Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife (The Harder They Fall, #2)(43)

“Mmm…I think I can go to sleep now. Everything’s quiet.”

“Good idea. We have an early start.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “You are going to tease me.”

Lowering my chin, I stared down at her flushed face and swollen, pink lips. It wouldn’t take much to drop a kiss on them. They were practically begging for it.

I scooped her into my arms and walked her to her bed instead. “I think we’ve done enough teasing tonight.”

I laid her down, pulling the sheets up to her chin. The sleepy girl she was snuggled into her pillow without any resistance, her eyelids lowering to half-mast.

I turned away, but she caught the back of my trousers, pulling me back around.

“I’m really looking forward to riding your motorcycle tomorrow,” she mumbled.

“Yeah.” I grazed her temple with my knuckles. “I am too.”

“Good night, Luca.” Eyes closing, her lips tipped into a contented little grin.

“Night, wife.”

Even after I fucked my fist to thoughts of my wife, I lay awake and alone in bed, nowhere near settled. Any other night, I would have gotten up, gone for a ride on my bike or indulged in other passions, but we had a long ride tomorrow. I’d take chances with my own life but not with Saoirse’s. So, I forced myself still, closed my eyes, and waited for sleep to come.



If I’d expected anything to change between us overnight, I would have been wrong. Saoirse’s chocolate eyes lit on my bike, and she was all coos and excitement, running her fingers over the seat and bending to check out the chrome.

“Oh, it’s pretty.” She pressed her hands together beneath her chin. “I didn’t know you had this one.”

Wearing the leather jacket I’d given her this morning, her long legs encased in black jeans, Saoirse looked like she belonged on a poster hanging in the back of a mechanic’s shop.

I patted the seat. “I’m borrowing it for the weekend. It’s a better ride for two people. If you end up liking it, I’ll buy one for us.”

Rossi bikes were works of art, so I appreciated the way Saoirse stroked the leather stitching and admired the shape of the handlebars.

“It’s gorgeous.” The light in her eyes brightened. “But what if I want one of my own?”

“Then we’ll get you one. Clara rides when she isn’t pregnant. You’ll have to talk to her about what bike to choose.” Folding her hand in mine, I yanked her close. “First step is taking a ride with me. You might hate every second of it.”

“I’ve been on a motorcycle before, Luca.”

My mouth flattened, displeased, though I had no idea why I’d assumed she hadn’t ridden a motorcycle before. She’d lived ten lives before we’d met. Of course she’d ridden.

And it fucked me to hell thinking of her on the back of someone else’s bike. No way they’d been as careful as they should’ve been. She was lucky she’d come out of it unscathed.

“Never with me. I’m assuming not on this route?”

She shook her head. “Not in this country.”

“Good. Then I get your first.”

“That you do. First husband, first motorcycle ride in the US.” She shoved her helmet on and perched on the seat. The visor was down, so I couldn’t see her, but I imagined she was fluttering her lashes at me.

“You really are a little brat, aren’t you?”

She nodded her helmeted head. “Lucky you.”

Despite the warring pit in my stomach, I found myself laughing. “Get on the bike, bella. Time to get on the road.”



The ride to Sugar Brush, Wyoming, was exactly the kind I liked, outside the city where I could really open up and let loose. Of course, with Saoirse behind me, I didn’t let loose as much as I normally would have, but from the laughter ringing in my ear, she enjoyed every bit of it.

I’d thought we’d have to stop a time or two to give her a break, but she never signaled for it, so we stayed on the road straight through.

As we drew closer to her family’s ranch, the terrain became rolling hills and wide-open spaces. Soon, I spotted cattle roaming every-fucking-where, behind low wire fences. Every once in a while, I saw someone riding through the fields on a horse, moving the cattle where he wanted them to be.

Slowing to a crawl, I passed through the entry of Sugar Brush River Ranch and veered off in the direction Saoirse pointed down the road to her family’s home.

Since we’d left early, it was just past noon when I rolled the bike to a stop in front of a two-story, sprawling log home. There were rocking chairs and toys on the porch stretching the entire span of the house. Flowers in the beds and a miniature ATV parked on the lawn.

I climbed off first, helping Saoirse off next, holding her hips while she regained her balance. She let herself lean against me, her hands on my chest. I tugged off my helmet, then hers, revealing her grinning face.

“I’m learning to ride,” she announced.

“You didn’t like riding with me?”

She bounced on her toes. “I loved it. But I want to be able to go whenever I want. Can I? Please.”

Pushing her hair back from her face, I shook my head. Not in denial, but because she had her bottom lip pushed out in a pout and it was fucking adorable.