Eyes Turned Skyward

“My goodness. So Mr. California sleeps in a king-size bed, does he?” She ran her hand along the comforter.

My cheeks heated. “Yes.”

“And is he?” She looked at me under her lashes.

“Is he what?” I asked.

“King-size?” She held her hands out an absurd distance from each other.

I smacked her shoulder with the back of my hand. “Morgan!”

“Well, inquiring minds want to know.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“I can’t tell what I don’t know.” She beat me to the door, laying her body across the doorknob like a sacrifice.

“Lee. For the love of all that is right and holy, please tell me you’re not holding out the goods.” She clasped my hands. “You need to have sweaty, hot sex with that man so I can live vicariously, because my gawd!”

“I’ll be sure to tell him that you vote yes.” I stifled the smile as best I could, but it snuck out.

“And you vote no?” Her mouth dropped. “Because he can leave his boots under my bed any time.”

I laughed. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m considering.”

“And what happened to your live-every-day blah, blah, blah?” she mocked me.

“It’s kind of battling my don’t-sleep-around inner angel right now.”

“Well, tell that prudish wench to shut the hell up. You surely deserve a piece of that. Especially since the doc cleared it.”

“Did you girls want breakfast? Or is there a pillow fight going on that I don’t know about?” Jagger’s voice came through the door. “I mean, I’m cool with that, but an invite would be nice.”

Morgan sidestepped, and I opened the door to lift an eyebrow at him. Then those dimples made an appearance, and I just shook my head with a sigh. “Feed me?”

“Absolutely.”

I introduced Morgan to Ember, and we all crowded the little table, devouring breakfast. I ate quickly, making sure I didn’t get nauseous from taking my meds on an empty stomach.

“So, Masters, how was your trip home?” Jagger asked between mouthfuls.

“It was home,” he responded, not looking up.

“No, no, way too many details, man.” Jagger waved his hand at him. “Anything more and we might actually get to know a little about you.”

Grayson grunted and polished off his orange juice.

“Did you make the reservations?” Josh asked.

“I did. We have three quads at noon,” Jagger answered, and then cringed, peeking at me through one almost-shut eye. “Sorry, Paisley. You were asleep, and Josh asked if we wanted to go four-wheeling, so I answered for us.”

My mind skipped over the list. Number twenty-nine: get back to nature. “Actually, that sounds perfect.” Morgan raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s not physically taxing,” I mumbled at her.

“Mmm-hmm. Just be careful.”

“Morgan, would you like to join us? I’m sure you could ride with Grayson,” Jagger offered.

Grayson looked impassively at Morgan. I hadn’t seen him look at a girl with anything but dispassion since I’d met him. Morgan wasn’t an exception. “I’d be happy to take you.” Even I could hear the manners talking.

“Oh, no, thank you. I’m more of an indoor girl.” She checked her phone and squeaked. “Ooh! Speaking of which, it’s pedicure time. Lee, you sure you would rather drive around in the woods than get pampered?”

Hmm. Hang out getting my feet painted, or press my body against Jagger? “Yeah, I think I’ll stick with Jagger.”

“Your loss.” She tossed me a wink. “Thank you for breakfast, boys,” she called out, taking her leave.

“You ready for a ride?” Jagger asked.

Oh, was I.

“You know how to drive one of these?” Josh asked me as we sat parked on the outskirts of the jump park, waiting for Jagger and Ember to return from the restroom. We’d been riding a couple of hours already, and the feeling was finally returning to my rear.

“I spent every summer of my life in southern Alabama,” I answered.

“So that’s a yes?” He looked over at the jumps.

“Well, I certainly don’t own my own riding gear and helmet just because I look cute in pink,” I answered with a smile.

“Ouch.” He slapped his hand over his heart. “You know, that southern accent of yours can be very deceiving. Your words might sound all cute, but they sure have a bite.”

“Oh, just spend an afternoon with my mother.”

He shook his head. “Not volunteering for that.”

I laughed. “Me, either.”

“Grayson?” he asked.

“Go ahead, I’ll wait here,” he answered, crossing his arms over his massive frame.

Josh motioned with his head toward the all-dirt track that filled the football field–size area in front of us, and I nodded, clicking my visor down.

We took off, tearing around the track. Josh was the faster, but I kept up without being an idiot. Controlling the quad gave me a heady sense of power. I might have been physically weak, but this machine was not. It could run where I couldn’t, so I let it.

I opened up the throttle, keeping pace with Josh, squeezing the seat with my thighs to make sure I stayed on when I took a turn a little fast. I didn’t have as much weight to anchor me.

The wind whipped past me, an obscure noise outside my helmet. The hum of the motor and my breath pulsing within my helmet were all I registered. Josh pointed toward the jumps, and a slice of apprehension cut through me, prickling my skin. I’d never jumped before. This was a stupid idea, even for the sake of number thirty—take a leap of faith. Definitely on the doc’s no-no list, but I felt great, and didn’t I know my own body best?