Read Online Free Bird: A Biker Erotic Romance by Ellen Graves - Free Book Online Page A

bad all you want, it ain’t gonna change a damn thing.”
     
    The warm kindling in her heart turned into tense flames. “My sister isn’t stupid,” she said sharply.
     
    “She’s stupid for love.”
     
    “Getting slapped around isn’t love.”
     
    He laughed like it was all a game to him. “But it’s a start, ain’t it? Once she gets all hot between the legs it’s hard to tell what’s love and what’s not...”
     
    His words rang too true. She couldn’t count the number of times she had seen Josie slobbering on her man after they’d had a glass-shattering fight. But still, Joelle had reputations to protect.
     
    “If you knew her, you’d know she isn’t like that.”A darker thought came across her mind. Maybe he knows because he was like her boyfriend… or still is?
     
    The man’s eyes had not lost the light of amused indifference. He peered through her lies like flames through the fog. “I know women, and in this town it’s always like that.”
     
    Protest rose in her throat but was cut off by another. “Hey! You two gonna check out or what?” The balding clerk glared at them both while the customers behind them coughed awkwardly.
     
    The man cracked a smile at the clerk. “Sure, Joe.” He turned his head to Joelle.
     
    “I’ll see you around, Jee...”
     
    “Joelle.”
     
    “Right, another Joe!” He looked to the clerk. “Think this one’s got you beat, Joe. Smells better, too.” The clerk grunted.
     
    The man gave Joelle one last look. “The name’s Liam. Was fun.”
     
    Yeah. She watched him more than she had intended and then blushed when he caught her gaze. Despite their friction, Liam had taken her mind off her troubles. And when he left, the life of the store went with him.
     
    For the first time since Christmas, a smile lingered on her face.
     
    ***
     
    As Joelle started her car, the sound of ignition was drowned out by the roar of a powerful engine. She looked in her side view mirror and saw Liam driving up beside her on his customized Triumph, streaked in vivid reds. Oh, well that explains everything.
     
    His motorcycle came up to her window and he looked down on her like a knight greeting a maiden atop his horse. Have a feeling he doesn’t have a suit of shining armor.
     
    “Hey look at you! Nice bike!”
     
    “Damn right! Your daddy knew how to ride one of these bad boys, but I gotta say, toward the end, he was veering more toward those goddamned sports bikes.” He revved the engine and a blast of thunder shook through Joelle’s car door and down into her bones. Her nerves tingled with excitement and she hoped he’d do it again.
     
    “Yep, he was a fan of all sorts of bikes. Easily pleased.”
     
    “Too easily, if you ask me. What do you say you come by my club, and see what your father loved so much? It’ll be fun.”
     
    She would have loved nothing more. Liam was a man who seemed to be always moving forward and some part of her wanted to be a part of that momentum. But then the sting of her responsibilities came to mind. “I can’t, I really have to drop this off. My brother is sick–”
     
    “No, not right now, later!”
     
    “Oh, yeah, I knew that. That’s what I meant. I could come by.” She knew that she shouldn’t, that her siblings wouldn’t suddenly stop needing her. I need a break or I will break, and then I wouldn’t be any good to them. Liam was rough, the kind of man that her father would’ve driven away. He came off as so solid, and yet she had the creeping sensation that he could bolt away at any moment, off to some new adventure. Like a ghost. Still, he knew her father, and in a way learning to ride would reconnect her with her father, at least in spirit. She could never say one final goodbye, but she could feel what he had once felt.
     
    “That’s what I like to hear. I’ll see you on Friday night at Moonies, it’ll be ladies’ night so behave yourself!”
     
    Before she could respond he roared off on his