Savior Ch. 08

"I've got this."

I felt like a bit of a leech. "You're sure? My purse is still on the bike, but I—"

"Don't worry about it. I've got it."

"Will you scold me if I say thank you?" I asked softly.

"Why don't you try it and find out?"

"Thank you," I said simply.

He smiled. He had a nice smile. "You're welcome."

After he paid, we strode out. The sun was bright, and he opened the pannier where my purse was and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. I dug in my purse and did the same.

"I see we have the same taste in eyewear," he said as I slid on my sunglasses.

"So I see."

What he didn't say was the aviator style glasses looked a hell of a lot better on him than they did on me. I smiled, turned away, and began putting on my helmet, lest he see my color rise. This was the first time I'd seen him with sunglasses on, and holy shit was he fine!

We'd spent nearly two hours at the table, talking about this and that, and he'd spoken to me like his equal. Not one time did he make a sneering or cutting remark, try to shame me, or attempt to make me feel small or guilty. My helmet secured, I stepped onto the bike behind him and snuggled into his back as he started the machine. I wrapped my arms around him and held him... my embrace maybe a little tighter than was strictly necessary.

He slowed and pulled into the parking lot of another motel. "See anything?" he asked as we crept along.

I didn't answer as I glanced at the two parked bikes. We rounded the corner of the building and started back to the street. There were only a handful of bikes still at most of the motels, and there were none on the backside of this one.

"No. I think the Orcas only ride Harleys. At least that's all I ever saw."

"Okay," he said as he accelerated along the back of the building, the Harley's rumble reverberating off the motel's walls, before slowing, glancing left, and then turning out onto the road again as we accelerated away.

I was hopelessly lost, and getting frustrated, but he seemed to have an almost unlimited amount patience as we methodically worked our way through all the places he wanted to check. I glanced at the sky again. It was sunny and warm when we left Momma's Kitchen, but the clouds were building in and there was a coolness on the wind. We made another stop, saw nothing, and then pulled into a gas station, stopping by one of the pumps.

"How about something quick for lunch?" he asked as he went about the task of gassing up his bike.

"Sounds good. I'm still kind of full from breakfast." Now that it wasn't competing with the Harley's beating heart, I heard a rumble of thunder. I grimaced. "I hope it doesn't start raining."

He nodded as he hung the nozzle up. "Yeah," he murmured, but I could tell from his tone he knew we were going to get wet.

We stopped at two more motels, and but there were no bikes parked at either. We were waiting for traffic to pass to pull into the parking lot of the Seaview Motel when it began to rain. I tucked in as tight as I could with the first few drops, but moments later it began to rain in earnest. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't avoid the cold rain and I was soaked through in seconds.

He roared through the parking lot, the wind arctic as it sliced through my jeans and shirt like daggers. I gritted my teeth to stop them from chattering. I wasn't going to complain, but between my wet clothes and the wind from the bike, I couldn't stop my shivers.