Faith: Biker Romance (The Virtues Book 2) (3 page)

They were polite. I was so tired of polite. I was ready for more than a soft and tentative kiss on the lips. I wanted strong, manly hands on my body.

After that thought, I couldn't get the image of Eddie’s hands on my shoulders out of my head. I gave my mother the occasional “mmhm” or “totally,” but my mind was somewhere else completely.

When we pulled in, I snapped out of the fantasy that had a sinful heat rising from between my legs. My mother turned to me.

“I really hope we see this Eddie at church on Wednesday.”

I hated to agree with her on anything, but I was hoping he would show his face, too.

My days were mostly spent prepping for my high school degree exam. I was planning on graduating that fall and convincing my parents to let me visit Esther in California. I hadn’t started that conversation, but I knew it would be tough.

Eddie was on my mind often. I had grown up as a quiet child, so I often spent time inside my own head. My parents thought that it was my time with Jesus, but it was usually spent daydreaming about travel or whatever new adventure book I was reading in secret.

From Sunday until Wednesday, thoughts of Eddie were taking up most of my time. I thought about that first whistle that had come from between his lips. I thought about his attitude. He was so sure in every word he said, but it was more than that. Eddie was sure in every movement he made. When he stared through the glass at the generic art, there was a calmness in his eyes that I could drown in.

I did everything but pray that he would come on Wednesday. It was obvious that Eddie wasn’t the religious type, and I figured that if he dragged himself to Austin Bluffs, he really did want to see me. It was a longshot, and it was a long few days.

Wednesday came, and even my mother noticed an excitement about me.

“Faith, why are you so chipper today?” She brushed the long, blonde hair from my face as I dug through my jewelry box for matching earrings.

I decided to go with the twisted truth again. “I’m just hoping that boy comes. He seemed lost.” I knew my mother loved that word. I could almost see the tear in her eye when I said it. She loved shepherding new lambs into the flock.

“What was his name? Eddie?” I nodded, managing to find a pair of earrings that actually matched. My mother gave a loving look in the mirror. “I hope he comes, too.”

The drive to our church was the perfect opportunity for my father to embark on another one of his lectures about boys.

“You know men are the true sinners, don’t you, Faith?”

He looked into the rearview mirror as he drove, reciting a sermon that I could almost mouth along with him. “Yes, Eve ate the apple, and birthed original sin. She disobeyed a direct command by our Lord, but do you know the first sin as defined by the Ten Commandments was Cain slaying Abel?”

“Yes, Dad. I know.”

“And you know that the motivation was jealousy and anger. Cain killed his brother because he was jealous. Sounds like just about every teenage boy I know. If you talk to one, inevitably, the others will see, and the seed of hatred will be planted. Your mother is far more keen on your finding a partner than I, but you know that.

“I want you to find a man in your own time who believes as you do. I know Jacob has been spending time with you at study. Is that right?”

Jacob was one of the limp boys who sat beside me during Bible study. He’d spend an entire hour leaning toward me and nothing more. If we spoke, it was only about the Bible. I found him to be the most bland, gray, trite human being I’d ever met. If he never came back to study and I never saw him again, I wouldn’t spare him a single thought.

My mother, on the other hand—she thought he was handsome and sweet.

“Jacob is nice, Dad. He has offered to study with me personally.”

“You know what he wants, don’t you, Faith?”

“Daddy, I think he is a nice boy. I don’t think he is interested in me
that way.
” In fact, I was pretty sure he was gay. He was the type that would be the last to know, probably a few years after getting married and having kids.

At a red light, my father had the opportunity to turn around and spew his propaganda at me face-first. “All boys want it, Faith. All of them. I see the way Jacob looks at you.”

“Garrett, dear. The light.”

I owed my mother so much for saving me from that awkward stare down from my father. He turned his attention back to the road.

“Faith, I think it would be best if you didn’t sit near Jacob during study this evening. I don’t feel right about him. I’ve prayed on this so many nights for the strength to impart my and the Lord’s wisdom to you. Your mother and I just want the purity of the Lord to shine through you.” He was speaking with more intensity by the second.

By the time we pulled into the parking lot, my father was beating on the steering wheel of the Wagoneer.

“And I get down on my knees, oh Lord, begging you keep my daughter safe from impure thoughts and the impure thoughts of others.” He reached out and grabbed my mother’s hand. “Hear us, O Lord, for without you, our daughter will turn to the ways of sin and debauchery. Help to heal her from what she has yet to do.”

The lecture-turned-prayer halted as soon as he shut the engine off, as if the Jeep’s motor was a link to the Lord above. I rolled my eyes but kept my head down.

As we filed in with the rest of the weekday congregation, I scanned the crowd for those confident eyes. I didn’t spot Eddie before it was time to head inside, but I didn’t stop searching for him once we sat down.

Part of me expected him to take the preacher’s place. I felt like Eddie could command any room he wanted. I could see him up there, faking his way through a sermon with everyone on the edge of their seats waiting for his next words.

Instead, Pastor Hodges brought his large body up to the pulpit to begin his speech. After about three words, I was daydreaming again: Eddie leaning against the fence like Tom Sawyer; his hands in his pockets dressed like James Dean; the bold demand of a kiss.

It was like the regency novels I had dragged myself through. A gentleman always knows when he can push the boundaries. I didn’t know if Eddie was a gentleman, but he was definitely into pushing the boundary. I was into the way he made my heart race, so I was filled with disappointment when I couldn’t spot him among the congregation.

After an hour and a half of hellfire and brimstone, it was time for Bible study. With Eddie nowhere in sight, I settled in for what would be another dull night wasted with a group of people I considered to be sheep, and not in the “Jesus’s flock” kind of way.

In the basement with the “Young Adults” class, I grabbed a folding chair and prepared for another hour of slogging through the scripture. It was drivel. All the questions were the same, and all the answers were even worse. I sighed and sat down as far from our leader as possible.

Carly Simmons was a stuck up, prissy know-it-all, but in a way that you almost had to admire. She knew more Bible trivia than anyone else, and she loved to show it off. When the opportunity came up to run our age group’s discussion, her hand shot up like a rocket.

So I sat opposite her. Closer to one side might have been better for someone else, but I knew Carly was nearsighted and often forgot her glasses. That gave me the advantage of turning into a literal blur outside of her vision.

As I prepared for another hour of fighting to stay conscious, a knock made me look to the basement stairs. Then my heart went into overdrive.

“Terribly sorry if I’m late. I didn’t realize the service started this early.” It was just like Sunday, when I saw him leaning up against the fence, except he was leaning against the drywall at the bottom of the carpeted stairs. It sounded like he was addressing the room, but Eddie stared only at me.

His smile was still there despite him being in an environment I knew he was unfamiliar with. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, even as Carly spoke.

“That’s all right. We’re just getting seated. Come on in.”

He didn’t move into the room. He moved toward
me
. I shook my head and grinned. I hoped no one could see. He wasn’t carrying the Good Book, and he was dressed in jeans and an open button-up shirt with the white t-shirt beneath.

He grabbed a folding chair from the stack propped against the wall on his way to me. Jacob was already sitting next to me on my right, and another of my shy admirers, Davis, was working his way to my left. Eddie wasn’t having any of it. He stepped right in front of Davis, putting himself between us. Davis opened his mouth to say something, but Eddie simply shook his head back and forth, the smile saying everything for him.

He turned and looked down at me. “This seat taken?”

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that he came, and I couldn't believe that he was going through the pain and misery of Bible study to sit right beside me. As Davis moved away from me entirely, Eddie unfolded his chair and placed it beside me.

As the rest of the room settled down, I leaned over to whisper to Eddie, “What in the heck do you think you’re doing here?”

He gave me a defensive look, like I’d actually hurt his feelings. “Just trying to get a little of the good Lord. Is that a problem?”

I laughed. “You know, you have my mother all fooled.”

“How did I do that? I haven't even met the woman.” Eddie could play innocent like I’d never seen.

I rolled my eyes, “All right. I might have painted a certain picture of you. I
had
to. You don’t know how crazy they are.”

Eddie shook his head just as Carly got started. I could see her leaning forward to try and get a look at the last minute addition to our group. I laughed to myself knowing she couldn’t see just how handsome Eddie was. The thought was warming, and not at all in the spirit of the Lord.

The end of the evening finally came. It was so tiring sitting next to Eddie the entire study session. He was a perfect gentleman, which killed me. I was expecting him to reach over and slide his hand beneath my conservative church dress. I thought he would whisper dirty things into my ear, but he stayed focused and listened.

Even when he was called on by Carly, he talked his way through a halfway decent answer. I knew she picked on him because he was the outsider, but his charm extended beyond me, it seemed.

Eddie followed me upstairs where my parents were waiting. My mother got that “sheep lost from the flock” look again, and I took a deep breath. My parents were about to meet the first man I’d ever been truly interested in. Their view of him was a total sham, but it was still an immense pressure.

To my surprise, Eddie actually stepped in front of me. He had the smile on his face that could charm the feathers from a bird. He extended his hand toward my father.

“You must be the Vincini family. I’m so glad to meet you.”

My father smiled and shook Eddie’s hand. I stood back and tried to keep my heart from stopping.

He turned back to me, pulling me from observer to participant. “I can’t thank Faith enough for introducing me to your church. I’ve been something of a wandering soul lately.” He was a wandering soul, but the Lord had nothing to do with it. He was so smooth I could hardly listen.