Free Carried Away: A Small Town Romance (The Moore Brothers Book 2) by Abby Brooks Page B

That kiss that had dominated her every thought since it happened meant nothing to James and Ellie would be a fool to let herself think otherwise.
    Using a water pitcher as a vase, Ellie put the flowers in water and set them on the counter near the cash register while James sat down at a table near the window at the front of the restaurant. He leaned back in the booth, his long legs clad in tight jeans stretched out in front of him. Sun streaked through the window and splattered on the table in a burst of light and shadow, fractured by the lettering on the glass. James looked outside, his chin lifted, his strong jaw set in a straight line.
    What could he be thinking? Was he lost in the past? Contemplating his future? Or just bored as hell waiting on Ellie to hurry up?
    She slid the makeshift vase across the counter and sighed. “There. All set.”
    James turned to her and smiled. Stood up and grabbed his helmet off the seat beside him. “Good to go?”
    Her brow furrowed as she looked at the helmet. “I guess I thought we’d go together.” Another surge of disappointment rose bitterly in her throat. This whole thing was a bad idea. She couldn’t seem to get it in her head that he wasn’t actually interested in her.
    “Of course we’ll go together, silly.” James bent down to pick something else off the seat and Ellie got an eye full of low-riding jeans and tight torso before he straightened, holding a second helmet. “Ever ridden on the back of a motorcycle before?”

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    E llie threw up her hands and backed away. “Nuh-uh,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t…”
    “Ellie Charles,” James said, sounding incredulous. “Are you trying to tell me that you're afraid?” A wide smile broke across his face.
    “You bet your sweet ass I’m afraid.” Ellie put her hands on her hips and sat back on her heel. “Those things are dangerous.”
    “Yes…” James drew out the word and gave her a wickedly sexy look. “But that’s why they’re so fun.”
    “Apparently you and I have different definitions of fun.”
    “I seriously doubt that. It seems like you and I are pretty in sync so far.”
    Images of the kiss assaulted her thoughts, again. His fingers clamped around her wrist. His hand pulling back on her hair. His tongue roving her mouth, setting her body on fire. Yeah, she’d say they were pretty damn in sync.
    James held the helmet out towards her. “Come on, trust me. I’m a really good rider. And I’ll start out slow, I promise.”
    She stared at the helmet in his hand, a heavy black thing with a tinted visor and chin straps dangling, the little metal bits clinking together one of the only sounds in the quiet restaurant. Ellie looked from it to James. “Have you had anything to drink today?”
    He sighed and dropped his arm, letting the helmet bounce off his thigh. “Not one drop.”
    She stared at him for a long time, watching frustration etch away at the good humor on his face. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she said, feeling bad for putting up such a fight. “It’s just…”
    “I get it. Motorcycles are dangerous.” He rolled his eyes. “But you know something? It seems to me like you make all your decisions based on what’s responsible rather than what’s fun. Let down you hair. Walk on the edge. What’s the point of living this life if you’re just safe and practical and bored all the time? Sometimes you need to scare yourself to shake things up a bit.”
    For once, Ellie didn’t immediately say what she was thinking. She pondered his point. Considered telling him that she would rather be alive and bored then dead on the street. But the rigidity of her routine kept rearing its head and silencing her. She hadn’t realized it, but she was bored. She got up, went to work, juggled her bills, maybe talked to Tessa, then went to bed and repeated it all.
    Every.
    Single.
    Day.
    She hadn’t realized it, but the whole reason she had started surfing the online dating site