Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 70

Briar

We parted, and Carter brushed the hair from my face. He was looking at me in a way that seemed to delve into my soul. It was too much to bear, to admit to feeling what that look meant, so I pulled him into another kiss. He then washed the cum from my back and hair and wrapped me in a towel. I took another from the cabinet for my hair and walked him to Jake's room to find him something clean to wear. I found some sweats and a t-shirt, which he took, and he followed me into my room, where my head disappeared into the closet. I found shorts and a tank with wide arm holes. When I turned around, he was staring at me, clothes still in his hand.

“What?” I asked, and the look on his face at being caught, stilled my heart, a boyish grin, a little sheepish at being found staring.

“Just admiring,” he admitted, as I crossed the room and dug a sports bra and underwear out of my drawer.

“If you don’t hurry up, we are both going to be late,” I reminded him, and he finally tossed the pants on the bed and began pulling on the shirt. I dropped my towel tossing it with the other and began getting dressed myself, his eyes on me as he continued to watch me. I ignored them as best I could. I liked Carter, wanted him, but I also knew I wasn’t ready, there was so much on my emotional plate that I had yet to unpack. I felt like I didn’t even know who I was anymore, or where I came from. I was struggling with the need to reinvent myself, to fit in, and the need to be who I once was; then add in the trauma and the vague secrets I felt nobody was telling me. I trusted Carter with my safety and my mental wellbeing; ok, this new chapter of exploration, too. However, I wasn't blind. Divide was one of those weird hole in the wall tourist towns where they wanted the tourist money, but they didn’t want any outsiders to feel at home, and here I was living among them.

An hour later, I pulled into the shop parking lot, trying to evade the looks of the guys. I felt paranoid, like everyone knew what I had been up to this morning, and I couldn’t put a finger on why. I had shut myself in the office, after leaving more muffins on the break table, and was rethinking all my escapades of the morning when Byron walked in.

“Are you doing the services today?”

“Yeah,” I answered, and he huffed in a breath. He just nodded and walked out. Why did I feel so exposed? I pushed through the morning, tuning the guys out, unless needed, and focused on the jobs I needed to do. I pulled three extra bikes in and was an hour overdue to leave when I was about to start on the last one. The sound of a bike approaching got my attention as the nut loosened from the tank and oil drained into the pan. Looking up, it was Carter. I had poured myself into work, still contemplating whether I should have allowed myself the impulsive moment of indulgence with Carter this morning.  I didn’t leave my work to greet him as Carter stopped his bike and walked over.

He tapped my foot with his as I was inserting the new oil filter. I didn’t glance at him until it was in place and secure.

“What’s up?”

“You're late for lunch, you're working too hard.” I huffed. 

“This is easy compared to running miles and dodging and weaving your hand pad madness,” I pointed out.

“You still have to eat, Briar, that’s part of it,” he mumbled, quietly. So he didn’t want the guys to know. 

“We are so close to being caught up, I just wanted to put a little extra effort in,” I told him.

“You could have texted me, I would have brought lunch over so it didn’t take time out of your day.

“Stop babying me, Carter. I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”

His voice dropped lower, whispering into my ear. “We both know if I let that be the case, you would be wasting away. I can’t allow that, now can I?” I shrugged him off, grabbing the funnel and oil. Maybe he had a point. Staying busy was stopping me from thinking about it all. My shoulders sagged, and he made a disapproving sound in his throat. I knew the guys were watching, so I finished up the service as Carter stepped back, giving me room.

“Finish up, we are going for a ride,” he said curtly.

Aggravating Carter wasn’t my intention; I hadn’t really had one, besides trying to keep my head clear. I just nodded, giving the bike a once-over, ensuring everything was in place before I pushed it out of the bay. Carter didn’t follow; however, his eyes were on me, even as Byron walked up to him. They started talking, their words lost to me as the cooling breeze took them away, but I felt those eyes on me until I turned back, wiped my hands clean, and sauntered over to them.

“Well, that will give us a bit of a head start,” I said to Byron, who just nodded before eyeing Carter and walking off.

“What was that about?” I asked Carter.

“Seems the boys have their eyes on me in your defense,” was his cryptic answer. “Let’s go,” he said, walking off to his bike. “Leave your bag here, you won’t be needing it. We are going over some riding basics. I know you know most of them, but I want to be sure, then I’m taking you somewhere and we are going to talk.” He was being serious and prickly right now, so I wasn’t going to test him; honestly, I didn’t have it in me today. I hopped on the bike behind him and he walked through the basic instructions as he started the bike, then he took off without another word.