All You Can Handle (Moments In Maplesville Book 5) (11 page)

“I do, usually. I just haven’t had much time since I started working for Trey.” He looked at her. “Do you want to?”

“What? Ride your motorcycle?”

Actually, if she were going to ride something of his, the motorcycle would be his second choice.

“I don’t know,” Sonny said, staring at the bike with a cautious dip to her brow, but Ian thought he sensed a bit of excitement lurking behind her gaze. She wanted to take a ride.

“Come on,” Ian said. “You know you want to.”

“I’ve seen the results of enough motorcycle accidents to know better than to get on one, especially with someone nursing an injured finger at the helm.”

“My finger is feeling better already. Come on, Sonny. I promise it’ll be safe,” Ian said. “Besides, I owe you a tour of Maplesville. You’ve been here two weeks and still only know this house and Kiera’s catering company.”

“And The Corral,” she said.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, as if she let the words slip without thinking.

“Yeah,” Ian said after a deep breath. “We can’t forget about The Corral.”

There was that electricity again, humming between them like a live wire. God, he wanted this woman. He wanted her so damn much.

“You promise to be safe?” she asked him. “No showing off with crazy motorcycle tricks?”

“Never,” Ian said. “I’ve got Kimmie to take care of, remember? I’d never do something reckless on the bike. It’ll just be a nice stroll around Maplesville.” He paused for a beat before he said, “Maybe I can entice you to stay a bit longer.”

There was only a brief flash of indecision in her eyes before she said, “Okay. I’ll go for a ride on your bike.”

Yes!
He knew he’d get her to cave sooner or later.

“Just give me a minute to clean up.”

She eyed him up and down. “I don’t know. I kinda like you dirty.”

Ian sucked in a swift breath and released it with a moan. “I had no idea you were so damn wicked.”

She bit her lip between her teeth, but couldn’t hold in her laugh.

He took the quickest shower of his life, and threw on a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt he’d grabbed from the laundry still waiting to be folded and put away. He was back in the garage in less than ten minutes.

Sonny was sitting atop his worktable, her sexy legs crossed at the ankle.

“You ready?” Ian asked.

She scooted off the table. “Which bike?”

He pointed to the black and gold Honda. He’d been working on it for weeks now. This would be the perfect opportunity to test it out.

“So, where do you want to go?” he asked her.

“You’re the one giving me the tour,” she said, “Take me wherever you think I’d have the most fun.”

Ian’s voice took on a husky note. “If that’s the case we don’t have to get on the bike at all.”

“Fully clothed,” she said.

He snorted as he unhooked a helmet from a peg on the garage’s wall and held it out to her. “I thought out of the two of us
you
were supposed to be the carefree risk-taker?”

“Nice try.” She turned the helmet around in her hands. “It’ll be a miracle if I can get all my hair inside that thing,” Sonny said.

Ian raised the garage door and walked the Honda out, then lowered the door behind them. He climbed on the machine, which if he were being honest, could use a washing before going out about town, and kicked the kickstand back.

He tipped his head. “Climb on,” he said to Sonny.

“Just a minute,” she said. She’d put her sunglasses back on, so she tipped her head down slightly. “I just have to look at you for a minute on that thing.” She released a slow breath. “Nice.”

He took the opportunity to study her as well. She’d managed to fit her ‘fro inside the helmet, despite her previous doubts. While he was showering she’d changed into heeled boots that came just up to her calves. The sight of that sleek leather hugging her legs had him adjusting his position on the bike.

When she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, it only added to the situation behind his fly. He’d had more hard-ons in the two weeks since Sonny had been here than in the past three months combined.

“So, where’re you taking me?” she asked.

Ian started up the bike and revved the engine. “You’ll find out when we get there.”

He pulled out of the driveway and headed for downtown. Ian gave her the back lot tour of Maplesville, traveling to the older part of town that hadn’t been as affected by all the new growth taking place along the main highway. They swung by Hannah’s Ice Cream Shoppe—the old-fashioned ice cream parlor was a must-see—and shared a banana split that was big enough to feed four. Watching Sonny slip spoonful after spoonful of rich ice cream in her mouth aroused him way more than it should have. Of course, just watching her breathe aroused him.

Once they were done with their ice cream they continued toward the center of town.

He hadn’t planned on it, but in just a few minutes Ian found himself parking the bike on the brick sidewalk in front of the old Miller Pharmacy.

“I had no idea this area of town was even here,” Sonny said as she climbed down from the bike and pulled the helmet from her head. With just a few fluffs, her Afro was back to looking as wild and sexy as ever, suffering no ill effects from being smashed underneath the helmet.

She gestured to the quaint shops and storefronts. “This looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.”

“This used to be the most vibrant area in all of Maplesville, until the mall and all of those restaurants moved in. But there’s a push to revitalize this part of town,” Ian said. He pointed to the pharmacy. “That’s the building I want to buy.”

Sonny swung toward the dark brown brick building. “I can understand why,” she said. “It’s beautiful. And it’s the perfect location, being on the corner. You have windows all around. Perfect for—”

“—displaying the bikes,” Ian said with her.

“My dad used to talk about opening up his own bike shop all the time,” he continued. “This is the building he wanted. He’d say it was being wasted on selling Band-Aids and foot cream.”

“So this goes beyond you just wanting to sell motorcycles. It was your dad’s dream.”

“It was my dad’s dream first, but it soon became mine, too. I started helping him when I was five years old. I’d hand him the tools while he worked.” A smile drew across Ian’s lips. “I’d sit there for hours, watching him, waiting for him to need the torque wrench or seal driver. By the time I turned eight, I was working right there alongside him.”

“Your face lights up when you talk about him,” Sonny said.

“He was a good guy,” Ian said. “The best guy.”

Sonny’s warm smile lit up her face. “I really hope this happens for you. If anyone deserves to have their dream come true, it’s you.”

He cocked his head to the side. “What makes you think I’m so deserving?”

“Because you
are
. Just look at how much you’ve sacrificed for your sister.” She walked over to him and took him by the hand, then started a slow stroll along the sidewalk surrounding the vacant building. “I know you consider it your responsibility, but it isn’t, Ian. Kimmie still has a parent who is responsible for her upbringing.” She stopped walking and turned to him. She enclosed his hand in hers and gave it a delicate squeeze. “I know she appreciates you, but I hope she realizes how lucky she is to have you as a brother. That not everyone would have made the choice you made when you chose to raise her.”

Ian didn’t attempt to speak. The ball of emotion lodged in his throat made it impossible.

For the past four years he had not done a single thing without considering how it would impact his baby sister. His life was not his own. Everything he did, every decision he made was with Kimmie in mind. He never expected praise for doing what Ian fully believed was the only thing he
could
do, but to hear those words, to have someone acknowledge the costs he’d shouldered, meant so much more than he would have ever believed.

“Thank you,” he finally said. Despite clearing his throat, the words still came out rusty.

A small smile tipped up the corner of Sonny’s lips. “I figure Kimmie doesn’t say it as often as she probably should. At this age everything is about her, but she knows, Ian. And she’s grateful.”

She stepped up to him and placed the sweetest, gentlest kiss upon his lips. Ian closed his eyes and concentrated on the smooth, supple texture of her soft mouth, committing the feeling to memory.

He took her other hand and brought both to his lips. He leaned forward, until their foreheads met above their clasped hands.

He stared into her eyes and whispered, “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”

“Yes, I did,” she whispered back. “You’re a good man, Ian Landry. Despite the fact that you work too much.”

“I don’t—” Ian stopped short. He did spend much of his time working, either at the refinery, Trey’s shop, or in his garage. “The work I do on the bikes isn’t
work
work,” he defended. “I actually enjoy it. What’s that saying? ‘Do something you enjoy and you’ll never work a day in your life?’”

He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. “If you think I work too much maybe you can help me come up with some ways to have a little fun.”

“What do you have in mind?” she asked.

“How daring is your adventurous side?” Ian asked.

She released his hands and sauntered over to the motorcycle. “Why are you still standing there?”

An hour later, Ian couldn’t decide what he regretted most: ever suggesting that they take a dip in Ponderosa Pond or not suggesting that they do so sooner. He hadn’t planned it. Their adventure was supposed to be a wild ride testing the limits of the Honda through the sugarcane fields on the outskirts of town. They’d come upon Ponderosa Pond and, because they were both hot and sweaty after a half hour of riding underneath the blazing sun, Ian had jokingly suggested they dive in.

He never expected Sonny to take him up on it. But, God, was he happy she had.

He’d had an impressive collection of
Playboy
magazines as a teen, but none of the glossy spreads he’d kept hidden in his closet could have prepared him for the goddess that was Madison White. There had been a moment just after she stripped down to her underwear without a care in the world that Ian honestly thought he would die. He’d stopped breathing and couldn’t remember how to start pulling air back into his lungs.

He’d finally gotten control of his breathing, but had given up on trying to rein in his body’s reaction to her. His hard-on was like a piece of marble, tenting his snug boxer briefs.

He lounged underneath the arching branches of a massive oak tree, leaning on one elbow, his legs stretched out in front of him. Sonny stood on a piece of a thick fallen tree trunk that hung just over the edge of the pond. Her matching bra and panty looked as if it was painted onto her body. Ian knew he’d dream about that deep berry-colored satin and lace lingerie for countless nights to come. The way the sun shone through the leaves of the trees towering above them, casting strips of shadow and light across her flawless brown skin, made him ache for her even more.

She looked over her shoulder. “Are you ever going to get in this water?”

“Probably not,” Ian said. “But you go right ahead. I’m enjoying the view.”

She shook her head then dove, slicing through the water and causing subtle waves to reverberate along the water’s edge. She swam out to the middle of the pond and then back to the shore.

She looked like a mythical Egyptian deity as she sauntered out of the pond, rivulets of water glistening as they trailed down her deep brown skin. She stopped a few feet away from him, braced her feet slightly apart and placed both hands on her hips.

“I thought
we
were swimming?” she said. “It doesn’t count if you don’t join me.”

“You’d have to drag me to the water,” Ian said. “I couldn’t walk right now even if I tried.”

She glanced down at his relentless erection and laughed. “On a scale of one-to-ten, how painful is that?”

“A thousand,” he answered.

“What about your finger?”

He lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers. “It’s a little sore, but not nearly as…uh…uncomfortable as this other thing.”

She sat down next to him, folding her smooth legs underneath her. “It may not be as noticeable, but this is just as uncomfortable for me,” Sonny said.

He released a groan as his head fell back against the grass. He covered his eyes with his forearm. “So we’re both just sitting here in agony?”

“I never expected it to be so hard to fight this attraction.”

“So why are we fighting it again? Don’t bother answering that,” Ian said. “We both know the reasons by heart.”

“Is it just me, or do those reasons seem kind of flimsy when there’s nothing but a couple of pieces of underwear between us? I’ve never been so tempted to go back on my word in my life.”

Ian let out a loud groan, his arm still covering his eyes. “God, Sonny, you’re killing me. Why would you say something like that when you know I forgot my wallet at home?”

He still felt like a dolt for that. She’d had to pay for their ice cream.

After a long pause, Sonny’s muted voice cut through the fog of sexual frustration currently clouding his brain.

“Not everything requires a condom,” she said.

Ian’s stomach tightened. He lifted his arm and peered up at her. “What are you suggesting?”

This time, her laugh was throaty. And sexy as hell.

The smile in her eyes was as naughty as the one tugging at the corners of her lips. She got on all fours, straddling his legs. When her fingers caught the waistband of his heather gray boxer briefs and tugged downward, Ian lost the ability to breathe.

“Sonny,” he let out with a soft moan as his erection sprang free.

“Shhh,” she admonished. “Just let me do this.”

He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from making a sound as she positioned herself above him, dipped her head and pulled his erection into her mouth.

Ian’s eyes slid closed as he concentrated on the warm feel of her mouth surrounding him. That she would even
want
to do this for him filled him with a heady mixture of desire and gratitude. His hips lifted of their own volition, moving with her mouth as she slowly swallowed his entire length. As she lifted her head she ran her tongue along the underside. Then she lowered her head again, the gentle scrape of her teeth adding just enough friction to set his entire being on fire.