Rough Ride (Men of Valor MC)

“I can lend you my stained book Isla. It tells you how to get hot fudge spills out of white silk.”

“Interesting,” Isla said, while motioning the ‘slit my throat.’

“Kids, right?” I was loving her expression of horror while trying to keep her cool. “That’s why I shop at the Gap.”

“Okay, Gap model, a handsome man, is leaning against a bike waiting in the parking lot. I assume he’s here for you. About six foot zillion and 300 pounds of muscle?” Isla said, beaming at me.

“Front or back?”

Isla checked the security camera. “Out front. He’s good looking, too.”

“Call my cell if you need anything,” I shouted at Sky. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“I was about to say the same thing to you,” Skylar told me. She’d crossed her arms and crooked a brow.

“I hate you both,” I said. I fluffed my hair in the mirror mounted by the door.

Isla walked over to the Sky, draping her arm around her shoulders. “We’ll be fine, now go and stop worrying.” She pointed to the door and both of them smiled at me.

When I stepped outside, the sky was bathed in a golden hour glow. I took in the gorgeous man leaning against the bike and felt my heart sigh at how perfect he was. My smile fell immediately when I realized his intentions. He was holding a helmet in his hands and had one foot casually crossed over the other.

“Oh no, I’m so not getting on that thing, Miller. I don’t like speed. I driver slower than my grandmother.”

“Come on! You’ll love it,” he said. Malcolm walked over to me nonchalantly and plopped the helmet on my head. It touched my shoulders and muffled the wind and the birds.

“I think I really do a lot for you, like step waaaay out of my comfort zone.”

“I appreciate all that you do. I’ll drive like my granny. But fair warning, Gran drove for Nascar.” He leaned in and nipped my neck, so I swatted him away.

“No she did not.” I took a deep breath and crossed myself dramatically.

Exaggerating my reluctance, I got on his bike and wrapped my arms around his waist. I felt the engine rumble under me as we drove off. The engine hummed and the wind caressed my body as the buildings flashed by.

The ride tasted like freedom.

My tight embrace around Malcolm felt like love.

I had no idea where we were going as the city landscape quickly turned from skyscrapers to the farms and flatlands. Then it was nothing winding road surrounded by trees on both sides and an endless sky. Eventually, as my heart stilled, and regained my equilibrium, I could laugh when Malcolm swerved and turned effortlessly on sharp streets, managing to always keep us upright. He was a good driver—no a great one, and managed the bike with effortless agility. When he finally parked and hoped off, he placed his hands on my waist and hoisted me up in the air before lowering me gently back to the hard ground.

“Told you,” he said. He lifted my helmet off and kissed my forehead.

“When I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. I can see why you love it.”

He reached into the small trunk of the Harley and pulled out a picnic basket. “That for us?” This man was classy.

“It is, indeed. Can’t have a picnic without a blanket or a basket.” He held the supplies in one hand before offering me the other. I took it and immediately felt the warmth of his fingers create a cocoon around mine.

He opened the blanket and placed it in a pristine area, surrounded by pines, completely secluded from the outside world. It overlooked a canyon lush with green foliage. The sky was cloudless and expansive and the joy in my chest felt like it would burst its way out of me.

“This place is beautiful. How did you ever find it?”

“It’s something I do.”

“Picnic?”

“When I move to a new area, I always take a long drive and look until I find something beautiful and untouched. This is my little spot. My diamond in the rough. Someday, I’d like to build a house on this land.”

“Have you lived in many places, Miller?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Too many.” He sat down on the blanket and sat down, patted the spot beside him. “Take a load off.”

I sat down. For a moment, it was hard to take it all in. The incredible bike ride, the rolling hills, the scent of pine in the air. More than anything else, the beautiful man beside me who’d brought so much elation to my life with every gesture he made.

“So, where have you lived before?”

“Too many places to name. I joined the Navy when I was eighteen.”

“Armed forces, huh?” I asked. “I thought you were a lawyer?”

“I am now,” he said. He opened the basket and pulled out an expensive bottle of wine. I could see sandwiches and a salad, and I wondered if he’d fixed the food himself. “The Navy allowed me to get my law degree. They saved my life. Literally.”