But what a fun event. There were signs posted on a huge bulletin board announcing various bike events, from a bike competition by class to various fun excursions throughout the day and into the evening. There was even a wet T-shirt contest for the women scheduled for later this afternoon. Lily snorted.
“You going to enter?” Mac asked, reading over her shoulder.
“Not on your life,” she said with a shake of her head, turning to face him.
“You should. You’d be a sure winner.” He took a quick glance at her br**sts, winked and slung an arm over her shoulder. “Let’s go get a beer.”
They grabbed some food and a beer, then found a spot to sit and listen to the band play. Though she didn’t know any of the people sitting around her, Lily felt comfortable, enjoying the company of this fun group. Mac didn’t seem to have any trouble talking to the people, since they had bikes in common.
And that’s all he seemed to be doing, chatting about bikes. No nefarious activity as far as she could tell.
She listened to all of them, Mac included, tell stories of rides they had taken, rallys and events they’d attended. There was an entire biker community Lily knew nothing about, a sense of family she had never felt before. Though this was her first time, she already felt accepted. It didn’t matter what you wore, how you looked, clean cut or scraggly, you were one of the ‘gang’ as soon as you showed up on your bike. There was no social class distinction amongst bikers. You rode a bike, you were part of the family.
She felt guilty for judging people the way they were dressed. No one was judged here, and no one was what or who they seemed to be. Everyone was simply here to have a good time, no matter who they were or what their background was.
Lots of people stopped and talked to them. Some were construction workers; others were lawyers, waitresses, or school teachers. Lily was amazed. All walks of life, and all of them were bikers. They were all equals at this rally.
A lot different than the way she grew up, and the polar opposite of the way her father thought. With her dad it was all about your background, what your connections were, your family, your money. Who you were inside didn’t matter. Who you associated with was always important—one of the things she’d disagreed often with her father about.
She felt more connected to this group of strangers than she ever had to people at any function she’d attended with her father. And she wasn’t attired in a designer dress, dripping in diamonds and attending the opera or a thousand dollar a plate charity function. She was sitting in the grass drinking beer out of a plastic cup listening to a rock band bellow out a song.
“You’re quiet,” Mac said, leaning into her.
She turned to him and smiled. “I’m having a great time.” Such fun, in fact, that she’d forgotten about her job. For the past couple hours she hadn’t tried to find the vial containing the virus, or Mac’s cell phone. In fact, she probably could borrow a cell phone from any one of a hundred people around her if she could slip away from Mac for a few minutes.
She’d been so relaxed, so lost in her own thoughts that the one thing she should be doing was the one thing that hadn’t occurred to her.
Mac was a really bad influence on her.
Again.
Oh, screw it. She got up and brushed grass off her jeans.
“Where are you going?” Mac asked, looking up at her.
“To the bathroom. And I’m getting another beer. You want one?”
“Sure. I’ll go with you.”
So much for sneaking off to borrow a cell phone. But maybe in the ladies room? Mac led the way and Lily’s hopes fell in an instant when he showed her to the porta johns. No chance of wrangling a cell phone in the one of those. After that they went to the beer tent and bought a couple more cups.
“Mac?”
A decidedly feminine voice stopped them. Lily turned, as did Mac, who lifted his brows.
“Hey, Jessie.”
Lily arched a brow and tried to appear nonchalant as the woman threw her arms around Mac and planted one firm kiss on his lips. Could this be his contact for dropping the virus?
Built like a centerfold, she wore low-slung jeans, a midriff-baring, breast-hugging top—and oh my God did she have br**sts. Her platinum blonde hair was cut very short and spiked out everywhere. It looked gorgeous framing her heart shaped face, accentuating the most beautiful green eyes Lily had ever seen.
Lily wasn’t the jealous type, but even she was salivating over the woman. She could only imagine how Mac was reacting.
“I thought that was you,” Jessie said, hooking a thumb in a loop of her jeans. “What are you doing here?”
Mac shrugged and grinned. “Happened to be in the area, so thought we’d stop by.” He turned to Lily. “This is my friend, Lily.”
Lily offered a wary smile and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Jessie.”
Jessie grinned and shook Lily’s hand with great enthusiasm and a very firm grip. “Great to meet you too, Lily.
I’m so happy to see Mac with someone, finally. He spends entirely too much time alone.”
“You talk too much, Jessie,” Mac said, frowning.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jessie turned and hooked her arm with Lily’s. “Mac says I’m like the little sister he never had and never wanted. Always in his business like a buzzing fly.”
Now Lily was really curious. How did Mac know Jessie? Did they…do business together? They couldn’t have met at school, because Mac and Lily had known all the same people. So they had to have met after Lily graduated and went off to college.
“How do you and Mac know each other?” Lily asked as she and Jessie walked back toward the band area.
“Oh, we’ve known each other…forever, it seems,”
Jessie said, flopping down on the ground and crossing her legs over each other. “Eight years or so. I was fifteen and in serious trouble when I met Mac. He was my savior. But don’t tell him I said that. He’s already got one hell of an ego as it is,” she finished with a whisper as Mac settled in behind them.
“What are you talking about?” Mac asked.
“Girl stuff,” Jessie tossed over her shoulder. “Go find some guys to bullshit with.”
Lily laughed. She knew Mac was going to listen to every word on the off chance Lily asked for a cell phone.
Okay, so maybe Jessie wasn’t Mac’s contact for the virus. And she should be profoundly jealous of Jessie, but frankly she couldn’t be. She really liked this girl who couldn’t be more than twenty-three at most. Yet there was a hard edge about her that belied her young age. She’d really like to know more about her.