Page 81 of Ridin' True

“I was stopping by with a little surprise,” said Bella, lifting two paper cups—also from the coffee shop across the street. “But it turns outyouare the surprise. And a much better one.” Smiling at me, she insisted, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Uh, yes. Of course.”

I stood, as did Jed, wrapping the remainder of his sandwich as he did so.

“Bella, this is Jed. Jed, my sister, Bella.”

With her hands full, he didn’t bother to extend his for a shake. He dipped his chin cordially and responded, “Good to meet you.”

“Yeah, you know, I feel like I’ve seen you before. It’s the mustache. Do you work at Stallion Motors?” she asked, pointing at his vest.

“Yup.”

“That explains it. Except, my sister doesn’t get her oil changed there. I’ve been trying to get her to make the switch, but she’s always gone to the place on First Street. Unless, maybe, that’s changed?”

Jed flashed a crooked smile my way and replied, “It will.”

I smiled back at him, partly because he was right—my auto shop loyalties were certainly about to change—but mostly because he was hot without even trying. When he looked at me like that, like we knew something the rest of the room didn’t, it made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

“I’m gonna get out of here, leave you two to it,” he told me. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay. Thanks for lunch,” I murmured.

Not the slightest bit deterred by our audience, he kissed me goodbye, winked, and headed the short distance to the door. Bella cleared his path, and they exchanged farewells, my sister gaping at my man as he left.

“Oh, my gosh,” she gushed when he was out of earshot. “How is it possible you’ve been keeping a secretthathot? How long has this been going on? When were you going to tell me?”

“Okay, could you maybe calm down? Come in. Shut the door. And which one is mine?” I asked, pointing at the cups she still held.

She thrust the one in her left hand toward me then shut the door and filled the seat Jed had vacated. I took a sip from my tea, made just the way I liked it, and then sat next to her.

“Is this why you haven’t been coming around as much? I thought you were mad at Alejo.”

“I am mad at Alejo,” I was quick to affirm. “And I’ve had a lot going on. Like—a lot.”

“Well,yeah. He is a lot. A lot of muscle. A lot of hair. I’m guessing a lot of—”

“Bella!” I interrupted.

“What?” she asked, grinning. “Seriously! When were you going to tell me? Mami is going to want to meet him, like, yesterday.”

“Isabella—do nottell mami. Jed and I are still new. I was going to tell you about him soon. When things calmed down a little.”

“New? I don’t know, Lexi. You two didn’t look new. You seem pretty comfortable to me.”

I thought back over the last couple of weeks and the intensity of it. Jed and I had been through a lot in such a short span of time. Bella was right. I was very comfortable with him. Life’s challenges brought us together, and our bond was forged under fire. It was unique, to say the least.

“Just—please, let me have this one. Don’t tell mami. I’ll do it when I’m ready.”

My sister rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you going to tell mesomething?How’d you guys even meet?”

“We met here. He needed a lawyer, and I got assigned his case.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “He needed a lawyer? Bad boy like him? What’d he do?”

“Just because he rides in a motorcycle club doesn’t make himbad,” I muttered defensively.

This time, she waggled her eyebrows. “He’s a little bad, though, right?”