Full Throttle (3 page)

Josh bit back a frustrated curse. Save it for after
the weekend, when he was sure he would imagine her in many a different
position. And that would be okay, because he wouldn’t have to see her again.
Until then, Josh would be a good host and keep his hands to himself. Besides,
what made his brother think that someone as clearly hot as Sammy, would even
look at a tattooed, hardened biker like him anyways?

Chapter
Three

Sammy stepped out of her cozy little room and locked
the door. She pocketed the old-fashioned key and headed downstairs. Her veins
were jangling with nerves and her hands were sweaty as she gripped the ornate
wooden banister. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking of Josh, and his
ridiculously sexy body, for the whole time she had been in her room.

Oh,
man, those leathers…

As soon as she got into her room, she’d phoned her best
friend Rachel, in the hopes of finding something else to think about. Instead
of staying off the “Josh” topic, she’d told Rachel all about the
gawgeous hunk
leading the tour group.
Sammy’d blushed madly when Rachel told her to go for it. The idea was so
tempting, she found herself imagining how exactly she would go about that. It’s
not like Sammy had much experience in the whole dating, sex game. Until now
she’d lived a shamefully restricted life, thanks to her parents, and she now
struggled to behave like any normal twenty-five- year-old would.

She’d tried to recall the few times Tony, the usual
tour group leader, might have mentioned his younger brother while she’d been on
previous bike rides. Tony had said his brother had been recently jilted at the
altar. The idea of anyone ditching such a fine piece of man was almost too
impossible to imagine.
Unless Tony was talking about another
brother?
Tony also once said that his brother had been made redundant in
his job, but had recently started his own on-line business selling bike gear. Sammy
couldn’t help but be impressed by a man who clearly suffered through a shit
year, and hadn’t allowed it to kick him down.

It was then that Sammy decided she would at least
flirt. In her mind, that was going for it. And go for it, she would. Pleased
with her decision, Sammy hopped down the stairs to the next floor.

She stopped dead on the stairs when Josh appeared in
the hallway after exiting what Sammy assumed was his room. He wore a pair of
jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged his muscles in the most oh-my-God-I-need-to-tap-that
way. His hair was still damp from a shower and she almost swallowed her tongue
when he looked up and gave her another of his too-gorgeous smiles. When his
dark gaze swept down her own jean and t-shirt clad body, she could feel
electricity pop all over her skin. Sammy lifted her hand and tucked a lock of
her unbound hair behind her ear, and even though she knew the best way to flirt
was to hold eye contact, she couldn’t. Heat stole over her cheeks and Sammy
sighed as the idea of flirting and “going for it” went down like a deflating
balloon.

Who was she kidding?

She couldn’t flirt to save her life, let alone flirt
with someone as hot as Josh. Sammy dropped her shoulders as her confidence
plummeted. The heat from her cheeks pulsed and Sammy let her hair fall around
her face creating the comfortable barrier she was so used to hiding behind. How
mortifying.

“You ready for dinner?” He asked, his deep, sexy
voice making her heart leap painfully.

“Uh, yeah.”
Sammy nodded and reached for calm, she kept her eyes low and continued past him
in an effort to look normal and not as though he affected her.
Yeah, right, Sam. The way your cheeks are
burning, even a blind man would see.

“I’ll walk with you then, I was just heading out to
my bike. I forgot my wallet.” He was
so
cool as he
walked beside her, Sammy envied his easy nature. His thumbs were tucked in his
jeans, the bike keys dangling from his finger as he moved down the stairs and
the small corridor. Sammy caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his wrist and turned
her head so she could see more. She loved tattoo’s, especially on a fit,
muscular body. A body Josh clearly had. The pattern, in bold black, wrapped
around his wrist and up his arm, and from what she could see, it went all the
way up his bicep and under his t-shirt. What she wouldn’t give to be able to
follow the tattoo all the way.

“I love your bike, by the way.” He said as they
moved down the stairs.

The compliment was enough to make her lift her head
and look at him in surprise. She loved her bike, was as proud of it as if it
were
a child, and for him to mention it, well, it felt good.

“Thank you. I saved a long time for it.” She’d saved
for six months and took out a small bank loan to be able to afford it. She had
planned on saving all the money herself, but she had been too impatient to
wait. Sammy had
shook
with giddy excitement when she
handed over the cash for it. The day her father died, Sammy decided to live,
and the idea of riding and owning a bike had been part of that. She’d never
expected to love it the way she did. She never expected to dream of the rush
all week at work, just waiting for the time she could get on her bike and
become someone other than the boring math teacher she was.

Sammy was bored and unfulfilled no more, Sammy was a
biker—and she loved it.

“I’ll bet
,
it’s a nice
machine.” He drawled in an appreciative tone.

She believed him too. The way his dark brows lifted,
she could see that he was telling her the truth.

“I like yours, too.” The big black machine he rode was
lovely, all sleek and sexy, just like its rider. Sammy didn’t yet know all of
the bikes on the road, but the way she was reading through the biker magazines,
it wouldn’t be too long before she did. She prided knowledge, even if it did
condemn her as a geek. Sammy long ago accepted her geek status.

“Thanks. I have that one and a Suzuki GSXR, too.”

“Wow.” Sammy raised her eyebrows, impressed by what
he owned. She’d considered a GSXR, but it had been too big for her small
stature. Her Ducati was small and perfect for her size, but Sammy still pouted
a little when she couldn’t even test ride a GSXR.

He shot her a devastating smile, and Sammy suddenly
remembered that she was looking at him. A pulse beat in her chest and her
cheeks flamed again. Josh opened the door that led to the bar for her and she
stepped through.

“I’ll be back in a mo’,
Just
going to get my wallet.”

“Okay.” Sammy said and tipped her head in a small
nod.

He turned and the door swung closed behind him, and
Sammy could swear all of the cozy heat went with him. She looked into the dimly
lit dining room and scanned for a seat. In the corner there was a small bar
with a stout man behind it, smiling at her expectantly.

“Can I get you a drink, love?” he asked.

Sammy smiled and nodded in response
. Oh, yes, a drink was just what she needed.
And then, maybe, she might relax enough to at least look at Josh when he talked
to her.

Sammy waved to Reg and Bev where they huddled in the
dark corner and they waved back, flapping their hands asking her to
come
sit. They each held a beer, and Sammy thought it was
about time that she did, too.

Chapter
Four

The fresh air was good. The late afternoon sun had begun
to set and shadows crept across the floor and licked up the walls of the small bed
and breakfast. Josh stood by his bike and took some deep breaths. He’d gotten
his wallet from the small tank bag attached to his bike, but he needed a few
extra minutes to compose himself.

There was no getting around it, he was attracted to
Sammy. She looked so fucking good in her jeans and t-shirt. The tight material
clung to her every curve, drawing his greedy gaze like a magnet. Okay, so not
only did she have a pretty face, lips that he wanted to taste, and skin so creamy
he wanted to lick it. She had a body to die for as well—not that he’d thought
it wouldn’t be, but seeing it for
himself
without the
added padding of bike leathers, had almost been his undoing.

Oh, and Christ! When he’d watched her bounce down
those stairs and stop in her tracks in front of him, Josh knew instinctively
that she was attracted to him, too. The smudge of color that spread across her
cheeks was so endearing. The mix of innocent, shy woman, and biker chick was intriguing,
and Josh had to admit, his need to know her more grew by the second.

What was he supposed to do? He didn’t need the
headache of a relationship, though he admitted to himself he did need to get
laid. If the way his thoughts were going wild were any indication, he needed to
get laid soon. But something about little Sammy made him think she wasn’t a
one-night-only kind of girl.

Tony,
I hate you…

When Josh decided that he’d spent a little too long
outside, he pushed off from his bike and wandered inside. He shoved open the
door to the small dining room, and his eyes found her instantly. Sitting in the
far corner with Bev and Reg, she grinned from ear to ear as the pair regaled
her with some story, her petite hand curled around a pint of beer. Josh could
swear his heart throbbed at the sight.

Sexy, gentle, knows how to ride a bike and she
drinks beer! Shit, it was like he’d filled in a shopping list and Sammy arrived
all ready and perfect for his use.

He quickly snatched back that thought and took a
deep breath. He puffed out his cheeks wearily, and walked over to the bar, wondering
just what the fuck he was supposed to do when his mind ran off like a horny
teenager around her? It seemed his mind was in the same team as his cock.
Team fuck
Sammy.
His self-preservation was
screaming at him to step back. His entire libido was urging him closer.

What was a man to do?

He got his pint and slid into the chair opposite
Sammy. The moment he sat down her cheeks flushed and her eyes dropped. The grip
on her beer tightened, and it was all Josh could do not to imagine that sexy
hand tightening around his cock.

Don’t
imagine, don’t imagine…
He chose to conjure a memory of the way Penny
had looked when she told him she was leaving, and that was enough to erase any
thoughts of sex. In fact, it chilled him to the bone. He’d thought Penny had loved
him. Josh had been smitten by her exotic dark looks and sleek body. He’d done
anything she wanted, spoiled her rotten—and Penny liked to be spoiled. Then,
the bitch turned on him the moment he couldn’t spoil her the way he had for a
year before.

Jesus, he lost his job. He’d had one of the worst
weeks of his life, and instead of hugging him and telling him it would all work
out, she left him.
And stomped on his pride with her six inch,
knee-high boots in the process.

Never
again.

“So, where to tomorrow,
Josh ?”
Reg’s rumbling voice snapped Josh from his melancholy thoughts so fast that he almost
jumped. His stupid, traitorous eyes fell back on Sammy as she stared back at
him, obviously wanting to hear his answer. Josh struggled to find his words as
they scattered under the realization that she had emerald green eyes.

Really,
really pretty green eyes.

“ I
thought we would come back up the coast a bit, go inland and see Stonehenge,
before winding in to the Welsh border to stay in another B and B there.” He ran
his fingers along the neck of his t-shirt and blew out a breath.

Christ,
it’s getting hot in here.

“Fantastic idea.”
Bev
proclaimed and tipped her pint slightly in a “cheers” movement.

“I have never been to Stonehenge.” Sammy spoke up
and the stroke of her timid voice across his senses was electric.

Josh picked up his pint and took a deep gulp,
leaving Reg and Bev to chat merrily with Sammy. When she spoke to them, she
looked them in the eye and smiled warmly. Her open face and sexy voice was
gifted to them often. Josh couldn’t help but want her to be that easy with him.
He knew he wasn’t looking for a relationship, but that didn’t mean that he
couldn’t enjoy her company.
Right?

“How long have you been riding?” Josh asked when Bev
and Reg got up to go to the bar. Dinner had been served and eaten and Josh had relaxed
somewhat. The evening atmosphere set in and the dull bar lights made for a
calm, sleepy mood. Music played softly from small speakers on the ceiling, songs
that he knew, and songs that he didn’t. Sammy had drunk her pint and Josh could
tell that she was enjoying herself. She laughed often at Reg and Bev’s many
stories, and the sound was increasingly becoming something he waited
impatiently to hear.

She looked up from where she was picking at a dent
on the table. The moment Reg and Bev got up her eyes had fallen back to the
table or her hands—anywhere but on him.