Deep Autumn Heat by Elisabeth Barrett

by none other than Sebastian Grayson, a man who’d given her a heated kiss the night before. She was standing on a cobblestone street in the darkness about to get on his
motorcycle
. He was trying to help her as if he were a gentleman.
    Lexie knew he was anything but.
    She looked at Seb’s outstretched hand, his large body bracketing the bike, and the huge machine between his thighs. His face was partially shielded by his helmet. He was dressed entirely in black, the motorcycle was black, and together they looked like one massive unit—half man and half machine.
    He looked like something out of a dream. Lexie shuddered. Unconsciously, she inched away from him. She should have insisted that Cole drive her home.
    Impatiently, Seb thrust his arm out again, trying to get her to take the helmet.
    “C’mon. You need to wear this.”
    Lexie shook her head, eyes riveted to the bike. “I … I can’t. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle.” She continued inching backward, having no idea how she was going to get on that thing. It was clearly built for a man of Seb’s size, not for a petite woman. She was honestly frightened. Not only had she never been on a bike, but this one looked far too enormous for her to ride it comfortably. “Just walk me back to my car and I’ll drive home.”
    “After what you’ve been through? Not a chance.” Before she knew what was happening, Seb swung off the seat, helped secure the helmet on her head, and pulled her back toward the bike. Still holding her hand, he mounted the bike. She could either struggle with him or follow his lead and get on. She was too drained to do anything but the latter.
    “Throw your leg over the side.”
    She swung her leg over the bike, the way she’d seen him do it, then used his waist as a lever to help her get on the rest of the way. She let go of him as soon as she was balanced on theback.
    “Keep your hands wrapped around my waist.”
    Lexie hesitated slightly, then obeyed, arranging her hands loosely and keeping what she thought was a decent distance between their bodies.
    “Tighter. You need to get closer to me,” he said.
    She stiffened, then inched forward and tightened her grip, thinking she was close enough. The engine roared to life, then mellowed into a loud purr. Yet as soon as the bike jerked with movement, she squeezed her body as tightly as she could against Seb’s back.
    The bike rumbled as they sped off into the night.
    Lexie certainly hadn’t imagined that she’d experience her first motorcycle ride while clinging to Sebastian Grayson. In a flash, she thanked the stars she’d chosen to wear jeans that day.
    She felt a rising tide of panic make its way from the pit of her stomach through the rest of her body. Before she did something crazy—like jump off the bike mid-ride—she tried to calm herself. She tried to think about the restaurant, about her food orders, even about Paige Sinclair. Anything but the fact that she was hanging on to Seb for dear life after being attacked in the park by a masked stranger who might have been Frank.
    As the crisp night air turned cold from the speed of the bike, Lexie closed her eyes and tucked her head against Seb’s jacket. The few miles ticked by quickly. She felt the cobblestones of the historic district give way to the pavement of Route 28, and eventually to the gravelly pavement of Harper’s Pond Road.
    Finally, the bike stopped and Seb cut the engine. The roar of the motor was replaced with the quiet of the evening, interrupted only by the chirping of crickets and the pounding of her heart. A partial moon cast a dim light onto the surrounding treetops, but it was impenetrably dark under the canopy of branches.
    “We’re here,” Seb spoke into the night.
    Lexie lifted her head off of his back, unwound her arms, and slid her leg over the seat.Back on firm ground, she removed the helmet and handed it to him without a word. She turned to walk up the path to her house, and—triggered by her