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LORA

“ I don’t know what you think’s going on here, but it isn’t anything like that.” Professor Callahan appeals to the behemoth towering over us.

A little tickle of tightening nerves in my belly tells me that there is no appealing to this monster. His judgment is final, and he acts as judge, jury, and executioner all bundled in one.

“So, you aren’t making unwanted advances at someone who clearly showed no sign of interest?” His scowling lips barely part to say the words, but they still manage to carry the burning intensity swirling in his golden eyes.

“Let me just get out of here before this blows up further.” Professor Callahan speaks with the same stoicism he uses in the lecture hall.

“I’m surprised you haven’t fucked off already.” A deep rumbling emits from the monster’s chest.

I gulp down a dry swallow. It should be out of fear, I think. That the devil I know is being chased away by one far bigger and far scarier. But it isn’t. My nervously dry throat has nothing to do with him being intimidating. At least not the aggressive side of it.

It’s because this is the closest I’ve come to someone catching my eye since I moved to Boulder. Living in an all-girl dorm doesn’t make it any easier, and my wild years of partying have passed me by while I study for my master’s in psychology.

Definitely helps that behind the thick padding of muscle that makes up everything below the neck, he’s incredibly easy on the eyes.

His strong jaw carries a light coat of fuzz, enhancing his already terrifying demeanor.

Hazel eyes twinkle beneath the streetlamp overhead, seemingly swirling endless beauty behind their intensity.

Callahan doesn’t speak again as he starts walking backward across the street, keeping an eye on the giant as he goes.

“I suppose a thank you is in order.” I speak once the professor is in his car, shuffling madly to get it started.

“Nah, not at all. Don’t thank me for taking out the trash.” His gaze remains fixed on Callahan, long after the threat is gone. “It’s a duty and a pleasure.”

“Your wife must love you then.” Where did that come from? Because I know it isn’t with good intentions. I haven’t stopped gawking and fawning at him since he blasted his way into my conversation with Callahan, and hearing him say he’s married would pour salt in a wound that shouldn’t even exist.

He lifts his enormous hands and waggles his thick fingers around to show me he isn’t wearing a ring. Well, that’s not true. He’s wearing several, some with skulls, others simple gold, but none in that sacred position on his left hand.

“Maybe someday, but for now, it’s a thankless job.”

Only once Callahan’s car is halfway down the road does he turn down to look at me.

But like my own, his eyes can’t seem to settle in one place.

They scan my cheeks, follow the length of my hair trailing down my shoulder, a few haphazard glances even make it to the high V-cut of my blouse, and my cheeks instantly set ablaze.

Looking too deeply into it can’t be a good idea. He’s a man, and men like to look at women, but not like this. Clenching down so hard that his jaw pronounces even further. Scattering glances returning to my face, so I can’t be certain if he is stealing cheeky glances.

“James Knight.” He offers a hand and I take it. It’s rough and calloused, telling of his years working with them. “But everyone calls me Knight.”

“Fitting.” A smile breaks over my face.

“Why’s that?”

I don’t pull my hand away immediately when the shake is over. There’s no hidden subtext behind the action, but I just like the feeling of his in mine. He isn’t trying to rush away, either.

That has to count for something, right?

“Your name, silly.” I giggle. “A valiant knight coming to save a damsel in distress.”

“I may be a knight, but valiant isn’t the word I’d use to describe myself.” He scoffs, shaking his head as our hands slip apart. If he weren’t a complete stranger, I’d snatch it right back.

“Lora Bailey,” I conclude our greeting. “But everyone calls me Lora.”

“Well, Lora Bailey, I’m not everyone.” He looks over his shoulder at the gas station he must’ve come from. “How about I give you a ride home?”

“How could I refuse an offer like that?” If even just to spend a few more minutes in his company.

I peek around his side and don’t see a car at the station. Hell, I don’t see cars anywhere on the road. That can only mean the bike is his.

“Yup, that’s mine,” he answers my question before I even have a chance to think it. “What can I say? Every knight needs his stallion, and a sedan wouldn’t quite cut it.”

We both chuckle at his joke.

“Where am I taking you?” he asks, and we walk toward his bike.

“Winchester’s female dorm.”

“Should’ve seen that one coming.” We get to his bike, and Knight lifts the seat to expose a hidden compartment where he tucks a bag with the gas station’s logo inside. “Does that mean you’re new around here?”

“Sure am,” I sigh. “Haven’t quite caught my bearings around Boulder yet.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do to make your transition easier, I’m just a call away.” As if waiting for an opportunity, Knight slips a hand into his pocket and pulls out an off-white business card.

I tuck it into my purse, knowing I’ll probably use it sooner rather than later.

“She’s beautiful,” I say, eyeing the machine.

I don’t want to get my hopes up that Knight’s gesture wasn’t purely to give me his number.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not telling the truth, either.

His motorcycle is very pretty, with an all-black body, apart from a few red streaks running through it.

What isn’t painted is polished chrome, gleaming beneath the lights.

“You’re lucky.” He sits and offers me a hand to help me behind him. “She feels the same way about you.”

Maybe it’s my nerves talking, but that sure sounds like he’s flirting with me.

If I weren’t nervous about taking my first ride on the back of someone else’s motorcycle, I’d be chuckling like a goofball. I’m sure of it. But to set my mind at ease, Knight reaches to the side and grabs a helmet. Like his bike, it’s black, but it has his name running across the side.

“Take this. Nothing’s gonna happen, but I’m in the habit of delivering precious cargo unharmed.”

Oh. My. God.

He is flirting with me.

“Don’t you need it?” I ask, but snatch the helmet anyway. It’s loose-fitting around my head, but it’ll do enough to keep me safe anyway.

“Hard as rocks up here.” He knocks against the side of his head lightly. And before I have a chance to answer, he starts his bike, and we start to move. I fling my hands around his belly and latch onto him tightly as we pull away from the gas station and onto the road.

But it doesn’t take long for my nerves to settle down, and the short ride to my dorm is a pleasure instead of a cause of dread.

The engine comes to a stop in front of my dormitory building, and Knight waits for me to get off first. He joins me, eyes scanning the length of the street as he does, to ensure there aren’t any more ne’er-do-wells running about.

“Are you always this cautious?” I ask, as we start walking to my door.

“In my line of work, it’s a necessity,” he admits. “But no. I guess I’m just on high alert because of what happened.”

And because it’s me in the firing line? A nice thought, but probably not.

“Well, you can rest easy knowing Professor Callahan has no way of getting into my dorm room.” I gesture toward the front of the building, where one woman in a guard’s outfit stares at us with a feverish scowl, and another sits at a desk inside. “No one’s passing those two. Not even you.”

“It’s good to know I’m not the only one on the job trying to protect you” —he smirks— “even if it does mean I can’t sneak in.”

This man and my burning cheeks are a match made in heaven.

“So, you’d have tried then, huh?” I raise a playful brow at him.

Knight stops abruptly, and mortification washes over his face. “No. I’d never. I mean?—”

“Easy, big guy.” I rest a hand on the side of his arm to settle the racing thoughts. “I’m fucking with you.”

“Good because I wasn’t talking myself out of that one,” he admits, and I laugh.

We walk the rest of the way to the door, stopping in front of the very grumpy-looking guard.

“So, do you do this often? Or am I a one-time thing?” Everything that comes out of my mouth seems filthier than I intend it to be.

“Often,” he says. “Most nights are quiet, but you never know when someone might be in need. We keep focused, so the people of Boulder can rest easy.”

“We?” I raise a brow, growing more intrigued with this man by the second.

“The Knight Riders. My club.” His eyes harden. “There’s too much injustice in this world. Folks who can’t help themselves. Weak, scared. We step in when no one else will.”

“And you aren’t worried something might happen to you?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“Nah, not really. I’m a big boy. I signed up for it. But making the world a better place, one small step at a time, is a life worth living if you ask me.” He cranes his neck to look at me.

This time, his eyes don’t wander. They remain fixed somewhere between my eyes and the bridge of my nose, as if searching my face for an answer my mouth might not give.

“I agree.” It’s the truth. What Knight and his crew are doing is admirable. But I get the feeling that scaring off professors isn’t the bulk of their job description. And it’s those hidden points I don’t know about that would be the worrisome side.

“It’s all just taking out the trash to me.” He smiles, and it looks so natural on his face. But it quickly melts away to the same hardened intensity I first saw on him. “Your teacher … does he give you a lot of trouble?”

It was bound to come up eventually. Straying away from light, airy teasing to the reason Knight’s at my side in the first place. Did it really have to be this damn soon?

“No,” I sigh, fixing my eyes on the ground. “Not yet? I don’t know. I’m new in town, and he hasn’t had much of an opportunity, I guess. But I don’t think he’ll be much of an issue after you set him straight.”

The last part is purely to still the anger brewing inside Knight’s eyes.

“You’d think so.” I feel his hand on my shoulder, and my eyes shoot up to his face. “But you can never be too careful with men like him. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Overly protective, and a reassuring touch. That’s all this is. I really shouldn’t look any deeper into it.

“I understand. I’ll keep an eye on him and make sure nothing else happens.”

“And if it does, you call me.” His face softens around the lips as they lift for a smile. “Night or day, I’ll be there.”

Heat rises to my cheeks at the thought of his card inside my bag.

“Is this an offer you make to every damsel in distress, or are you just this dang smooth?” I tilt my head to the side, feeling the first tick of a naughty smile growing over my face.

“Can’t it be a little bit of both?” He brushes an arm up and down my shoulder before pulling it away. “But let me not keep you. I don’t think she’s very happy with me being this close to the building as is.” His eyes playfully dance toward the guard in front, glaring at the two of us.

“You stay safe out there, okay?” I take my first step away from Knight’s side since he saved me. I almost feel lost without his massive frame towering over me.

He waits for me to get inside before he makes his way back to his motorcycle.

But his departure doesn’t fill me with dread that I’ll never see him again. This is the start of something fun, I knew it from the second we were alone.

And I can’t wait to see where this road leads us.