Page 43 of Pining for Pierce
“I’ll be right here.”
I take a moment to admire her ass, like I never have before. It’s perfect, just like the rest of her. Jeez… I must have been blind, and I let out a long sigh, leaning back against the doorframe again.
I’m so relieved that went as well as it did. It could have gone either way. She didn’t have to accept my flowers, or my apology, or listen to a word I said. But she did, and although I still want to kiss her for the first time, and hold her in my arms, and do allthe things I dreamed of doing with her last night, I meant it just now when I said I’ll wait. I will… for as long as she needs.
And in the meantime, there’s nothing I want more than to take her out on the bike. She’s the only woman I’ve ever met who truly appreciates what it means to ride free, and I want us to share that as a couple for the very first time.
“Ready?” she says, coming down the stairs, suitably dressed now in her padded jeans, her black boots zipped up to her knees.
“You bet.”
She holds out her hand for her jacket, but I grab her, pulling her close, and she rests her hand flat on my chest, looking up at me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, resting my forehead against hers.
“What for?”
“For giving me a chance. I promise, I’ll only need one.”
She smiles, then moves closer, resting her head on my chest, alongside her hand. “Good,” she murmurs in to me, and we stand for a moment or two before she pulls away and takes her jacket from me, shrugging it on. “We’d better go,” she says, grabbing her keys and putting them in her pocket.
I nod and take her hand, pulling her out of the house. She closes the door, and I lead her around the side, unlocking our helmets and handing hers over. She pulls it on, and I copy her, quickly connecting the bluetooth.
“Can you hear me?” I say, putting my phone onto its stand between the handlebars.
“Yes.” Her voice whispers in my ear and I have to smile, putting my hands on her waist and pulling her close.
“Wanna be my backpack?” I say and she chuckles, nodding her head.
“Yes, please.”
I let my helmet touch hers, just briefly, and then turn, climbing onto the bike. She gives me a moment, and then I feelher hand on my shoulder, the weight of her body as she mounts up behind me. I’m used to this, and so is she, but I want to do things differently, and I reach around behind her, pulling her closer, so her front is hard up against my back.
“Okay?” I say, and she answers me with a sigh as she puts her arms around me. I start the engine, revving it a few times, which makes her giggle in my ear, and then I say, “Hold on tight, babe,” smiling as she gasps, and I raise the kickstand and head down the driveway onto the street.
Chapter Eleven
Harley
I woke this morning in the depths of despair, having cried myself to sleep last night. It seemed there was no hope. Pierce had found the woman of his dreams, and even though I felt we’d been here before, this time was different. There was no getting away from it. He was serious. He was talking about forever… with a woman he’d known for years.
It was beyond my worst nightmares.
And yet it wasn’t.
Because the woman of his dreams was me.
It seems too good to be true, but everything I’d dreaded him having with someone else is exactly what we both want with each other.
I’m ‘it’, evidently. I’m everything he’s ever wanted… the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and I can’t stop grinning when I think about that. The rest of his life? He’s said it twice… once yesterday afternoon, and again just now. So I know he must mean it.
It seems so strange to go from utter dejection, believing any hope of being with Pierce had been shattered… to this incredible, blissful high, knowing he’s mine, and I’m his, and there’s nothing in the world that can part us. Because this is what we want… both of us. Forever.
Obviously, if I’d realized he was talking about me when he came into the office yesterday, I’d have run around my desk and flung myself into his arms, rather than telling him to send flowers and apologize. As it is, we still got there. He sent the flowers, and I threw myself at him… and he caught me, just like I know he always will.
I hug him a little tighter, resting my head on his back as he speeds through Hart’s Creek and out the other side.
“You okay?” he asks once we’re on a straight stretch of road.
