Hearts Are Wild. Laura Wright

help herself. “Where is it?”

      He raised an amused brow at her.

      Maggie could actually feel every woman in the place lean forward in their chairs, their ears pricking up to hear Nick’s answer to her intimate query. And out of the corner of her eye she saw the older woman she’d sat next to earlier remove the tissue from her ears.

      “We should go,” she said. For some reason she didn’t like all the ogling that was going on. And, interestingly enough, she really didn’t want any of these women to know where his tattoo was.

      She waited for Nick to give the ladies behind the counter a smile and a quick thank-you before he followed her out of the salon. Covetous stares trailed him as they walked through the mall and out the exit doors, heading for the parking lot.

      Nick’s motorcycle was parked on the first level of the parking garage, and they walked to it together. “So this is going to make all the difference, huh?” he asked with a chuckle as he strapped his purchases onto the back of the bike. “New clothes, new look?”

      Maggie’s gaze swept over him again, taking in his broad back and firm backside. She rolled her eyes heavenward. Why couldn’t a different man have walked into her office this morning? One who didn’t make her hands sweat and her imagination run wild.

      She knew darn well that she was going to have about zero trouble finding him a woman. They were going be lined up around the block when they got a look at his videotape.

      That thought should have made her insanely happy. But instead she felt oddly discontented.

      “You look great, Nick,” she said. “You’ll be a hit.” She forced a smile to her lips. “So I’ll see you back at the house, then?”

      He climbed onto his motorcycle, then turned those mysterious eyes on her. “Get on.”

      “What?”

      “I’ll give you a ride to your car.”

      Her heart raced, then leaped. She’d never been on a motorcycle in her life. Dangerous, forbidden machines with dangerous and forbidden drivers.

      The longing to say yes was almost overwhelming. It wasn’t the first time in her life she’d wanted to rip through her good-girl safety net and fly. Cautious living, no risks—it got tedious. But accepting his offer, even for the twenty or so feet it would take to get to her car wouldn’t just be a risk, it would feel…intimate. And there was no way she could go there with Nick.

      He kicked the Harley’s pedal hard, and the motorcycle roared to life beneath him. For just a second she saw herself behind him, her arms around his waist, her thighs pressed against his—

      Her hands balled into fists. “I’ll walk,” she told him. “My car’s right over there.”

      He nodded nonchalantly, his engine purring like an enormous black cat.

      As she turned and walked away, she knew that her new roommate was watching her. Watching and waiting until she was safely in her car.

      She hadn’t expected that, she thought as she slid her key into the lock with shaking hands. She hadn’t expected him to be a gentleman, too.

      “Nick, I could be going crazy, but I swear I saw you today in Santa Flora. At the mall of all places. I decided to come home for the summer. Dad said you were coming into town, but he didn’t think it was until next week. If you are here, big brother, please come by the house or call. It’s been way too long. I miss you. Dad and I both miss you.”

      Nick stabbed the button on his cell phone and tossed it on the bed that he’d be using for the next six months. It was good to hear from his little sister. Throughout his childhood, he’d gone to boarding school on the East Coast, so he didn’t have many friends in Santa Flora—just family and a few acquaintances. But his sister was the best of the bunch.

      Normally Anne stayed on campus in the summer, interning at the hospital, but this summer she’d gone to Europe. She wasn’t supposed to have been back until next week, but he was glad she was home. He’d missed her and hadn’t wanted to avoid her at the mall today. But he was no liar, so that meant he’d have had to tell her about the deal he’d made with Maggie—the search for Miss Right. His sister knew well enough how he felt about relationships, but she’d still tried on numerous occasions to set him up with her friends from medical school. He’d always declined.

      Women and setups and explanations of who Maggie was aside, Nick also didn’t want to get into further discussion about his father and “the big change.” It was going to take a helluva lot more than the man saying he was different for Nick to believe him. Words were just Band-Aids. They covered up a wound, nicely and easily, but they didn’t make it disappear.