Read Embracing Danger for Free Online

all.”
    Her back was facing him as she slipped her purse strap over her shoulder. “Thank you for listening anyway. I…need to go now.”
    She walked quickly out the same garage door she’d come in with Shane right at her heels and feeling about two inches tall. A part of him wanted to help her but dammit, he just couldn’t without ripping his heart into pieces again.
    She was halfway out of the garage when she stopped abruptly, her hand reaching out to run her fingers over the chrome handlebars of his cycle, a small smile on her face.
    Even after all these years, she remembered.
    “You still have it.”
    He came to stand beside her and patted the leather seat. “This is a different one, but I did the restoration on this one myself as well. I’m trying to get as much riding time in as I can before the snow comes.”
    They were both thinking back to those hot summer rides down to the lake. Skinny-dipping and then making love in the moonlight. Kisses and whispers. Passion and giggles. It had been everything and then it was gone.
    “What happened to your old one?”
    “Wrecked,” he said flatly. “I laid it down when a car turned in front of me. Broke my wrist in two places and got a lecture from Mom so blistering that I can still hear it echoing in my brain. She was madder than a wet hen and begged me not to replace it. But of course I did as soon as I was healed enough to ride again.”
    “Your mother hated that bike.”
    “She hates this one just as much,” Shane assured her. “Maybe more because now she says I should have the good sense not to ride. She’s probably right. When was the last time you rode, princess?”
    Her hand jerked away from the cycle as if she’d been burned.
    “With you,” she whispered before turning on her heel and heading straight for her vehicle.
    Emotion that he had long buried clawed at his heart, making itself known. Images that he thought he had forgotten flooded his consciousness, almost bringing him to his knees with their power. There was a time in his life when he could refuse this woman nothing.
    He hadn’t changed, although he would have sworn he had. He would have told everyone that he’d moved on and his heart was mended. He’d lied.
    “Wait,” he heard himself saying, knowing he’d regret it later. “I’ll help you. Not a full blown investigation but I’ll make a few inquiries, okay?”
    Arden whirled around and for the first time he saw hope in her expression. “You mean it? You’ll really help me?”
    He was an idiot and this female could tie him in knots without breaking a sweat. He’d known his answer to her request at the beginning and had only been fighting the inevitable. Turning her away was a non-starter. Sadly, he had a deep-seated and pathetic need to be her knight in shining armor.
    “I’ll check around but I can’t promise anything. Understand?”
    If Ben was holed up in a hotel somewhere with a couple of hookers and a case of gin, Shane was going to kick his ass for worrying Arden like this.
    “I understand. Thank you.”
    “Don’t thank me yet,” Shane warned. “You may not like what I dig up.”
    “I’ll take my chances. I’m so grateful that you’re doing this.”
    The last thing he wanted was her gratitude.
    “Go home, and if I find anything I’ll call you.”
    He watched as she climbed into her car and left, her taillights fading into the darkness. Chilled, he went back into the house and stood in the center of the kitchen, his brain trying to comprehend his own stupidity. He’d agreed to help Arden and he couldn’t change his mind now. Racing for his cell, he swiped the screen and pressed a few buttons.
    “West? It’s Shane. I need to talk to you about this Ben Cavendish thing. Can we meet? Yeah, that’s sounds good. I’ll meet you at the diner in thirty. Thanks.”
    Pressing the end button, he reached for the keys to the cycle. It was colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra but that was exactly the kind of weather