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“I could call her if you want, but she hasn’t answered my texts in weeks.”

“No, that’s okay. I just… I don’t know. I think I’m trying to find a loophole.”

“How so?” Sienna lifts the cup of tea to her lips and holds it there as though she’s about to take a sip.

“Ghost isn’t perfect, but he’s,” I pause, not knowing how to explain what I’m feeling, “he’s the kind of man that owns the room without saying a word. I don’t want to get sucked into another man’s orbit and find out two years from now I made another mistake. Anyway, I thought if Maci’s story was about the bikers, you’d know.”

“I mean it wouldn’t surprise me if it was, but does that really matter? You know what kind of past Ghost has and you like him anyway.”

“But should I?”

Sienna tilts her head to the side, watching me carefully. “That’s the question.”

I exhale, rubbing my palm against my knee. “I shouldn’t trust him. I already know that.”

“Yet, you do. I can feel it in your voice.”

“I don’t know. Logically none of this makes sense, but when I think about him, like the way he held me in the chair before he brought me here, it’s different. It almost feels like I should be running away and toward him at the same time.”

Sienna crosses her arms over her chest and exhales softly. “Oh, girl… that’s a pickle. What are you gonna do about it?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure. Ignore it, maybe? I don’t know. I need some sleep. I’m not making any sense.”

“Whatever road you take, I’m right there next to you.” Sienna lands a kiss on my forehead and tucks into the side room behind the kitchen before closing the door softly. She has a small place right off Main Street with two bedrooms and one bath. Her parents bought it for her when she graduated college. They’rerich like that, though Sienna has tried to make a path of her own with the wedding business.

I should ask Ghost if he knows anyone who’d be interested in going to the wedding with her. I bet he knows someone, and it would give me another chance to talk to him without it looking too obvious, right?

Or is that the most obvious trick in the book?

I slip into the back bedroom and shut the door quietly, sucking in a deep breath of peonies Sienna cut from her garden. She’s so good at things like that. Wearing cute clothes, gardening, makeup, all the things I suck at. Even the decorations in the room are nice. She somehow matched the comforter with the curtains and the side chair perfectly. It’s not a mainstream shade of pink, either. It’s a pale, off-tone pink that reminds me of the colors in my grandma’s color block quilt.

That thought should remind me of Grandma, though right now, it’s reminding me of Ghost. God, I hope this lamenting doesn’t last long. Ghost isn’t the kind of guy you hold on to.

I know that. Yet, I feel him here.

I lean back on the bed, exhaling slowly. This has to pass, because I’m not built for longing. Not like this.

Chapter Eight

Ghost

I lean against the wall in the backroom of Nicole’s office, jerking my cock hard and fast as I breathe in the honey sweet scent of her still on my beard. I’ve got at least ten minutes before Tennessee shows up, so I’ve gotta get this out of my system now.

What the hell was I thinking letting myself touch her, letting myself feel anything? Fucking hell. I thought I could leave it all there, one moment and nothing more. Now suddenly, ten minutes away from her feels like a lifetime.

This is why I don’t do shit like this!

I’m not sure I’m ever going to get the vision of her crawling to me out of my head. And that view of her riding that rubber dick while she sucked me off… fuck!

I grit my teeth as come spills from my cock and onto my hand. I need to get a fucking grip and get her out of my head. I’m here to fix the door because she’s in a pinch. There’s nothing more to it. Never will be.

I tell myself that again and again as I wash my hands in the bathroom just left of the office. She keeps a fruity soap that also reminds me of her.

Damn it! I need to nip this right here and now. There’s no reason for her voice to linger in my head, no reason for me to think about her ever again.

She’s too damn sweet, too damn young, too damn everything I shouldn’t fucking want. Besides, where would this go? Sure, we could have a few fun nights, but I have no intention of settling down. I wouldn’t even know what the fuck to do with any of that.

She deserves more than me. She said she wanted more than what I have to offer.