They both climbed off.
Max looked back at her and grinned when he saw her face. “You enjoy that?”
“God, yes. I miss it. Bad.”
Max frowned. “Then do it more often.”
“Uh, that’s kind of up to when I get the chance.”
“Why settle for being on the back?”
“What do you mean?”
“You shouldn’t have to have a man to be able to ride. Get your own bike. Then you can ride whenever the hell you want, darlin’.”
Crystal smiled, sliding her hands in her back pocket. “That’s not as easy as it sounds. I don’t know the first thing about, you know, riding one of these things.”
Max grinned. “I could teach you.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth parted. “Are you serious?”
“Hell, yeah. Why not? You’re a quick learner.”
Crystal was amazed by his offer, her eyes skimming over the sleek lines of his beautiful bike. God, it would be awesome to ride one. To ride anytime she wanted. Go anywhere she wanted. Shit, how cool would that be? Then she bit her lip. There was just one problem with that. She couldn’t afford a bike.
“What’s wrong?” Max asked.
She shrugged. “It’s a real sweet offer, Max, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t afford a bike.”
“And do you want to? Bike aside, I mean.”
“Of course, but—”
He turned his back on her and walked toward the garage that was set back from the farmhouse. “Come on, Ace.”
She trailed behind him, stopping when he lifted up the garage door, then following him inside the huge three-car garage filled with a lot of junk. He stopped in front of a tarp covered shape and pulled the canvas off, revealing an old motorcycle. The front forks were missing the wheel, the handle bars were bent, and the rear fender was damaged.
“It needs a little work, but it’s a good bike.” Then he shocked the shit out of her by turning to her and saying, “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll fix it, but you’ve got to learn to ride it.”
“Are you saying…?”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“No shit!” A smile burst across her face, and he busted out laughing.
“No shit, Ace.”
And so commenced her riding lessons. She spent all her spare time, first watching Max work on the bike, then taking lessons. Not just from him, all the brothers got in on the act, each one of them taking a turn teaching her. She rode every chance she got. And as May turned to June, and June to July, and July to August, she was becoming damn good.
Pulling into the shop one day, she strutted inside before opening time to find the four brothers gathered around her reception area. Liam was sprawled in her chair, Rory was sitting on her desk, Max was leaning against the customer side of the counter, and Jameson stood with his feet spread and his arms crossed.
“Good. She’s here,” Max greeted her, twisting to look over his shoulder.
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking suspiciously from one to the next.
“Family meeting,” Rory teased.
“Family meeting?” she frowned, her eyes moving to Jameson.