a great guy she’d never have to face again. It was a completely different affair to lust after a flesh-and-blood man standing in a real estate office.
Why was he standing in a real estate office? She cleared her throat and tried to relocate her lost sense of professionalism. “Was there something I could help you with?” Or had he just come here to make sure she hadn’t completely fallen apart? She hoped not. She didn’t want him to think of her as this pitiful creature who couldn’t function.
That string of tension that had been humming between them tightened as his eyes darkened. His gaze swept over her face, her body. Was he checking her out? Or just checking for signs of her pregnancy? It was still pretty early. Her clothes still mostly fit, although she’d already gone up a cup size in bras.
“Actually, there is,” he said. “As crazy as it sounds, I’m settling down.”
Oh. That sounded like...like he was setting up house with a girlfriend. Or a wife. Well. So much for that fantasy. She was not about to poach anyone’s man. At least now he’d stay safely in her dreams and she wouldn’t make a fool of herself over him.
She stood from the desk, straightening her tacky Zanger jacket. “I can handle all your needs. Your real estate needs,” she added, her face burning.
Well. So much for not making a fool of herself over him.
For a second, she wished she were someone different—someone more together and charming and...
Well, someone who wasn’t pregnant and coming out of a long-term relationship.
He didn’t laugh. Or even snort. Instead, something in his eyes changed—deepened—and warmth spread through her body. She recognized that warmth—desire. It was like running into an old friend from high school she hadn’t seen in a few years. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it—until here it was.
When was the last time she had felt desire? At one point she was sure she had enjoyed sleeping with Roger, but she couldn’t remember when it stopped being fun and started being routine. It hadn’t been bad. It just hadn’t been good.
Kind of like Roger himself.
Seth was still smiling. It would be great if she could get her act together today. Within the hour, even though that was probably too much to ask.
Still, she had to give it a try. “What sort of properties are you looking for? Because a home is very different from a condo.” There. That was a viable thing to say that didn’t make her sound like an idiot.
And if she wasn’t making any sense, she was blaming that on the pregnancy, which went right back to Roger. So if she was flabbergasted before Seth for the second time in a few short weeks, it would be entirely Roger’s fault.
She motioned for Seth to sit because standing was getting more awkward by the second. Seth took the chair in front of her desk and crossed one of his legs, bringing his heavy leather boots into view. Up closer, Kate could see that the T-shirt was for Crazy Horse Choppers, which fit with the leather jacket and the motorcycle.
In other words, he looked like a badass biker dude.
Except for those dangerous dimples. Because it took everything hard about him and made it something else. Something that had her pulse pounding in her veins, heating her from the inside out. “Tell me what you’re looking for.”
He held her gaze for a beat too long before he spoke. “Well, I’ve been back in Rapid City for about a month and a half.”
Wait—did that mean he’d been living somewhere else until...until when? Had he come back for the wedding that wasn’t? “Where were you before?”
“I’m not sure if you recognize my name or not but my family owns Crazy Horse Choppers.”
“Um...no? I’m sorry,” she quickly added. “I mean, of course I’ve heard of Crazy Horse Choppers.”
They were one of Rapid City’s most famous local businesses, started twenty or thirty years ago by a local boy made good and now run by his three sons, whose names hadn’t ever really registered for Kate. She thought there’d been a reality show featuring the three unruly biker brothers a number of years ago. Kate had been in high school when it’d been on the air—and it hadn’t been interesting to her then.
Clearly, she’d underestimated the power of a bad boy in a leather jacket.
She shook her head, trying to push that thought away. She was definitely going to blame that line of thinking on the pregnancy hormones. “I just didn’t make the connection between you and the company,” she explained. “I’m not up-to-date on motorcycles. I’d never even been on one until...”
Until he’d stripped her petticoat off her and set her on the back of his bike and she’d wrapped her arms around his waist and held on to him.
She wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her face got even hotter.
“I lived in LA for a year while managing the Crazy Horse showroom we operate there,” Seth said, ignoring her red face. “My father and my uncles recently made me partner in the company, so I’m thinking I need to set up a permanent base.”
She eyed him. She had no idea how old Seth was, but he seemed young to be a partner in such a successful company. Was that just because it was the family business and he was family? Or was he really good at what he did?
Of course it was because he was good at what he did. He’d talked her down from the ledge, hadn’t he? The man could probably sell motorcycles to anyone.
“‘Permanent base’? That’s not how most people describe buying a house.” In fact, it sounded more like he was setting up a strategic military outpost or something.
He shrugged. “My uncle Bobby has wild expansion plans. He expects me to travel and represent the brand. But the company is based here, so I need to maintain a residence. I anticipate that I’ll only be in Rapid City maybe half the year. The other thing—”
“The other thing?” A house would be a great sale. As partner to a successful and growing business, he’d want something that spoke of his power and, one assumed, wealth. Or at the very least, a condo with all the bells and whistles.
“I’m in the planning phase for a new project for Crazy Horse,” he went on, ignoring her interruption. “We’re going to need an industrial space for a museum.”
Her mouth fell open. A house was terrific. A house and an industrial space?
She’d be able to live off that commission for months. She could take time off to be with her baby without having to worry about money.
Seth Bolton was her guardian angel. It was really that simple.
He was staring at her expectantly. “Kate? You okay?”
“What? Oh. Yes. Yes! I’m just...a museum?”
That grin made it plenty clear that she wasn’t fooling him. “My granddad and my dad have been building choppers for thirty years. My dad’s kept one of everything he’s ever built, including a lot of prototypes that never saw production. He’s got close to four hundred motorcycles stored in the original Crazy Horse factory. I think
