Faith: Biker Romance (The Virtues Book 2) Read Free

heart for beating so hard for the handsome stranger.

    I heard him walking down the street, and before the door closed all the way, I heard him call back to me, “The name’s Eddie!”

    When the door closed, the bells alerted everyone inside the bookstore of my presence. The cashier and my mother turned to me. She smiled at me, her large pile of books on the countertop.

    “What did you say, dear?” She seemed oblivious that I had even been gone, which wasn't out of the ordinary.

    I snapped myself out of the blank stare, finally finding an out. “Hmm? Oh, I said, ‘You ready?’ ”

    She looked down at the pile of books. “Just about. Would you be a sweetheart and give your mother a hand?”

    My heart eased a bit knowing that I’d gotten away with my daring escape. Daring escape. To think that walking down the street and talking with a boy my age was “daring” made my soul sink. Mother had tried to set me up with boys from respected families in the church, and I could already envision myself being pushed toward marriage.

    That thought was the most awful thing that had ever come into my head. I wanted to escape, not just the church or my home, but Colorado Springs entirely. I wanted to see the world and experience things instead of reading about them or hearing everything I was missing out on from my sister and brother-in-law.

    I smiled and tried to cover up my feelings. After three years of feeling distant and alienated, I had gotten pretty good at keeping up the façade.

    Picking up the books, I headed back toward the door, ready to climb into the old ’80 Jeep Wagoneer. After dropping the books into the back seat, I pulled myself up into the passenger’s side. My mother was already buckling herself in, and as she turned the key to start the engine, she looked over at me.

    “So, you want to tell me about the boy I saw you with?”

The ride back to our house somehow turned into the longest four miles of my life. My mother grilled me on every second I’d spent from the time I left the bookstore until the time I returned. She wanted to know everything there was to know about Eddie.

    “Mother, I was just talking to him. I don’t know anything about him.” I did my best to stay calm about the whole ordeal.

    “You just met some boy on the street? Faith, there’s too many people in this city to be talking to strangers.” I’d heard the lecture so many times before. The words were different, but it was that isolationist tone that was always the same.

    My parents regulated everything about my life, and at eighteen, I was done with it.

    “We just talked.” Then, I remembered something that she would bite like a hungry catfish. “He asked what church I go to.” The tone was hopeful, and I knew the bait was too tempting.

    In an instant, her mood changed. That sparkle of the Lord’s holy light was in her eye. Her perception went from sinner and atheist to a lost sheep looking for his flock and protective shepherd. She turned to me with a smile.

    “Is he new in Colorado Springs, or just unhappy at his current church?” Her voice changed in pitch, as well. It was higher, hopping along from C word to C word.

    I shook my head. “I’m not sure, Mother, but I told him where we went.” Up to that point, I hadn’t told a single lie. I twisted the truth into something unrecognizable, but I hadn’t lied. That was about to change.

    “He was very interested in The Navigators.” I was laying it on thick, but I wanted to swing the conversation anywhere but on Eddie.

    The Navigators were a group that trained Christians on better spreading the Word of God to others. My parents had been members for as long as I could remember. Not only did we attend regular church services, but we also sat through classes and lectures on better spreading the Word. I found it ironic that even though my parents were trained better than most missionaries, they’d still never left the state of Colorado to do any Word