by Vivian Arend
Tickets she’d given him while he’d flirted unmercifully until she agreed to meet with him.
And now? Was she really going to get involved even more? What would her family say? What would—
Her job.
Fear rose like a barricade, and she tangled her fingers in his hair, tugging him away to stop him from tormenting her body. “I don’t want to do anything to risk my position, Mitch. That’s all on me—on the expectations the organization has for their officers.”
“Not going to mess with your career, babe. I swear.”
Anna leaned her head on his chest and fought to draw strength from him. She let out an aggravated growl. “How can I want to say yes so badly, yet want to run out the door at the same time?”
He held her close, strong fingers rubbing over her back. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do what I can to make it happen,” he promised. “Take a chance, Anna. Take a step into the unknown and see how it feels.”
She glanced at his list. The page lay face-up on the coffee table by their legs. Dancing at Traders. A movie at the theater. A starlight walk. Some of the things he’d written down weren’t too frightening to imagine. “You’ll go at my speed?”
He laughed softly. “You’re as heavy on the gas as I am. I promise to go slower than your speed if we have to.”
Temptation hung before her. All she had to do was reach out and take it. “What are we going to do? One item off your list, one item off mine? Mine are a hell of a lot…”
“Filthier than mine? Oh, babe, I noticed.” Mitch lifted her chin. “I’m looking forward to making every one of them come true.”
Anna hesitated then gave in and took what she wanted. “Okay. We can try it, see how things work. What’s the first thing on your list, then? And remember you promised me crazy excitement.”
His dark eyes snapped with enthusiasm as a satisfied smile stretched across his face. “Tonight? We’re going dirt biking.”
Chapter Three
STUPID TO BE HAVING BUTTERFLIES, but they were there as she followed Mitch’s bike to the family garage just off Main Street.
He’d offered her a ride from his house, but Anna felt the need to maintain more control. If she had her own vehicle at least she could leave when she wanted to. If things got awkward. If she panicked…
Oh God, what was she doing? Had she really agreed to go out with Mitch? So many things could go wrong. So many things were waiting to turn and bite her on the ass on this one.
Only by the time they pulled into the large service area behind the Thompson and Sons shop, a strange sort of peace had settled in.
Either that, or she’d gone numb.
Cars in queue to be repaired were lined up in neat rows, and she pulled into an open space between two of them. She waited until Mitch parked before joining him beside a truck hitched to a low, flatbed trailer filled with a half-dozen bikes.
One of Mitch’s younger brothers was there. Len eyed her cautiously, but didn’t say anything as he tightened security straps holding the bikes in place.
Mitch swatted Len with his helmet. “Don’t be a rude ass. You forget how to say hello?”
“Just threw me for a minute there, bro. I figured you were getting arrested for sure this time if she’d followed you home.” Len’s face twisted into a smile, one nearly as devastating as Mitch’s. He held out a hand to Anna. “Good to see you.”
“Len.” She ignored the question in his eyes and moved forward after shaking his hand, checking out the load he was tying down. “Nice assortment of bikes.”
“We’ve been working on them off and on all summer. This one Mitch built entirely from salvaged pieces.” Len patted the seat of a sleek silver monster.
“And tonight she’s getting dirty.” Mitch had moved into position opposite her, a full trailer separating them. But as he spoke he looked straight into her eyes, and a delicious shiver eased over her skin.
He wasn’t talking about the damn bikes, and they both knew it.
“You guys have an extra helmet I can borrow?” She dragged her gaze off Mitch, checking out the load as she casually sauntered around to his side. If she’d committed to going this far, she had to take that next step.
Besides, she figured Mitch knew ways to keep Len from gossiping.
“Len, grab Anna a helmet,” Mitch ordered. “Got everything else loaded?”
“In the back of the truck. Anna—you want a face shield or not?”
“Give her a full,” Mitch answered before she could. His grin shone white against his tanned skin as she moved closer. Len was on his way back to the shop, and Anna took her boldness one step farther than even she expected. She eased into full contact with Mitch.
The entire front of their bodies connected as she stared up at him. “Getting me dirty tonight, are you?”
His hand wrapped around her hip. A solid, controlling weight that made interesting flutters start in her belly. “Going to let you fly a little before anything else, though.”
He used the hand on her body to twist her with him and bring her to the driver’s door. Anna crawled in and sat in the middle of the bench seat, the fresh scent of gas and oil sharp enough to make her wrinkle her nose. Mitch settled beside her, rolling down his window before draping an arm around her shoulders and snuggling her in tight.
There would be no mistaking their positioning for anything other than a relationship of some sort. She wasn’t just a casual passenger sharing a ride to the tracks. The heat radiating between them soothed and excited her, and Anna threw the final tethers of caution to the wind. If she was going to do this thing, she was going to have to take chances. She’d have to trust.
A weight lifted off her. Whatever happened, it was worth taking the risk.
Mitch stroked the back of her neck with his strong fingers. “That was a big sigh,” he noted. “You think of other things you’d rather be doing?”
“Hell, no. No more sighing,” she promised, watching Len make his way across the yard with helmets in either hand. “I’m scared to death in a way, but I plan to enjoy myself even while my head is telling me I’m insane.”
Mitch inched closer. “There’s crazy and there’s crazy, and trust me, you’re the good type. Relax. Have some fun. Use that need for speed you keep tucked away.”
Len pulled the passenger door open and Mitch eased back slightly. His brother’s questioning glances were mixed with a cocky grin, and it was all Anna could do to not snipe at him to tell him to stop it.
They traveled down the road for a bit, easy conversation about nothing flowing between them.
“Oh, hey. I phoned Gary to let him know we’d be there.” Len tapped his fingers on the dash in time with the music he’d turned on. “He said to park on the north side of the field.”
“Got it.” Mitch leaned forward. “For the record, you gloat any louder, and I’ll knock you into tomorrow.”
Len attempted to wipe his grin off, his gaze taking in both Anna and Mitch. “Gloat? Me? I’m the soul of discretion. Although I will say it’s about time.”
They pulled into the field, fresh air pouring in the window and igniting Anna with a kind of eagerness she hadn’t felt for a long time. As if she were struggling her way out of a cocoon, getting ready to spread her wings.
“Len, let’s set up Old Charlie for Anna to try first. I’ll take the ATK.”
“Good idea.” Len tapped Anna’s arm. “You know how to ride?”
That slow sense of coming alive unfurled in her chest, but she held back from grinning too hard. “A little.”
Mitch snorted. “Len, use your brains. Anna grew up with Steve and Trevor out on Coleman land. You think she’s never ridden before?”
“Didn’t want to assume,” Len apologized.
Then she was being pulled out Mitch’s door, her feet hitting the hard packed dirt on either side of his boots. Anna looked around, eager to get started, but Mitch didn’t let her go.
She looked up into a far more serious expression
than expected. “What?”
Mitch stroked a thumb over her cheek, his touch lingering and affectionate. “Thank you for coming out tonight. Thank you for agreeing to try this with me. You’re one hell of a woman.”
All her fears seemed irrational in light of the passion in his eyes. She rubbed her cheek against his hand for a second. It was time for them to go public? They might as well do it right. “One hell of a woman who plans to ride you hard tonight.”
The double entendre shot all seriousness away like she’d hoped, and suddenly her cocky, arrogant hoodlum was back in control. “You wish, babe. You wish.”
A half-dozen guys were hauling bikes out of the backs of trucks and off trailers, and the area turned into a hotbed of activity. Anna helped where she could, her thick gloves and sturdy leather jacket protecting her from the cooling night air. They were a good group, and she laughed as they teased and prepped their rides. One by one they hit the track, engines revving at an ear-splitting level before they took off, dirt spinning from under their rear wheels.
She was getting ready to straddle the big bike Mitch had loaned her when Gary Blackstone wandered over, his concern and puzzlement clear. “We have permission to use this area.”
Anna glanced over her shoulder to see who he was talking to when it hit. “Oh, no—don’t worry. I’m not here as a cop. Mitch invited me to ride.”
Gary’s eyes widened. “Well. Cool.”
“All your friends look eager,” Mitch noted as he slid in behind Anna.
“They’re already taking bets on who will crash first.” Gary couldn’t take his eyes off her and Mitch, especially when Mitch settled a hand around her waist.
The move might have seemed casual, but Anna knew better. Mitch was staking a very public claim. She screwed up every ounce of what the fuck she had and let herself lean against his hard, muscular body.
This time Gary grinned. “Look forward to seeing what you can do out there, Anna. Maybe you’d like to put some bets on the line as well.”
“You trying to get out of paying those parking tickets?” she teased.
Mitch chuckled and pulled her with him. “Enough chatter. Time to ride.”
SHE WAS GLORIOUS when she let loose. Was there any wonder why he’d fallen so hard?
Mitch paused on the top of the rise and pulled off his helmet to better take in the action. Engines whined around him, roars reverberating off the coulee walls. The occasional backfire echoed like a shotgun blast, but all the riders were safe and riding hell-bent for leather.
A typical fall night. Enthusiasm cranked up to eleven before the snow flew and killed their fun.
They’d turned their trucks to face the track, headlights strategically aimed like spotlights as the sun set and dusk painted the arena with an unworldly red glow.
Anna was right smack dab in the middle of the current battle to be the first around the track.
She’d found her groove on the second bike he’d put her on, the machine more manoeuvrable than the old clunker he’d given her first off. He’d figured it was like letting her get her balance on an old reliable nag before handing her the reins to a wild mustang, but he shouldn’t have worried. The lone female in the Moonshine Coleman clan knew how to ride, and he was so damn glad.
In this area the Blackstone land was a mass of dips and twists, unusable for anything, even grazing. Back in the day as teens, they’d snuck out here and set tracks for their mountain bikes. They’d built ramps and jumps with shovels before screaming down the hills for hours of fun before chores called them away.
Grownup boys had bigger toys.
Three bikes rose toward the top of a hill, racing to get there first. Len took off at too hard an angle and burnt out, tires skidding sideways as he lost control.
One of Gary’s friends, Dustin, hit straight on and rose skyward, his bike catching air under the rims. He twisted the handlebars a few times for show before dropping toward the earth. Anna was hard on his backside, her lighter weight letting her rise even higher, propelled upward by the steep angle and her scorching-fast speed. Mitch sucked for air as she clung to the bars, but let her legs free from around the bike, shooting them out behind her to pause in a layout position.
A second later she’d hauled herself back onto the seat, but the touch of showboating had Mitch’s heart racing, a shout of delight torn from his lips to join the other riders’ hoots rising skyward.
Had he thought she was amazing? She was more than that, but he was also going to smack her ass for giving him a heart attack.
Which was not a bad thing to look forward to, all things considered. Imagining the sweet curves of her naked butt all rosy and heated under his palm made his groin tighten with anticipation.
The dim red light Mitch had seen in the trees grew stronger, mixed with flashing blue, and everyone in the field pulled to a stop as a police truck bounced its way along the rough access road. The headlights rocked like a drunken lightening bug steadily crawling forward.
Ah, fuck, what now?
Mitch pulled his helmet back on and rolled down the hill to where Gary was getting off his bike. They left their helmets behind and stepped forward to face the approaching cruiser.
“It was fun while it lasted.” Len strode from the shadows and joined them.
“Don’t worry,” Gary insisted. “There won’t be any trouble.”
Mitch folded his arms across his chest as the last person he wanted to see stepped from the RCMP driver’s side, pausing to adjust his hat. Anna’s sometime-partner Nick glanced around the strangely lit field, another constable emerging from the passenger side. “No, but it could get interesting,” Mitch muttered.
He wasn’t sure how Anna was going to react to this twist, but one thing was for certain, there was no keeping their decision to get involved a secret. Not with Nick the Nose pacing forward.
The man was a complete enigma to Mitch. Seemed nice enough, in a fake, squeaky-clean-yet-greasy kind of way. He showed up in the strangest places, at the strangest times, usually to give Mitch grief. Nick had an agenda, but damn if Mitch could figure it out.
The RCMP moved forward, a wide, insincere smile on his face. “You boys having a good time?”
Boys. Fuck that. Nick was maybe five years older than the group gathered.
“We were. You want to turn off the flashing lights?” Gary asked. “Makes the place look like a crime scene, and I don’t want Gramma Martin to get curious enough to come exploring through the fields on her ATV. She leaves gates open, and next thing we’ll be rounding up cattle in the dark.”
Nick ignored the request as he glanced over the group of bikes drawing nearer. “If you all have your registration and insurance, I’d appreciate you getting them out.”
“For real?” Len moaned.
“You can’t be serious,” Gary protested. “This is private property—”
“—and no one drove here or plans to leave from this location by crossing crown land?” Nick demanded.
“Nope. Every one of the bikes was transported as required by law.” Mitch gestured to the trailers, delighting in Nick’s visible dismay. The man wasn’t so cocky now that he’d discovered there was nothing illegal or immoral going on.
Nick tried again. “All off-road vehicles need to have front and rear lights—”
“They do.” Mitch cut him off. “Tough to see where you’re going in the dark without them.”
Mitch didn’t look away as Nick stared him down, tension rising. Yes, he’d been rude. No ruder than Nick, though.
Gary interrupted before Nick could speak again. “Look, this is my family land, and I cleared the group with my father. Did someone complain? Because there really shouldn’t be an issue.”
Nick shook his head, gesturing the other RCMP forward. “No complaints, just heard you were going to be here and thought it was a good chance to check…”
The rest of his words were drowned out as the final bike roared up to the gathering. Mitch fought to keep his approval f
rom showing.
Anna skidded to a stop less than five feet from where Nick stood. She cut the engine, and in the contrasting silence someone snickered. The sound prodded Nick to straighten, becoming all official and looming.
“That bike is too large for you. I need some identification and proof of age,” he snapped at Anna. He spun toward the rest of the group. “Who’s responsible for this rider? All operators under fourteen must have an appropriately sized vehicle and be under the direct supervision of an adult.”
The situation was too tempting. Mitch shifted forward. “Well, hell, I volunteer to supervise her, but I’m pretty sure she’s over fourteen.”
Anna was off the bike and crossing the narrow gap toward her coworker, peeling off her helmet to reveal her long, brown hair.
“Anna?” Nick gasped.
“Nick.” She propped the helmet on her hip. “You trying to track me down?”
He shook his head, shock still painting his features.
She leaned around him and waved at the other RCMP. “Stewart. You guys are working late.”
Stewart finally spoke. “I’m on patrol tonight. Nick offered to join me.”
Anna glanced around at the group. “Any reason to keep them off their bikes? Most of these guys came from out of town, and I think they’d like to get in some more riding.”
Stewart cleared his throat. “No problems.” His smile was far more sincere than Nick’s as he turned to the riders. “You’re all good. Thanks for following the safety rules and have a great time tonight.”
He basically hauled Nick to the cruiser. The red and blue flashing lights clicked off as the truck edged back, then turned around in the high grass.
The gathered riders slowly scattered, Gary’s friends muttering amongst themselves. Anna stood in the spotlight of the retreating RCMP taillights, mud spattered over her jeans and jacket, and an unreadable expression on her face.
Mitch wanted to jump her right then and there, but he waited, torn between hope and fear.
Last thing he’d expected to happen—how was she going to take having Nick of all people show up the first time they went out in public?
