have said no. Instead, I accepted.
“Well, I do work, but I get off at three. No classes that night.”
“So it’s a date?”
His grin was contagious, and I found myself grinning in response. A date. A date. Oh my God, I had a date with Ash.
“You want me to pick you up from the pet store? I can drop you back off there to get your car later.”
I was about to tell him that sounded like a good idea before I realized what that meant. “You want me to ride your motorcycle?”
“Sure, why not? You ever been on a motorcycle before?”
I had, but only for about a minute back in high school. “Once, but it certainly wasn’t like your bike. More like a scooter.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun. We’ll go for a drive, get some fresh air, then we’ll stop someplace and get a bite to eat. I’ll have you home before dark. Sound good?”
He seemed to be going out of his way to make sure that I felt comfortable around him. Meeting me here at the coffee shop in the middle of the afternoon. Taking me out on a date, again in the afternoon and early evening, making sure that I would be home before dark. Picking me up from the pet store so I wouldn’t feel threatened about him knowing where I lived.
I decided that Ash Bascom was a pretty decent guy. He may not be like any other man I’d ever met, but that’s what happened when you judged someone before getting to know the person. You tended to rely on misguided opinions and expectations.
While I had no idea what to expect of him, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be disappointed.
C HAPTER 6
Ash
I felt bad lying to Kathy. Well, I didn’t exactly lie, but I didn’t tell the complete truth either. When I saw those guys cruising the street from the table at the coffee shop, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. It exploded into a burst of anger when Kathy told me that she’d seen the same trio at the store where she worked. Coincidence? While I didn’t exactly believe in coincidences, I didn’t want to assume that they knew Kathy. How could they? I just met her Friday night. Unless…
Unless they’d been watching me. Unless they’d been watching my loft and seen her arrive. But no one in the gang except Bones knew where I lived. Or so I thought. They might have seen both of us go to her pet store and then come back. But how had they latched onto me in the first place? One of them might have followed me at any time to see where I lived. But why? Would they seriously go to that much trouble? If they wanted revenge for me quitting the gang, why didn’t they just come after me?
I was probably over reacting. So what, three of the OB Boys were riding down the street. It was a popular street in Denver, a main thoroughfare. Denver wasn’t that big, not like Boston or Los Angeles, but it was a major artery running north to south along the Front Range. The interstate that cut right through the middle of town was the main highway to reach any number of towns east or west.
I shook my head. My thoughts had been distracted since Saturday afternoon. I hadn’t recognized the guys on the motorcycles, but then again, I didn’t know everyone, and there were always people coming and going. Some of the gang members came from close by; Pueblo, Colorado Springs, some of the mountain communities. Others came from as far south as Santa Fe or Albuquerque. Some from northern regions in Wyoming, while others often drifted in from the east like I had.
I’d spend the time after my brief coffee date with Kathy assessing my belongings in the loft. The space had lost its appeal, and I wanted to move. I just had to decide if I wanted to put any of my stuff in storage or just chuck it. Doing either wasn’t easy when all you had was a motorcycle. I would have to have one of those charity organizations come by and pick up some of the furniture if they wanted it. There were a couple of tenants on the floor just beneath mine. Maybe I would go down and see if any of them were interested.
I sighed,
“Well, I do work, but I get off at three. No classes that night.”
“So it’s a date?”
His grin was contagious, and I found myself grinning in response. A date. A date. Oh my God, I had a date with Ash.
“You want me to pick you up from the pet store? I can drop you back off there to get your car later.”
I was about to tell him that sounded like a good idea before I realized what that meant. “You want me to ride your motorcycle?”
“Sure, why not? You ever been on a motorcycle before?”
I had, but only for about a minute back in high school. “Once, but it certainly wasn’t like your bike. More like a scooter.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun. We’ll go for a drive, get some fresh air, then we’ll stop someplace and get a bite to eat. I’ll have you home before dark. Sound good?”
He seemed to be going out of his way to make sure that I felt comfortable around him. Meeting me here at the coffee shop in the middle of the afternoon. Taking me out on a date, again in the afternoon and early evening, making sure that I would be home before dark. Picking me up from the pet store so I wouldn’t feel threatened about him knowing where I lived.
I decided that Ash Bascom was a pretty decent guy. He may not be like any other man I’d ever met, but that’s what happened when you judged someone before getting to know the person. You tended to rely on misguided opinions and expectations.
While I had no idea what to expect of him, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be disappointed.
C HAPTER 6
Ash
I felt bad lying to Kathy. Well, I didn’t exactly lie, but I didn’t tell the complete truth either. When I saw those guys cruising the street from the table at the coffee shop, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. It exploded into a burst of anger when Kathy told me that she’d seen the same trio at the store where she worked. Coincidence? While I didn’t exactly believe in coincidences, I didn’t want to assume that they knew Kathy. How could they? I just met her Friday night. Unless…
Unless they’d been watching me. Unless they’d been watching my loft and seen her arrive. But no one in the gang except Bones knew where I lived. Or so I thought. They might have seen both of us go to her pet store and then come back. But how had they latched onto me in the first place? One of them might have followed me at any time to see where I lived. But why? Would they seriously go to that much trouble? If they wanted revenge for me quitting the gang, why didn’t they just come after me?
I was probably over reacting. So what, three of the OB Boys were riding down the street. It was a popular street in Denver, a main thoroughfare. Denver wasn’t that big, not like Boston or Los Angeles, but it was a major artery running north to south along the Front Range. The interstate that cut right through the middle of town was the main highway to reach any number of towns east or west.
I shook my head. My thoughts had been distracted since Saturday afternoon. I hadn’t recognized the guys on the motorcycles, but then again, I didn’t know everyone, and there were always people coming and going. Some of the gang members came from close by; Pueblo, Colorado Springs, some of the mountain communities. Others came from as far south as Santa Fe or Albuquerque. Some from northern regions in Wyoming, while others often drifted in from the east like I had.
I’d spend the time after my brief coffee date with Kathy assessing my belongings in the loft. The space had lost its appeal, and I wanted to move. I just had to decide if I wanted to put any of my stuff in storage or just chuck it. Doing either wasn’t easy when all you had was a motorcycle. I would have to have one of those charity organizations come by and pick up some of the furniture if they wanted it. There were a couple of tenants on the floor just beneath mine. Maybe I would go down and see if any of them were interested.
I sighed,
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