Dante's Way (20 page)

“Amara, I can’t believe you’re walking away from a challenge. I never took you for a coward, but I guess I was wrong about you,” he shouted after her.

Stopping in her tracks, Amara slowly spun back around giving Dante a hard look. “I’m not scared of getting on your bike,” she tossed back.

“Prove it.” He grabbed a helmet and held it out for her to take.

His eyes glanced down at the helmet then back up looking directly in her eyes. “Unless you’re actually afraid of wrapping your arms around my waist and letting me take control.”

How dare he say that to her!

“Fine, I will.” Storming back to a smug Dante, she snatched the black helmet out of his outstretched hand. “Tell me what I have to do so I can wipe that stupid smirk off of your face.”

“Just put the helmet over that gorgeous head of yours, hop on and wrap your arms around my waist then hold on tight. I will take care of the rest beautiful.”

Lord, please don’t let me die
, Amara prayed quickly before she put the helmet over her head and then climbed on the back of Dante’s bike wrapping her arms around his hard body. She knew it was now or never. She wished it was
never
if she had a choice.

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at her. “Babe, you look really good back there. Remember, hold on tight and I swear this will be one ride you won’t forget.”

I bet I won’t
, she thought as the motorcycle roared away from the curb.

She closed her eyes as the wind hit her body. It seemed like they had been riding for hours before the lure of the motorcycle between her legs began relaxing her. Slowly, she opened her eyes watching as the scenery zipped past them through the helmet as Dante took her from the inner part of the city into the outskirts of town.

Loosening her grip a little, Amara got more comfortable as her confidence in the handsome man in front of her grew stronger. He was proving how right he was about this ride. This would be something that she would remember for the rest of her life.

He knew how to control the powerful beast beneath their bodies. Nothing as exciting as this had ever happened in her life before and she
loved
it. Most of the time, she kept things pretty basic around her, because she couldn’t afford to draw any attention to herself. However, stepping out of her comfort zone tonight turned into a very good decision on her part.

Her curiosity grew when Dante slowed down the motorcycle and turned up a long driveway towards a house that looked like it could be showcased on any of the nightly entertainment shows she used to love watching on television in her tiny apartment when she first moved to Los Angeles.

Pulling up in the front of the jaw-dropping house, Dante turned off the motorcycle. “Here we are,” he said once the bike was turned off.

Amara took off her helmet and handed it back to Dante then took a moment to glance around. She was amazed at the serenity of his house. She never pictured him living somewhere away from the world like this. There was too much fire in Dante from him to live in such a remote place.

“What do you think?” Dante asked, getting off the bike and then grabbing her hand to help her off as well.

“Your home is truly beautiful, but it’s so huge. I can’t believe you live here,” she answered, holding his hand as they walked to the front door. “It’s so out of the way. I thought you would live closer in town by your bar. I didn’t see you living like this at all.”

Turning his head, Dante glanced down at her with a slight grin on his face. “Thank you. I love it myself. It gives me the solitude I crave after a long hard day at work. I stay so busy sometimes that I can barely make it out the back door to come back here.”

Letting go of her hand, Dante unlocked the door and flicked on the lights before waving her inside; however, the sight of a huge Black Lab rushing towards her and Dante froze Amara in her tracks.

“I didn’t know you had a dog,” she whispered, taking a cautious step back bumping into Dante who was still right behind her.

“Bear, sit,” he commanded, placing his hand in the middle of her back.

The huge Lab instantly stopped and sat down watching her closely like he was ready to make a move on her at any second, if she even looked at him the wrong way. She wasn’t usually scared of dogs, but this one seemed very territorial, almost a little mean.

“Come on sweetheart. He isn’t going to hurt you. Bear always runs up to the front door to greet me when I get home. I’m sorry, I should have warned you, but I didn’t even think about it.”

Amara took a breath and tried to calm down. “It’s okay. He just took me by surprise,” she said, taking a small step further into the room allowing Dante to close the front door behind them.

She stood completely still as Bear got up and came towards them. She watched as Dante patted him on the head before the dog took off and ran into another room. She couldn’t lie and say she was going to miss him.

“Do you mind waiting while I let him outside?” Dante asked, walking around her. “It’s way past time for him to be let out.”

“No, go ahead. I’ll just look around for a few minutes,” she said, looking at Dante.

“Make yourself at home and I’ll be right back.” Touching her on the arm, Dante winked at her then walked away going in the same direction as Bear had just disappeared.

After taking one last look at his retreating figure, Amara strolled around the room noticing how the earth tone design of Dante’s house gave it a rustic structure making it so inviting and comfortable. Shuttered windows provided privacy despite the fact living so far up he really didn’t need it. Even the heavy furnishings and distressed wood invited her to relax a little more while welcoming her to explore further.

From the corner of her eye, Amara noticed two framed drawings. Her curiosity drew her across the room to get a better look. Upon a longer inspection, she recognized they weren’t regular drawings, but tattoo sketches instead. She wasn’t into tattoos, but she had to admit the dragon designs were beautifully done.

“Those were the first two tattoos I did when I opened
Inked
.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she found Dante standing a few inches behind her. He smelled like fresh air and man... two scents that were very
tempting
to her senses.

“I didn’t know you even did tattoos. I thought you only owned a bar,” she replied. “When did you get involved with a tattoo shop?”

Moving closer to her, Dante drew her more into his personal space as his eyes never left her. “I’m part owner in a tattoo shop called
Inked.
I used to be the sole owner until I decided to divide up the responsibilities and took on two partners about five years ago to open
Dante’s Way.
”

“Do you have any tattoos?” Amara asked, curious. She always thought it was so amazing people could proudly put ink on their bodies as artwork.

“No, I don’t have any, sweetheart. I loved doing them, but I never had the urge to get any,” he answered.

Grinning at her, Dante wrapped his hand around her arm easing her back against his chest. “Are you thinking about getting one in the future?” he inquired brushing his thumb over her skin.

She tried to concentrate on the words coming out of his mouth, but he was making it hard with his heated looks and touches. He was driving her to think things she shouldn’t.

“No, I’m not tough enough to sit still for that long not to mention that I’m not into a lot of pain.”

“Too bad, I would have loved to put one of my designs on this beautiful skin of yours.” He ran his thumb over her arm one last time before stepping away.

Amara instantly missed his caressing touch. She liked having him close to her; his presence relaxed her. She couldn’t understand it, but that was just the way it was.

“How about we head to the kitchen?” Dante suggested. “I need to put the finishing touches on our dinner.”

Thank God he suggested they do something else to get her mind off the kiss she was craving so badly from him again. What happened to the woman who was so scared of him? She just seemed to have disappeared once he started pouring on the charm to match those good looks of his.

“Can I help you do something?” she asked, hoping to get their conversation on neutral ground.

“All I want you to do is enjoy yourself tonight. Do you think you can do that for me? Forget about everything else going on and let loose for a few hours?”

Amara tried to recall the last time she’d felt safe enough to let all of her worries disappear and just have some innocent fun. No matter how long she thought about it nothing came to mind. She had been living in harsh conditions way
too
long to ever think about the word fun anymore.

“I haven’t let loose in a while but I’ll try my best to find my carefree side again.”

Stepping back into her personal space, Dante’s eyes slowly moved up and down the length of her body setting her senses on fire. “How about we start off slow and you find a way to let me in a little more. You’re different from any other woman I’ve met in a very long time. I like peeling back the layers and finding out more about who you are.”

“I bet I am,” Amara laughed, harshly. “I’m probably the only one who knows the best time to dig out of the trashcan behind Ryan’s grocery store.”

“Enough of looking back,” he scolded. “You aren’t on the streets anymore. You’re changing your life. Why don’t you take the credit for the baby steps you’ve already made?”

Amara mentally kicked herself again for being the one who brought their conversation back to her past.
Why am I still harping on the negative
? If she didn’t stop, Dante might lose his patience and decide not to bother with her anymore. She hated to even think about him not being in her life anymore.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything about it,” she apologized. “I guess joking about it makes it seem a little less real now.”

Dante brushed his mouth against hers catching her completely off guard and setting her body on fire. “No more apologizes. How about we just have a great time tonight?” he suggested against her tingling lips.

Blinking, Amara looked up into his gorgeous eyes and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s have some fun.”

“Now, that’s what I wanted to hear.”

Stepping back, he held out his hand and she didn’t waste a second in taking it. The slight callous of his fingertips brushed against her skin making her wonder how good they would feel touching other more sensitive parts of her body. Only time would tell if things would get that far between her and Dante, but she wasn’t going to do anything not to make it transpire.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Standing at the other side of the room, Dante listened as Amara sang along with the radio completely letting her guard down and relaxing around him. When they first met each other, he never thought this was where he would be with her.

Unlike what Hayward might believe, he hadn’t pursued Amara because of his desire to save her. He fought to make her see that he wasn’t going to hurt her as some other people might have done in her past. When he committed to something, he struck to it without allowing anyone or anything to change his mind and the idea of losing Amara didn’t sit well with him.

Just being around Amara even for this short period of time relieved a lot of the demands he usually carried around on his shoulders. For so long, he’d kept most of his problems to himself even hiding them away from Caleb and Griffin. They had lives of their own to live, but without a doubt both of them would put everything on hold to help him.

Getting more comfortable, Dante rested his back against the kitchen counter as he continued watching Amara lost in her singing. He doubted she even knew he was there anymore.

Certain qualities about Amara reminded him of so much of Keira. He liked how she possessed an inner strength about her when he least expected it. She never allowed him to back her into a corner no matter how much he might push her.

He would never admit to anyone else, hell, he hated even admitting it to himself, but there was brief moment when Keira had broken up with Jim that he had secretly thought of pursuing something with her.

However, Keira was still so in love with Jim that she never saw his hidden feelings for her. The second he realized there could never be anything more between them than friendship he buried those emotions and threw away the key forever. He wasn’t about to ruin his friendship with Jim over a woman who only saw him as her good friend.

“Do you want to tell me what has you so deep in thought?”

Glancing to his left, Dante found Amara standing there within touching distance of him and the sight of her brought an unconscious smile to his face. “Oh, it was nothing for you to worry about,” he answered.

“Well, you better stop thinking so hard before you get gray hairs,” she teased.

“Do you think I won’t be attractive with a few gray hairs?”

Tilting her head to the side, Amara stared at him then she came right up to him and took his face in her hands. She moved it to the left and then to the right before stepping back.

“No, I think they would only add to how handsome you already are,” Amara flirted back. “Now, enough with the compliments, when do I get a chance to see this beautiful patio? I’ve been peeking at it since I got here. The view looks amazing so I think you should show it off.”

“Sweetheart, I would be more than happy to show you the view. Being outside on my deck is my favorite place to relax after a hard day at the bar; it can really make you forget about everything going on around you.”

“Well, are you going to give me a chance to find out for myself?” Amara asked.

“Right this way,” Dante said.

****

Placing his hand in the small of Amara’s back, Dante escorted her onto the stunningly built deck while she tried to block out how good his touch felt. . From the corner of her eye, she noticed Bear at the far corner watching her but he didn’t make a move to come any closer to them.