Love After War by Cheris Hodges

night. Adrian’s arms around her. His lips. His touch. His bull. Sighing, she agreed with her friend. “As a matter of fact, Ian and I are having breakfast. I’m going to meet him now. And we’re taking a little road trip to do his photo shoot.”
    â€œOoh, this is promising. Wait, you aren’t hopping on the back of that motorcycle of his again, are you? Thanks, babe.”
    â€œI’m guessing that ‘thanks, babe’ was directed at your husband?”
    Imani laughed. “It was. He brought me a copy of the paper because we’re in it.”
    â€œAt Adrian’s club?” Dana asked. She wondered if the activity at the club would come back and bite Imani, Ian, and other stars who made Adrian’s clubs hot spots. Would they get questioned by the police?
    â€œYes. I hate that my presence there gave your heartbreak kid free publicity.”
    â€œWell, I wouldn’t go back there if I were you.”
    â€œTrust me, I won’t. Look, don’t forget about our spa appointment at three. I have to go now,” Imani said, the purr in her voice revealing that she and Raymond would be spending breakfast in bed.
    Just like she and Adrian. Stop it. Adrian made his decision two years ago, and you can’t allow him to come back into your life and turn things upside down again. You got your closure; now move on. Dana stepped on the elevator and pasted a smile on her lips. At least by the end of the day, she’d have her own Harley and tomorrow she’d be so busy shooting for her book and editing pictures that she wouldn’t have time to think about Adrian, his mess, or his hot and tantalizing kisses.
    â€œYou look ready to ride,” Ian said when he spotted Dana.
    She smiled at him and drank in the image of him on that motorcycle. Sexy was an understatement. Dana lifted her camera and snapped a few shots of Ian. He smiled like the star he was. “You’re the one who looks ready to ride,” she said when she lowered her camera. “I don’t have the proper gear, but I think it will keep me safe. How do you feel about going to Orange County this morning?”
    â€œWhat’s in Orange County?” he asked as he got off the bike and gave Dana a quick hug.
    â€œMy Fat Boy.”
    â€œYou’re getting a Fat Bob today?” Ian’s eyes stretched to the size of silver dollars. “Color me impressed.”
    Dana shrugged and offered him a sweet smile. “And, since you look so great on this bike, I figured we could get some shots of you actually riding, instead of in the studio.”
    Ian wrapped his arm around her waist. “I like the sound of that. It’s a good thing that I didn’t drive the Corvette today.”
    Dana inhaled sharply at the mention of the sports car. Ian thought she was expressing her admiration of the car and smiled. “I know, I have all the trappings of a man going through a midlife crisis.”
    She returned his smile, not telling him the story of what a Corvette really meant to her. Adrian had wanted her off her motorcycle so badly that he’d gotten her a black one. She gave up the motorcycle and had only called him controlling once. When she’d walked in on him and those two women following his mother’s death, she parked the car—with the keys in it and the engine running—on a random street near LAX, then walked to the airport to catch her flight to New York. She’d hoped someone had taken the car and had a better time with it than she had. Dana had decided that when she accepted that car, she lost a part of herself. And what was the purpose? Adrian still tossed her aside as if she’d never meant a damned thing to him.
    â€œLet’s go,” she finally said.
    â€œDo you want to eat first or are you as excited as I am to go to the Harley dealership?”
    â€œThe sooner we get to the dealership the better. I can’t wait to roll back into LA on my