“I would wonder if it’s just lust talking.”

He sighed and rolled his head backward to stare up at the ceiling. “I wonder that at times, but this is far beyond any lust I’ve ever known.”

I related to what he was saying. I felt that way about Geneva more and more as each day went by, and we hadn’t even had sex together. From what I’d surmised, sex was all Kaden had with his secret lover. “I think I’d be leery of a woman who is so secretive.”

“Part of me is pissed I’m not paying attention to the warning flags. I don’t even fucking know where she lives. We have to meet at nondescript hotels.”

“Kaden, do you mind if I give you a word of advice?”

He sighed and nodded.

“I think there are too many warning signs with this woman. Take it from me and pay attention to them. There are tons of other women who’ll be open books. Why this one?”

“I fucking wish I knew.” He stood and smiled at me, a sad, heartbreaking smile. “Good night. I’m wiped.”

“Me too.” I followed him down the hall, and we turned into our respective bedrooms.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I hadn’t realized that I’d been running on empty for quite some time. Sleep was welcome and blissful.

~~Geneva~~

I prided myself on being a badass biker chick, though I feared inside I might be more of a marshmallow than a rock. I hated to admit it, but every day, I looked forward to Axel’s latest gift. None of them were expensive or elaborate, and I loved them for their simplicity.

He got me. I wasn’t one for expensive jewelry or pretentious items. He’d figured out I loved chocolate and funky jewelry.

Esme and Eunice, along with Teagan, were as excited as I was to see what each day brought. My brother was disgusted, but I think he was also secretly amused. His negative comments decreased day by day until he didn’t do much more than grunt. He even ate some of the chocolates.

Over the next week, our liaisons, if you could call them that, in the team laundry room became the highlight of my day. Not that anything happened, at least not physically, but emotionally lots was happening. I’d never been attracted to a guy this intensely that I hadn’t fucked within in a week or so of meeting him. This was so different and special and, yeah, he was chiseling away at my crumbling resolve.

Axel’s daily visits brightened my days and made my evenings.

I’d never been a coward, and I’d started to wonder why I was being such a coward. I knew, of course, but my reasons for holding out seemed feeble. I’d prided myself on being a risk taker, yet here I was afraid to make this leap.

The team hung on to its playoff hopes by a thread, and everything came down to the last game of the regular season. It was simple. Win and we’d have enough points to make the playoffs. Lose and we’d all start our vacations earlier than we wanted.