Chapter 3

Icould hold onto this guy forever.

I closed my eyes and savored the feel of the wind whipping around us as we sped up Rosewood Ridge Parkway. Warmth had taken over my entire body, running through me like molasses on a warm summer day. I wasn’t sure what was causing it—the feel of his perfectly sculpted body or the seat vibrating under me.

The bottom line was, this guy was doing things to me. Things I’d never experienced before.

You need to get laid.

One of my friends had said that to me, and she wasn’t the first—or the last. I’d been called uptight, boring, and an old soul. I wanted to be none of those things.

But one thing people didn’t know about me was that I was scared. Terrified. It was easier to escape into books than face the dangers that came from partying it up and sleeping around.

Really, I was scared to put myself out there at all…putting myself out there meant I could be rejected. I’d learned that lesson as the second youngest of four children who was constantly ignored and told “no.”

On the way back down the mountain, Nate pulled into Rosewood Ridge Park. My curiosity was piqued. Exactly what adventure was I headed toward now?

The park was deserted, not a car in sight. I would have expected it to be crowded on a Saturday, but it probably had to do with Biker Blast. Nate and his friends may have taken off early, but I spotted motorcycles still lining the parkway on our way up here, with streams of people traveling the sidewalks on foot in either direction.

We passed the main area with the pond and picnic benches, continuing back toward the playground they’d built a few years ago. Rosewood Ridge wasn’t a town with tons of families, but with the way people were coupling up these days, I had a feeling that would change.

Finally, Nate pulled into the lot next to a playground and parked, knocking the kickstand down and whipping off his helmet.

“When was the last time you went down a slide?” he asked.

Using his shoulders to balance myself, I stepped off and pulled the helmet off. I handed it to him. A storage compartment was attached to the back, but he set the helmets on top of it, then turned to face me.

“When I was a kid,” I said, looking over in the direction of the equipment.

I’d left the cardigan back at the bookstore, which had been a good move. The wind had kept me somewhat cool during the ride, but now the June sun bore down on us, blasting heat everywhere. I just hoped the playground had enough shade.

“Let’s go,” I said, circling the back of his bike and starting toward the sand-covered area filled with swings, a slide, and a teeter-totter, along with a few other items.

My worries fell away as I took long, purposeful strides toward the slide. I was determined to show him and the world at large that I could let loose. What can be more spontaneous and fun than tossing myself down a slide in broad daylight?

But as I ascended the steps, I had second thoughts. Would I look ridiculous—a full-grown woman, five-foot-five with curves for days, squeezing myself down a kids’ slide? Would it even hold up under an adult’s weight?

What if it broke? Oh God, I’d be mortified.

I squeezed my eyes closed, telling myself to stop thinking. Then I pushed myself to squeeze through the small, covered deck area and settle at the top of the slide, legs straight out in front of me, hands gripping the lip on either side. Nate was standing a couple of yards away from the end of the slide, like he planned to catch me, but his arms were crossed and he wore a big smile, his sunglasses hiding his beautiful eyes.

I took a deep breath and shoved my body downward, twisting around slightly, then hurling toward the ground. Both feet were straight out in front of me as I prepared to slam into the land. But I came to a sudden stop several feet before I would have touched ground. My body was just stuck there, hips pinched between two sides of the slide, which had for some reason narrowed toward the end.

Ugh. Embarrassing. Humiliating.

Nate was staring straight at me, waiting to see what I’d do next. He probably expected me to be all uptight about getting stuck. No. Fun. Carefree. Today I was the girl who ripped off all her clothes at a pool party and jumped in.

Okay, so that girl probably would need a few drinks in her before she did something like that. But I didn’t even drink.

What was wrong with me? Why was I so serious all the time?

With a stubborn shove, I hurled my body the rest of the way down. Then I pushed myself to my feet and stepped away from the slide…and toward him.

“Your turn,” I said.

He shook his head. “No way. I wouldn’t even fit through that little opening up there.”

He was right about that. In fact, his muscular frame would probably strain the structure.

“Come on,” I urged, moving toward the seesaw.

I didn’t wait for him, rushing straight for the bright yellow piece of equipment. Once there, I positioned myself, placing a foot on either side of one end. I turned to see Nate following at a much slower pace, a skeptical look on his face as he eyed the contraption between my legs.

“Seesaws work best when both ends are somewhat equal in weight,” he said. “I’m too heavy.”

Now, he was the one being a fuddy-duddy. I made a sweeping gesture with my right hand and said, “Just get on.”

“Your wish is my command.”

There was something about that old saying that made my stomach flutter. I was wishing for a whole heck of a lot of things right now. Maybe I should command him to do some of them. Like kiss me. Touch me. Take off his clothes and let me explore that body of his.

Nate slowly pushed his end of the seesaw downward, which brought it up to my crotch then propelled me into the air. I was hardly a tiny little waif who’d blow away with a strong wind, but this guy was all muscle. With his weight, he had the power to shoot me up into the air with one thrust, but instead, he used his legs to control the long piece of plastic.

“Am I getting you in trouble?” I asked.

His eyebrows arched as he slowly pushed me up, squatting until his side of the seesaw was almost on the ground. “Trouble?”

“You’re supposed to be doing Biker Blast stuff today, right?”

He smiled. “A lot of the guys will be getting drunk at the retreat center before the big dinner tonight.”

“Big dinner?” I asked, clueless.

That was one part of Biker Blast I knew nothing about. Okay, I knew nothing about any of the parts of Biker Blast except they came into town for a weekend, made a lot of noise, and left. Oh, and there was a parade Saturday morning that ended with all the bikes lining up along Rosewood Ridge Parkway, otherwise known as Main Street.

“It’s the last formal event of the weekend. Tomorrow, everyone pretty much breaks off into their own thing. A bunch of us are riding up into the mountains in the morning. Then it’ll be checkout time for all the out-of-towners.”

I nodded. “So, if you weren’t with me, you’d be drinking at the retreat center right now?”

“Probably not.” He shook his head. “This is a working weekend for me. Everyone else would be drinking and having a good time while I’d be running around, making sure everything was set up.”

“I’m keeping you from that, then,” I said, guilt stabbing me in the side.

I didn’t want to mess up his weekend, even though this had been his idea. He seemed to be on a mission to get me to lighten up. He wouldn’t be the first, but he might just be the last. From now on, I vowed to actually live life rather than spend it worrying.

“Honestly?” he asked, his gaze piercing through his sunglasses, straight at me.

My heart skipped a beat at the intensity emanating from him. Then he spoke again, and his words stole my breath.

“I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do than hang out with you.”

Thank God he was controlling the movement of this seesaw. Otherwise, I might have crumbled to the ground, my legs weak beneath me.

It wasn’t just what he’d said. It was his entire demeanor, plus the sparks that shot through my body every time we touched. The warmth that unsettled between my legs. The naughty thoughts I couldn’t seem to stop.

He was feeling it too. All of it.

“Same,” I said. “Actually...”

I bit my lip, trying to work up the courage to make a bold move. But no, I couldn’t do that. I was too shy.

He wasn’t shy, though. “You know, we seem to have this whole park to ourselves.”

I totally spaced on the work I was supposed to be doing on my end. The seesaw stopped, both of us squatting and staring at each other.

“That could change,” I said.

Way to be a buzzkill. I was supposed to be lightening up.

“I think we’re good for a while,” he said. “They’re doing face painting at the library.”

“Crap buckets.”

The two words slipped out. Old habits. Meanwhile, Nate was staring at me, no doubt thinking I was weird.

“I should’ve done something like that,” I said.

“Like what?”

“Face painting, clowns, story time…something to bring families in.”

“There’s always next year,” he said with a shrug. “And tomorrow.”

I tilted my head. “Tomorrow?”

“Bikers are still in town. I can make an announcement at dinner tonight. Ten percent off all books to anyone who pulls into the parking lot on a bike tomorrow. What hours are you open on Sundays?”

“Noon to five,” I said.

“Perfect. That’s when they’ll be riding out of town.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“I’d do just about anything for you, Terra. Including taking you over to that bench and giving you the best orgasm of your life.”

We’d started moving again, but at those words, I froze. He froze too. He seemed to be waiting to see what I’d say.

“That won’t be too hard,” I said.

“Oh,” he said.

That one word was packed with so much disappointment. He was expecting me to turn him down. Far from it.

“I’ve never had one,” I said.

“Had what?”

“An orgasm. I’m a virgin.”