I grip my arms tighter around his abdomen as he weaves us in and out of the Wynn’s valet traffic, and it doesn’t take long before we’re taking a right onto the main road of the Las Vegas Strip and heading toward the unknown.
Holy hell. What have I just signed up for?
Flynn
Unsure of where my unexpected passenger wants to go or what has her so worked up that she hopped on the back of my bike, I pull into a gas station about a mile off the Strip. Once I pull my Harley to a stop, she eases herself off the saddle.
My helmet is off her head a few moments later, and I don’t even try to be inconspicuous as I watch her wild mane of curls fall past her shoulders and the green of her eyes shimmer beneath the obtrusive neon lights of the gas station.
Daisy. I silently test her name in my mind. Oddly enough, the name matches her to a T. Beautiful, but also a bit wild. I sense she’s the type of woman who is full of surprises.
Frankly, I’m just happy it was me sitting at the entrance and not some deranged psychopath looking for a vulnerable victim.
Her energy is manic as she paces the pavement next to my bike, her teeth sinking into the flesh of her soft red lips repeatedly. I avert my eyes briefly and focus on cutting the engine and popping out the kickstand of my bike, and it’s only then, after being divested of the weight of my scrutiny, that she finds the will to speak.
“I’m…uh…Daisy.” Her words grab my attention, and I look up to find her holding out a petite hand toward me. “Daisy Diaz.”
I consider her closely before taking her small hand in my own. Mine envelops hers easily, and I think the feeling must make her nervous because she starts babbling again before I give her my name.
“So…I’d like to make it clear that I’m not the type of woman who just hops on random guys’ motorcycles. Not usually, anyway. I guess you could say I’m currently in the middle of a bit of a mess and was overwhelmed, and you sitting there was an escape option I couldn’t resist.” She looks up toward the night sky and sighs. “God, what is wrong with me?”
Obviously, I, personally, have not a fucking clue what’s going on with her.
“I probably seem nuts, don’t I?” Her green eyes meet mine. “Like a total lunatic. I mean, who does that? Who just sprints out of a work party and hops on some complete stranger’s bike? Holy moly, I’m totally losing it!”
She turns on her heel and begins to pace in front of me. After a few groans and even more sighs, she eventually stops and turns to face me again.
“You don’t say much, do you?”
The assertion is obvious, but her comfort in voicing it is much less so. Most people are afraid of me—something about the silence makes them think I’m based in sin. I raise my eyebrows, and she sighs briefly before mixing it with a laugh.
“That’s…that’s good. You don’t ramble in circles like me, which I have to tell you is not always convenient.” Her words are open and honest, and by the giant smile on her face, it’s obvious she is mostly just amused with herself than anything else. “It can get you into some real pickles, actually, and I’ve got the stories to prove it. Some real foot-in-the-mouth scenarios, you know?”
I smile. I can’t fucking help it. There’s something so purely honest about her. It’s endearing.
“I bet.”
She nods enthusiastically as if I’ve just delivered a moving address to the nation. “Exactly! You get it. So, you don’t have an obsession with hearing yourself speak,” she states, and I nod. “That’s freaking admirable. All the men I’ve ever known in my life are blabbermouths.”
“The guy back at the casino?”
Her brow furrows in confusion. “What guy?”
“The guy you were running from.”
“I wasn’t running from—” She pauses midsentence, and her eyes go wide for the briefest of moments before a shocked laugh jumps from her lips. “Oh my God, no. I wasn’t running from Duncan. I might’ve abruptly sprinted away from him while he was doing his usual flirting routine, but I definitely wasn’t running from him. He’s just a coworker. Nothing more than that.”
My eyes narrow, and she starts to pace again, her earlier agitation coming back with a vengeance.
“I was running from something much more life-altering than the office flirt. Something that I can’t actually run from… So, I guess, in a way, I was attempting to run from my own stupidity, but as you can see, I can’t really run away from myself. I just…just thought maybe I could run from tonight, you know?”