Ready to Fall (15 page)

My mind went blank.

Did Diane do this? The bending and the opening? My mind descended to the gutter and I had to adjust myself. Seeing myself through someone else’s eyes, I looked like a creeper loitering around watching women work out. Not the best impression for what I had planned.

Leaning over, I picked up one of the helmets and held it in front of my jeans. Movement through the door caught my eye. Diane and the other woman stood by the counter, talking. When the woman exited, Diane smiled and waved.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to whisk you away from your tedious job.”

“My job isn’t tedious.”

“That’s the first clue to why I’m here.”

She peeked over her shoulder at me while gathering her stuff. “Go on.”

“I’m surprising you with an afternoon adventure.”

“Is that the same thing as afternoon delight?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“No idea what you’re talking about, but it should be a good time.” I held up the two helmets. Her blush told me whatever an afternoon delight was, it was dirty. I liked where her mind went.

“Are those motorcycle helmets?”

“They are indeed. That’s your second clue.”

Her face scrunched up into her puzzled expression I found adorable.

“I’m all gross and not dressed appropriately for a bike ride.” She gestured to her black stretchy pants and tank under a light fleece hoodie.

Shit. I hadn’t planned this out. “No jacket?”

“No jacket. Only my hoodie.”

“Well, drive home and I’ll follow you. We can start our adventure from the beach.”

“Deal.”

We strolled out to the parking lot behind the studio. She froze when she saw the motorcycle parked there.

“Since when do you own a motorcycle?” she asked, stroking the seat of the bike.

“I don’t. It’s Donnely’s. ‘74 Triumph Bonneville.”

“It’s beautiful.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I can’t wait!” She sprinted to her car a few spots away. “What are you waiting for? Last one to the beach is a rotten egg.”

I fired up the bike and stashed the extra helmet before straddling the seat.

I beat her back to the house by four minutes. As an island boy, I knew all the short cuts she didn’t.

Her pout broke into a smile when she saw me leaning against the bike in her driveway.

“Damn you!” After jumping down from the Jeep, she swatted at my arm. “You cheated.”

“I didn’t cheat. I’m faster.

Narrowing her eyes at me, she took in my body from my boots up over my jeans to the beat up leather jacket. “You look good on a bike. Is that a clue, too?”

“Nah, I’m hot. Can’t help it.” I grinned at her. “Go change. Wear something warm.”

Diane’s arms wrapped around my waist in a vise-grip. I kept telling her to loosen her grip, but every time I gunned the motor or took a curve fast, her arms tightened. Not that I complained. She felt amazing. The Triumph wasn’t a big bike and her thighs pressed tight against mine. Might have been one of the reasons I’d borrowed it.

“You warm enough?” I asked when we stopped at a light.

Her words were lost to the noise, but she gave me a thumbs up. I revved the engine and pushed off. We headed toward the Keystone ferry and the peninsula. I wondered when she’d figure out my plan and our destination.

She hadn’t clued in after we boarded the ferry. Sitting in the sun on the deck while we crossed over to Port Townsend, we warmed ourselves with paper cups of coffee.

“Still not telling me where you’re kidnapping me to?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I asked, nudging her leg with mine.

Her huff said she wasn’t nearly as amused as I felt.

“Don’t you like surprises?” I asked.

“Not really. The last big surprise I had was finding out about Kip.”

I growled at his name. “First rule of this adventure is no bringing up the asshole. Got it? Today’s supposed to be fun.”

“Sorry,” she said, tucking her arm under mine and giving me a sheepish smile. “No assholes.”

“Good.”

“Do I get another clue?”

“Sure. You’re on it.”

“I’m on the clue?” She shifted her body weight into me while she attempted to peek underneath her ass.

“Not literally. The ferry and where we’re headed are the clue.”

Her lips twisted up into a sideways pout while she thought it over. “Okay, let’s review what we know so far. You picked me up from work. On a motorcycle. Now we’re on a boat to Port Townsend.”

“Vintage motorcycle.”

“Vintage motorcycle is important?”

“It is.”

“Okay.” She dragged out the word while her mind attempted to add things up.

“No idea?”

“None.”

“You’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“I kind of hate you at the moment.”

“Why?” I was stricken with her words and sure it showed on my face.

“Not real hate. Stop worrying. I’m having fun, like always, but I hate you know something and I don’t.”

“I know lots of things you don’t. How to bait a hook or where the short cuts are between Langley and Sunlight Beach.” I grinned at her glowering.

“Fine, but I’ll figure this out soon enough.”

“Don’t ruin the fun. Enjoy the ride.”

We disembarked first and headed away from downtown, up the hill. Passing through residential neighborhoods, I had a few doubts this would work out the way I’d hoped.

When the sign for Fort Worden came into view, Diane gave my waist an extra squeeze, then let go to pat my shoulders in excitement. I pulled to a stop and her squealing rose above the quieting engine.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! You didn’t!” She jumped off the back of the bike and took off her helmet before bouncing up and down.

“You figured it out?” I grinned.

“Vintage motorcycle, Port Townsend! You remembered!”

I set the kickstand and leaned against the bike, smiling at her while I removed my helmet.

“I can’t believe you remembered.” She gave me a full-fledged hug, nearly tipping the bike over when she leaned into me. “You’re giving me the
Officer and a Gentleman
tour! This is the best afternoon adventure ever!”

I’d seen Diane smile the past few months—not nearly as often as I thought she should—but I’d yet to see her gleefully happy. The woman was gleeful. Downright about to lose her mind.

“Want the tour?”

“Will there be push-ups?”

“Probably not.”

“What if I beg?”

“Maybe.”

I settled the helmets and the bike before we headed off to see the gun batteries and buildings.

“I think this is the first date in the history of dates that involves gun batteries.”

“Who said this is a date?” I asked, my brain shutting off from surprise at her words.

“No one.” Her smile faltered for a second before returning. “Date, afternoon adventure … who needs a label. I’m just saying what guy takes a girl to a place like this? No guys I know.”

My brain worked again. “You know me. Date or not.”

Did I want this to be a date? If I had, I suppressed what that meant. Good thing The Tides Inn wasn’t still part of the tour. What first date ended up at a dingy motel?

This wasn’t a date I reminded myself.

Diane’s hand found mine after she took off her gloves. Our fingers intertwined and she swung our arms back and forth.

There wasn’t much to see around the fort, but the view out over the water was spectacular.

After we climbed to the top of one of the gunneries, Diane brought up the push-ups again.

“Is it because you can’t do push-ups that you don’t want to?” She baited me.

I didn’t bite. “I can do them.”

“There isn’t a physical reason you won’t indulge me? Just you being mean?”

“I’m not being mean. I don’t want to do push-ups.”

“What if I bribe you?”

“With what?” I was definitely curious to hear her bribe.

“Hmm … let me think of something good.”

I stared at her while she stood there, tapping her finger on her lips and her left foot on the ground.

“Stop staring at me. I can’t think,” she said.

“Well? Did you come up with something?”

“You are a difficult man to bribe. That’s what I’ve come up with.”

“Why’s that?”

“For one thing, money isn’t going to work with you. Neither are material things. Food might..” She paused, and her face lit up with an idea. “Fishing!”

“Fishing?”

“If you do push-ups and recreate my hot, young officer fantasies, I’ll go fishing with you.”

“A few push-ups and you’ll go fishing with me?”

“Yep. But I have conditions.”

“What are these conditions?”

“First, the fishing can’t be out in the open ocean. I need to be able to see land.”

“Okay.” I nodded. Easy.

“Second, you need to do the push-ups in your T-shirt. No flannel, no leather jacket.” She crossed her arms in confidence.

“That’s it?” Her demands were simple enough, but a gleam appeared in her eyes which wasn’t there before.

“That’s it.”

“Okay. Push-ups for fishing. Deal.” I unzipped the jacket and tossed it on the ground. Next I unbuttoned my shirt and shrugged it off. “Good thing I wore a T-shirt today. Otherwise I would have had to do this bare-chested.” I figured out the gleam in her eye. It was lust.

Her eyes snapped to my face from where they’d lingered over my biceps.

“Damn it,” she cursed, making her hands into fists and shaking them.

“Should have insisted on shirtless as one of your conditions. Just sayin’.”

“Sometimes I hate you.”

“You said that already today. You didn’t mean it before, and you don’t mean it now. How many push-ups are we talking about?”

“How many can you do?”

“We could be here all day.”

She groaned low in her chest and mumbled something under her breath. “How about twenty?”

“Twenty it is.”

On the final few push-ups, I lifted my arm and did a few with one hand.

“You’re trying to kill me,” Diane said when I bounced back up to standing.

“You made the request. Don’t ask for what you can’t handle.”

She handed me my flannel. “That was one of the hottest things I’ve seen in a while. Thank you.”

“Me doing push-ups? We need to get you out more.”

“Maybe, but I’m standing by it. Maybe it’s the location or the motorcycle, but yeah, hot. Not taking it back.”

“Don’t take it back,” I said, stepping closer to her. She didn’t back away.

“What’s next on the tour?”

“Well, there’s the paper mill. Scenic as it is. Sadly the motel isn’t the same.”

She blinked a few times. “Were you going to take me to a motel?”

Shit. That didn’t come out the way it sounded. “No, not like that. I mean the motel from the movie.”

“Oh.” Disappointment tinged her voice.

“I was thinking more along the lines of food, drinks, maybe some pool, jukebox …” I felt awkward and scratched my beard near my ear.

She took a beat or two before answering me. “Sure, yeah, no motel. Food, jukebox.”

A short drive back into town and we walked into one of my favorite local places. It wasn’t a dive, but it wasn’t touristy either. Okay, so maybe it was a dive.

“What’s good?” Diane asked, studying the menu.

“Burgers. Fish and chips. Don’t get anything fancy.”

“Got it. Burger for me.”

“Beer?”

“Sure. I could use something to warm up.”

“Sorry about that. April isn’t the warmest around here.”

“At least it isn’t raining.”

“Bite your tongue.” I turned to survey the bar. “If you acknowledge the good weather, you’re asking for rain.”

“Me talking about it won’t make it rain.”

“You’ve done it now.” I grinned at her. “Hope you don’t mind it raining on the ride home.”

She laughed at me, clearly not understanding the power of the jinx.

“You’re kind of a superstitious guy,” she said.

“How so?”

“Controlling the weather for one.”

“Not only me. Ask anyone around here.”

“Do you have other superstitions?”

I considered her question for a minute. “Some. Mostly to do with fishing, but you can blame my father and uncle for those. Handed down generation to generation. What about you?”

“Superstitious? Maybe. I believe there are no coincidences. Everything kind of works out.”

“In what way?”

“Well, like today. I only had one class, so the whole afternoon was free and I ended up here with you.”

“Okay. Not really seeing it.”

“I’ll give you another one. I rented Maggie’s cabin and met you. If I hadn’t told Quinn and Dr. Gooding about my woes, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you with thoughts of push-ups dancing through my head.”

“Everything’s connected?”

She nodded. “It is. There’s a whole long list of things that had to happen for me to be sitting in this dive bar with you today.”

“I’m glad you’re sitting here.”

“Me too. More than you know.”

“Why’s that?”

“I was very sad when I first got here.”

“And now?”

“I’m less sad. Getting the letter last weekend then finding a place called Deception Pass, it made all my sadness feel like the past.”

“Good.” What else could I say? I was glad she wasn’t as blue as she had been.