“So do you and Mac work together?”
“Us? Oh hell no. I would drive Mac crazy. But we ride together sometimes.”
“You have your own bike?”
Jessie beamed. “You bet I do. I drove this old piece of shit hand me down for the longest time, but I’ve saved for the past few years and just bought a brand new Harley . It’s small and fits me perfectly.”
Okay, so she was gorgeous, built like sin and she rode her own motorcycle? Jessie was every man’s dream. The problem was, she was also funny, friendly and outgoing and didn’t seem at all the type of woman other women didn’t like.
Dammit. Surely Jessie had some faults.
“Do you live in Texas?”
Jessie nodded. “I’m on the road a lot, but Dallas is the place I call home.”
“I could tell you were a southern girl by your accent.”
Jessie laughed. “You have the same one. You live there too?”
“Not anymore. I live in Chicago now.”
“Ah, but you’re still a Texas girl.”
Talking to Jessie made her miss home. Not her actual home, per se, because she absolutely did not miss living with her father. But she missed Texas. Maybe because Mac lived there.
Ugh. She had it so bad for Mac. She really had to mentally slap herself more often.
“So how did you and Mac get together if you live in Chicago?” Jessie asked.
“We went to school together. We’re old friends.”
Jessie’s gaze flitted over to Mac’s, then back on Lily.
“Ah. Old flames, are you?”
Lily felt Mac’s beard brush against her cheek as he leaned forward.
“You, Miss Jessie, are entirely too damn nosy.”
Jessie stuck her tongue out at Mac. “So you always tell me. Never stops me from asking a million questions though, does it?”
“No it doesn’t,” Mac said. “Including personal, intimate questions that are none of your business.”
Jessie sniffed, but didn’t look at all insulted. “Fine. I get the hint. No personal questions about the hot, steamy love affair you two once shared. Or maybe still do.”
“Goddamit, Jess.”
Lily couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. Who wouldn’t like Jessie? Even when she was prying she was adorably innocent about it. Lily had always wanted a little sister. Instead, she’d ended up an only child, and lonely. Even her playmates had been scrutinized by her father. Only the ‘best’ for his only child.
She drained her beer, then stood.
“Another?” Mac asked.
Lily nodded. She felt a little buzz from the toasty weather and two beers, but she didn’t care. She’d been high strung and working hard for so long, the stress had finally taken its toll. Yes, she had no business letting her guard down, but she was having a wonderful time and she’d just decided to take the damn day off. Tomorrow she’d go back to stressing and worrying again. As long as she kept an eye on Mac, she figured that was good enough, right?
“I’ll get it,” he said. “Jessie, keep an eye on her. Don’t let her use a phone.”
Jessie arched a brow. “Whatever, Mac.”
Lily sat and waved him off, keeping her gaze glued to him. When he got in line at the beer tent, she was satisfied.
“Like I could think of anything coherent to say at the moment anyway.”
“You buzzin a little, honey?” Jessie asked.
“A little. I never drink.”
Jessie snorted. “Yeah, I’m a cheap drunk, too. I’m such a lightweight in the alcohol department.” She held up her plastic cup. “It’s soda. Two beers and I’ll never find my tent tonight. And since I’m traveling alone on this trip I don’t like to lose my faculties. You know, in case I have to kick some guy’s ass who tries to take advantage of me.”
Laughing, Lily said, “And I believe you could.”
“Hell yeah, I could. You don’t grow up on the streets like I did without learning to take care of yourself. And that means learning how to punch, kick and wield a knife like you mean it.”
Lily couldn’t imagine a childhood like that. She had lived a life of obscene privilege. So much it was almost embarrassing. And she was sitting next to someone who’d had to defend her honor by learning street fighting.
“It must have been really rough for you, growing up like that.”
Jessie shrugged, then smiled. “I’m doing just fine now, honey. I have a great life. Thanks to Mac.”
“What did he do? You don’t have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all. He grabbed me one night while I was trying to steal a car. Scared the shit out of me, too. I thought he was a cop.”
Lily couldn’t fathom a fifteen year old Jessie trying to steal a car, but kids did get into trouble. “What happened after he caught you?”
“He brought me to a friend of his, who gave me a job, made me go back to school while I was working, gave me a place to stay since I had nowhere to go.”
“Didn’t you have a home? Parents?”
She frowned. “Yeah, I had a home and parents, if that’s what you want to call them.”
Okay, so Jessie didn’t want to talk about her family.
Obviously an unpleasant situation. “Then you graduated?”
Her face just lit up when she smiled. “I did. Got my diploma, even went to college. So I worked and saved money, paid back all that I borrowed and finally bought my own bike.”
“You’ve done well for yourself. You should be proud.”
“I am. I worked my tail off. But I’d have never made it without Mac. He pulled me off the streets, kicked my butt when I wanted to quit, which at the beginning was often. He forced me to look a few years down the road, to what I could be instead of what I thought I was. He’s an amazing man— more of a father to me than my own old man ever was.”
Tears glistened in Jessie’s eyes. Lily felt a tug in her chest, trying to reconcile the Mac she knew with the one from the story Jessie told.
He’d literally saved Jessie’s life.
Who was Mac Canfield? Was he really one of the good guys, like he said? Had he changed in the last ten years?
Was Lily wrong about him?
Mac brought a beer for Lily and another soda for Jessie.