“Meet you two there!” she says and the girls exchange excited smiles. Tanner drapes his arm over Kinsley’s shoulders and nods towards me before leading her towards his bike. ‘Be safe.’ I internally call out to them. The thought of her on the back of that bike sends a shiver up my spine. When did she go from hanging out the window of my ute, on long dirt roads with the wind in her hair, to riding backpack with a tattooed grump?
Chapter Eleven
Tanner
I double tap Kinsley’s left leg to let her know to lean with me around the bend. I’ve never really had girls ride on the back of my bike. Which is the total opposite of the boys I grew up with. I swear they got off just on the thought of girls pressed up close behind them; they were always flaunting their bikes around.
I can’t pinpoint the reason why, but I surprise myself by being comfortable with the idea of Kinsley riding backpack. There is just something about the smile on her face when I mention my bike; the way she giggles as we fly down the freeway. The little noises from her while we ride have me suddenly upgrading my helmet and buying her a gear of her own.
Taking a quick left turn, I keep an eye on the traffic behind us; one black SUV in particular. Sure enough, the car also takes the unplanned turn,interesting. I follow the road down to the next intersection and indicate right, taking us back onto the main stretch and towards the gardens we are meeting the others at. The car seems to fall back behind a few others whilst continuing to follow the direction we are going.
Despite our little detour, we arrive here before Jess and Soph, giving me time to evaluate our surroundings. The SUV has also pulled into the gardens, choosing the furthest parking spot from where we are. If only I could see into their car, the windows are all blacked out making it impossible to do so even if I were up close.
My gaze darts back to Kinsley as she climbs off the bike and stretches, raising her arms high above her head. With her leather jacket unzipped, her t-shirt rides up showing off the curves framing her stomach. She must sense the weight of my stare because her eyes meet mine and she quickly wraps her arms around herself, turning her face down towards the ground. Stepping forward, I take her chin between my thumb and forefinger, forcing her eyes back up to me.
“Don’t ever look away from me, Kinsley … and don’t ever try to hide. You are fucking gorgeous, every damn inch of you.”
Her breath gets caught as I move my fingers down her throat and towards the nape of her neck. Leaning in close I whisper against her lips, “Take a breath, Pip.” She follows my instruction, sucking in a wavering breath. “That’s it, good girl.”
I kiss the sensitive spot on her neck before tucking a few flyaway strands of hair behind her ear.
Moments later the rumble of Jesse’s Holden HJ ute approaches and I retreat backwards a step, giving Kinsley a minute to compose herself. She’s far too easy to rile up. Jesse, Soph and Lou make their way over to us with the picnic basket; Sophie still cradling the bottle of wine and paper cups in her arms.
“Let’s go lay the blanket down over there.” Kinsley points to a shady area under a large oak tree. “Under that tree.”
“Perfect!” Soph agrees with the excited energy I’m beginning to realise is standard for her.
The girls walk off to set up whilst Jesse follows behind them. I take a quick glance back over my shoulder, the car that followed us from the market is now gone. Something about this feels off. I’ll try to catch Jesse alone later on, surely he noticed something as well.
Stretching out comfortably behind Kinsley, I wrap my arm around her waist encouraging her to lean back against me as I sit with my back against the treetrunk. Out of the corner of my eye I catch Jesse’s glare from across the spread of food in front of us. I’m trying to work out if this guy is inprotective big brother mode,or if the poor bugger has been friendzoned. To hide the smirk I know would be impossible to hold back, I nuzzle into the crook of her neck. Bursts of something sweet tingle my nose as I breathe in the smell of her hair. She swats at my thigh; I wonder if her cheeks are turning rosy.
I’ve never been the relationship type of guy, there is too much evil in this world to allow myself to be weakened by loving someone; especially the world my parents have placed at my feet, the dirty world they expect me to run.
Money can buy you whatever you want, unfortunately for me the only thing I want is to have no part of it. Right at this moment, for the first time in my life there is an overwhelming sense of satisfaction simply having this girl in my arms, making sure everyone who sees us knows she is mine. A protectiveness which I have only ever felt for a select five people in my life – the guys who I call my brothers and my sister, Emma – has now extended to her. This shy little brunette with honey coloured eyes.
I want the world to know she is mine.
I want her to know she is mine.
Chapter Twelve
Tanner
I didn’t want to freak the girls out, but all day I saw that same blacked-out SUV wherever we went. I’m not the paranoid type, I know what I saw and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it. Knowing that the girls had created a group text message thread for the four of us, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, saving Jesse’s phone number before typing out a message to him directly.
Me - Hey Jesse, it’s Tanner. I need to talk to you about something, give me a call when you’re free.
It’s late so I don’t want to call the guy and wake him up if he’s already passed out for the night. I place my phone on the charger and walk into the adjoining bathroom. Glancing at the ‘his and her’ sinks, I realise that I have never brought a woman back here before. That theherside of this bathroom hasn’t ever been touched. Why is it only now that all I can picture is one particular woman in here. The thought of bending Kinsley over the black marble top counter whilst she watches herself come, over and over again, consumes me.Fuck,I groan as my dick grows in my pants; she is so damn mesmerising when she falls apart for me.
Stepping under the shower, I let it wash away the thoughts of what I want to do to my curvy little brunette and they quickly flick back to whoever was following us today. My fist slams into the tiled wall. I know what I need to do. Kinsley isn’t going to like it, but what she doesn’t know is that I would do anything for her, even if that means she ends up resenting me.Resenting me,I can live with, it’s the alternative that I fear, existing in a world without her.
After the shower, I dry off and wrap my towel around my hips, making my way downstairs to my office. Punching in a few codes, I quickly bring up the live stream of security cameras on Kinsley’s apartment. I have access to all the properties we manage, not that I’m supposed to look over them. Kinsley however, is a risk I’m willing to take.
I look back over the past forty-eight hours of footage, pausing and zooming in on any vehicle that doubles back past her house. After almost three hours, I press pause on a blacked-out SUV that matches the one I saw today. Zooming in, I take a screenshot and forward it to my phone, taking note of the registration plates too. It’s a start for now.
* * *
Jesse
