The urge to slip his fingers in the space at her lower back and rub her skin had him fisting his hands. His level of attraction surprised him. Used to having sex simply to feed his cravings, he couldn't pinpoint why he looked forward to seeing Bonnie tonight. When she was near, he wanted to stay by her. Look a little longer. Listen to her more. Find out how she smelled and what it felt like to have her touch him.
All those things he wanted had nothing to do with keeping her away from the club's activities.
Bonnie glanced over her shoulder and startled at seeing him standing behind her. Her reaction fascinated him. Surprise was never something he experienced.
All reactions brought forward a response. But because of his training, there was never a moment when his mind blanked out, or he became irresolute.
He stepped up beside her and looked out at the kids in the field. "Your oldest son has an interest in motorcycles."
From Zach's distance from the boys riding motorcycles, no one would know that. His conversation with Bonnie's son that afternoon spoke differently. Zach was interested in the power of motorcycles and had questions, which Trip answered.
"Mm." Her mouth softened. "Since he was little. He always wanted the ride-on toys, the bicycles, the skateboards."
"The other boy—?"
"Kenny."
"Kenny's an active kid but not so quick to jump into trouble or try new things the way Zach does," she stated.
It was clear her youngest son was more reserved, quieter, and calmer. He could see a bit of Bonnie in both boys. Going forward, he would need to keep both personalities fresh in his mind to predict how she would settle into life in Avery Falls.
"Have you had something to eat?" he asked.
"Not yet."
"The boys will be fine." He put his hand on her back. "Let's grab a plate."
She kept looking at him as they walked. He removed his hand, recognizing her awareness of him touching her.
Bonnie wasn't like the women who'd settled in town who would spread their legs if he gave them any attention. He tried to remember what it was like to pursue a woman. There had to be obstacles he'd need to jump through to have sex with her.
Except, he couldn't remember a time of ever chasing a woman.
He took her through the line at the table covered in food. There were few times in his life when he ate purely for pleasure. He grabbed meat and vegetables out of necessity and shoveled potato salad on the rest of the plate.
It took a lot to keep the muscle mass he retained and to preserve the strength that was asked of him at a moment's notice.
He led Bonnie away from the crowd.
She walked ahead of him until she could see her children in the field. He looked around. They'd moved away from the others. There wasn't a picnic table nearby.
Knowing she'd need to sit to enjoy her food, he walked over to the base of a tree and sat on his ass, leaning his back against the trunk.
Bonnie eyed him, then sat a few feet away.
With her contained to one spot, he dug into his food while watching her. But she only looked out at the field. Her overprotectiveness toward her teenage sons showed him an honorable side to her.
Unless she was hiding something.
She'd arrived in Avery Falls not knowing how to locate her grandfather's house. That verged on irresponsibility. She should always know her destination.
A soft click brought his attention away from Bonnie, and he turned his head. Speeder walked his way, using the clicker in his pocket to warn Trip he was approaching.
He finished off the burger, leaving the potato salad half-eaten, and set his paper plate on the ground.
Studying Speeder, he understood it wasn't business bringing him over. He stayed on the ground, leaning against the tree. Not wanting Bonnie to take his movement as an excuse to leave.
"What's up," he said.
"I'm looking for Trina." Speeder glanced at Bonnie before raising his gaze to the field. "Have you seen her?"
With instant fatherhood, Speeder's instinct to keep his head in any situation faltered. Trip lifted his chin, motioning toward the field. Fifty feet from Zach and Kenny, a lone girl sat in the grass.
He was more concerned about Speeder's ability to maintain all the training he'd gone through. If the controller showed up next week and noticed Speeder slipping, they'd throw him back into a cell and retrain him.
Speeder took off in a dead run. Trip looked over at the crowd, catching several pairs of eyes, witnessing him.
Bonnie turned toward him with her eyebrows raised. Trip's expressionless response would deflect her curiosity. To her, it wasn't normal to see a grown-ass man sprint across the field in heavy black boots faster than an Olympian sprinter.
She glanced back around at Speeder, who had arrived at his daughter's side, and shook her head. To change someone's reaction, he needed to act as if everything was normal. It would make her feel as if she were mistaken.
"How's the food?" he asked.
She'd barely picked at the items on her plate. "Good."
"No use making excuses." He stood and took her plate from her, carrying it to the closest garbage can.
Returning to her, he held out his hand. She frowned but put her hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
"Come on. You're not going to relax until you check on your kids." He walked with her to the field.
Halfway there, she slowed. "You probably think I'm unsocial after you kindly invited me to the get-together."
It wasn't his job to figure out why she wasn't introducing herself to the locals and put up no fight when he pulled her away from the crowd to eat alone with him. He had one purpose, to keep her away from her house until after eleven o'clock.
"It's hard for my boys to come somewhere new." She stopped and faced him. "I think it would've
