“Mmm,” she said softly, smiling up at him, the shyness back in her face. “What time is it?”
“Before dawn. We should get you home before anyone notices you’re missing.”
“Oh.” She sat up abruptly. “Yes, that’s a good idea.”
He watched her backside sashay as she headed to the bathroom. She filled out his boxers rather well, Rome thought, and made a mental note to take her someplace and get her some naughty underthings. After he got paid, of course.
Rome tugged on a shirt and a new pair of jeans, since he’d made a mess of his old ones last night while fooling around with Elise. Considering he only had two pairs of jeans, that meant today was laundry day.
Elise reappeared a few minutes later, her hair pulled into a messy knot atop her head that made her look even more well-fucked than before, and her hands smoothed down her wrinkled jeans. “They’re a little wet still, but not too bad.”
He finished pulling on his boots and laced them up. “You want to go get breakfast somewhere? My treat.” He only had a few bucks in his bank account, but hey, he’d buy his girl some coffee if she asked for it.
She shook her head shyly. “I’m fine. I think I’ll just go home and shower.” Her cheeks pinked again.
“All right.” He couldn’t tell if she was blowing him off. Was she regretting last night? It was hard to tell with Elise—everything seemed to rattle her. He didn’t like the thought of her pushing him away, though. “When did you want to get together again?”
She shrugged, silent.
That . . . definitely felt like a blowoff. Was it because she was embarrassed? Or because in the light of day she realized he was just some shitty loser with tats and she could do better?
He didn’t like not knowing, so he couldn’t resist pushing just a bit more. “You still want to do that photo shoot?”
This time, her eyes lit up. “You want to do it?”
“For you? Yeah.”
The look she gave him was meltingly sweet. “I’d love to. When is good for you?”
He pocketed his keys, then looked over at her. “I’m off today and then work days until we open the paintball course. How about you?”
“Today might not be good,” she said, nibbling on a long fingernail. “I haven’t seen Grant in a few days, so I need to spend some time with him. Maybe tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, that’s fine with me.” He’d clear all the time in his schedule she needed.
She practically beamed. “Wonderful. You want to meet at the salon after work? I’ll bring food again.”
“I’m not one to turn down a free meal,” he told her with a grin.
She ducked her head shyly.
“Hey,” he said, touching her chin and forcing her to look up at him. “You’re not feeling weird about last night, are you?”
Elise bit her lip and gave him a small, hesitant smile. “Just wondering why you’d spend your free time with me, is all, really. I can’t be fun company.”
“You’re the best company I’ve had in a long time,” he told her honestly. “And I’d spend every minute with you if I could.”
At least until she started looking at him with loathing.
• • •
When he returned from dropping Elise off at the bed-and-breakfast, Rome’s mood grew foul the moment he spotted the new motorcycle in the parking lot.
The owner of the bike was seated on it, arms crossed, enjoying a cigarette. He looked over at Rome as his bike pulled up.
His brother. God damn it.
Rome parked his bike next to Jericho’s but didn’t turn it off. “What are you doing here?”
Jericho tossed his cigarette on the ground and gave Rome a familiar smile. “Thought I’d come say hi. Check out the new digs.” He nodded at the row of cozy cabins. “You camping or something?”
“I don’t want to talk to you here, so either leave or let’s go somewhere else.”
“Breakfast? There’s a Waffle House down the highway.”
He gave a jerky nod and backed his bike out of the parking space, taking off and not bothering to see if Jericho was going to follow him. He was furious. If Jericho knew where he was, that meant his mother and father weren’t far behind. They’d show up with all their issues, and he’d be drawn back in again.
And then his life would be f**ked-up all over once more.
Rome seethed all the way to the Waffle House. He was still seething when he parked his bike and stomped into the diner, practically flinging himself at the first booth he saw. He knew the waitress was giving him odd looks, but he didn’t much care. He didn’t want to eat half as much as he just wanted to get this over with.
Jericho sauntered in, smiling at everyone. That was his brother—all easy grins designed to put people at ease despite his leather-clad, tattooed body. For some reason, Jericho never let anything bother him. Laid-back to a fault, that was J.
Rome couldn’t act the same, though. Too much shit didn’t roll off his back.
Jericho casually sat across from him and picked up a menu card. “So. Long time, no see.”
“Not long enough,” Rome said, arms crossed. “How’d you find me?”
“You made the mistake of picking a small town,” Jericho said, shrugging. He smiled as the waitress brought him a coffee without him having ordered one, and Rome wondered if Jericho was here often. “I was passing through and someone saw my bike and asked if I knew the new guy that worked at the wilderness school. You know people think that everyone who owns a Harley knows each other. Funny thing is, though, in this case, they were right.”
It was his own fault. Damn it. He should have picked a bigger town than Bluebonnet, just kept on passing through until he found someplace he could be totally anonymous. He’d just have to up and leave again, like he always did.
For the first time, though, that bothered him. He thought of Elise’s softly smiling face, the way she clung to him when she slept, and for the first time Rome didn’t want to just pack up and skip town. Anger burned in his belly. “So what is it you want?”
Jericho raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by Rome’s cold tone. “Wanted to say hi to my brother. That so wrong?”
“I just know that wherever you go, Mom and Dad aren’t far behind, and I want nothing to do with them.”
Most parents, he imagined, would be concerned about their sons. Most parents would have a decent house, settle in the suburbs, and work normal jobs so their kids could go to school and have a nice, normal life.