Unexpected Ride (19 page)

“Looking forward to it,” he replied before hanging up.

After closing up his apartment properly Greg advised the landlord that he would be out of town on an extended trip.  Then stopping at the post office he had his mail forwarded to Becca’s beach house, before finally calling the Sheriff’s Office. 

Greg felt better after hearing about the charges leveled at Jarrod and being assured that he wouldn’t be making bail anytime soon considering the dollar amount involved.  He also managed to sweet talk his buddy into emailing him a list of victims after explaining that Chuck intended to try and make their loss a little easier to take.

Having done all he could and knowing it was really late he headed back to the hotel where he found the men of the group gathered in the lounge of the bar talking loudly, laughing, planning the event for the victims of Jarrod’s scam and having a good time.  Greg had friends… plenty of friends.  Rusty being one of his closest ones, but this group... they felt like his people… family.  He finally understood what drew Becca to them.  It felt like he had known every one of them for decades.

He was really starting to enjoy himself along with the drink he’d ordered when the conversation turned to the women of the group.  Looking over at him, Bobby Jackson said, “So now that you’re back in the saddle so to speak… thanks to
Carla
… you ready to learn to ride a motorcycle too?”

The guys all laughed when he nearly choked to death on the whiskey he’d taken a drink of.  He only managed a nod of his head.

“Good… Dickie can help you with a seat for it and then it’s all ready to roll.  We got the Arizona ride coming up in a few months.  I’m thinking you are going to want to ride with us and not be stuck riding in the campers with the women and kids,” he said with a laugh and smack to Greg’s back that made him laugh too.  “Never pictured hitting the road with a retired
cop
but I’ll make an exception for you.  Besides… I like donuts too.”

The guys all laughed as if they had just accepted him into the fold and given him their stamp of approval on pursuing Carla.  Now if he could just get her to agree to something more than simply keeping in touch.

Chapter Eleven

The two weeks after returning from New York were even busier than normal.  Chuck had taken to working non-stop on the painting he planned to give away at the event for those people who had been victimized by Jarrod.  Meredith had been working with both Dana and Lilly on planning the event and finalizing wedding plans.  Carla had managed to get the boys back into a school routine just in time for orientation at the college and for classes to start.

She must be insane to try and cram in college courses on top of everything else that was going on.  Greg had talked her into this but he wasn’t the one having to worry about lining up babysitters for the boys, planning meals for them on the nights she wouldn’t be around, finding someone to help them with homework when she was at class and above all trying not to completely disrupt their lives.  Amazingly, instead of staying in New York, Greg had come back down to Florida with the group and started working part time at the motorcycle shop that Bobby Jackson owned.

The crazy group of bikers had enfolded Greg into their midst like he was one of their own, much to her chagrin.  Now he was around every corner she turned, or at least that’s how it felt.  This made putting the amazing night she’d spent in his arms behind her nearly impossible. 

She had meant what she said about seeing him from time to time, but that had been meant as more of a tension reliever… a way of enjoying their time together and then getting back to her regularly scheduled life, than the truth.  It was her way of saying goodbye.

Instead of just being faced with memories of him at night, she was slapped with them on a daily basis.  Somehow he became more gorgeous each time she saw him, as though he was more than ten years younger than he really was. 

His sinful mouth was constantly grinning at her in such a way as to whisper memories of how good it had felt on her skin.  Combine that with catching his scent from time to time and it was nearly unbearable.  He smelled like some amazingly rugged alpha male ensuring all other males in his territory knew him to be the one in charge.  It set her body on fire and her nerves on edge.

At least he was being a gentleman about it and not constantly trying to get her back into his bed.  She was a mother but she was also a woman and pleasure like Greg Sanders was capable of only reminded her of that fact. 

Carla recognized her own weakness and was no longer strong enough to resist him now that she knew his taste, his smell, and the way he
felt
.  The liquor she’d consumed that night had helped take the edge off of her nerves over being with a different man after more than twenty years with the same one.  She had wondered if she could even go through with it but thinking her chance of being with him was either now or never had emboldened her.

Greg didn’t share the same rugged looks as the rest of the guys who worked at Bobby Jackson’s motorcycle shop.  Somehow clean shaven and clean cut he still fit right in.  He was just as much a dare devil as the rest of them seemed to be with no sense of propriety or dignity. 

When she had stopped by on her way to college to drop off the lunch Chuck had left behind and let him know the boys would be picked up by her father, the group had been in the side alley teaching Greg to ride on a smaller dirt-bike.

Once it was obvious that Greg could handle the bike just fine, the
training
had quickly changed to a competition of sorts.  Despite the fact that the bike was obviously too small for them, the guys were each taking a turn riding on it.  The object of the game was apparently to see who could get to the end of the alley the fastest. 

Knowing they were unaware that she had pulled up in front of the garage bay, she remained in the safety of her car and simply watched them all.  It was like watching grade school children who weren’t being properly supervised.

They were laughing and giving each other a hard time as they each took a turn speeding down the alleyway on the small bike with their knees up near their elbows.  When that no longer held the same appeal they quickly adjusted to trying to ride wheelies instead. 

Though she should probably get out and put a stop to their fun before one of them really hurt themselves, she couldn’t shake the smile on her face at their antics.  The mischievous smile Greg wore was simply breathtaking and drew her gaze like a moth to a flame.

After a few close calls she expected they would call it quits but instead it only seemed to make them more determined to keep the bike on one wheel for the entire length of the alley.  Glancing around it appeared that Lilly Jackson wasn’t working at the moment, which explained a lot. 

After Tommy McMurray rode a little too close to the wall of the building resulting in torn jeans, she figured it was time to make her presence known.  Getting out, she approached the group who stood around talking and laughing.

The entire group jumped and turned around quickly to face her when she held up Chuck’s lunch and said, “Did you forget something, Chuck?”

They each shared a look of guilt over having been caught, including Bobby Jackson who attempted to shield the dirt bike with his body as though she hadn’t already spent ten minutes watching what they were doing. 

Greg granted her a smile coated with images of sin that must have come from the devil himself.  Then he stepped up way too close to her and took the lunch she held from her hand.  God help but her eyes went straight to her favorite part of the man and his sexy grin only widened. 

Tommy McMurray smacking Chuck on the back of his head while Greg held the lunch out to Chuck was the only thing that made her remember where she was… dragging her back from memories of that mouth. 

Heading back to her car, she knew they were all watching her walk away but the only stare she cared about was the one she could
feel
coming from the most amazing hazel eyes.  She couldn’t even look at him as she managed to back out and drive away.  Half way to the campus she realized what the group of women saw in these men… they were fun and none of them took themselves or their lives too seriously. 

This included Greg for the most part and that was what bothered her the most.  Yes, the arrogance they displayed as though shaking their fists at fate was captivating and sexy as hell, but life wasn’t a guarantee.  In an instant it could be over and none of them seemed to even care!

Her afternoon was spent touring the campus with a nice young man around Chuck’s age and that only served to make her nervous that she would in fact be the oldest adult at the college.  She then stopped at the bookstore and picked up the last book she needed for her classes, just in time to make it to her first class. 

When the session ended she sat for several minutes looking through the materials the professor had handed out as well as her syllabus and the book.  Stuffing all the information into her bag, she took out her cell phone.  Upon seeing the time, she hurried home. 

Pulling up out front she was surprised to find Gretchen McMurray and the boys in the side yard.  Gretchen’s hands were crossed over her chest and she was burning Ben a dirty look.  Matt stood between the two of them as though running interference, holding a football in his hands. 

Parking the car, she looked around and realized that while Meredith’s car was gone, as was Chuck’s bike, Greg Sanders’ car was parked out in front of the house. 
What was going on now?

Getting out of the car she heard Gretchen say, “Because I said so, Ben!”

“You’re not the boss, Gretchen!  I am… I’m the quarterback!  Mr. Sanders said so…” Ben replied.  “Besides… girls don’t play football as a job!”

“Are we going to play?  Stop being bossy, Gretchen and, Ben, we can all be the quarterback… we can just take turns,” Matt explained.

Sometimes it was hard not to interfere when the three of them played together.  While Matt was quite a bit taller than Gretchen, he had a thin build taking more after her than Doug.  Ben on the other hand was
all
Doug and nearly as tall as Matt but with a husky build.  He was nearly twice the size of the little girl. 

Gretchen didn’t let her small size stop her.  She held her own just fine and won as often as she lost her arguments with Ben and Matt.  So rather than getting involved in their childhood spat, she headed inside to find out what was going on. 

As Carla made her way into the kitchen she stopped and stared in shock.  Greg Sanders had baby Melody strapped to his chest in a child carrier.  The baby was squealing in delight as her thin little arms and legs kicked a mile a minute.  The baby had so many medical and developmental issues most of the group treated her with delicate gloves. 

Greg obviously having no experience with children, especially babies, and must not have noticed this.  So rather than facing his chest as Melody normally did with her parents, she was facing outward.  Something about the whole scene gave her pause so she just watched and waited.

For the first time perhaps ever, the baby looked and acted her age.  As Greg brought a potato chip to his mouth, Melody reached out and grabbed his hand as though to take the chip from him and then watched the progress his hand made to his mouth. 

Carla had never been so grateful to have three healthy children as she was when she spent any time around Melody.  One wouldn’t know there was any difference at all between this baby and another at the moment.

“Not a chance,
girlfriend
.  Chips will make you fat,” Greg told the baby before putting the chip in his own mouth.  “I’m a cop but not a
mean
one so I won’t make you eat that crap.  I got some instant mashed potatoes for you instead… but no chips.”

Stepping back around the doorway so she was less likely to be noticed, she continued to watch him.  Would he really feed the baby table food rather than the jar of baby food that set on the counter opened with a baby spoon sticking out of it?  Melody was old enough to try some table food, at least by Carla’s estimation but Tommy and Dana constantly worried about her being so small and therefore followed the nutrition recommendations fully.

Even with a flailing infant strapped to his chest and what looked like dried baby food…
carrots
… smeared down the side of his shirt, Greg Sanders was still one of the sexiest men she’d ever seen.  

He took the baby spoon out the carrots and rinsed it off saying, “I know… it gags me too.”

Then he dipped the spoon into a small bowl of mashed potatoes sitting on the counter and took a bite of it.  After swallowing his bite he said, “Yea, that’s more like it.  Forgive me for not realizing that your parents packed
gruel
for you to eat.”

With that he dipped the spoon and scooped some more mashed potatoes onto it.  Bending around awkwardly to see Melody’s face he spooned it into her open mouth. 
So much for not sharing germs.
  Melody obviously liked what she’d eaten and turned her head to look up at Greg after eating the bite and fussed as though impatient for the next.  Carla watched him feed the baby.  He was grinning like a clown the whole time until the buzzer on the oven went off.

“No pizza either… mashed potatoes is all you get,” Greg advised the baby.

As soon as he was no longer spooning the food into her mouth, the baby began to fuss as he turned off the timer and the oven.  Deciding he could use some help, Carla stepped out from her hiding place and said, “Here, I can get the pizza… I think someone is ready for another bite.”

“Busted… twice in one day!  That must be a new record,” Greg said to Melody before scooping up another spoonful of mashed potatoes from the bowl.

After pulling the pizza out of the oven she turned back to him and watched for a few more moments as he continued to shovel food into the baby’s mouth, stopping periodically to give her a drink from a regular cup.