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think he’ll actually leave?”
    “I hope so.”
    “Do you? Really?” he asked. “I’m not blind or deaf, Elsie. I know what’s going on here. I can already tell something’s different about you.”
    “I just need some time to absorb things.”
    “You’re not going to move in with me, are you?” he asked.
    I sighed. I had already known the answer, even before Henry came whirling back into my life. “I don’t think so, no.”
    “Are we breaking up?”
    My eyes watered at the thought. “Do you want to?”
    “No, of course not. I know I haven’t told you this, but I love you,” he said, breaking my heart. I hadn’t known about the depth of his feelings for me. “So no, I don’t want to break up, but we have to because you don’t feel the same way about me.”
    “I really wish I did,” I said. “I want to be with you.”
    Seth sighed, seeing right through me and my half-hearted attempt at our relationship. “No you don’t. You want to be with Henry.”
    He was right, so we broke up.
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
    5  |  ASSIGNED MISSION
     
     
     
     
    Henry rang the doorbell at exactly nine o’clock on Saturday morning, wearing a dark pair of jeans, an orange shirt under a black leather jacket, and a pair of scuffed black boots. “You ready?” he asked, not bothering to come inside.
    “Will this work?” I asked holding my arms out to show my jeans, tall boots, and a purple turtleneck sweater.
    He grinned as his eyes took me in. “Almost,” he said but didn’t elaborate. He held out his hand. “Come on, let’s get going.”
    “I knew it,” I said as he led me to a Harley motorcycle. It was red, black and chrome, and larger than life. Hazardous to my health indeed.
    “It’s a Softail Deluxe. I bought it the day I arrived.” On its seat were two helmets and a black leather jacket. He lifted the jacket and walked around behind me. “Try it on.”
    I slipped my arms into the buttery soft leather and turned around to face him. “Fits perfectly,” I said. “Your ex-girlfriend’s?”
    “In a manner of speaking,” he said. “Yours.” He zipped it up slowly, his knuckles lightly grazing my breasts as they glided up then popped the snaps at the collar.
    I didn’t know if it was the jacket or Henry’s proximity, but I suddenly felt warm all over. “I can’t keep this.”
    “Yeah you can,” he said, zipping up his own jacket. “Think of it as a belated birthday and Christmas present.”
    I played with the jacket’s ruffled bottom, which lent a flirty, feminine touch to what was otherwise an androgynous jacket “Thank you. It’s exactly what I would have bought.”
    He flashed me a grin. “I know,” he said then held out a small helmet.
    “You know this is going to ruin my hair, right?” I asked, gingerly pulling the helmet over my head. So much for having nice hair today.
    “It’ll be worth it,” he said before flipping down my visor. He climbed on the bike and flashed me a grin, all muscle, metal, and pure confidence. He had never looked sexier. I might have gasped inside the privacy of my helmet. “Climb on,” he said and popped his helmet on.
    I’d never been on a motorcycle before so I didn’t know how to even approach the metal beast. I came at it slowly, slightly afraid of what it could do to me.
    He laughed. “You can use the peg to step over.”
    “Okay.” I settled in behind him and wrapped my arms around him, feeling his solid muscle even under all that leather. “We’re going all the way to Dallas in this?”
    He nodded. “It’s a nice day; I think we can make it there in two hours tops.” He squeezed my arm. “If you need to stop, just pat me on the chest twice.”
    “How the hell am I going to hold on for two whole hours?” I asked. Already my muscles were aching from clutching him.
    He turned around to face me. “You don’t have to hold so tight. Once we get going, you can lean back a little and relax,” he said. “Don’t worry. I would