Always Loving You

The drive into downtown Myrtle Beach was one she always enjoyed. It was still early morning, so the crowds were relatively quiet, as it was nearing the end of the official summer season. In the afternoon, these same streets would be filled with people walking, biking, or skating along Ocean Boulevard. On the weekends she spent a lot of her spare time on the beach, since she had very little social life outside work. She didn’t partake in any of the other tourist hobbies, though. Maybe it was time to make a change there as well. If you lived somewhere like Myrtle Beach, shouldn’t you enjoy more of what it had to offer? They had just installed a new zip line near her home. Did she dare do something that far out of her comfort zone?

She was pondering her first choice of activities on her daredevil agenda when an idea literally roared into the parking lot at Danvers. What she had always thought of as a death trap on two wheels was pulling into a space beside her. In reality, it was a sleek black Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by one of Mac’s partners, Dominic Brady. Ava sat in her car, trying not to gawk out her window at the man dismounting next to her. She might be emotionally stunted, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the sexy picture that Dominic, or Dom, as his friends called him, presented. He was wearing the typical uniform of East Coast Security—cargo pants and a shirt with their logo on it. The poor shirt looked as if it were doing everything it could to cover the broad shoulders it was stretched across. And the pants . . . Oh, sweet God, her breath hitched in her throat as he bent over to do something with his bike, putting his ass directly in her line of sight. When he stood and looked toward her car as if sensing her there, she jerked her gaze away, fumbling with her keys. She knew if she looked into the mirror, her face would probably be bright red.

Finishing with his bike, he walked over to her car and opened the driver’s-side door for her. She blinked up at him in a daze before finally pulling it together enough to step out and let him shut the door behind her. “Ava.” His deep voice rumbled her name in greeting.

“Er . . . hi, Dominic. Riding your bike today?” Oh my God, of course he’s riding his bike. Way to state the obvious, dummy. Next, I’ll just point out that he’s wearing pants too. Maybe mention his damn shoes. What happened to all the information from the magazines I studied last night?

He gave her an amused look before saying simply, “Yep.” She saw his eyes rest briefly on the expanse of flesh left on display by her blouse before moving up to her face. Okay, that was a good sign. She’d never noticed Dominic checking her out before, so maybe her wardrobe changes were getting her somewhere. Of course, it wasn’t as if his tongue was hanging out or his breaths were coming in jerky grasps, but he’d totally looked at her boobs, so that was something.

“So, how fast does your bike go? Do you know the safety rating right off the top of your head?” By this time, he had started edging slowly through the parking lot, no doubt trying to get away from her. He stopped, surprised by her questions.

“It’ll go over a hundred.” Then, grinning, he added, “I don’t think anyone buys a Harley for the safety rating, honey.” Pointing to her car, he said, “If you’re into stuff like that, then you stick with a car like the one you’re driving.” He turned back, continuing toward the door to Danvers International where East Coast Security had an office. Ava trailed behind him to the elevator. When he got off on his floor, she stepped off as well. He gave her a curious look over his shoulder, since they both knew this wasn’t her floor. “Mac’s not in yet. He had to make some stops on his way. Want me to have him call you?”

When Dominic opened the door to their office, she followed him inside. “Um, no. Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”

He flipped on the lights in the reception area before leaning back against the desk behind him. His look of curiosity was gone, and he was now studying her as you would a science experiment. This man probably knew as much about her life as she did. After all, he had no doubt spent a lot of time watching out for her at Mac’s request. She felt the urge to tell him that she hadn’t really been having sex with any of the guys she had brought home over the years, but it might actually drop her down a couple of levels in his opinion. It was better to seem like a woman with normal sexual urges to a man like him. “What can I do for you, darling?”

Her thoughts scattered to the wind for a moment when his sexy voice uttered the endearment. Dominic was ex-military along with Mac and Declan, and even though she tried not to think of her brother that way, they all just oozed masculinity.

She wanted to run, to tuck her tail between her legs and forget all these crazy ideas, but then she thought of Mac and where he might actually be this morning. Probably either giving the new girlfriend a ride to work or, worse, getting a late start because he’d spent the night with her. Gwen was no doubt fun and carefree. Ava would try something new. Hell, she was trying something new, Mac! Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge. “I want to learn to ride a motorcycle. Could you teach me, you know . . . with yours?”

If she hadn’t been so embarrassed by the whole thing, she would have found his expression comical. His mouth opened and closed several times and his eyes blinked rapidly. She had a feeling that very few people surprised the man in front of her, but she sure had. “You want to, like, ride on the back of my bike? Yeah, I guess I could take you for a ride.”

He looked relieved just for a moment until she shook her head. “No, that’s not it.” Then his relief turned to shock when she said, “I want to drive the bike. You could ride with me, I guess, on the back, but I want to steer the thing. You know, do it all myself.”

She wanted to die on the spot when he looked around the room suspiciously. “Is this a joke or something?” Oh crap, was the idea so absurd to him that he thought someone was having fun at his expense? She was pretty sure he was looking around for the culprit now.

Unbidden, tears started to well as embarrassment raced over her. What was she thinking asking a man like Dominic to teach her to ride a bike? He probably thought this was a pathetic attempt to hit on him. Unable to take any more humiliation, she turned toward the door, whispering an apology. She was surprised when hands landed on her shoulders, halting her progress. When she turned back to face him, he looked plainly terrified at the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. It was true, you could take the strongest man alive, and he would crumble under the weight of a woman’s tears. “Never mind. Just forget it,” she said as she tried to pull away.