Chapter 41

 The minute I turned the corner I spotted James and Richard. Since I was driving at such a low speed I was worried I was going to lose balance and fall of the bike, especially now that I knew they were watching me. James took my breath away where he stood leaning against his motorcycle with his leathers on, jacket zipped open with a white t-shirt underneath. He took his aviators on as I approached, and his eyes were staring a hole through me, curiosity written all over his face. Could he recognize me just from my shape? My visor was tinted so he wouldn't be able recognize me until I took my helmet off. My stomach did a violent lurch of anxiety and my heart was pounding in my ears, the sound made many times louder by the fact that I had a helmet on. I breathed a sigh of relief when I managed to come to a somewhat controlled and dignified halt in front of the two men. Kicking the side-stand down I leaned the bike on it, waved quickly at the men then dismounted. Richard waved back, but James just kept staring, arms hanging limply down his sides. I took three deliberate steps towards James and stopped right in front of him, then I took off my gloves and popped open the chin-strap on my helmet. A thousand butterflies were panicking in my stomach and I could hardly breathe, but I found myself smiling from ear to ear within the depths of the helmet. I held my breath as I took my helmet off. James' face fell comically and his eyes widened as he struggled for a few seconds to come to grips with what he was seeing. His eyes went from me to the helmet I was holding, then to the bike I had driven and finally to Richard before they fell back on me. James looked like he was the personification of the term 'gobsmacked'.

«Hello, handsome,» I said with a happy smile, wanting to spur James into speech.

«Emily...» he said weakly, with a hint of a question mark at the end.

«Captain slow strikes again, I see,» I said mildly. I took another step towards James and placed my hand on his chest, the cotton on his t-shirt warm from the heat of the sun. «Say something?» I asked, raising an eyebrow and biting my lip. He looked down at the hand resting on his chest, then up at me again. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion for him.

«You got your license..?» He said, and now there was a trace of a smile on his lips.

«Finally he's catching up!» Richard exclaimed in the background. I barely registered him, all that existed was James. We'd only been apart for a day, not even that, and still it felt like such an amazing relief to be near him again.

«Yes!» I nodded eagerly, grinning widely up at him. «I've been taking lessons in secret all summer, took the final test on Wednesday!» James's face finally broke out into a wide smile.

«But that's... that's great!» He said loudly.

«You think?» I asked, biting my lip again. I needed reassurance, having been worried that James would somehow not like it.

«Of course I do!» He said with a smile. «Congratulations, sweetie.» Disregarding the crowd of oogling onlookers, James cupped my cheek with his hand and gave me lingering kiss. When he let me go he looked at Richard with an eyebrow raised accusatorily.

«I wanted to surprise you, so I recruited Richard,» I cut in before James had the chance to start on Richard. «Don't blame him, he's been nothing but helpful, he borrowed me a bike and got you to come up here. I stayed at theirs last night, met Mindy and the kids and all the dogs. I'm sorry that I had to tell a little white lie and say I was going to Brighton, I just needed a plausible cover-story...» I said, batting my eyelids at him in an effort to look innocent like Bambi.

«Actually I prefer the thought of you having spent a night with the Hammonds then a drunken girl's night in Brighton,» he added.

«When on earth did you become so jealous?» I said, pulling him in for another quick kiss by tugging on his unzipped jacket.

«I don't know, but I'm sure it's all your fault,» he smiled, then took a step back to eye me up and down. «New gear?»
«Yeah, I went on a wee shopping spree...» I admitted. «But I held off buying a bike, I thought I'd ask your help for that.»

«For what it's worth, I'm sold on a Triumph already, you look bloody good on it,» he said with a flirty smile. From behind a heard the clearing of a throat.

«If you two are quite finished gushing over each other, can we get this show on the road?» Richard cut in and handed me my starting number. «Slap that on the bike and that one on yourself, then lets go.» We geared up, got our numbers on and headed for the start-line. The race was starting in fifteen minutes, but most of the bikers had queued up already and were busy chatting to each other and smoking, straddling their bikes. James and Richard were quickly recognized and pulled a crowd. I was getting used to this now, that people came over to say hello and have a chat and maybe even a photo. And mostly I didn't mind, people were nice, polite and funny. The wait flew by, and suddenly the mass of motorcycles started moving, but slowly. The low speed and sheer amount of bikes made me have to concentrate hard, keeping an eye on the bikers around me as well as keeping my balance. Eventually the line spaced out, some people set off at high speeds while others, like us, thought of this race as a nice weekend drive and went easy. The 'course' they'd set up took about an hour and a half, and was mostly on country roads. Having James around made me nervous and self-conscious again, I was extra worried I'd do something stupid or maybe even dangerous. I wanted to be good at it, and I wanted him to think I was good at it. Eventually I managed to settle down and relax enough to enjoy the sunshine and the fact that I was on a motorcycle. The Triumph was a joy to drive, a whole world away from the dreary ones I'd had at driving school.

Before I knew it we re-entered Ross-on-wye and crossed the finish line, which was the same as the start line. Richard came to a halt and so did James and I. He looked at us and shouted over the din of the engines. «Food! I'm starving! Follow me!» We followed him to a pizza place and parked. The town had quieted down a little and miraculously we got a table. It was a relief to get out of the helmet and the leather jacket, and I sank down into a booth with a happy sigh. We quickly ordered our food and Richard disappeared out for a cigarette and to ring Mindy. James sank down beside me and looked at me pointedly.

«Hello, sweetie,» he said and kissed me. I smiled back at him and tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear.

«You're all right with me having gotten my license, right? I mean, just because I have, that doesn't mean I'll always have to come with you, if you want to go just with your mates I completely underst--» James raised his hand to cut me off.

«Of course I am, why wouldn't I be? I think it's amazing... And I think you're amazing,» he said with a smile, cupped my face in his hands and gave me a long, deep kiss, completely disregarding the crowded restauraunt. When he spoke he seemed happy and sincere. He kept his arm around me, hand resting on my lower back, and I relished the contact. «We should go on a motorcycle holiday sometime, just you and me. I've been thinking about it all during the race, which countries we could go to, where they have good roads or places to see.»

«That sounds amazing, I'd like that,» I smiled back. James leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice a little so only I could hear.

«You look so bloody good driving that,» James said as he briefly looked out through the window at the Triumph. «It's been very difficult to keep my eyes on the road. I thought having you on the back of my own bike was sexy, but watching you ride on your own is much, much better.» His hand was still on the small of my back, and as he spoke he slipped it underneath my t-shirt to caress the skin lightly with his fingertips. «Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to have an erection in leather trousers?» His voice was almost a whisper. I swallowed hard, partly out of arousal and partly out of nerves. I quickly looked around, making sure no one could have heard what he said. His words had also made me all hot and bothered, his compliments always did and now he was even turning me on.

«No, I don't know how that feels...» I said with a little smirk. «I bet it's torture,» I added with a carless flick of my shoulders. He shook his head a little at me, knowing I was just teasing.

«You're coming home with me tonight, right? You're not staying at Hammonds?» He asked, his eyes full of meaning. I had to swallow again in an attempt to find my voice, but all I managed was a nod and a hum of confirmation.

«Good,» he sighed and closed the small gap between us to kiss me again. Suddenly feeling in a teasing mood I placed my hand on his knee and slid it up his thigh as I returned his kiss, and I felt his sharp intake of breath against my lips.

«Oh for the love of... Get a room, will you?» Richard had returned from his phonecall to find us kissing like a pair of lovesick teenagers. «You've been together for what, eight months now? Shouldn't your honeymoon period be over soon?» He said a little irritably as he fell down into his seat and lunged for his glass of coke. I hadn't even noticed that the waiter had come over with our drinks. I giggled and hid my red face against James' shoulder, taking in the smell of him.

«Don't mind him, he's just a jealous, angry little man,» James said and gave me a little squeeze. Just as Richard opened his mouth to argue back the pizzas arrived to distract him. I gave James' thigh one last, teasing squeeze before removing my hand. He gave me a warning look and I rolled my eyes innocently back at him.

After we'd finished our dinner I bade farewell to James again for a little while. He was going back to London on his motorcycle, stopping by at his sister on the way. I was going back to Richard's to return his bike before I headed home in the Panda. Having returned the bike I spent a few minutes cuddling the dogs before packing the car. Before leaving I thanked Richard heartily for lending me his bike and for all his help. I gave him a long, grateful hug and promised to come back to visit and to come play with Richard's quad bikes. Privately I was anxious to get home. James' words and his gentle touch on my back had put me in a right state. All I could think of was James, his smell, his skin, his hands, the way he touched me and kissed me.