I roll my eyes, great another nickname. “That’s going to stick now, isn’t it?” He ignores me, sauntering towards the kitchen bench, where I can see a helmet and leather jacket. “I just need to grab a jumper to put on under your jacket. The wind always blows up the back.”

“No need.” Tanner picks up the jacket, turning back towards me and the feeling of butterflies in my stomach increases. “Come here.”

How can a simple two word instruction be so sexy? My feet close the small distance between us without thinking. I swear if he told me to crawl to him, my body would obey before my brain could object. Tanner holds the leather jacket up and I slip into it. It fits perfectly, unlike the one I wore last time. Dragging his eyes slowly over my body, I feel his gaze darken as he hums in approval. “So fucking perfect.”

“You brought this — for me?” I’m a little shocked.

My mind is always in a constant tug of war when it comes to this man. Soon after moving into the city, I gave in to my body’s craving for Tanner. But now that my head and heart seem to be craving him too, it has sent my mind into a free-fall.

Tanner answers my question with a brief nod, as he slides the helmet onto my head, tilting my chin to buckle it. Normally with his moodiness I can easily keep him at arm’s length, but lately that has been getting increasingly difficult. Taking my hand in his, he leads us out the front door. Maybe he is just playing the part, I did rope him into this double date thing after all. Yeah, that’s got to be it, things will go back to normal after this.

My arms are wrapped around Tanner’s waist as we weave through traffic on the outskirts of Melbourne. He takes an exit and the road opens up; my shoulders relax and I loosen my grip on the wall of muscle in front of me. To our left, city skylines are replaced with suburban houses and park lands. The hustle and bustle has been left behind us.

I’m startled by Tanner’s voice echoing in the helmet and I tighten my grip on him again. “Quick detour.”

“Uh, yeah — sure.” Can he even hear me? We have never been able to talk to each other through our helmets before.

A light chuckle fills my helmet. “I upgraded our helmets Pip, I wanted to be able to communicate with you when we ride together.”

My own jacket and helmet. Does this mean he plans on us doing this more often? A girl can only dream.

Tanner downshifts and takes a left hand turn, slowing to stop in front of a beautiful old Victorian home. “This is where I grew up,” he mentions softly, an underlying sense of sadness in his tone.