Rush Into You (18 page)

“How does six sound?”

“Perfect.”

I waved before stepping through the doorway, then sank down on the couch to the right of the door and sighed. The sound of his Harley pipes coming to life was music to my ears, a song I listened to until it faded away in the distance.

“JAY, I NEED your help!” I exclaimed as soon as she said hello.

“What’s wrong, chicky? What can I do?” As usual, my best friend was ready to help me. Although I didn’t always let her in, and she certainly didn’t know the real me, she always tried to be there for me.

“I’m going out on a date tonight. With Ryker.”

Her excited shriek startled me, and I pulled the phone away from my ear, almost dropping it with my nerves already on edge.

“Jay!”

She stopped screaming immediately, “Sorry, sorry. But Gabby, he’s so fucking hot!”

“Yeah, he’s gorgeous, Jay.” I sighed. “But I already knew that. I need your help, though. I don’t know what I’m supposed to wear tonight.”

“Okay, that’s easy. I can help you with that. Where are you guys going?”

“That’s the thing, I have no freaking idea.”

“Do you own a little black dress?” she questioned, waiting for my response.

I had to think about it for a minute — it had been a long time since I’d actually worn a dress. “Uh, yeah…I think so.”

“Okay, so wear that. You can’t go wrong with a black dress. It’ll be perfect no matter where you go. Throw some heels on, accessorize. You’ll be beautiful.”

“I guess that would work…well, unless we’re going rock climbing or something crazy.”

Jay’s laugh eased my nerves, slowing my pounding heart and racing thoughts. “Thanks, babe.”

After we’d said goodbye, I jogged to my closet to make sure I really had a little black dress. Confirming I did, I checked the clock and noticed I had less than three hours to get ready. I grabbed my robe and headed for the shower, prepared to be in there for a while with all my primping.

The doorbell rang, and I checked myself out in the mirror for the millionth time, then I checked myself out in the mirror again. I was a nervous wreck. I was self-conscious about what I was wearing, and I should have worn my hair straight instead of my usual waves.
Oh, well
…nothing I could do about it now, that was sure.

I took a deep breath and tried to pull myself together, then I swung open the door. My jaw hit the floor when I took in the man standing before me. Ryker wore black slacks and a black button down shirt. He left the first couple buttons undone, exposing a sprinkling of chest hair and the edge of another tattoo. He stayed true to his style and wore his leather jacket open over his dress shirt.

“Hey?”

I inwardly winced at how stupid I must have sounded.
Had I seriously just said that?
Maybe it wouldn’t have been such a big deal if I’d just said hey without it sounding like a fucking question!

This would be a long night.

Luckily for me, Ryker acted as though he hadn’t heard the question in my greeting, though he seemed pretty occupied at the moment as he looked me up and down. The look in his eyes gave me the confidence I needed to start this night.

“Do you want to come in, or should we just get going?” I asked him with a slightly flirty tone.

Ryker visibly shook himself out of his trance. “No, we definitely should get going. If I come in, we’ll end up missing our reservations, and I want to do this right tonight.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his words. It was obvious he was a little nervous too, and it made me feel good that he liked the way I looked. He made me feel pretty.

“Let’s get out of here then.”

Ryker picked me up from my house on his Harley. I’d ended up wearing my little black dress that Jay suggested, but it fell a few inches above my knees, so I had to hike it up even higher to make room for him between my thighs. The growl that erupted from deep within his chest when I climbed on behind him let me know I wasn’t the only one effected by the sudden shift of energy pulsing between us. Sitting behind him in a dress was more personal than when I wore jeans. I’d always found it sexy riding on the back of his bike, but with only my panties separating my most private place from him…it became a lot more intimate.

I was hyperaware of my body, and the feel of Ryker pressed closely to the place where I craved him most. It felt like lightning bolts were shooting through my veins, the electricity beginning at my fingers and toes and rushing to my core in a tingling burst of warmth.

In the time that I’d known Ryker, I’d developed quite the fantasy of riding on the back of his bike…

His smoky leather scent fills my nose, driving me crazy with want. I let my hands wander from their usual place on his stomach, trailing lower until they rest over the zipper of his jeans. I rub my hand against the denim, the friction causing his erection to bulge and strain against the fabric, searching for freedom from its confines. I spring him free from his zipper, his length standing tall in the open air of the road, then I stroke the velvet skin of his hardness from base to tip, faster and faster as he drives at full speed down the highway. He ends up so crazed with desire that he pulls over and bends me over his Harley. He hikes my dress up and pushes my panties aside, not wasting anytime before he drills his hard cock into me with one strong thrust.
He takes me right there on the side of the road, not even giving the passing cars a second thought.

I was so wrapped up in my sex on a motorcycle fantasy that I hadn’t noticed we’d arrived at the restaurant. When I was with Ryker, I wasn’t thinking about danger. I was thinking about being fucked on his motorcycle. That was pretty insane…but I liked it.

The hostess kindly showed us to our seats. I noticed her gaze stayed on Ryker longer than necessary, so I caught her eye and raised a challenging eyebrow at her. She scurried off with her head down.

Smart girl.

While we waited for the waitress to come and take our drink orders, I looked around at all the other guests. I liked trying to guess where people came from and what they did for a living just by looking at them. It was a game I sometimes played by myself. I liked to people watch, even though I was generally shy.

“What are you thinking over there?” Ryker asked me.

“Nothing,” I replied simply, still occupied with my little game.

Ryker cleared his throat. “I just wanted you to know…I don’t normally do dates, Gabby. And I don’t do girlfriends, but you…you make me want to try. I want to do nice things for you, and give you good memories you’ll want to remember…”

That last part of his statement snapped my undivided attention back to him. I tried to think back to what I told him about myself when we first met. I hadn’t told him any of my dark secrets, but it had been obvious I was miserable. Was it possible that he knew more than I’d thought? I wondered if he had taken my sarcastic advice that night and asked the people at Max’s what was wrong with me.

“…and I’ve never been the kind of guy to do special things for a girl. Any girl I’ve ever been with probably can’t think of one thing I did that was special to her. I don’t want you to have bad memories of me if anything were to change between us.”

I relaxed when I realized he was talking about his past, not mine. “That’s really sweet of you, Ryker. As I said earlier, I’ve never been on a real date with a guy before either.”

“Well, I’m glad we can share this night together then.” He smiled shyly at me.

I smiled back, but we both just sat there, alternating between glancing at each other and the people around us. We eventually made small talk about nothing in particular, and our conversation seemed forced. We were both out of our element here, and it showed.

“I’m not exactly acting like myself, am I? I guess I didn’t think my usual self would be perceived well here.” He looked around at all the well dressed couples sporting thousands of dollars worth of name brand clothes and diamonds. “But I wanted to bring you some place special. You deserve it.” He shrugged.

“Ryker I love it. I think it was really sweet of you to go through all this effort so that we could have a special night, but let’s just relax, okay? Screw these people, and let’s enjoy ourselves.”

I smiled as I saw his shoulders finally relax. “Sounds good. Sorry, I’m a bit nervous I guess.” Ryker chuckled. “But I did want to ask you a few cliche questions tonight, learn more about you. You game?”

I stiffened. It was always a scary thought letting someone get close to me. When people were close, there was the chance of getting hurt, or there was a chance they’d learn my secrets. Ryker didn’t know everything, but he knew more than anyone else around here. I wasn’t ready to share my whole past with anyone yet, including Ryker…but, I did think I was ready to get closer to him. I liked spending time with him, and if I were honest, I wanted to know more about him as well.

“Only if we do it in a non-cliche way, and only if you’ll answer some questions about yourself,” I challenged.

“Deal.” Ryker smiled.

Silence fell over us as we looked over our menus. Nothing was in English, and I wasn’t sure what language I was trying to read. I peered over the top of the laminated plastic and leather pages at Ryker, and saw him squinting at the words on his own menu. He had no idea what they offered here either.

I put my fingers over my mouth to try and hide my smile, but ended up giggling anyway. A loud and ugly snort broke free as I tried to cover up my laugh and that just made me crack up even more out of embarrassment.

Ryker started laughing. “What’s so funny?”

I leaned over the table slightly and whispered conspiratorially, “Are you really reading that thing, or are you as clueless as I am?”

His body leaned toward mine, and he answered me in a hushed voice, “I have no fucking idea.”

I erupted into another fit of giggles. I couldn’t stop laughing even though we were inside a four star restaurant, and people were staring at us, appalled by my outburst.

“I’m so sorry!” I managed to squeak out between my laughter.

The waitress came over at that moment, looking as unpleased as the patrons. She gave me a sharp glare before turning her attention to Ryker. “What may I get you this evening?”

Ryker cleared his throat, sitting up straighter. “What do you recommend?”

She began listing off some fancy sounding dishes, pronouncing everything correctly without hesitation. Ryker agreed to whatever she’d just said, ordering for the both of us, then she stalked off stiffly without another glance in my direction.

“I don’t even know what I just ordered, but I hope we like it.”

While we waited for our food, we talked about his niece’s softball game. He told me that Ashley couldn’t stop talking about me when he went back to their house after he dropped me off. She’d asked him if we were getting married and if I’d go to all her softball games from now on.

“I’d love to go to her games. I had fun today, and she’s adorable.” I hesitated, suddenly unsure. “That is, if you still want me to go.”

“Of course I do, Gabby.” His grin was so bright, his eyes so sure, leaving no doubt that he was being sincere.