Outlaw's Ride: An MC Romance by Carter Steele (books recommended by bts .txt) 📕

me in the dark about it, especially if he expected me to help in some way? What was my role in his plans? Then it hit me…

Did he bring me here just to take a fall? Was he planning on pinning whatever he was going to do on me?

“Jesus, lighten up. You’re going to scare the birds.” Wreck looked back at me with his hands in his pockets.

Scare the birds?

That’s when I started actually looking around. This wasn’t a museum. Or rather it was a museum, but only for birds! The lobby was initially set up as a brightly colored museum with several nooks and interactive displays for kids to explore. The walls were practically plastered with birds of all kinds in various phases of flight.

I’d stopped in my tracks and gaped in awe at my surroundings. The pictures were breathtaking and there were so many species I’d never seen or even heard of before.

“If you think that’s impressive…” Wreck held out his hand and with wide, stunned eyes I took it.

I turned my attention to him, studying his face for signs of an ulterior motive as we walked up a long sloped inclining hallway. I couldn’t find anything except the smug satisfaction of getting something over on me. I was still in disbelief. I mean, this couldn’t possibly be happening.

Not to me.

I pushed down the distant squeaks of hope deep down in my soul. Nothing brings a person quite as low as dashed hopes.

My resolve crumbled when Wreck opened the hallway doors and I stepped out into the Tropical Birds exhibit. I gasped and stood motionless paralyzed by the lush beauty of the room, the smells, the noises, the sounds and, of course, the fluttering and playful birds themselves. The room was a massive tree-laden greenhouse and the main wooden walkway was suspended at least ten feet off the ground. The path branched off into several winding paths some brought you to the treetops, the others to the ground. There was also a massive multi-tiered waterfall that sprayed crisp water into the clean air. The sweet smell of mango trees intermingled with earthy scents of cacao and coffee trees. Birds of all colors and shapes darted, meandered and walked around. It was beautiful to behold.

With one finger Wreck closed my gaping mouth. I startled at that, not realizing how distracted this had all made me. My face flushed with red embarrassment and despite that I couldn’t contain a smile. This was truly amazing. I desperately wanted to say something to him, but when I pulled out my pad and paper the words didn’t flow. A regular thank you seemed horribly lacking but I wrote anyways.

He glanced at the paper then looked back at me for a long moment. What did he see when he looked at me?

“Go explore,” he said, leaning on a railing.

“Abandoning me already?” I wrote, but immediately regretted it. Humor never came across well on the written page. A tiny note pad was incredibly limiting when I wanted to express myself. It was so very frustrating.

“I’ll come find you,” he replied. His tone, while not threatening, had a sense of inevitability to it. The sun set, the moon rose and Wreck would come find me. It was a strange pleasant feeling.

I looked forward to when he did.

Not knowing how long this dream was going to last I made the most of my time there. I giggled like a little girl when the cockatoos ran by my legs. I was captivated by the parrots, pheasants, thrushes and so, so many others. It wasn’t just birds either! Two-toed sloths hung from branches and frogs and fish played in the waterfall.

I thought about trying to sketch one of the birds, but my pad was too small and the pen I had was too thick and inarticulate. Instead I sat on the edge of the pond with my fingers in the water and closed my eyes. I just wanted to listen and fill my mind with the songs of the jungle. Even with my eyes closed the world seemed so bright in this one perfect moment. I desperately wanted to capture this experience and replay it in my heart whenever I needed it.

Something large cast a shadow over me and when I finally opened my eyes I saw Wreck. He held a paper bag from the gift shop in one hand and a chilled coffee in a glass bottle in the other.

“They gave me a bunch of shit for bringing this stuff in here so I hid it under my clothes and snuck it in.”

“You are a criminal after all,” I wrote while wearing a small grin.

“Keep it down. I don’t want anyone to overhear,” he mock scolded, then a note of seriousness bled into his voice. “There was a reason I brought you here.”

He sat down next to me and sipped at his coffee before continuing. I frowned and waited for the other shoe to drop. I knew this was all too good to be true.

“The picture you gave me of the bird. The black and white swallow.” Wreck set the coffee down and opened the paper bag. He pulled out a large pad of paper and a full set of colored pencils. “I want another one. This time with some more color.”

My eyes became saucers when he put the pad and pencils in my hands.

“Are you serious?” I wrote, my hands shaking. Then I couldn’t hold back any longer. I had to finally ask, “Why? Why all this?”

“Why not,” he replied without a hint of anything. There was nothing in voice to give him away. The only thing I read on his face was quiet intensity and curiosity.

“Because I’m just a whore.”

“I don’t think you’re just anything. Well, you’re a liar,” he replied evenly, searching my face for reactions. “But that’s OK. We’re all liars.”

Wreck wanted something from me, but aside from tightening my lips I didn’t give him anything. When you knew you couldn’t speak it became