Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Wheels
I woke before I opened my eyes with something warm resting against my chest. Something soft.
My brain took a second to catch up before I realized exactly what it was.
Goldie.
I cracked one eye open and looked down. Sometime during the night, she’d rolled completely across the bed. She’d started out on her side beneath the blankets while I’d stubbornly stayed on top of them with my boots still on.
Now?
She was curled against me like she’d been sleeping there for years.
One arm rested across my ribs. Her cheek was pressed against my shoulder, and one knee had somehow found its way over my thigh. The blanket I’d refused to sleep under had twisted halfway onto the floor, leaving her using me as her own personal heater.
A grin tugged at my mouth. So much for sleeping on opposite sides of the bed.
I slowly turned my head toward the clock sitting on the dresser. Nine-thirty.
Still early for Goldie. Since she’d gotten to the clubhouse, she’d been sleeping like someone making up for weeks of lost rest.
I couldn’t blame her.
Hell, if I’d spent the last month running from a group like The Ledger, I probably would’ve slept for three days straight. Careful not to wake her, I looked back down.
A few strands of blonde hair had escaped whatever braid she’d gone to sleep with and were spread across my chest. Her breathing was slow and steady. Every now and then, she made the smallest little sleepy sound that made the corner of my mouth pull even farther upward.
She trusted me.
Not enough to tell us where she’d hidden the second set of papers, but enough to fall asleep wrapped around me without even realizing she’d done it.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it. Way more than I probably should have.
She fit against me like she’d always belonged there.
My gaze drifted over her face. The freckles scattered across her nose. The faint crease between her eyebrows that disappeared the second she relaxed. The lips I’d spent entirely too much time trying not to think about.
Hell.
I shut my eyes for a second.
Cool it.
The Ledger was still out there. Someone had fired bullets into our clubhouse. Someone had burned Tempi’s bar. Someone had broken into Goldie’s apartment.
The last thing she needed was me acting like some teenager whose brain had stopped working because a beautiful woman happened to be sleeping on him.
I took a slow breath. Then another.
Didn’t help much.
She shifted, and her fingers curled lightly against my shirt before her eyes slowly blinked open. For a second, she looked confused, then she tipped her head back.
Our eyes met, and neither of us spoke. We were close enough that I could count the little flecks of green mixed into her blue eyes.
“Hi,” she whispered.
My smile came without permission. “Morning, babe.”
A sleepy smile spread across her face. “This is kind of nice.” Was she talking about waking up? About feeling safe? Or...
“I’d have to agree.”
She didn’t move or pull away. Instead, she studied my face like she was trying to memorize it. “Wheels.”
“Yeah?”
Her eyes drifted down for the briefest second before finding mine again. “I want...” She stopped.
“What do you want?”
She took a tiny breath. “Kiss me.”
Simple. Certain. Like she’d already made up her mind.
For half a heartbeat, I just looked at her. I wanted to make sure she meant it.
She didn’t look away and didn’t laugh. Didn’t take it back.
I lifted one hand and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You sure?”
She answered by closing the last inch between us.
The kiss was soft. Careful.
More of a question than an answer.
I felt her smile before she pulled back just enough to breathe.
“I’ve been wanting to do that.”
“So have I.”
This time when our lips met, there wasn’t nearly as much hesitation.
The kiss lingered, warm and unhurried. The kind that made the rest of the room disappear.
She laughed quietly against my lips, and I couldn’t help smiling with her.
When we finally pulled apart, we were both breathing a little harder than before.
She rested her forehead lightly against mine. “That,” she said with a tiny laugh, “was way better than I thought.”
I chuckled. “You’ve been thinking about kissing me too?”
Her eyes widened. “I wasn’t going to admit that.”
“Been thinking about kissing you since you got on the back of my bike.”
She lightly bumped my shoulder. “We were running for our lives, Wheels.”
I shrugged. “Didn’t stop me from noticing you.”
“We were literally trying not to get shot.”
“I know.”
She laughed. “I don’t think your priorities were in the right place.”
“Maybe not.”
I brushed another quick kiss across her lips. “You felt pretty good holding onto me.”
A faint blush warmed her cheeks. “You are impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
She shook her head, but there wasn’t much conviction behind it. For another quiet moment, we simply looked at one another.
No questions. No labels. No discussion about what the kiss meant. There would be time for that later. Right now, it was enough to know they both wanted it.
A loud growl interrupted the silence.
Goldie froze and then groaned. “My stomach just betrayed me.”
I laughed outright. “I guess I’d better get you fed.”
“I suppose that would be nice.”
She stretched before rolling onto her back. “So what’s on the agenda today?”
“Probably more paperwork.”
She sighed dramatically. “And staying here?”
“Yeah.” I hated giving that answer, but there wasn’t another one. “I can’t risk letting you out of the clubhouse.”
She nodded without arguing. “I figured.”
Slowly she climbed out of bed and stood. “I’ll go get ready.” She padded toward the bedroom door, then disappeared into the hallway toward the bathroom.
I watched her go. There was an easy confidence in the way she moved now that hadn’t been there when she’d first arrived. She wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder. She wasn’t waiting for the next bad thing to happen every second.
There was still fear, I knew that, but there was something else now too.
Hope.
My eyes lingered just a second longer before I leaned back against the headboard and let out a quiet breath.
I hadn’t expected any of this.
Not when we’d rolled into Madison. Not when she’d shoved that envelope into my hands. Not even when she’d climbed onto the back of my bike.
But now? I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.