Who I Am With You

by Melody Anne

  “Well,” she said breathlessly as a smile brightened her already radiant face. “If that’s the greeting I’ll get whenever you return, you can leave more often.”

  “I don’t have to leave to find an excuse to kiss you, Taylor.” He pulled her up from her chair and kissed her again, showing her how hungry he was for her, how hungry he always was for her.

  When they both came up for air, her cheeks were bright pink, and he was ready to carry her into the bedroom, but he was aiming for long-term gain, so he somehow managed to let her go and walked over to the coffeepot.

  “I can’t believe I fought against making love with you. I feel insatiable,” she said as she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  She was wearing him down. “I have a surprise for you,” he told her as he turned and placed his hands on her hips.

  “Ooh, I like surprises,” she said, immediately backing up and looking around the room.

  “It’s outside,” he told her, thinking maybe he should have waited to show her the bike. The sway of her rounded behind had him regretting that he hadn’t just pounced and had his wicked way with her.

  She made a beeline for the front door and swung it open, then stopped in her tracks as her hands came up and covered her mouth. With her eyes wide, she slowly turned around and stared at him in shock.

  “You bought me a bike?” There was wonder in her tone.

  He set down his full cup of coffee and approached her. “I wanted to show you how fun recreational riding can be.”

  “I don’t understand, Travis.” She turned back around, walked onto the porch and immediately down the stairs, and began running her hands over the smooth chrome.

  “The doctor wanted you to consider other choices for your life. You’ve been so excited to race again you haven’t kept your promise to him. I got the bike to take you out for a fun day through the trails in these woods, to show you that you can find just as much pleasure in recreational riding as in competitive.”

  He wouldn’t lie to her, or try to do this underhandedly. He wanted her to know exactly why he’d bought the bike, and exactly what he wanted her to be thinking about. She turned suspicious eyes on him, but at least they weren’t angry.

  “You aren’t going to change my mind, Travis.”

  “Didn’t you promise the doctor that you would at least give other possibilities a try?”

  They stared at each other for several long moments before her shoulders slumped just a bit. It didn’t last long, though, and she turned toward the bike.

  “Fine. We’ll go on a pleasure ride, but I assure you it won’t make my blood pulse in excitement like being in a competition and fighting for the title.” With that, she began moving back inside.

  “Where are you going, Taylor?”

  “I have to get my boots. I’m going to show you how this beautiful machine works,” she said, sending him a smile before disappearing.

  When she came back out, wearing her riding gear, which she never went anywhere without, even a remote cabin, he was certainly impressed. The woman looked good in just about anything . . . or nothing at all. He happened to like her riding outfit. He’d really enjoy getting her out of it. And he would—soon.

  After putting his helmet on, he hopped onto the bike as she glared at him. “I’m driving,” she said firmly.

  “Not this time, princess. The first ride is all about pleasure, so you get to hold on and enjoy the view,” he said with a waggle of his brows.

  She stamped her foot for a minute before shrugging her shoulders. “Fine. You’ll get bored soon enough.” She climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around him, her hands resting just above a very much awakening body part.

  “Behave,” he said before starting the motor and revving it up. Her laughter sounded against his ear and there was no way he could miss it.

  Maybe he should have gotten the full-on face-mask helmet instead of the one that covered only the top of the head. It would have been safer—he wouldn’t have felt her breathing on the side of his neck.

  He put the bike into gear and pulled down the driveway, knowing exactly where he was going. He’d been coming up to these woods with Bryson for years, and they’d explored it for miles and miles in every direction.

  It didn’t take long before they were flying down an old gravel logging road, with the wind whipping across them and the bushes nothing but a blur as he expertly maneuvered the bike. He was thankful he’d ridden so much with friends.

  When he slowed, he could hear Taylor’s musical laughter loud and clear. Even though he’d been to her races, had seen how much she loved riding, he was now experiencing it with her for the first time, and he liked it.

  More important, this wasn’t a race, and she was still having an excellent time. That was the entire point of this lesson. To show her that life didn’t have to be a competition. That there could be a lot of laughter and enjoyment in doing activities just for fun, with no winners or losers. The two of them completely lost track of time, and when he finally stopped by a large but rarely frequented lake, they were miles from the cabin.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Yeah, but we don’t have anything, and we’re far away from anything like ‘civilization.’ ”

  “Ah, but I was a Boy Scout, and I’ve come prepared.” He took the bag from the back of the bike and showed her the food and drink that he’d stashed inside.

  As they spent a couple of hours by the lake, Travis was in his comfort zone, out in nature with the woman he loved, good food, and nothing to distract them except the sounds of the forest dwellers.

  Of course, it didn’t take long for the two humans to get into a rock-skipping contest. Taylor won, and she insisted on dancing around him in circles to celebrate her victory.

  “You are the most competitive person I’ve met in my life, and I was in the military for a lot of years around major egos, so that’s saying something.” Travis laughed and grabbed her around the waist.

  “They would all meet their match in me.”

  “Yes, indeed they would.”

  When they got back onto the bike, this time Travis let Taylor drive, and the joy radiating from her as she navigated the roads was unlike anything he’d seen in her before. Was that good or bad? He wasn’t sure.

  Could she be happy if she had to give up racing forever? Was he expecting too much from her? It wasn’t that he wanted to hold her back. But he wanted to save her life. By the time they reached the cabin, his mood had taken a slight dip.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Travis. That was truly the best gift I’ve ever received.” She leaned back against him, unwilling to get off the bike yet.

  “I have another gift for you,” he said. He lifted her up and turned her around so she was facing him, and then he captured her mouth.

  “Thank you for meeting me here today, Mr. Whitman. I’m really not sure what I want to do right now, but I was speaking to Travis and my mother about a training track and now here I am.”

  Taylor was standing with Martin Whitman at a beautiful piece of ground on the outskirts of Sterling and she didn’t want to mislead him in any way. But she also had made a promise to the doctor that she would pursue other options besides racing.

  The only thing that had stirred her blood was the possibility of opening up a new track, a place where she could train future generations, especially female riders, on the proper and safe ways of the racing circuit.

  “Your mother knows well that I am always eager and excited to see young people bring new life to this beautiful area of the country. When I heard about your idea of a training facility, I knew this land was the perfect place,” Martin said, beaming as he looked at her.

  “I don’t know anything about opening a business. I haven’t done much research. It was just an idea.” What frightened Taylor about the idea is that it excited her and made her want to learn more about it.

  “All great things start first with an idea, with a spark, and t
hen it takes a lot of desire and hard work. You have the idea and the desire, and I have the land.”

  “This is a beautiful property,” she said, looking out at the mountains not far in the distance. Straight in front of her she could practically see the dirt walls forming, the track within its safety circle. She could see bleachers and vendor stands. She imagined kids performing for their families, and hot dogs dripping with mustard.

  She envisioned it all so clearly that she wanted to turn away from it. But Taylor didn’t turn away, did she? No. She had made a promise and she would see it through, and that meant she had to look at this business as a real possibility.

  “My mom and dad are more than willing to give me a loan, to invest in the track, but I’m afraid I will just disappoint them. I’ve never done anything like this. All I know about the racing world is how to race.” Was she trying to convince Martin she wasn’t worthy of doing this, or herself?

  “If you really sat down and thought about your years in the circuit, I think you would be surprised with how much knowledge you have retained and how that could help others,” Martin pointed out.

  “But training people on the track is much different from running an actual business,” she said as she walked forward and then kneeled down, digging into a soft spot in the dirt, letting the sand drift through her fingers.

  Yes, she knew tracks, and she knew land and where it was ideal to ride, and where danger could be lurking. There were some dangers that were unexpected, though, but so many accidents could be prevented with more training, with more emphasis on regulations and rules, and always putting safety first.

  That was the last thing a competitor was thinking about. They wanted to win, and most of them wanted it at any cost. Hadn’t that been her? Wasn’t that still her? She just didn’t know anymore. She’d been fighting so many people for so long that she couldn’t remember what she was truly fighting for.

  “I think you have a lot to consider, Taylor. This land is not officially for sale, so no one is going to come in and buy it out from under you. Take your time, make sure this is the path you want, and then call me. I’ve run several successful businesses in my life, though, darling, and I know gold when I see it. This is gold.”

  With that Martin turned and walked away, moving to his truck and jumping inside. He didn’t drive off, as no one Taylor knew in Sterling would do that without ensuring their companion’s car would also start, but he was giving her the space to look around, to think. She appreciated it.

  Walking the land for the next twenty minutes, Taylor jotted down some ideas, made some notes, and decided she had a few phone calls to make. She’d been so focused on racing for so long that the thought of doing anything else had never even crossed her mind.

  She was almost mad that there was now another idea in her head. Deciding she had thought enough about this for one day, she turned and moved to her dad’s truck, climbed in, and started the motor.

  The drive back to the cabin didn’t give her any answers to the questions spinning inside her brain. Maybe she just needed some more time.

  Travis saw his time running out. Only one week to go until her doctor’s appointment. Only one week until the doctor released her to the world of racing again. They’d ridden the bike he’d bought her every day. Sometimes for hours, sometimes just for a short ride.

  But Travis couldn’t help but notice that she never grew tired of riding. If she did it every day for the rest of her life, he doubted that the way she felt when she stepped on a bike would ever change.

  “Bryson and I spoke for a couple of hours today while you were out riding,” Travis told her as he added another piece of wood to the fire that was battling the evening chill.

  “I thought they were coming out this weekend.”

  “He got called away for work, but he said that he and Misty will bring the baby when he gets back. Your mother’s midsummer party is coming up in a couple weeks, though, so we’ll see them there.”

  “If I’m still here,” she said, almost looking sad to go.

  This was progress. This he could work with. “I have a meeting in Washington next month,” he told her.

  She stopped fidgeting with the blanket over her lap and looked up, her eyes going wide. “Really, Travis? For the business?”

  “Bryson and I both think it’s going to go well.” He felt good that his new career was coming together, but his worries about Taylor were putting a damper on his happiness.

  He hated that he was letting it affect him this much, but when you fell in love with someone, wasn’t that how it always was? You cared more about them than you did yourself.

  “That’s great, Travis!” She jumped up and threw her arms around him.

  “What about your appointment, Taylor? You haven’t told me how the meeting went with Martin.”

  “I don’t know, Travis. It seemed to raise more questions than answers. It just doesn’t seem like it could actually be a reality. I know nothing about running a business.” She backed away from him and sat down again, suddenly looking nervous.

  “Why can’t it be a reality? I think opening a training track for kids is a great idea.”

  “Isn’t that the kind of business people do when they can’t race anymore? And besides that, I know nothing about how to run a business.”

  “You don’t have to be washed out to be a teacher. Why can’t you share your love of racing with a new generation? You would be the perfect teacher—you have more trophies than a sports museum.”

  “I don’t have that many, Travis,” she said with an impish smile. “Just close to it.”

  “You’re amazing, Taylor. People would come from miles around to learn from you. You could hold the summer camps that you were talking about, and so much more.”

  “I do get excited when I talk about it. It could be great. There just aren’t enough facilities that teach safe racing methods, like what to do in emergencies, what pace to set for yourself, what hours you need to put into the sport if you want to succeed. I could do camps for all ages, from kids barely walking to teenagers. We could even have safety courses for adults, and for families who want to learn to ride safely for recreation.” Her face lit up as she spoke.

  “Well, the first step of seeing this come to light was to see the property, and you did that, so what comes next?” he asked.

  “I’ve done research, but then if I decide to race again I’m wasting everyone’s time.”

  “You don’t have to make a decision for another week, Taylor. Why don’t you at least look at your options, see what it would take to legitimately get this thing up and running?”

  She sat silently for several moments before turning a brilliant smile his way. “You’re right, Travis,” she said, then stood up and started pacing. “It doesn’t lock me in to doing it if I just do a little more research. As much as I love this cabin, maybe it’s time we move back into town.”

  Travis felt his gut clench. If they left the cabin, they would no longer be staying together. Yes, her parents might have guessed that he and Taylor had been more than just cabin mates, and yes, she was definitely an adult, but that wasn’t the same as allowing their daughter to come home and sleep with a man right beneath their roof.

  “We could do all the planning right from here,” he said hopefully.

  “No. I have to meet with Martin again, and then there are some contacts in Billings I need to talk to. I may even have my brother fly me down to California. I have some great contacts there.”

  The enthusiasm sparkling in her eyes made his shoulders relax. Sure, they wouldn’t be in their cabin anymore, but she was really psyched about the racing track. If she got completely involved with it, it meant that she’d stay, and that they’d actually have a real shot at a future together. He knew his next words might frighten her, but he just couldn’t hold himself back.

  Sauntering toward her, he slipped his arms around her waist from behind and felt the utmost gratification when she instantly leaned back. She bro
ught her hands up and rested them on his, rubbing along his knuckles.

  “You do realize how much I care about you, right, Taylor?” Travis couldn’t believe how nervous saying such simple words made him.

  Her breath hitched before she twisted around so she could look up at him. “I know that I care about you, too,” she said, a surprisingly shy smile on her lips. His heart pounded at her words.

  When the music playing softly over the radio switched to “I Don’t Dance” by Lee Brice, Travis found himself slowly spinning Taylor around the small living room as he sang the words to her.

  Maybe he couldn’t tell her how he felt with his own words, but he hoped the romantic country song conveyed his message. After the music ended, she pulled back and looked at him, her eyes shining, her lips tilted in the barest of smiles.

  Maybe the two of them had a lot more to learn about each other, but right now everything felt as if it was perfectly falling into place. All the rest could be learned through the years as they lived their lives, began a family, and grew old together.

  Travis would not lose Taylor, not now that he had no doubt he was in love with her, for better or for worse.

  Leaving their cottage had been bittersweet, but Travis had shut the door behind them, loaded Taylor’s last bag into her trunk, and then kissed her long and hard. As she slid into the front seat, Travis had closed the car door and felt such a finality in this simple act that it pained him inside.

  He’d followed her all the way back into Sterling, then parked next to her at her parents’ house. He wouldn’t be staying, of course. Yes, her parents would have been happy for him to stay, as long as he was in the basement—about as far from Taylor as possible in their large ranch house.

  And that would have been pure torture. So he found himself bunking at Bryson’s house, in the spare apartment above the garage. Taylor had been so busy over the past week that he’d barely seen her, and when they’d managed to spend a few hours together, they hadn’t done much talking.