee up to her ear and listened carefully. When the stuffie had finished, Honey admitted, “I don’t know if he’ll call. He said he would.”
A few minutes later, she agreed, “You’re right, Beatrice. I’ll be on pins and needles waiting for him to phone. We need to go about our day. If he contacts me, hooray! If not….”
She let her voice fade away as she pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed.
Setting Beatrice next to her, Honey stood to test her balance.
To her delight, she felt more like her old self than she had for weeks.
Honey hurried to the restroom to wash her face and pee.
When she returned, Beatrice seemed impressed by how easily she walked.
“It’s going to be a good day, Beatrice. I should do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Something I don’t normally have energy for.”
Honey perched on the bed and hugged her stuffie to her chest as she considered all the possibilities. She loved going to the park, but it was still too hot. The heat caused her a ton of problems. But air-conditioning wouldn’t.
“I could try shopping, Beatrice. I haven’t done that in a long time.
I need to run to the grocery store, but I could have them deliver.
Let’s not waste energy on that. There’s that pottery place I’ve wanted to check out forever.
Do you remember, Beatrice? You go and paint a ceramic object, and they fire it for you. That would be fun.”
Bouncing on the bed in excitement, Honey celebrated finding the thing she’d enjoy most. She crossed her fingers and hoped they’d have a spot for her. Honey leaned over to pick up her phone and froze. A message from Razor had popped up.
Honey, my apologies for having to reschedule yesterday. I know this is last moment, but what’s your schedule like today? Can I convince you to spend some time with me?
Hi, Razor. I’d love to see you. Where should I meet you?
Let’s do something you’ve wanted to do for a while.
Honey checked in with Beatrice to check what her stuffie thought.
Razor wouldn’t like painting pottery, would he?
It would be more fun than doing it on her own if he wouldn’t be a total grouch the whole session.
Honey scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
Razor wouldn’t go and be miserable. He didn’t seem the type to agree to anything he didn’t want to do.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Honey opened the app she’d already downloaded last month and checked to see if the pottery place had any openings. There were two slots free at one o’clock.
I’ve been thinking about going to paint pottery.
Pottery, hmmm? That sounds like fun. Could I try it with you?
You want to come paint?
I’ve got a steady hand. I’ll try it. Fair warning, I don’t have any artistic talent. No laughing at my project. When could we go?
The Happy Potter has two vacancies at one.
Grab them, Honey. Do you need me to send you money now, or can I pay for us at the art place?
We do that there. I can take care of mine.
Honey reopened the app, holding her breath. Would they still be there? She blew out a shaky gust of air as she spotted the same two spots. Quickly, she reserved the spaces.
She flipped back to messenger to see if he’d come up with an excuse not to go. The screen was blank under her message. Razor waited patiently for her to complete her mission.
Got them!
Perfect, Little girl. We’ll eat first. I’ll be at your door at eleven. I’ll take you to get a quick bite, and we’ll head to the pottery place.
“Oh, my gosh, Beatrice. I have a date! And…. He called me Little girl. I feel like pinching myself to see if it’s real.”
She checked the time and panicked. Her cellphone displayed ten thirty. She only had thirty minutes before Razor got there. Without allowing herself time to debate what to wear, Honey dashed into her closet and grabbed clothes. She’d stepped into her jeans when the knock sounded. “Coming!”
She paused for a minute to zip and button her pants before opening the door.
Razor stood there looking incredibly yummy.
He wasn’t wearing his leather vest today, and she stared at how toned and fit he looked in the snug T-shirt that stretched over his powerful chest. Swallowing hard, Honey forced her brain to work and lifted her gaze to meet his dancing brown eyes.
He’d noticed her checking him out. Just kill me now. “Hi!” she forced herself to say.
“Hi, Honey. Ready to grab something to eat?”
“Um, not quite. I need to put some makeup on,” Honey told him and smoothed her bangs off out of her eyes. “Ugh! And brush my hair. Sorry. I never function well too early in the morning. She pulled her hand away from her forehead, planning to whack herself for being an idiot.
He caught her hand and assured her, “We have plenty of time.”
She held her breath as he drew her hand to his mouth and leaned closer to press his warm lips against her palm.
A thrill zipped through her, seemingly on a direct path to her most intimate space.
As she clenched her thighs together, Honey stared into his deep brown eyes and shivered due to the connection between them. How did he affect her so strongly?
“I feel it too, Little girl.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I can’t wait to spend the day with you.” Razor ran his powerful hands down her arms. “You look delectable as you are. Go run a comb through your hair if that makes you happier, but don’t worry about makeup for me.”
Razor smiled at her as if she were the prettiest woman in town.
Honey thanked the two minutes she’d taken to brush her teeth when the handsome man stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her to draw her in for a kiss.
She melted against his powerful chest, loving his strength wrapped around her as his lips moved sensuously on hers.
When he lifted his mouth from hers, she decided he was definitely the best kisser ever. When she realized she was staring at him as he rubbed her back, she forced herself to move away. “Sorry.”
“For what? I enjoy holding you in my arms. I plan on doing it often.”
Her stomach growling saved Honey from having to answer.
“You’re going to perish from hunger. It’s time I fed you.”
“Really? You’re okay being seen with me in public without makeup?”
When he glowered at her, she decided to take him at his word. Her skin reacted occasionally to her cosmetics. Honey usually gave herself a break from the chemicals when she was away from her job. “I’ll be right back. Come on in and have a seat. I’ll tame my locks and grab my purse.”
A few minutes later, she rejoined him with her small phone case purse slung over her shoulder and her hair in a ponytail. “I’m ready.”
Razor wrapped his powerful hands around her waist and met her gaze directly. “I will never lie to you, Honey.”
“Oh! I didn’t mean to imply you were lying. I didn’t want to embarrass you out there.”
“You could never embarrass me, Little girl. No matter how you look or what you do, unless you target someone without a valid reason. And I don’t think you’d do that.”
“No. I wouldn’t hurt a fly. Maybe a mosquito because they would suck out my blood,” Honey said and realized she was chattering nervously.
“Kill all those annoying creatures. They delight in torturing me,” Razor said.
“Me too!”
Honey allowed Razor to guide her out of the door. A shiny blue truck sat in her driveway. “You didn’t bring your motorcycle?”
“I thought riding in the truck would make a better first date. It’s easier to talk inside the cab. We’ll ride my chopper sometime if you would like.”
“I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before,” she confessed.
“I’m considering taking it to the shop to equip it with an accessory.”
“More chrome?” Honey had read enough MC romances to absorb that handsome men loved to add shiny accents and other things to their bikes.
“How about I let it be a surprise?” he said, opening the passenger door and lifting her up into the seat.
His help was so automatic and easy that Honey didn’t think of protesting. She smiled her appreciation as he reached across her to buckle her seatbelt. “I can do that.”
“Not with me, you can’t,” Razor said firmly. He stepped back and closed her door firmly.
A tiny rebellion blossomed inside her, and she almost jumped out of the truck to show him he wasn’t the boss of her.
Honey squashed it as soon as that popped into her brain.
Having a handsome man take care of her so completely was her biggest fantasy.
She wouldn’t screw that possibility up for anything.
Razor gave her a sideways glance as he climbed up into the cab. He fastened his own seatbelt before wrapping his hand around her thigh and giving her a squeeze. “Good girl.”
How did he know she’d had a moment of revolt?
“Let’s go eat, Little girl, before you get in trouble.”
“I’m a very good girl,” she told him primly and folded her hands in her lap.
“Of course you are. Until you listen to that tiny, devilish voice in your head. Ignore whatever it tells you,” Razor suggested as he pulled out of her driveway.
She gaped at him in complete surprise. “You pick up on entirely too much.”
“Daddies have eyes in the back of their heads. They see everything.”