When he left her this time, he’d leave still wanting her.
This time she’d be the one to walk away without looking back.
Okay, maybe it was petty. So what? She deserved at least a little payback, didn’t she? And anger seemed a lot more productive than angst.
They ate breakfast, then packed up the bike and checked out of the motel. She climbed onto the bike behind Mac, feeling a little hum of excitement when he cranked up the engine, the pipes emitting one incredibly loud roar that made every nerve ending in her body tingle. When he took off, she rested her hands on his hips, enjoying the cool morning air whipping through her hair. Riding a motorcycle was damn thrilling.
Once again, Mac headed south.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re headed today?”
she asked, already knowing his answer.
“We’ll stop in a little while,” he said, completely avoiding her question. “I think you’ll enjoy this.”
Oh sure. Flying blind while semi-kidnapped was her favorite pastime. She’d probably end up fired, too. Why was she doing this again? Oh yeah, for her job. The one she’d thought would be adventurous and exciting.
Then again, it couldn’t get much more adventurous and exciting than this, could it?
The day warmed up in a hurry, but Lily wasn’t uncomfortable. The scenery was gorgeous. She was used to traveling by highway, the typical views those of concrete, billboards, hotels and fast food joints. Traveling the back roads was entirely different. No boring highway signs. Only scattered signs, houses and the occasional town. Though she kept track of the road marker in case she did manage to make an escape or find a phone. At least she’d have a faint clue where she was.
Tall trees, houses nestled deep into the dense woods, with the nearest neighbor sometimes a mile away. Kids played in expansive yards, with endless freedom to run and hide and live out their childlike fantasies of Robin Hood or whatever games kids played these days. No city limits restricted them. It was remote, peaceful, and she even saw deer leaping across the road a couple times. Lily sat back and breathed in the clean, smog-free air, feeling every muscle in her body relax.
They passed the state line into Missouri, crossing the interstate and staying on the two lane road. They rode for several hours, stopping for a drink and break every now and then. The road seemed deserted, though she was certain a few cars must have passed them. She was probably just oblivious.
Some private investigator she was. Give her some fresh air and country road and she lost all sense of reality. For all she knew, they could have been followed the last hundred miles and she wouldn’t have had a clue.
If she didn’t start paying attention, she really was going to get fired. Though she probably already had been.
No, not true. She wasn’t going to be fired. She was going to be a hero when she returned with the virus. But she had to be alive to do that, so she’d better make sure no one was on their tail. She did a quick half-turn and noticed no cars behind them. Okay, that part was good.
It was early afternoon when Lily started seeing more motorcycles. Then more. And even more, all heading in the same direction they were. Puzzled, she started counting them.
Guys by themselves on their bikes, some with women, and even women riding their own bikes. When Mac paused at a four-way stop sign she leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.
“What’s going on?”
He tilted his head back. “You’ll see. We’re making a stop.”
She hated mystery. Yet she couldn’t help but feel a thrum of excitement as they ended up joining a group of bikers.
The roar of the engines was deafening. Lily felt like she was part of a pack as they sped up and passed other bikers, then others passed them. So many she stopped counting. And everyone seemed so friendly, smiling and waving as they passed by.
Did Mac know these people? Was he going to be offloading the virus here, or was this really just for fun? She was definitely paying attention now.
Following the rest of the bikes, he turned off the two lane onto a smaller country road. Lily could already see more bikes parked in what looked like nothing more than a cow pasture.
Lots of bikes, too. Hundreds, maybe even a thousand or so. He parked and they got off and Mac packed up their helmets. Lily shook out her hair while she looked around. More bikes were coming in, the sound of their pipes so loud she had to sidle up close to Mac so he could hear her.
“What is this?”
“Bike rally,” he said as he started down a path toward a bunch of tents. “They hold it here annually.”
Lily gaped at what she saw. Lots of leather, definitely.
Men, women, loud music, vendors everywhere selling food and drink, artists doing tattoos and body piercings, some people selling T-shirts and bike accessories. Basically, anything and everything.
And the people…oh my the people, especially the women. Some so scantily clad they might as well have been naked. Leather chaps with nothing underneath but a g-string, tiny little bikini tops, or see through shirts that left nothing to the imagination. Lily wanted to cover Mac’s eyes so he couldn’t ogle the smorgasbord of feminine delights on display.
But that would be ridiculous. Mac didn’t belong to her, she wasn’t his woman and he could ogle…or even touch, if he could get away with it. He could mingle with any woman he wanted to, and there was nothing she could say about it.
And didn’t that just irritate the hell out of her.
Get over it, Lily. He’s not yours. And you’re not his.
She smiled at the latter, because it meant she could look at the guys in tight jeans or equally snug leather pants, lycra T-shirts stretched taut over well-muscled chests, men who looked like they worked on their bodies with the same care they worked on their bikes.
There were some gorgeous guys here. The problem was, the only man Lily was interested in looking at, being with or touching, was Mac. And just like ten years ago, she knew better, knew how futile that was, yet she could do nothing about how she felt.
Much better idea to focus on what they were really doing here. She had to figure out if Mac was going to deliver the virus to someone in this crowd. And hopefully, she could get hold of a phone or slip away in this crowd. She’d have to keep a really close eye on him.
The music grew louder as they approached the grandstand area. And the people were thicker here, bodies crowded together, talking, laughing, drinking and dancing. The sun was high and much warmer now. It was a gorgeous day with enough of a breeze flitting through the crowds to keep it from feeling too hot. Good thing the temps were higher today, too, considering how some of the women were dressed. Or not dressed. She still couldn’t get over the rampant exhibitionism on display. Some women had a lot of guts. They were braver than her, that’s for sure.