Ride With Love (Triple R Book 3) Read online

  My philosophy had always been, “Wait for it and it will come to you.” I hoped that was true with lots of things, but as time went on it was getting harder to keep the faith. Would I ever find the kind of housing I was waiting for?

  I hopped in my car and checked my phone. A new message blinked on the screen.

  Jude: Hey, can we meet for lunch? I stopped by your work and they told me you have the day off.

  Giving out my work schedule? We’ll talk about that, Frazier.

  Willow: Where/when?

  Jude: Flemings in Regency @ noon

  Regency? Cha-ching.

  Willow: You paying?

  Jude: Sure

  Willow: It’s a date.

  Jude: Great.

  I took a detour, more like a fifteen-minute out-of-the-way trip, to drive past a familiar house.

  His house.

  He worked as a Ducati store manager and technician. The store kept him busy. His collection of motorcycles made him sexy as hell. After my initial trepidation, I’d enjoyed riding on the back of several of the bikes. The way he rode with confidence took away any anxiety about being on a two-wheeled wonder.

  I turned into Regency Court, which as the name indicated only kings and queens should be shopping there. The upscale mall was in the middle of Omaha off the main drag, Dodge Street. The biggest store, Borsheims Jewelers, was the place for…

  Holy sparkling ring! So that’s why you chose this place, Jude.

  My whole family tended toward “gifted” in odd ways. My sister, Sierra, could read guys really well. She sensed their emotions and what they needed or wanted at any moment. As I explained to Sierra, using her gift would require finesse so she didn’t end up feeling obligated to “put out” at every whim of his testosterone-filled head. She agreed and found a partner who even changed universities to make sure he could be near her. That kind of commitment and spontaneity was what Sierra needed.

  My mom’s gift was seeing auras around people that indicated if they were lying or telling the truth. That sucked as a teenager. My dad had no gift, or didn’t share if he did.

  My brother, Ridge, ignored his gift. When he was five, our paternal grandmother died, and he started talking about the dress they were going to bury her in. Thing was, he couldn’t have known what the dress looked like. Apparently, Grandma wasn’t too happy and told him to tell Mom to change the choice before the burial happened. My mother did what Grams asked. She was too afraid of her mother-in-law haunting her ass from the grave, if she didn’t. When Ridge became a teenager he thought talking to dead people was less cool. Especially when his friends started asking him to bring forth their deceased family members. So he retaliated by terminating or at least disregarding his gift.

  My gift was intuiting when people were going to do something big in their life or have something major happen to them. The problem was, my extra consciousness didn’t work with a man I was in love with or had been in love with. So, when Mitch was fired from Triple R in April, I felt guilty for not being able to warn him. And when it came to seeing the end with that other guy—nothing.

  I loved Jude like a brother but I certainly wasn’t in love with him, and my special radar was screaming at me. In a good way.

  I arrived first at the restaurant and took a booth in the bar. Jude showed five minutes later, kissed my cheek, and slid into the other side. He was such a gentleman that I wondered if he was real sometimes, but Presley had met his parents and relayed that Jude’s father was as charming and chivalrous as his son was. Daddy had taught him well.

  We made our lunch selections and the waitress scurried off, after looking Jude up and down. My friend had done well for herself.

  “So, what’s up, Ponytail?”

  His shoulder-length brown hair was usually pulled back in a black elastic band. Today it was down and the look was more hippie and less GQ, but he was still extremely easy on the eyes.

  “Willow, I love Presley and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

  “Good to hear.”

  “I’m going to ask her to marry me when we have our party for Labor Day. I’ve asked her dad for her hand and he’s given his blessing. Now I need yours, and help picking out a ring.”

  My blessing?

  I was Presley’s non-related sister. Jude’s thoughtfulness to ask for my approval removed the giant stopper that had plugged my emotions lately. The torrents of tears surprised me. My free-flow of wailing surprised Jude.

  He rounded the booth and scooted in next to me, guiding me into his arms. “Willow, Kanyon’s a fucking idiot. He didn’t have to make a choice between you and…”

  He stopped talking, and I stopped crying. I hadn’t ever found out the reason behind his quick change of heart.

  “A choice between me and who, Jude?”

  “It doesn’t matter. He could have changed things and he chose to hurt you instead.”

  “I miss him so much.” My hand twisted Jude’s t-shirt into a crumpled star.

  “Not to sound like a girl, but I miss him, too. I imagine not as much as you.”

  I chuckled into his chest. “I knew what you were going to tell me but not what you were going to ask me.”

  “How?” He rubbed my back.

  I leaned back and looked up at him. “It’s my sixth sense to know when people are going to have something big happen in their lives, good or bad. It just doesn’t work on a person I’m in love with.”

  After giving me one last squeeze, he returned to his side of the booth. “So, do you think I’m the right guy for Presley?”

  “Jude, I knew you were the right guy the first night I met you.”

  Just like I knew my guy was the right one for me.

  “Thanks, Willow. After we eat, do you have some time to help me pick out a ring?”

  “I’d love to.”

  ****

  On Friday, I got a text from my friend, Jace. She had tickets to see the local AAA baseball team, The Storm Chasers, and she wanted my company. Tight pants on athletic guys? Who would say no to that?

  I was coming around to accepting what had happened with that guy. I was ready to have a night out. Jace knew I’d broken up with someone, but she’d never asked any specifics. I appreciated that. Reliving what happened was too hard and made the accepting so much harder.

  I left work at four, showered to remove the stench of today’s French onion soup special from my hair, and headed to the ballpark. Jace met me outside the gates and led me to the company suite. She worked for a local marketing and advertising firm, Wattier & Buchman. Her bosses were a married couple and on our way up the stairs Jace commented that they’d had the cutest twins in the middle of July, a girl and a boy.

  We stepped into the suite and immediately my eyes fixed across the room on a very tall man with his back to me. The sandy-blond hair, the broad shoulders, the thin but compact build, I’d know that body in my sleep. It haunted my dreams. Sometimes in pleasurable ways I couldn’t forget, and sometimes the visions seemed more like nightmares.

  My blood bubbled like boiling water through my body.

  Jace grabbed my elbow and started pulling me toward the corner where he stood. I yanked away.

  “I want you to meet one of my bosses.” Her white teeth gleamed until she saw my face, then her eyebrows furrowed.

  The man turned toward us. “Jace, hi.” Our eyes met and his green orbs widened. “Willow Harper, it’s been a long time.”

  I inhaled a deep breath as a rush of relief soothed my body. “Brock Hills, it’s great to see you.”

  Thank God it’s you. Not him.

  He pulled me into a hug and Jace’s gaze bounced between us.

  “I take it you two know each other?” she asked.

  Brock smiled. “You could say that. We grew up about three blocks from each other in the same subdivision. Our parents are good friends, and Willow’s sister, Sierra, is friends with my brother, Braxton. She was in his wedding earlier this year and is dating one of his friend
s. The Spanish stallion himself.”

  I laughed. “Paolo? He’s Italian, Brock.”

  “That’s right. Italian stallion. But, you never know in that group who’s with whom. I found out today that things didn’t work out between J.T. and his girlfriend.”

  “J.T. and Allie broke up?” They were one of those couples—the connection, the heart, the everything.

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t believe you.” I couldn’t. It almost hurt my heart to think it was true.

  Brock chuckled. “I’ve done my job disseminating good news to the masses. My wife will be so proud of my PR skills. I’m sorry, Willow, I thought you knew.” Brock glanced behind me.

  “Sorry. I don’t mean I don’t believe you,” I said. “It’s just … they seemed like they had that something special together.”

  “I guess it wasn’t forever special.” Brock waved.

  I guess sometimes it isn’t.

  Jace’s face was so scrunched she looked like one of those carved apples that people let petrify. “I’m so lost here,” she muttered.

  I didn’t know whether to bring up the uncomfortable fact. But I was getting over him, so best to put it out there and move forward with the conversation.

  “Say, I dated your cousin earlier this year.”

  “Which one?” Brock asked, glancing behind me again.

  I opened my mouth to say his name, but Brock beat me to it.

  “Kanyon! Hey, over here,” he called out.

  I kept my back turned toward the door while Brock waved him over. He hadn’t ever met Jace and with my hair a different color he probably wouldn’t recognize me from the back.

  My palms turned cold and clammy, and my body trembled at the anticipation of seeing him for the first time in over three months

  “I’m gonna go get a drink,” Jace said. “You want one?”

  “Water, please.”

  The hairs on my arms rose before he reached us. The electric pulse of his allure permeated through my body. I pretended to be watching the game.

  Brock stepped behind me, the back slap of a bro-hug echoing through my body. “Good to see you, cuz,” he said.

  “Willow!” A little girl’s voice cut through the air, and my body spun to see her. It was instinctual to crave her enthusiastic smile and green eyes with sparkles of gold. She radiated happiness, from her silky flaxen hair to her tiny, constantly moving feet. Her body slammed into mine, and since she was so tall, her head hit me right under my ribs, knocking the air from me but I didn’t care. I slumped into her and rubbed her back.

  “Hi, Button.” I sighed into the top of her head. Her hair smelled like strawberries and innocence. Grace was as cute as a button, which had led to her nickname.

  “I miss you.” Her honesty was that of a six-year-old. No filter. And I was thankful for that.

  God, I missed you, too.

  Brock chuckled. “So, I guess this is the cousin you dated?”

  I nodded, but still hadn’t looked at him.

  It’s time.

  I brought my head up and his emerald eyes muted me, and I suffered a momentary deafness as blood rushed through my ears. I froze with my arms wrapped around Grace.

  “Hey, here’s your water.”

  A cold plastic bottle was shoved against my chest, and I broke the stare. I grabbed it with one hand while still clutching the small body in front of me with the other.

  “Hi, Willow. Good to see you.” He stepped forward. His arm crooked around me and we sandwiched Grace between us. His lips grazed my ear. “I miss you, too.” The four words were a mere whisper on an exhale, something dreamed. He inhaled a long breath. “I always will.”

  My loud panicked gasp was audible to the room. Jace’s eyebrows furrowed.

  “Daddy, you’re squishing me!” Grace wiggled her way from between us. “I wanna see Leia and Lyle.”

  “It’s Leia and Kyle, Button,” he reminded her.

  He turned to face Brock but his right arm stayed behind me, riding up my shoulder blades. Soon his fingers were sliding up my neck and into my hair. I tried not to crumple into his body as his inviting scents of leather, cologne, and garage oil mixed in my head.

  I brought my water bottle up and used my elbow as leverage to make space between us until he released me.

  “Willow, come with me!” My other hand was captured and Grace yanked me to follow her.

  He stayed and talked to Brock.

  Jace followed me. “Is that the guy?” She kept her voice down.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to leave?”

  “No, I can’t do that to Grace. I’ll be fine.”

  We made our way over to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who almost looked like she could be Jace’s twin sister, only taller. They shared warm greetings.

  “Rachel Hills, this is my friend, Willow Harper.”

  “Sierra’s sister?” she inquired while she shook my hand.

  “Yes. I guess my little sister has been busy making a name for herself lately and I’m out of the loop.”

  Her broad, friendly smile disarmed me. “Yeah, teenagers can really throw you for a loop when you least expect it. Hi, Grace.”

  “Hi. Where’s the babies?”

  “They’re with Violet and Brad for the night.”

  Grace’s disappointment was short-lived.

  Rachel saw the reaction and offered, “But you can come over with Kanyon anytime to play with them, okay?”

  “Daddy! Daddy!” Grace ran the length of the room faster than any of the players on the field probably could. “Rachel says I can go see the babies. Can we go?”

  “Maybe next week. We’ll see what days you’ll be with me and I’ll text Brock to make sure they have time.”

  “But she said I could!” Her scream was probably heard on the pitcher’s mound.

  The meltdown progressed into a stomping thirty-pounds-of-blonde fury. I watched him work his magic. Grace’s dad had his own special gift. He could read females about as well as my sister could males. And he could also influence them with his understanding.

  He crouched to her level and rested his hand on her shoulder. “It’s not good manners to raise our voice in public. If you are going to cry or throw a fit, we’ll have to leave.”

  Grace searched the room and her eyes met mine. She sniffled though her words. “No, I want to stay with Willow.”

  “That’s better.” He kissed her forehead, then his eyes found mine. “Is that okay?”

  I nodded and tried to smile, but the gesture was flat and lifeless.

  The gold sparkles in his green eyes fizzled and he mouthed, “I’m sorry, Willow.”

  I didn’t want to see or feel the pain we clearly shared, so I excused myself to the bathroom.

  “I need to go, too.” Grace skipped to me.

  “Okay, Button. Let’s go.”

  On our way back to the suite, Grace squeezed my hand. “Did you like my picture?”

  “What picture?”

  “I drew you a picture of Foo-Foo. He was riding a bike. Daddy and I mailed it.”

  “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten it yet. I’ll check when I get home.”

  “But we mailed it a long time ago.” Frustration clouded her eyes and she skipped to her dad when we entered the suite. “Daddy, Willow didn’t get my picture of Foo-Foo.”

  He glanced to me. “Really?”

  I shook my head.

  “That’s odd. We sent it almost two weeks ago. Well, that’s the postal service for you. Button, why don’t you draw her another one?” He stepped over to a stack of paper mats for eating and grabbed a few, then yanked a marker from the Wattier & Buchman marketing materials. “Here.” He lifted her onto a barstool.

  Grace started on a mission. Her blonde hair fell into her face and she brushed it back several times. I stepped behind her and braided the thick strands, pulling a tie from my jeans pocket.

  “Thank you, Willow.” His warm hand rested on my lower back. I s
tiffened and he removed the touch that my body craved. “What have you been up to?”

  “Not much. Working out at Triple R more. I’m filling in for the head chef while he’s in Europe for pastry training. The coffeehouse is expanding so I’m preparing to want to pull my hair out when that starts soon.”

  “Speaking of hair. Where’s the color, Willow?”

  My eyes skimmed his handsome face. His sculpted jawline and full bottom lip were as I remembered in my dreams.

  “Like lots of things, it’s gone.” I spun and navigated between bodies to Jace. With a lowered voice, I mumbled, “Let’s take a seat and watch the game.” I pulled her along by her elbow. “I need to be distracted by something other than form-fitting jeans and motorcycle boots.”

  “Sounds good.” She slid her arm through mine. “I know jiujitsu. I can kick his ass for you.”

  I laughed. “Maybe another time. I love you, Jace.”

  “Love you, too, but you ever want me to really love you, you let me know.”

  Jace had been having a hard time finding a partner. Her string of girlfriends had run the gamut of sweet and perky to sullen and moody to burly and rough-around-the-edges, but none of them could deal with Jace’s need to spend long hours at the office. She was married to her work and the people in her life came second.

  I’d experimented with the other side once or twice. Okay, three times. But it was in the form of a threesome. One-on-one with another woman didn’t interest me as a long-term relationship. Plus, Jace would die over my cleaning skills. She was a clean freak.

  I’m mostly just a freak.

  Chapter Four

  Kanyon

  I’d memorized that body like the frame of any one of my seven motorcycles. The curves, the lines, the sounds she made, they were all seared in my brain. Human blueprints drawn in detail and ingrained, until they were all I could see when I closed my eyes.

  Seeing Willow from the doorway, the pull was instinctual to walk to her, into her, but the reality of the situation stopped that from happening. I answered to my cousin’s invitation and guided Grace across the room.

  Having her so warm and loving to my daughter, picking up where she left off three months ago, was both good and bad to witness. When I stepped close to her, her body struggled to remain upright, but my words in her ear were cruel, and I instantly regretted saying them. I hoped the background noise of the busy room and ball game had drowned them out. By her reaction, they hadn’t. She pushed me away and I submitted. The time had passed but not our feelings.