Once more, I needed to rip my gaze off her as I stepped away and headed down the hallway, following the indicators. I handed the banquet room and spa earlier than reaching the restaurant that neglected the pool space.

The bartender put my scotch and soda in a plastic cup after I informed him I used to be heading out to sit down by the pool. Then, drink in hand, I settled onto one of many Adirondack chairs subsequent to a tiki torch. I sighed as I loved the sound of the waterfall cascading over a bunch of huge rocks subsequent to the pool.

All that was left to do was wait.

My thoughts robotically drifted to an evening seven years in the past—the night time I’d gone out to sit down on my again porch and noticed an eighteen-year-old strolling a little bit white pet on a leash. I couldn’t assist however smile as I remembered the best way Makenna Shelton had labored her approach into my coronary heart. Because it turned out, she was nonetheless there.

3

MAKENNA

He was too previous for me.

That was my first thought once I noticed Jesse Turner that summer time. He was twenty-eight and I used to be eighteen. He seemed younger for his age, however that wasn’t the case now. Again then, he’d been a lot smaller framed, though he at all times had muscle mass on him, because of working outdoor together with his palms most of his life.

He wasn’t too previous now. Twenty-five and thirty-five weren’t almost as far aside in age as eighteen and twenty-eight. That was excellent news if it meant he wouldn’t deal with me like a fragile younger virgin like he did again then. Our kisses had been mind-blowing, however he’d been holding again, protecting his palms off all of the components of my physique I needed him to the touch. And when my palms began to float, he’d stopped issues.

Sure, he’d been the proper gentleman. I needed him to be something however.

Jesse was sitting instantly in entrance of the pool once I arrived with a cup of pineapple juice blended with lemon-lime soda in my proper hand. He held an identical cup, however I used to be betting his had alcohol in it. I nonetheless needed to make the five-mile trek house, so alcohol wasn’t an possibility.

“Hello,” I stated as I approached.

He seemed over with vast eyes. The sound from the fountain had little question drowned out my approaching footsteps. However then he smiled, his eyelids rising a little bit droopier. He was extra relaxed than he’d been earlier, which most likely meant the alcohol was kicking in.

“Second one.” He lifted the cup. “I assume I wanted it after that eight-hour drive.”

My coronary heart sank on the similar time my butt sank into the chair. An eight-hour drive? That meant he lived even farther away than earlier than.

“You probably did all that in at some point?” I requested, staring straight forward. “That’s an extended drive on a motorbike.”

I most likely ought to discover an excuse to get out of right here, even when it was the other of what I needed to do. The extra time I spent with him, the extra possible I’d fall again in love with him. I couldn’t let that occur. Not if he was leaving after Biker Blast.

However I didn’t budge. As an alternative, I took a sip from my drink and waited for his response.

“Wouldn’t journey some other approach,” he stated.

I seemed over at him. His options had settled right into a relaxed, virtually blissful state. Upon nearer inspection, I seen it was from exhaustion, not alcohol—although possibly that was within the combine too.

“How lengthy have you ever been into biking?” I requested.

The query carried an ulterior motive. I nonetheless couldn’t inform if he acknowledged me or not, however he hadn’t requested for my title. Perhaps that was an indication he knew precisely who I used to be. And possibly my query would get him to confess it.

“Just some years,” he stated. “Began as one thing I did on weekends, however then I’d go on these group journeys with native guys. A bunch of us joined a regional bike membership and shortly I used to be far more into biking than I ever thought I’d be.”

Yeah, he nonetheless didn’t acknowledge me, and I couldn’t resolve if I ought to inform him who I used to be. The longer I went with out mentioning it, the more durable it will be once I lastly did.

However I couldn’t convey myself to say the phrases. Perhaps it was as a result of I didn’t need him to see me as that chubby, baby-faced eighteen-year-old. I needed him to see me as a girl. A voluptuous twenty-five-year-old he needed to…boink.

“I’ve by no means ridden a motorbike earlier than,” I admitted. “Properly, except you embrace the bicycle I had once I was eight.”

“Did you develop up round right here?” he requested.

It was official. He undoubtedly had no thought who I used to be. Did I even look acquainted? May an individual change that a lot in seven years? My options had turn out to be extra angular, and my hair was now blonde as an alternative of my pure brunette. That modified my look significantly.

I’d acknowledged him instantly, although. He needed to not less than assume I resembled the woman he’d met on this very city when he was in his twenties.

“Nashville,” I stated. “Properly, the suburbs of Nashville. A city referred to as Donelson.”

Supply: www.seynovel.com