Lone Rider (Motorcycle Club Romance) (2 page)

“French Onion Soup. It was my grandma’s recipe.” Caroline jumped up and sat on the edge of the bar as she handed him a spoon, waiting for him to try it.

“Don’t stare at me.”

“I want to see your reaction. Eat.” She nudged his hand, causing Tom to bury his spoon in the hot soup. He laughed quietly before taking a spoonful and humming in pleasure. She sure did know how to cook something good. He gave her a thumbs-up so he didn’t have to stop eating, and she clapped her hands together before hopping back off the bar.

“You should try her apple pie. She wins every year.” An elderly gentleman chuckled before patting him on the back.

“I told you, it’s the secret ingredient.”

Tom could see a blush creeping up her cheeks and he began to have trouble sitting comfortably in his suddenly tight jeans. He took a deep breath and a sip of the cold water beside him before returning to his meal, keeping his head down. He’d been on the road for seven months but had yet to take someone to his bed. With Caroline he couldn’t help but think of doing just that.

“You’ve got a knack for food, so stop denying it, Caroline.” The older man patted her hand gently before placing his cowboy hat back on his head, nodding at Tom and leaving the bar.

“He’s right. That was lovely,” Tom said a few moments later and got his wallet out. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing, it’s on the house. You can repay me tomorrow by buying me cotton candy.” Caroline grinned and took the bowl away and Tom placed some money on the table before standing up.

“What time should I be here?”

“Uh, the gates open at eight, so say about nine? Nothing really picks up until about then anyway.”

“Sounds perfect. See you tomorrow, Caroline.”

****

Caroline couldn’t help but smile at the way Tom had wolfed down her soup. She had used to spend hours in the kitchen with her grandma before she had died. Caroline had inherited everything that was hers, since her family hadn’t wanted anything to do with her after she had developed Alzheimer’s.

Caroline had quit her job at the time and moved in to look after her on a permanent basis, since her grandpa had died before Caroline was even born. Over those seven years of living with her she had learned how to cook and how to do a lot of other stuff that her grandma used to like. Caroline had been shocked when her grandma died, but even more shocked to find that she had a hidden bank account and had left everything to her, telling her to pursue her dream.

She’d taken the money, moved to Texas and opened this small bar. Little did she know three years later she would be having the time of her life and actually make a living from working here. Although now, since the bar had gained popularity, she needed to hire another bartender — but so far no one had caught her eye. Except Tom.

The problem with Tom being that he was only here for another four days. She couldn’t believe that she had told him about the Richard Sampson’s Festival and had even offered to take him there. Tom was the only man she had been attracted to since high school, and the passion she felt towards him scared her more than it should. She had wanted to make an impression on him, and had noticed the way his eyes followed her around the bar; she was hoping the attraction was mutual.

“Caroline, can we get some food, hon?”

“Coming right up!” Shaking her head, Caroline disappeared into the kitchen and started to prepare the food and to try and keep her mind off Tom. The bar was pretty busy for the next four hours, with customers rolling in and out, getting their last drinks in before the festival. While there was a beer tent at the festival, it wasn’t cold beer.

“Last call, people!” Caroline yelled before letting out a jaw-cracking yawn. The customers didn’t take long before they piled out of the bar, and she was allowed to lock up and go upstairs to her apartment. She had decided to pick out her outfit before she got up in the morning to save her some time.

While she wanted to stay cool, she also wanted to make an impression on Tom, without looking like she was desperate. Caroline bit her lip as she surveyed her closet; it contained mostly jeans and shirts with the occasional dress. She lifted a white summer dress from the hanger and held it against her body in front of the mirror. While it wasn’t so thick that she was going to sweat, it was decent and showed a slight amount of cleavage. Just the look she was going for.

She tossed it back into the closet, before jumping in the shower to wash away the day’s grossness, and then crawled into bed. She had a long day tomorrow, and planned on making the most of it.

****

Caroline twirled her keys around her finger as she waited for Tom to turn up. She’d paired the dress with a pair of white wedged heels and tied her hair up in a messy bun. Tom turned the corner almost ten minutes later and stopped a few feet in front of her, his eyes surveying her from tip to toe. Well, good job she had chosen this outfit.

“Come on, sweetheart.”  She titled her head and unlocked the door to her Jeep. Tom shook his head and jumped into the vehicle, securing his seatbelt.

“You look beautiful, I have to say.”

“You don’t clean up too bad yourself.” Caroline had to admit that he did look pretty good. He had chosen a tight pair of black jeans and paired it with a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show his tattoos.

“So where is this festival then?”

“It’s not very far away, about a ten minute drive.” Caroline pulled out of the bar and the couple sat in comfortable silence until she had parked outside a large field, pulling her sunglasses from the glove compartment and locking her car.

“Wow. It’s bigger than I thought.” Tom couldn’t believe how big the field actually was. He couldn’t see the back of the festival since it was so huge, but where he was standing he could see numerous stands, hay and grass sculptures, a large rodeo arena in the back, and something in the left hand corner he couldn’t quite make out. He was looking forward to trying everything in this place.

“That’s what they all say.” She chuckled and grabbed him by the hand, leading him towards the gate. She waved at almost everyone she saw, then slapped a paper wristband on Tom’s wrist before trying to release his hand, but he kept a tight hold of it.

“Where to first?”

“The bull riding is this afternoon, and there is a dance tonight, so we can just have a walk around and see what we can find.” Caroline let Tom guide her around the festival, causing her to chuckle each time he expressed happiness at some small thing.

“What’s this?”

“That’s a fertility statue! Don’t touch it.” Caroline snatched Tom’s hand away from the tall wooden statue and giggled at the look of horror on his face. She watched as he squinted his eyes and leaned towards it with a frown.

“Is that a penis?”

“It’s a fertility statue, what do you think? Come on, the races are about to start.” She walked away and had the satisfaction of Tom following behind with no questions. They found a seat around the makeshift track and Tom flagged down the man who was serving cold cans, handing her one of them.

“So what’s racing?”

“Lawnmowers.”

“What?”

“Take a look.” She pointed to the start line and Tom shook his head in amazement. She was right. There were seven ride-on lawnmowers waiting at the start, and they sounded like they had been heavily modified to actually withstand this type of racing.

“This has to be the most interesting thing I’ve seen on my whole trip. Thank you for showing me this place.” Tom waved his hand around and smiled at Caroline. When he didn’t look away after a few seconds Caroline felt confused.

“Do I have something on my face or something?” she reached up and gasped when Tom grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, their lips a few inches apart. Tom leaned in slowly and jerked away when a bundle of straw was thrown at his face.

“No making out at the track!” the same elderly man that was in the bar yesterday yelled at them from across the other side of the track.

“Sorry Mr Jenkins! It won’t happen again!” Caroline yelled back across the track and jumped when the lawnmowers came speeding past, causing her to fall back onto the chair with a hard thump.

“Sorry.” Tom whispered once they had passed. Caroline shook her head, reaching out to take his hand in hers, and winked at him.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

They spent the next hour watching the race and cheering on their favourite to win. Once that was finished they decided to get something to eat, since it was midday and the weather was getting warmer and warmer.

“I do believe I owe you this.” Tom pulled a stick of cotton candy out from behind his back and smirked with Caroline reached out to grab it. He held it above his head and watched as she reached up to try and get it.

“Give it to me.”

“You’re forgetting one certain word here, Caroline.”

“Give it to me, please?”

“Much better.” Tom handed her the pink fluffy stuff before wrapping his arm around her waist and tugging her to his chest, bending his head down slightly. “How about we try again?”

Caroline just smirked and Tom took that as an invitation to cup the back of her head and bring her face closer to his. Their breath mingled for a few moments before Tom bent those extra few inches and secured his lips over hers. Her lips were sticky with lip gloss and she tasted like cola but, it was a pleasant sensation that he couldn’t get enough of, as he buried his hands in her hair to pull her closer.

Tom wasn’t sure how long their kiss lasted, but he had to come up for air, and gently brushed a stray hair from her face with a smile.

“That was nice.” Caroline whispered, her cheeks blazing pink.

“Let’s go get some proper food. I’m starving.” Tom took Caroline’s hand in his again and guided her towards the food trucks that he’d seen on the way in. There were so many to choose from he decided to get a selection from each of them. By the time he was finished buying food he had enough to feed a small army.

“We’re not going to eat all of this.”

“I’m hungry, watch me.”

Caroline picked at the food while Tom shovelled spoonfuls into his mouth and commented on everything that he had never tried before. He bit into something sweet and shook his head before tossing it across the table.

“Who thought to deep fry pineapple?” Tom stuck his tongue out and shuddered before taking a mouthful of the drink beside him.

“I think that’s from the UK. It’s pretty nasty I know.”

“So, what are we going to do now?”

“Rodeo is in about twenty minutes, if you want to head over there?”

“That sounds like a very good idea.” Tom cleaned away all of the rubbish on the small picnic table they had been sitting at, then took her hand once again and let her lead the way to the giant ring that he had seen upon arrival. They took a seat right at the back so they could see everything without worrying about being hit by anything. There were apparently ten riders going into the rodeo and they had to try and last eight seconds.

“You see the big black bull in the last pen over there?”

“Yeah?” Tom spotted the bull she was talking about and frowned.

“Well, that’s Old Red. He’s the meanest bull in the entire town. Anyone who tries to ride him can only last about three seconds on him, since he’s so evil.”

“Why would people put themselves through this? Surely that’s got to hurt when they get thrown off.” Tom cringed as the first rider was flung off his bull within the first few seconds and his body crashed to the floor, his leg twisting at an angry angle.

“It’s a thrill. I dated a guy who used to do rodeo but he broke his back and needed to stop.”