Mountain Mystic by Debra Dixon Page B

forgot the conversation as soon as the bike lurched forward and up the hill. Instantly, her arms went around Joshua’s chest of their own accord. Safety was obviously more important to her subconscious than her pride, which wanted her to keep a safe distance from the heat of his body.
    When her arms circled him so naturally, Joshua smiled. He was going to enjoy this ride even more than he usually did. Telling the mechanic not to deliver his car yet had been a calculated risk, but worth it.
    Neither of them tried to talk. Joshua knew shouting against the roar of wind and engine was futile; Victoria wanted Joshua’s full attention to be focusedon the road. The first few minutes she kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the sheer drops on her right. Gradually she opened them and began to enjoy the incredible feeling of freedom.
    The air teased her as it rushed over Joshua’s shoulders, catching the stray ends of hair she hadn’t managed to stuff into the helmet. When she burrowed her face against his back, she breathed in the scent that she associated with Joshua—woodsy, clean, strong. Beneath her fingers she could feel the muscles of his abdomen bunch and twist as he used his body to control the motorcycle through the turns.
    Gradually, Victoria realized that riding behind Joshua was the sensual equivalent to being given a license to steal. So what if she accidentally pressed her breasts to his back and her hands slipped to his waist and hips? It wasn’t her fault. Joshua had wanted to take the bike. So what if the bumps and turns in the road jostled them until she thought she couldn’t take another minute of rubbing against him? Too soon and yet not soon enough, the mountain road began to twist and curve in the downward descent toward Mention.
    Joshua slowed the bike as he approached the smallest of the three Triangle anchor towns. Mention boasted a population of only about two thousand people, but was fortunate to have persuaded the school board to build a brand-new county high school in their community. A grocery store, two gas/convenience stores, a tiny motel, a Dairy Ice Hut, and a business selling concrete yard statues were about theonly buildings on the main drag. He bypassed them all and pulled into the high school.
    Carefully he stopped the bike close to the curb that edged the school driveway and killed the engine. As soon as he did, Victoria dropped her hands and pulled away from him. Shaking his head, he wondered what he was going to have to do to get Victoria to give in to the physical side of her nature. He knew it was there. He’d seen flashes of it before she could disguise it.
    “We’re here,” he announced.
    “I can see that.” Victoria placed her hands on his shoulders. “You sit right where you are while I get off.”
    “I was going to help you,” he teased.
    “Oh, please. I can just picture that. Thank you, but no thank you. I’d prefer to crawl off this bike without an audience.”
    His laughter rang out into the growing darkness as he took off his helmet. “Baby, you’ve got an audience. Take a look around.”
    Surreptitiously, Victoria glanced toward the two double doors opening into the gym. Seven or eight gentlemen were gathered on the sidewalk, taking a smoke break. Every one of them was looking in her direction. “I can’t believe this. I should never have gotten on this bike.”
    “There you go again. Thinking about what you should and shouldn’t do.”
    “I should have tried to get a loan from some city in Iowa,” Victoria told him sharply. “I’m sure theywouldn’t have stuck me with a guide who has a rebel-without-a-cause motorcycle fixation.”
    Gingerly, she rested the toe of her shoe on the curb and slowly shifted her weight to it. Standing up, she tugged her dress as far down as she could and still swing her leg over the back of the motorcycle as if she were dismounting a horse. “Okay, I’m off.”
    Joshua turned his head toward her and then wished he