Chapter 1

1

Ben Makowski was not looking forward to his Thursday night. The last thing he wanted to do was hang around inside and teach a bunch of wannabe riders about motorcycles when it was so beautiful out. The cool spring weather was perfect for an evening ride.

He sighed as he dragged his booted feet off his desk, letting them clunk to the ground, and looked around the office. Motorcycle parts in varying degrees of disrepair, lay strewn across any and all surfaces, and he grimaced. Leaving things half done was not his style, but this week had been crazy and he was way behind. Now each project would have to wait until he was done teaching.

“Ben?”

He turned to the door to see the pretty blonde with multiple tats covering her arms. Her Harley DavidsonT-shirt barely covered her bra, and her little plaid skirt was way too short. If his older sister Ameliasaw her daughter in that, Candy would be toast. His niece was smart as a whip, but she was also a spitfire, traveling on a path he feared might be a little too wild for her. She might be twenty-two, but she was still young in his eyes.

Shit. He shook his head at his own thoughts. He was only thirty-five and thinking like an old man. He rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand and rolled his neck. He’d been sitting too long.

“What’s up, Candy?”

“Mom called and said to make sure the helmets were all cleaned and ready, so I wiped them all down and set them in the classroom.”

“Thanks.” He rose from his seat. “How many are in the class?”

“Six. Four guys and two girls.” She grinned at him.

“What’s got you smiling like the Cheshire Cat?” he asked, suspicion churning in his mind.

“Mom told me there’s a guy coming tonight who doesn’t want to ride.”

Ben looked at her, confused. “Then why the hell is he taking a motorcycle riding course?”

“Because he’s a writer and needs information for a story or something,” she explained, still smiling.

Fuck. He knew the night was going to suck. Wannabes drove him nuts, but someone who didn’t even want to ride? Shit. What a waste of his time. It also pissed him off his sister let the guy sign up and kept that little tidbit to herself. Just because she was older and part owner of Makowski Cycles didn’t mean she could pull this crap.

Candy laughed. “Look on the bright side, Uncle Ben.”

His eyebrows rose as he watched her.

“Maybe he’ll be cute,” she tossed out as she turned to head back into the front of the shop.

Ben’s lips curved into a frown. He doubted it. A writer? A pencil pusher? Not likely. He liked strong, hardworking men with muscles. Men who sweated and grunted and grappled with him in bed. Someone who gave as good as he got. He shook his head and tried to clear it before his thoughts ran away from him and he would need to take things into his own hands, so to speak.

He sighed and strode out of his office, heading to the classroom down the hall. Technically it was an empty room they used for club and office meetings and occasional staff get-togethers, but once a month they turned it into a classroom.

Ben walked through the door and was pleased to see Candy had already arranged the long tables and chairsso they faced the far wall, where a large whiteboard hung next to a large flat-screen TV. He scanned the room as he moved to the podium in front.

Helmets sat atop the low shelf unit that spanned the width of the room, while handouts sat neatly stacked on the table closest to the front, ready to be handed out. There was a small microphone attachedto the podium, but the room was so small he’d never had reason to use it, so he made sure it was off before he tested the remote for the TV. They rarely used that, too, but he wanted to show a few slides inclass, so he made sure the batteries were working. Satisfied everything seemed ready, he left to retrieve his laptop and find something to eat before the new students arrived.

* * * *

Ben was hiding in his office later when he heard the bell over the front door ding. He set his can of Dr. Pepper on the desk and sighed before he plastered a smile to his face and forced himself to head out and be social.

Candy was ushering an older, gray-haired woman down the hall to the classroom and his eyes widened in surprise. They certainly didn’t get a lot of elderly students, and he estimated she was on the far sideof eighty. The bell dinged again, so Ben pulled his gaze away from the woman and walked out into the showroom.