Jaci Burton Read Online Free PDF Page A

it.”

    “Sorry. Old habits die hard.”
    “You can drool al over yourself in this group and no one wil
    say a word.”
    She laughed. “I’l keep that in mind.”
    Instead of staying put in one place—something she’d
    probably have done—Rick began to wander around. He knew
    a lot of these people, stopped to say hel o, and was nice
    enough to introduce her to those he talked with. Most of the
    guys seemed surprised to see him, asked where he’d been,
    indicated it had been a long time since he’d been around.
    They al welcomed him back.
    Ava wondered where he’d been, too.
    “You son of a bitch.”
    Ava froze at the angry tone of someone behind her. Rick
    pul ed his attention from the person he’d been talking to
    toward the sound of the voice, then smiled.
    “Hey, asshole, what’s up?”
    She stepped out of the way as the two men shook hands
    and laughed.
    “Goddamn. What did you do, fal into a black hole or
    somethin’?” the guy asked.
    He was big—al over—a giant of a man. Even his hair had
    as wild a look as his face, tumbling in wild curls halfway down
    his back.
    “Something like that. Great to see you, Joey.”
    Ah. So this must be the guy who owned the house.
    “Joey, this is my friend Ava.”
    Joey turned to her, eyed her from head to foot, then picked
    her up and planted a big kiss on her cheek. “How ya doin’,

    sweetheart?”
    When he set her down, she exhaled. “Fine. Thank you. It’s
    nice to meet you. Thank you for having us over.”
    Joey paused, then laughed and turned to Rick. “Polite little
    thing, ain’t she?”
    Rick’s lips lifted. “Yeah.”
    “So, you stil in the life?”
    Rick shrugged. “More or less. What about you?”
    “Hel raiser ’til I die. Bo’s done a fine job growing the gang.
    He keeps us busy runnin’—”
    Joey seemed to notice Ava standing there. “He keeps us
    busy running around.”
    “I can see that. I remember when there were just ten or
    fifteen of us.”
    “Now there are over a hundred in this area. He’s done
    good. And I know he’l be happy to have you back.”
    “Yeah, I figured it was time to come home.”
    Joey smacked Rick on the back. “About damn time, too.”
    Joey moved off to see some other people and Rick and
    Ava finished their beers. Rick reached into the nearest tub for
    another, opened it, and handed it to her while they wandered
    around.
    “You seem to know a lot of people,” she said.
    “A few. Some I don’t recognize. A lot of these people are
    new.”
    “Joey said you’d been gone awhile?”
    “Yeah. Traveling.”
    “That must have been exciting.”
    He laughed. “It can be.”

    She suddenly wanted to know more about him. He must
    lead such an interesting life. “Who do you ride with when you
    travel? Groups like this one, or smal er?”
    “No one. I ride alone.”
    She couldn’t even imagine that. “Real y. Don’t you get
    lonely?”
    He slanted a glance toward her. “No.”
    “So you like being alone.”
    “I guess so. I never real y thought about it. I just do what I do.
    ”
    “I wouldn’t enjoy that.”
    “What? Riding or being alone?”
    “The alone part.”
    “It’s not bad. Gives me a lot of time to think.”
    Now it was her turn to laugh. “I have too much time to think. I
    wouldn’t want al that time alone. I’d drive myself crazy.”
    He leaned in, slid his finger on the tip of her nose. “It’s good
    to get to know yourself, learn to be comfortable in your own
    skin.”
    Rick had a point, and he definitely looked at ease with
    himself. Stil , she wondered how much time he’d actual y spent
    riding alone. What made a person crave that kind of solitude?
    Most people liked being with other people, not isolating
    themselves.
    He was certainly an interesting person. And she’d always
    liked to be around interesting people.
    Speaking of people . . . where the hel had Lacey gone off
    to? Ava hadn’t seen her since they’d arrived here. Ava
    searched her out, but the crowd had