He slung his arm around Lacey’s shoulder and off they went, leaving Ava alone with Rick. And about a hundred other bikers, who started brushing by them.
Ava had no choice but to slide her gaze over at Rick.
He smirked at her. Could he see right through her as the fraud she was?
“You look lost.”
She lifted her head, her pulse skittering just looking at him. “No, really, I’m fine. I’m sorry about Lacey dumping me on you. Really, you’re free to go. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“I’m a lot of things, darlin’, but a babysitter isn’t one of them. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and they started walking. Slow.
“Should we catch up to Bo and Lacey?”
“I’m not attached at the hip to my cousin. I’m fine right where we are.”
Ava supposed she was going to have to be, since Lacey didn’t seem to be concerned about leaving her with some guy neither of them knew. And she and Rick had fallen farther back in the crowd of Hellraisers, so now they were bringing up the rear. This guy could drag her into an alley and murder her, ravage her. She could disappear. Would anyone even notice? Or care?
Yeah, her imagination was definitely in overdrive, wasn’t it?
Nice.
“You’re sweating.”
She jerked her gaze to him. “What?”
He lifted his arm, showing her where their hands were linked. “Your palm is sweating.”
She pulled her hand away and wiped it on her jeans. “Oh. Sorry.”
Again, that smile of his. The one that said he knew why.
“Are you nervous? I won’t bite, ya know.”
And wasn’t this just the perfect time for her imagination to conjure him doing just that. Right on the nape of her neck. While they were in bed. Honestly. She didn’t have vivid fantasies of men doing wicked things to her. Especially men she’d just met. Men she didn’t know at all. That wasn’t where her mind went. Usually. But he had that sexy, bad boy look about him that made her shiver all over. And apparently sweat.
“No, I’m not nervous at all.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“Spoken by someone who’s so good at it?”
He winked. “Yes ma’am.”
She laughed, and felt the tension in her body begin to dissolve.
“So how long have you been with the Hellraisers?”
How was she supposed to answer that? She didn’t want to appear as if she had no idea what she was doing, even though she had no idea what she was doing. “Not long.”
“How long have you been riding?”
She looked down the street to see if she could spot Bo and Lacey. “Oh, not very long.”
“Do you like bikes?”
“I find them fascinating. How long have you been riding?”
“Since I got my driver’s license at sixteen. Before that, actually. I rode a bike before I drove a car. I’ve always loved them.”
Now she focused on Rick. “Really. Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Motorcycles were just a part of what we did back then.”
“We?”
“Bo and me.”
“A family thing, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“So everyone in your family had bikes?”
He let out a soft laugh. “No. Just Bo and me.”
“Oh, I see. You two must be close.”
“We were. We got separated for a while.”
“How so?”
“I was out of town the past ten years.”
“Doing what?”
“This and that.”
Vague answers. Things he didn’t want to say. It made her curious, made her want to know more about him. “You grew up here?”
“Yes.”
“So you’ve just come back home.”
“Yeah.”
“Welcome home then, Rick.”
He smiled. “Thanks.”
“I’m sure it’s nice to reconnect with your family again.”
“I don’t have family. There’s just Bo.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
She heard the venom in his short, clipped words, wished she could ask more, but there was a finality in his statement that told her he wasn’t going to explain further. Any time the topic of family arose, his chin came up and something in his eyes went . . . cold. If there was one thing she’d learned in her studies it was how to read body language.
The Strip was alive tonight, people crowding the sidewalks on both sides, wanting to see and be seen. She’d heard about bike week, but never took part, never cared. It wasn’t her lifestyle. She was always in school, always studying, had gone from getting her undergraduate degree to her master’s in social work. And next up would be her doctorate.
But through all of it, there had been Lacey. At least until a year ago. And without her support system, her best friend, the last year had been difficult, nearly unbearable.
She hadn’t realized how isolated she’d become until Lacey was no longer there.
How pathetic. Where had her life gone?
She knew—she didn’t have one. Everything had been about school for so long she couldn’t remember when it wasn’t. But now that she had her master’s, she was taking some time off before she went for her doctorate. What better time to reconnect with her best friend and make sure all was right with her?
“So are you from around here, Ava?”
“Yes, I am. I’ve been here my whole life.”
“What do you do?”
And wasn’t that the question of the hour? What did she do, besides spend her life with her nose buried in a textbook or her mind engrossed in a lecture? “I just finished up my master’s in social work.”
Rick stopped, half turned, stared at her. “Social work?”
“Yes. Why?”
He shook his head and started walking again. She ran to catch up, grabbing his arm to stop him again. “Why did you give me that look?”
“What look?”
“The one that made me feel like a leper.”
“Did I? Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“Do you have a problem with social workers?”
His smirk was his answer. He jammed his hands in his pockets and started to walk away.