He saw her fresh from bed and sleepy at night. He heard her shower water running and couldn't help but imagine what he'd once touched. He talked to her and listened to her and watched her make his boys fall in love with her a little more every day. And he liked her. At least this way she'd be all over him, without it leading to them getting naked and sweaty. Theoretically, at least.
"Okay. But what about the boys?" she asked.
Five words that threatened to reach right inside his chest, because she always thought of them. Always. "We won't go for long."
"Then just show me what to do."
Atta girl, he thought, loving that she was game for this.
He ran inside and washed up at the kitchen sink, but on the way to the stairs, something made him stop dead in his tracks. The coat closet by the front door. He opened it. Pulled out his Raven Riders cut. Denim and leather, with the Ravens' colors on the back and other patches here and there. He walked to the mirror by the door, looked himself straight in the eye, and slid it on.
Damn. Damn. Where have you been all this time, Slider?
It was his own thought, but he heard his brothers' voices asking it. Dare and Maverick and Jagger and Phoenix and Doc and all the rest. He didn't have a good answer for them, because the past was dead and buried. But he had now. And he had tomorrow. And those he could do something about.
A stair creaked behind him.
Slider turned, and found Sam standing at the banister.
Wasn't it a bitch that he was suddenly self-conscious? That was how much he'd lost himself. "So, uh . . ." He held out his hands. "What do you think?"
Sam nodded, his face solemn. Too solemn, Slider thought, for a boy of ten. "I think it's good."
"Yeah," Slider said. "Would you be okay if I take Cora for a spin? Twenty minutes. Thirty, tops."
Sam's eyebrows went up. In truth, his whole face lit up. Cora Campbell seemed to have that effect on his boys. Hell, on all the Evans men, if he was being honest. "Cora's gonna ride?"
Slider couldn't help but quirk a little smile. "First-timer, even."
His son nodded. "It's cool, Dad. No worries. I'll watch Ben."
With that, Slider was out the door and crossing the yard. He found Cora sitting on an overturned bucket in the sun, her back against the garage wall, her eyes closed, and she was singing along to the radio.
He just stood and watched her. Because he couldn't do anything else.
Her eyes fluttered open, the green even brighter in the sunshine. "Oh!" she said, breaking into a chuckle. "What are you, a ghost? I didn't even hear . . . you . . ." She rose, and her mouth dropped open as she took in what he wore. "Wow." She walked all the way around him, and her fingers fell against his back. He knew the Ravens' colors well enough that he knew exactly what she was touching. She traced the raven to where it perched on the handle of a dagger, and then followed the blade as it went through the eye socket of a skull.
Then she stood in front of him again.
He arched a brow and borrowed from her book of defense mechanisms. "I make this shit look good."
She barked out a laugh that was as sweet as it was sexy. "Someone's full of himself today," she said.
Oh, hell, what he wouldn't give for someone to be full of him today, but he kept his mouth shut. Still, she seemed to realize the innuendo that could be weaved by her words because her cheeks went pink and she rolled her eyes. "Seems like something's put me in a better mood lately, that's all."
And then those cheeks went pinker.
Damn if Slider didn't enjoy making Cora squirm. In all sorts of ways he had no business thinking about at all. Or wanting to repeat.
"Ready to ride?" he asked. Because he sure as hell was ready to feel her holding him, her body molded to him, her thighs wrapped around his ass. Some bikers were more particular about who they invited into their saddle than they were about who they invited into their beds, and though Slider had never been that hard-core about it, on a certain level, he got it.
"Let's do it," she said, arching a brow of her own.
He suited her up in a lightweight jacket and a helmet, and then he pulled on a brain bucket of his own and a pair of shades. Sitting astride his bike was like coming home, and then he helped Cora on behind him. She had to sit close and tight, because he had only a slim two-seater, which he'd customized from the original solo seat so that Kim could ride, too. Though she'd enjoyed riding when they'd first been together-hell, they'd met at one of the Ravens' race nights at their racetrack, so she'd known he was a biker from the very start-her interest in it had declined after the kids were born until she no longer wanted to ride at all.
"This is so freaking awesome," Cora said, chasing away his thoughts. Because she clearly wanted to ride, and that rushed a deep satisfaction through him. "I hope I don't fall off."
Slider chuckled and peered over his shoulder. "Well then, sweetheart, I suggest you put your arms around me and hold on tight."
Gladly, Cora thought as Slider revved the engine. She'd no more scooted flush against him and gripped his chest then he'd pulled out of the driveway and onto the road in front of his house.
And then they were off.
The rush was almost enough to make her forget that he'd called her sweetheart again. The endearment threatened to pull her right back into his bed, his sleep-roughened voice saying it for the very first time. Did he even realize he'd said it again?
Cora let it go, because it felt like they were flying, even though she suspected they weren't going that fast. But it was absolutely exhilarating, freeing, and so much damn fun. The thrill of it made her laugh and laugh, as if she were a kid riding a roller coaster that she never wanted to get off.
Every once in a while, Slider grinned back at her, and if the genuine pleasure in that smile hadn't been devastating enough, the total package of him right now was an absolute killer. The shades and matte black helmet over the five-o'clock scruff. The badass Ravens' cut layered over a long-sleeved black T-shirt. The chunky black motorcycle boots. And, damn, the bike.
It was like sex on wheels. That had been her first thought when she'd walked into Slider's garage. It was sleek and aggressive, sexy and cool, utterly masculine, and looked fast as hell, too. Seeing him stand behind the machine, it totally fit-this man and this bike. And it was as if a new piece of the puzzle that was Slider Evans clicked into place.
And he wanted to share it with her.
"Okay?" he called.
"Can we go faster?"
He laughed. He actually laughed. And then did exactly as she asked.
Before long, they'd skirted around the Ravens' big tract of land, and then Cora recognized where they were. The twisting rural road that Dare lived on. Sure enough, that was his destination. The bike tilted as he pulled into the driveway next to a two-story, log-cabin-style home, and they found Dare on his knees working on his bike.
"I just need five with Dare. You mind?" he asked.
"Not at all. Gives me the chance to see how Haven is settling in," she said as he helped her off the bike. When she removed the helmet, her hair was a wind-blown mess, but she just shook it out and laughed. No sense worrying about it when they still had the ride home yet to do.
Wiping his hands on a rag, Dare got to his feet. "Hey," he called in that super serious way he had. Cora couldn't decide if it was funny or really freaking endearing that Haven had ended up with such a gruff and frankly intimidating man when she'd once been so shy it was almost painful, but it just went to show how far her bestie had come.
"Hey," Slider said. The two men clasped hands, and Dare's gaze was all over Slider's cut, the bike, her.
That expression seemed like Cora's signal to give them some privacy. "Haven inside?" she asked. When Dare nodded, she made herself scarce. "Knock, knock," she called, as she knocked and opened the front door at the same time.
"Cora?" Haven called from upstairs.
"Yep. I can't stay long though. Where are you?" she asked, making her way up the steps.
Haven stepped out into the hallway. "Hey. I was just unpack-" She blinked. "What are you wearing? Is that a motorcycle jacket?"
Cora grinned. "Slider took me for a ride."
Haven's eyes went wide. "Slider's on his bike?" She rushed for one of the front windows. "Wow. Wow, Cora. What is going on?"
"He's . . . I don't know, he seems like he's doing better. Not sure what he and Dare are talking about though, but Dare looked pretty surprised to see Slider wearing his vest." The two of them had their faces pressed to the glass like little kids.