Stealing a quick look out my door, I spy Beau’s door still closed. It doesn’t mean he’s not up, but hopefully I beat him to it. With no other option but to risk it, I exit my room and walk down the hall and out to the main area. The clubhouse is silent this morning, and I take a second to look around. I’ve come to like living here. Yeah, the parties and the women can get a little out of hand, but the club family has accepted me as one of their own.
This is one of the reasons you need to leave, Mackenzie.
Pushing all the reasons of why I should leave aside, I head for the kitchen but come to a stop when I turn the corner and see Beau standing there, his back to me, cooking over the stove.
Damn it. He beat me.
Not sure if I should make my presence known or race back to my room, I take the time to have my fill of him.
His bare feet grab my attention first. There’s something seriously sexy about a man barefoot in a kitchen. Taking one last look at them, I slowly move my gaze up his body. His shorts hang low, showing the dip on his tanned, inked back.
Of all things holy, my stomach dips at the sight.
His hair is free from his band in a wild and sexy mess and I kick myself knowing not eight hours ago this man was making love to my face and I freaked out.
Kill me now.
Shaking my head free from our kiss, my eyes move over the rippling muscles of his smooth back and zero in on his ink. Most of his back is covered, the largest, a Knights Rebels insignia sits in the middle of his back. I can’t make out the rest from this distance, but nonetheless, I still crave to explore them.
Keep your cool, Kenz.
Forcing the kiss from my mind, I decide to get this over with.
“Morning.” I step into the kitchen like I just turned the corner and didn’t spend two minutes checking him out.
Beau turns at my voice and gives me one of his rare smiles.
“Sit, breakfast is ready.” I follow his order and take a seat without even thinking. I don’t know why when he speaks to me like this I don’t react. His bossy tone no longer rubs me the wrong way. I’ve become used to it.
“I thought it was my turn to fix breakfast.” I eye my plate then try to contain my excitement when he places my favorite in front of me. French toast. Even better. Beau’s French toast.
“Are you keeping tabs, Kenzie?” I hold back my smile hearing he’s gone back to using the shorter version of my name and nod.
Okay, maybe we can just act like nothing happened last night.
“I had all these plans to show you up with my mad omelet skills.”
He throws his head back at my admission. A deep rumble spills from somewhere low and I’m thrown by the easiness of it so I just sit and stare.
Holy shit, I could just listen to him laugh all day.
“I’ll wait patiently for that day, darlin’.” Beau pulls me out of my trance and takes a seat next to me.
“Whatever. One day, I will perfect it.” I huff before taking a bite of my breakfast. Seriously, so freaking good.
“So I thought we could head over to my place today.” I stop eating and look up at Beau’s suggestion.
Okay, this is not what I was expecting.
“Are you sure it’s wise, Beau?” I place my fork down on my plate and reach for my coffee.
“Told you last night, you’re either here or my place.”
“Yeah, but after what happened last night?” The last thing I want to do is relive what happened, but it’s better to get it over with now than later.
“Last night was my fuck up. It didn’t mean anything. I don’t think of you that way, Kenzie.” He places his fork beside him and gives me his full attention. I ignore the pang of rejection hearing him say he doesn’t think of me in that way and nod instead.
“Yeah, of course. I’m not interested in anything more, either. It was just one of those moments. When two people spend a lot of time together, it’s bound to happen. Now it’s done, we can move on,” I agree as heat spreads over my face and neck.
How embarrassing.
“So we’re good then.” I force what I hope is a smile and dig back into my breakfast.
“Yep,” is all he says, before picking up his own fork and pushing a mouthful of food into his mouth. We don’t talk again after that, both of us avoiding each other’s gaze. I know we just said what happened last night was a mistake, but it doesn’t change the fact we’re both going to be different now. There’s nothing we could do to control it.
“I’ll clean up,” Beau says when I stand and take my plate to the sink.
Not wanting to argue with him today, I nod and hang back, enjoying a second coffee and letting him take control of the situation.
Ugggh, he is a pain in my ass.
After ten minutes of me watching him tidy up, we finally make our way out to the front.
“Only have my bike. You okay with that?” he asks, locking up the clubhouse.
“Sure.” I nod and push down my unease of having to be close to him so soon after our slip. He motions to a bike to our left, and we walk over. I don’t tell him I haven’t been on a bike before. I just lift my leg and mount his ride like I’ve done it hundreds of times.
He watches me carefully, eyebrow cocked, hands on hips, but doesn’t comment. Instead, the corner of his mouth lifts up in a knowing smile.
Yeah, yeah, whatever.
“Will you be joining me?” I ask when he continues to just stare.
He doesn’t reply with words but climbs on in front of me. Not wanting to be too close, I squeeze my thighs tight against his side. Careful not to put my hands on him.