Page 28 of Hollis (The Moore Men #2)

Eighteen

Ford

I didn’t know what to expect when Hollis texted me last night, but sitting on the back of his Harley as we ride…

somewhere certainly wasn’t it. It’s later in the evening, the breeze warm as it whips past us.

This isn’t my first time on a motorcycle—I rode one of my buddy’s years ago when I first joined the force—but it is my first time riding on the back of one, and it’s been years since I’ve done anything like this.

I didn’t anticipate how stiff my legs are going to feel once we finally make it to where we’re going.

My hands are resting on top of my thighs, but as he takes a sharp corner, I bring them to his hips to steady myself.

Even through the leather and his clothes, the touch is electric, and it has my heart pounding harder.

I’ve made it a point to keep things friendly during this ride.

Sure, we’re sitting in close proximity, and we have to, given what we’re on, but that doesn’t mean I need to be plastered to his back…

Even if keeping my hands to myself has proven to be more than a little ch allenging.

Despite the breeze surrounding us, my body is on fire, all too aware of Hollis’s every move.

Filthy thoughts flit through my mind before I can help it…

Me sliding my hands along the top of his thighs, feeling the muscle tense beneath my touch.

Scooting closer until our bodies are flush, so he can see how turned on I am being near him like this.

I’d palm his cock next; see if he’s turned on too, then bring my other hand around his throat.

Feel his pulse race against my fingers as I rubbed him over his jeans.

I don’t even realize how tight I’m gripping his hips until Hollis turns his head and says, “You good, Cap?” His voice is muffled beneath the helmet, and the organ in my chest thumps against my ribs, like he can somehow sense what’s on my mind.

Fuck, pull yourself together.

Clenching my teeth, I nod, but say nothing.

When Hollis finally comes to a stop and turns off the bike, I take in our surroundings. We’re on some sort of a lookout over a canyon, and there’s nothing or no one around as far as the eye can see.

“Take me up here to kill me?” I ask teasingly as I climb off a moment before Hollis does the same.

He chuckles, pulling off his helmet. “Nah, you fucked me too good to kill you.”

My body heats, from his words, but also from the sight of him as I drag my gaze down the front of his body.

When he picked me up, I was too focused on the fact that he expected me to climb on the back of his bike that I never got a good look at him.

A leather vest is draped over a plain white t-shirt, straight-leg Wranglers perfectly hugging his thighs and ass are cuffed around the ankle, showing off his black riding boots that are vastly different from his usual cowboy boots, and as he sets his helmet on the seat and reaches into the left saddlebag, he pulls out an all-black trucker hat that he places backward on his head.

Goddamn .

Biker Hollis is just as mouthwatering as cowboy Hollis.

Placing a Marlboro between his teeth, Hollis lights the end with a Zippo, flashing me a cocky smirk. “Keep lookin’ at me like that, and I just might get the wrong idea, Cap.”

Fire spreads through my veins. “Oh, is that right?”

He nods, humming as he takes a drag off the cigarette. “And I don’t know what type of man you take me for, but I don’t much like puttin’ out on the first date.”

“Just beforehand?” I tease, before pausing when my mind finally registers what he said. “You think this is a date ?”

Lifting a brow, he asks, “Don’t you?”

My heart stutters. I already don’t know how I feel about what Hollis and I have done already, but a date ? No. This isn’t a date.

Hollis busts up laughing. “Would you fuckin’ relax, man? I’m just messin’ with you.” Sauntering over to me, he pats the side of my face. “God, you should see your face right now.”

Narrowing my gaze, I grit my teeth. “Then what are we doin’ out here?”

“Watchin’ the sunset, obviously,” is all he offers before taking off in the other direction, leaving me to follow him.

Oh, watching a sunset. What a totally normal thing for two people to do together who aren’t on a date.

“One thing about me,” Hollis drawls over his shoulder. “I’m a slut for a pretty sunset, and this place has one of the best views around here. It’s also far enough from town that you can practically see every star in the sky.”

We don’t veer too far from the bike when Hollis comes to a stop. There’s a little ledge area where we can sit. It’s kind of small, though. Our knees brush as I take a seat next to him. My palms are sweaty, and my pulse is still racing. I’m on edge being here with him, and I don’t understand why.

“What about you?” he asks.

My brows furrow. “What about me?”

“You like sunsets too? Or are you more of a sunrise type of guy?”

“I like ’em both.” I shrug. “Don’t think I got a preference one way or another.”

“Ever been out here before?”

I shake my head. “Nope, can’t say that I have.”

Hollis takes one last drag before dropping the cigarette on the ground and putting it out with his boot. I’m just about to give him shit for littering when he bends down and picks up the butt, shoving it in the pocket of his jeans.

“What’s your favorite place to go to unwind, or just relax?” he asks after a while, the question taking me by surprise for whatever reason.

Rubbing my hand along the scruff covering my jaw, I think about it for a moment before I huff out a breath. “Hell, I guess I don’t really have one anymore.”

“Okay, what was your favorite place?”

My stomach twists, mouth going dry as I consider whether I want to share this part of me with him. It’s not some big secret or anything, but it is diving into a part of my life I typically avoid thinking about if I can help it. What the hell…

“At the house I shared with my ex-husband, there was a creek running through a part of the property,” I explain. “When we first bought the house, I built a porch swing near the water, and I loved goin’ out there in the evenings during the summer.”

“With your ex?” Hollis asks .

Shaking my head, I say, “That was always a place just for me. Trent wasn’t much of an outdoorsy type of guy. His idea of relaxing was in his recliner in front of the television, with a beer in his hand.”

The mention of Trent reminds me that our final court hearing is coming up. I’m almost free of all of this, and the process has been…easy. Almost painfully so, considering how much time and heartache this marriage took from me, but I’m almost there.

“How boring.” Hollis huffs. “I’ve always loved the outdoors more than anything.”

“Me too.”

“Is that why you take your crew campin’ every year?” I feel the weight of his gaze on the side of my face. I meet it, and nod.

“Yeah. I used to camp all the time as a teenager with my grandfather. Right on the lake, or at the creek. We’d wake up with the sun, spend the mornin’ fishin’.

I love it, but Trent couldn’t stand the idea of campin’, and I wasn’t about to go alone.

” I pause, before adding, “Well, that, and it’s affordable for everybody. ”

“And I’m there,” he says, a flirty smirk curving his lips. “That’s an obvious plus too.”

I huff a laugh. “You sure do love yourself, don’t ya?”

“What’s not to love?” Hollis leans in closer, his shoulder brushing with mine. “I mean, you clearly don’t hate the idea of me. Isn’t that right, Cap?”

There’s something in the way he calls me that, that makes my blood heat every single time, and I don’t understand it.

People all day, every day call me Cap, and it’s whatever.

I don’t even bat an eye, but with him… It’s flirty and suggestive, and I really shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do.

Especially when Hollis is just flirty by nature.

I’m over here, overthinking every in teraction we’ve had since we went camping, trying to tell myself it meant nothing, or that it was a mistake, and that we can’t do it again, while he probably hasn’t even thought twice about it.

I’m sure Hollis flirting with me, or sleeping with me, doesn’t mean anything in his eyes.

That’s probably a normal night of the week for him.

“I don’t know about that,” I tease, playfully jabbing him in the arm with my elbow. “I definitely enjoyed you suckin’ my cock because at least then you weren’t talkin’.”

Throwing his head back, Hollis laughs, the sound sending a wave of goosebumps down my arms. “Sure, we’ll go with that. Although, I didn’t see any complaints when you fucked me either, and I definitely talked then.”

“Just because my dick tolerates you doesn’t mean I do.”

The truth is, Hollis fascinates me. He’s my opposite in almost every way, and I can’t help but be intrigued by him.

This rugged cowboy who doesn’t give a fuck what anybody thinks about him.

Hollis is who I probably would’ve been if it weren’t for my father or my ex-husband.

He’s who I would’ve been if people who were supposed to love me didn’t tear me down.

“You’re a terrible liar,” he drawls.

Neither of us are looking at each other, both our gazes on the sun setting along the horizon—and he wasn’t wrong about the views here—but my pulse thrums from his proximity. I haven’t felt this exhilarating type of rush in years. Like high school jitters.

“Can I ask you somethin’, Cap?” he asks after a few moments.

“Go for it.”

“Was I the first person you’ve been with since your husband?”

I glance over at him, my brows pinched. “Yeah. Thought that was pretty obvious from things we talked about on the app.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured, but you never outright said that.”

“Why do you ask?”

Hollis shrugs. “Just curious, I guess. I’ll be honest…” He meets my gaze, something akin to amusement dancing in his eyes. “We really shouldn’t have done any of what we did, with you bein’ Remi’s boss and all.”