Protected Pt. 06

"No, but I don't work here."

She smiled at me with her arms still around my neck. "So, what's the problem?"

"No problem," I rumbled as I bent and took her lips again.

Before the kiss was over, I thought we were going to start fucking on her desk after all. Every time I increased the heat in the kiss, she matched it, and then raised it more. I dully hear the door to the lab open and close, but I was so deep into the kiss I didn't care.

Finally our lips parted as we sighed out of the kiss. "Maybe we should go home," I breathed, my lips only millimeters from hers.

"I'd like to... but I need a new Jeep," she whispered in reply.

I reluctantly let her go. "Okay."

She brushed my lips with her finger. "Afterwards, I want to see how gooey you can make my insides."

I kissed her finger, smiling that she'd brought that up again. "I'd like that."

-oOo-

I followed Willow on my bike as she returned the truck to the motor pool and waited while she checked it in. Now, without having to deal with the company truck, as soon as her new Jeep was ready, assuming she bought one, we could go get it with minimal hassles.

"What are you in the mood for?" she asked as she put on her helmet.

I shrugged. "Besides you? Doesn't matter. You pick. I don't know the area, so surprise me."

"I know just the place. You like barbecue?"

"Love it."

The bike settled as she mounted up behind me. "Then let's go. Make a right out of the parking lot," she said as I thumbed the starter.

With Willow pointing to direct me, we arrived at Goode Company Barbecue and, as we removed our helmets, my mouth started watering from the smells. Goode Company wasn't large, but it was popular. When we walked in the place was bustling, but she seemed to know her way around, so I followed her lead as we stepped into the queue.

"You trust me?" she asked as we waited.

"Sure."

The restaurant was laid our cafeteria style, and as we shuffled down the line, she selected beef brisket, Czech sausage, and jalapeño pork for herself, and honey-smoked Ham, pork ribs, and spicy pork for me. She added jalapeño pinto beans to my plate and Austin baked beans to hers to compliment the free jalapeño cheese bread. She snagged a pair of beers, paid for it all, and then led me outside to sit at one of the picnic tables.

"You must be hungry," I said as I swung a leg over the bench and sat across from her.

She grinned. "Not so much, but fair warning, I'm eating off your plate."

She began dividing her meat, moving half to my plate before staring at me pointedly until I snickered and returned the favor.

"Sweet Mary, mother of Jesus, this is good," I murmured as I sampled my way through all the different meats.

She giggled around a mouthful of spicy pork. "What?" she asked as she wiped her mouth on one of the many napkins we'd brought to the table with us.

"That's something my dad says. It seemed appropriate somehow."

She giggled again, paused, and then began giggling even harder.

"What's so funny?" I chuckled as her giggles began to infect me.

"I don't know!" she cried, her giggles sliding into full on laughter. "That just struck me funny coming from a bad-ass biker," she gasped before starting to laugh all over again.

"Would you stop!" I said as I struggled to keep my own laughter under control.

"I'm trying!" she cried, laughing even harder. After a long moment of us laughing like loons, our laughter feeding on the other's, she seemed to get control of herself. As her laughter died, she wiped her eyes. "Oh God," she finally sighed as she got her giggles under control. She wiped her eyes again. "I'm having such a good time!" she said, holding my gaze, before bursting into more giggles.

Today had been a good day. I hadn't forgotten my brothers, but the crippling ache of their loss was starting to fade. I'd gone into the rabbit hole of memories and guilt only once today, while I was sitting on the stool as she worked, and now, as our laughter slowly died, I felt more like my old self than I had since Packard had died. Eventually, after our laughter had completely died away, we were able to finish our meal, but the fact we were no longer laughing like crazy in no way reduced the enjoyment.

"Oof, I'm stuffed," she said shoving her tray away.

"Not too stuffed, I hope," I said as I leered at her and waggled my eyebrows.

"Right now, yes, but later I'll probably want some exercise to help work off all this food, but before that, we still have to get my Jeep." A tiny smile tickled her lips. "By the time we're done with that, I'll be ready for bed."

I nodded. "Yeah. Last night was a short night."

Her smile grew slightly. "All the more reason to go to be early tonight."

"To sleep?"

Her smile spread a little more. "Eventually, after some exercise, to help us sleep."

"I like your plan."

"So do I."

After we disposed of our trash, I led her hand in hand to the bike. She mounted up behind me and steered me to Mac Haik, a Jeep dealer off the interstate on the way to Katy. There, the sales staff recognized her and greeted her by name when she dismounted and pulled off her helmet. I was slightly surprised that the staff made no attempt to sell us anything, and as I followed her around, she explained this was the same dealership where she'd purchase her previous vehicles and had them serviced. She obviously knew what she wanted and clearly didn't need my help. She soon found the rig she was looking for, a loaded, brilliant blue Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with all the bells and whistles that rang in at nearly sixty-five large. As she looked it over, she prattled on about what she was going to upgrade, including changing to grippier tires, along with adding a winch and auxiliary lighting. Then all it would need is an overland GPS to supplement the one from the factory, and the Larke Oil logos on the doors. She was obviously looking for the most capable vehicle she could find and not shopping on price, and I wondered if her selection of a four door Unlimited to replace her previous two door had anything to do with what she'd been through. It was none of my business and I didn't ask.

After she settled on the blue one, we went inside. I held back as it wasn't any of my business how she negotiated her deal or what she paid. She was in the salesman's office for about ten minutes before she reappeared, a smile on her face.

"It'll be ready after lunch tomorrow," she said as she approached.

"That was fast."

She shrugged. "They know me and know I buy a new one as soon as the warranty expires on the old one. They want to keep me coming back, so they don't jerk me around. They give me a reasonable discount and I didn't try to beat them up on the price." She smiled. "Besides, the company pays for it."

"Ah. An important detail."

She grinned. "To celebrate buying my new Jeep, there's something else I want to do before we go home."

"What?"

"Don't you trust me?" she asked, her smile innocent.

She was setting me up for something, I just knew it, but I couldn't figure out what. "Okay, sure."

She jerked her head toward the parking lot. "Great. Let's go."

I was completely turned around, and I was pretty sure she was sending me away from Katy when we pulled out of the parking lot and she sent me away from the interstate. I smiled. The last time we'd gone for a long ride together, the night had ended on a high note, so I didn't mind. I reached behind me with my left hand and caressed her thigh, but almost before I could get my hand back on the handlebar, she tapped me on the shoulder and pointed.

I slowed before pulling into Wicked Horse Saloon. I looped though the semi-full parking lot before backing my Harley into a spot near the door among the pickups and SUVs. The moment I switched the bike off, I could hear thumping, up-beat country music emanating from the building. When I pulled my helmet off and removed my ear plugs, the music became louder.

"Come here often?" I asked.

"When I'm looking to have a bit of fun, or to blow off some steam, yeah. They have a live band on Friday and Saturday that's pretty good," she said as she plopped her helmet on a mirror.

I stuck out my elbow, and she after she slid her arm through the opening, I led her inside. Wicked Horse Saloon seemed to be a friendly, upscale place, full of smiling couples, cowboy hats, music, and dancing. Willow and I weren't fully cowboyed up, but with us wearing jeans and boots, we didn't completely stick out. She pulled me to a table near the large dance floor.

"You trust me?" she said when our waitress arrived to take our order.

I chuckled that she was calling back what she said at Goode Company, and that had turned out okay. "Sure."

"Two draft Karbach Hopadillo's."

I watched her as she sat cross from me, bebopping and swaying to Luke Comb's Hurricane. Our beers arrived and I took a sip. The Hopadillo had a touch of melon with a roasted caramel malt profile that finished with lingering lemon rind. I smacked my lips as I looked at it through the thick glass mug before taking a deeper drink.

"What do you think?" she asked, clearly watching my reaction.

"Pretty good."

She beamed. "I like it. Pair it with one of their hamburgers here, and oh my God."

"Maybe we should have come here for dinner then."

"Maybe we should come back on Friday and listen to the band."

"Maybe," I agreed.

"Line Dance!" the DJ called after we'd consumed about half our beers.

"Come on! Let's dance," she said, putting her beer down and pulling me to my feet. She led me onto the dance floor before I formed up with her. "You know how to dance?"

"Fine time to ask me that now!" I cried, putting as much drama into my voice as possible, causing her grin.

When Vice Gill's What the Cowgirls Do began, I knew what dance was expected and started rocking my right foot on my heel in time with the rest of the people on the floor. We went through the dance, all of us moving in time with the song. When the song ended, she turned to face me, a broad smile on her face.

"There seems to be no end to your surprises."

"Oh yeah? Watch this," I said as I took her left hand in my right and wrapped my arm around her waist to pull her close. When Alabama's Dixieland Delight started, I bounced on my toes for a two count, then we were off as I guided her around the floor. Most of the dancers had returned to their tables after the line dance was over, but there were still a few couples on the floor. She had no problem keeping pace, and we had plenty of room, so I spun her out to see how she'd react.

"You've done this before!" she said when I pulled her back in.

"You said you wanted some exercise to work off dinner," I said as we bounced and moved around the floor.

"Where'd you learn to dance?"

"Britt. She loved to dance."

"She taught you well!" she said, her voice rising in volume and pitch on the last word as I dipped her. She straightened, giggling with the surprise ending. "What else can you do?"

When the next song started, I switched over to a promenade dance, several others forming up on us as more couples joined us on the floor. Three songs later, she was beginning to glow with sweat as we hoe-downed in a Texas Two Step. Never had I danced with a sexier woman.

"I need a break!" she gasped as the song ended.

I led her back to the table and our beers. I didn't try to hide my grin, both from the fun of dancing with her, and because I saw a guy get an elbow in the ribs for staring at Willow. He wasn't the only one watching her. I'd noticed several guys checking her out as we danced.

We settled at our table and we took a healthy pull for our too warm and flat beer. "Okay. You've obviously had some training. Who really taught you to dance?" she asked.

"I told you... Brittney."

"And what did Brittney do?"

"Worked as a teller in a bank."

She held my gaze. "That's it? She was a bank teller?"

I worked hard not to smile. "She had a side gig where she taught dance in Eagle Pass."

She burst into a smile. "Ah, so you told the truth, just not the whole truth." She took a swallow of beer then put the mug down and stuck out her tongue. "Do you miss her?"

I shrugged. "I did at first, but not anymore. She was fun but I knew it wouldn't work out."

"Why's that?"

"She couldn't wait to get out of Rio Lago and move to a big city somewhere. She wanted to get into theater, modeling, or the movies, and be part of the glamour scene." I paused and took a sip of my stale beer. I put it down and pushed it to the center of the table. No more of that. "I can't express how little interest I have in that."

"You said you're not from Rio Lago?"

"Laredo, remember? My folks still live there."

She snapped her fingers. "That's right, I remember now. I grew up in Houston. I sometimes wonder what it'd be like to not have people on top of me all the time." She grinned at me. "Present company excluded, of course."

I chuckled. "Of course."

"Did Brittney teach you to cook, too?"

"No. My mom got me started and the rest I figured out on my own. Why all the questions?"

"I'm trying to figure you out. I was going to take you out on the dance floor and teach you dance, but you're a better dancer than I am. A better cook, too. You're not an asshole but you don't let people push you around. Just when I think I'm about to figure you out, you pull another rabbit out of the hat. I'm wondering what's next."

"Nothing special about me."

"See? That's what I'm talking about. Every woman in the place is checking you out, especially since we started dancing. You're so damn fine you could probably pull any woman in the place, but you're not full of yourself. You can obviously take care of yourself, but you don't feel like you have to prove it all the time. You're not like anyone else I've ever met."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Babe, that's a very good thing," she purred. She looked at her beer a moment and then stood. "Come on. Take me out there and really show me what you can do," she said as she held her hand out.

I led her to the floor then we bounced a moment to get into time. "You ready?" I asked as I jerked her in tight.

"Oh, God," she murmured and then giggled.

We began gyrating around the floor, our hips grinding together, until the song stopped. I held her close and tight, unmoving, until the next song started, another fast and upbeat rollicking number, and we picked up where we'd left off. She stepped on my feet a couple of times, not surprising as we were dancing close and fast and this was our first time dancing together. About halfway through the song the crowd began to open up to give us a little more room. I dipped and spun her, showing off a little, but she was keeping up. When the song ended, I pulled her in tight, staring into her eyes a moment before giving her a quick kiss. We were both panting, and I was hard as diamonds.

She burst into breathy giggles. "Is that the best you can do?"

Before I could answer, When You Say Nothing at All began playing, and the lyrics instantly spoke to me. I pulled her in close, holding her tight as we slowly moved around the floor. I buried my face in her neck and inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent of unnamable fruit and flowers that I'd forever associate with her. I pulled her tighter against me, needing to feel her close. Too soon, the song ended, but I took my time releasing her, wanting to hold her until the last possible moment.

An instant before the next song started, I relaxed my embrace. As the opening bars of Thank God I'm a Country Boy began to play, she stepped back and looked up at me.

"Take me home," she murmured.