The Cougar's Bargain by Holley Trent Read Free Book Online Page B

launched right into an overture for some new adventure. He’d made himself very busy.
    It didn’t look like he could get away with that ploy with Hannah. She looked like she didn’t want to be there in the first place, which made two of them.
    He deposited the motorcycle cover inside the barn, returned to the bike, unzipped one of the attached bags, and handed the spare helmet to Hannah without a word. If he couldn’t keep his mind clear, she’d need it, because they’d both end up in a ditch with the bike on top of them.
    Fuckin’ idiot brothers
.
    He strapped his duffel to the back and pushed up the kickstand. Moving the bike away from the wall, he said, “I’ve got about half a tank of gas. How far are we going?”
    “Tucson.”
    He scoffed. “Oh, that’s awesome. I’ve been on two legs for less than eight hours, and already they’ve got me on my bike and driving across state lines.”
    “I can drive if you’re not up to it.”
    He stopped walking, and looked back at her with an eyebrow raised. “You’re endorsed?”
    She shrugged. “No. I don’t have official paperwork for everything I’m qualified to do, but that doesn’t make me any less proficient.”
    “Casual disregard of the law, huh? Isn’t your father a cop?”
    She shrugged again and looked away, clearing her throat.
    He couldn’t tell if she was ashamed or proud or anything. He might have been able to if she’d been born Cougar, but for the moment, there was a learning curve to figuring out her energy.
    “Well, you know what they say about preachers’ kids and cops’ kids, don’t you?” He pushed the bike to the driveway and swung his leg over the seat. “You need to be watched closer than anyone. You know how to break all the rules and not get caught.” He patted the seat behind him and reached for his own helmet.
Must be nice. I always get caught.
    “Just keep the bike upright and we won’t have to test how good I am at breaking laws.”
    “Tucson’s nearly eight hours from here.”
    “Yep.”
    “Okay. Just letting you know. That’s a long time for you to be clenching me between your knees, so I wanted to make sure you got your mind right before I turned the key.”
    “Mind over matter. I’m very good at imagining myself in other places when I’m in shitty company.” She squashed the helmet onto her head.
    “Oh, that’s a good one.” He let down his visor, effectively killing any opportunity for further conversation. It was hard not to take the slight personally, because it was so off base. He’d always been a nice guy. He went out of his way to get people to like him, as much as any Foye male could. His brothers had reputations for being somewhat misanthropic, which wasn’t exactly true—they just preferred not having to perform all the time. Sean understood.
Really
he did. He got frustrated just as easily as Mason and Hank, but he was just better at hiding it for longer periods … and when he wasn’t so good, he shut himself away.
    He started the bike and ground his teeth as Hannah loosely cinched her arms around him. He should have wanted her touch. She was his mate, and Cougars were comforted by touch, but they’d missed their chance to connect. The sparks were supposed to fly in those first two weeks he’d had to win her before the curse set in, but she hadn’t let him get close enough to try to set them off.
    Now, his inner cougar was ambivalent, and the man part of him wasn’t doing much better. It didn’t seem right that she’d consent if she were just going to be mean to him and if no one was going to let them have some space from each other.
    They were both probably feeling pretty bruised at the moment.
    “You should hold on,” he muttered as he lifted his booted foot off the ground.
    “Just worry about yourself. You let me worry about me.”
    That’s the way it’s gonna be.
    Some mated pair
they
made.
    • • •
    It was a good thing Hannah had to pee and needed Sean to pull over,