She nodded, then took a deep breath and asked, “Can I go with you?”
Surprise raced through him. “To Pride?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “Can I ask you something?”
She nodded again.
“Are you the Lucinda Darling?”
“Yes.”
His gut clenched. The enemy. “Your father is richer than Croesus,” he said, his voice tight. “Why don’t you call him?”
“I’d rather burn in hell.”
Oho! Her tone told him all he needed to know. She and Daddy must have had a real blowout. Maybe— Nah, she would be involved clear up to her eyeballs.
She poked at a couple roadside pebbles with the toe of her satin pump. “It’s okay, though. If you don’t want me tagging along, I’ll wait here for the tow truck, get my car—”
A battle raged inside him. Hadn’t he just spent a year of his life fighting against her father? Against the crap Darling was pulling in beleaguered Mississippi? Still, Jake’s mama would skin him alive if she found out he’d left a woman stranded on the side of the road. With a deep sigh, he conceded his mama had won this one.
“Now, hold on a minute. I didn’t say I didn’t want you.” He ran fingers through his hair. “Coming along, I mean. It just seems—”
“Jake Parker, I have nowhere I have to be and no one I have to answer to. For maybe the first time in my life, I’m free. I’m ready for an adventure.” She shot him a grin that singed his Levis.
“Okay, then.” He threw the fight and held out a hand for her. “Let’s go.”
“Wait. I have to get my bag.”
He assumed she meant her purse, and stared flabbergasted as she opened the trunk and started dragging out a behemoth suitcase.
“Whoa! What are you planning on doing with that?”
“Taking it with me.”
“Sweet pea, I’m ridin’ a bike.”
“Yes,” she answered slowly.
“So where exactly do you think we’re gonna stow something that size?”
Without a word she stuffed it back in the trunk. Reaching inside the car, she withdrew a duffel bag, then locked her car. “I really do need this.”
“That’ll work.” He took it from her and secured it to the back with bungee cords. “Hop on.”
He took another good look at her in her voluminous gown. “This should be fun.”
“I’m sorry. I should have changed when I stopped for lunch, but I didn’t want to go in, wanted to put more miles between me and…” She waved her hand.
“We’ll make do.”
“I’ve never ridden a motorcycle.”
“Really?” He half expected her to back down, but he had to hand it to her. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t even bat an eye. Instead, she gathered up her skirts, threw a leg over the bike and grinned at him. His heart skipped a beat. This gal was pure temptation. Despite her heritage, Lucinda Darling could give Wanda Sue a run for her money—any day of the week. If he was interested in a race. He wasn’t.
And he damn sure wasn’t interested in a Darling.
“Here.” He handed her his extra helmet. “You have to wear this.”
“Hmm. Trading a wedding veil for a motorcycle helmet. Quite a day.” She turned the helmet around, checking it out. “How cute!” She looked up at him. “You have a bulldog.”
“Me? No.”
“But you have his picture on your helmet.”
He couldn’t hold back the laugh. “That’s Uga.”
“Excuse me?”
“Uga. The Georgia bulldog. University of Georgia’s mascot. My alma mater.”
“Basketball?”
He laughed again. “Honey, if you’re gonna be spending any time at all in Georgia, you’d best get this straight. Uga’s a football dog.”
“Oh. Sure.”
Chuckling, he tucked a few stray strands under her helmet and snapped it for her, then climbed on in front. White froth boiled over his legs. Oh yeah. They should cause quite a stir on the highway.
“Hold on tight.”
Her arms wrapped around him and she leaned in. Her smell, feminine and sexy, wiggled and jostled its way into his senses. He felt almost drunk with it.
One deep breath, and he started up the bike and aimed it north. The wind blew her tantalizing scent behind them, and he thanked heaven for small favors.
They hadn’t gone twenty miles before she tapped him on the shoulder. Her breath on the back of his neck sent shivers down his spine. Cripes. He could hardly hold the bike steady. She was causing a severe system meltdown.
She pointed to a rest-area sign, and he gave her a thumbs-up. At that moment, he would have promised her anything.