Page 5 of Mama & Pops
I bristled a little. Not because I was upset with him, but because I knew he was likely right. Mike was tall and broad-shouldered. His nut-brown hair was still regulation, but more than a little scruffy around the edges. He didn’t have a full-on beard, but he sported a few days’ growth on his face. For Mike, he was letting his hair go just because he could. For me, I refused to take orders from anyone I didn’t trust and respect, or who I thought was a dumbass. Mike didn’t fall into any of those categories.
If he gave an order, I would bank on him knowing exactly what he was doing. It was easy to tell in the short conversation we’d had and the input he gave which meant he was definitely not a dumbass. The way he’d followed my lead without question earned my respect. Not many battle-hardened men I knew would willingly take orders from a woman. Instead of arguing, however, Mike had offered his own opinions, building on mine and making it possible for us to get Alex out of here in one piece. He’d worked with me and hadn’t tried to dominate the operation.
“So sure that’s a foregone conclusion?” Inwardly I sighed. Because he might be right.
“Yep. I knew it when I kissed you. You want me nearly as bad as I want you.” He threw his thick thigh over the seat of the Harley. “Climb on, Mama Tiger. You ride with me this one time. After this, if you want to ride up front, I’ll let you.” He handed me a helmet. “Told my buddy I might have a passenger. He packed accordingly.”
I snorted. “Will not.” But I climbed on behind him. Instead of wrapping my arms around his waist, I placed them on my thighs. I could grab on to him if I needed to, but I wasn’t about to let Mike know how drawn to him I was. And it wasn’t only physical. Sure, I wanted him with an ache I’d never experienced before -- felt like I might die if I didn’t have him soon. He ticked every box I had in my mind of what a man should be. And that wasn’t something I wanted to think about. I didn’t need a man. Least of all one I hardly knew.
Mike started up the bike and revved the engine a couple times. Before he took off, he reached for my hand and tugged me to him, holding my hand against his rigid stomach.
“Hold on, Mama Tiger.” That deep chuckle of his was going to get me in trouble.
He took off, and I slid my other arm around his waist. I could still fight this attraction. Just… maybe not right this second.
The warm breeze felt good on my face and Mike’s clean, warm scent teased my nose where I was close against him. Occasionally, he’d pat my hand with his big one.
Then I remembered I wanted to go to Fort Knox. I’d gotten so wrapped up in the experience of riding behind him with his scent blowing all around me that I forgot where I wanted him to take me.
When he stopped at the next light I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. “We need to go to Fort Knox.”
Mike gave me a crisp nod, revving the engine a couple of times while we waited for the light to change. When it did, we took off quick enough I had to hurry and wrap my arms around his waist once more. I might have let out a girly squeak, but I’ll never admit to anything of the sort. He chuckled lightly, letting me know he’d been teasing me even as he effectively refused to let me back off touching him.
What surprised me the most was the fact that Mike didn’t demand to know why I wanted him to take me an hour away. Just like before, he was willing to follow my lead. I knew he’d want to know the plan when we got somewhere we could talk, but for now he was giving me what I wanted without arguing.
Once we got on the open road, it was all I could do to keep from squealing in delight. I wasn’t a novice. I’d been riding motorcycles since the first time I stole one. But this experience wasn’t something I was prepared for.
“Wooooo!” With the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, and my thighs cradling Mike’s delectable ass, I raised my hands in the air and whooped my excitement. When he chuckled, my whole body heated. He reached back and ran one hand down my leg to squeeze my knee before putting that hand back on the handlebar.
For the better part of my life, I’d been the adult. The grown-up. My pa disappeared before I was born, and my ma couldn’t have told you who he was to begin with. She had seven other children, some of them older than me, some younger. I was the one everyone went to, though. From the time I was old enough to stand on a kitchen chair and cook a meal, it was me taking care of my family.
Now? For the first time since I could ever remember, I was living in the moment and not worrying about the next move. Joy. Pure bliss. It would be so easy to wave him off the exit and just keep going South. This wasn’t my fight anyway. I’d done what I could to keep the kid alive. He was back at his barracks until they’d finished the fucking paperwork, then he’d be shipped off to a disciplinary barracks. Likely Leavenworth, as I’d thought earlier. I could… just keep riding. Let Mike take me away somewhere we could spend some time seeing how attracted to each other we really were, or realizing we hated each other and have a fight to the death. I had to grin at that. For the first time in my life, I thought I might have found a man who could take me in a fair fight.
As we neared the exit, I was about to say fuck it all and tell Mike to keep going. But he squeezed my knee, harder this time. He didn’t look back at me, but kept going until he’d pulled off the interstate and onto the exit ramp. He didn’t say anything even when we stopped at a light just before we got to the post. Instead of pulling to the visitor entrance, he pulled into a gas station to top off the tank.
“What are you thinking?” I asked as Mike handed the service guy a five-dollar bill. It wouldn’t take that much, but I imagine Mike wanted the guy gone so we could talk.
“Just wondering what your plan is. If we’re gonna get shot at, I’d like to know now.” He grinned as he spoke, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“No plans on getting shot at. I know a colonel there. He owes me a favor and I’m gonna to try to collect.”
“What are you hoping for with the kid, Jo? You know he’s gonna do time. If nothing else, they’ll put him in a mental institution.”
“I know that, Mike,” I bit out, a little harsher than I should have. “I just want the kid to get a fair shake, OK? Yeah, he has to do time. And he’ll get a dishonorable discharge. I’d just like to make sure he gets what he needs while he’s there, especially the means to contact any family who need to know where he is. Maybe some psychiatric help.”
“OK. Fair enough.” Mike finished fueling the bike before securing the pump and climbing back on in front of me. “Let’s see what we can do for the kid.” A few minutes later he pulled up to the visitors’ entrance. The gate was manned by several MPs who looked no-nonsense. I’d have trouble getting in if Colonel Gill decided to renege on our agreement.
“Military ID, please.” One guard approached us while three more kept watch.
“We’re both recently discharged.” I pulled an envelope from my jacket pocket with my paperwork inside it and handed it to the guard. Mike raised an eyebrow but did the same. “I’m here to see Colonel Gill. He’s not expecting me, but tell him it’s Dr. Josephine Peyton.”
“Pull over by the guard tower while I look into this.” The guard gave me a disgruntled frown. Doubtless the man didn’t like a change in routine. Most men who took their responsibilities seriously when on guard duty weren’t fans of the unexpected.
Mike took us to the area the guard indicated. There were several parking spots for people to pull over and wait, though none were taken. It gave us another few moments to discuss our next move. Which, I admit, might have been smarter to have done at the gas station. Or in the parking lot before we left. Or any number of places other than outside the guard tower at Fort fucking Knox.
“I hope you know what you’re doin’, Jo. You on good terms with Colonel Gill?”
“Not at all. In fact, he hates my guts. Only problem is, I saved his life more than once in Laos. He may be an insufferable, know-it-all, condescending bastard, but he always repays his debts. And he’s not a bad man. Just tends to be a rule follower, even when he knows he needs to make his own rules.” I was betting this kid’s life with my belief on the strait-laced bastard, but someone needed to look out for the youngster.