hill as though his wheels had never left the ground. Toni’s stomach plummeted when on his next jump he released one handlebar to offer her the wave he promised. Birdie waved back excitedly, but Toni couldn’t pry her fingers from the metal seat she was clinging to with all her strength.
Logan sped around the track faster—how was that possible?—and this time when he hit the highest hill, he did a back flip in midair. The crowd went wild. Birdie jumped to her feet. Toni’s vision tunneled and her head swam. When he landed safely on his back tire and gunned the engine to ride out the rotation in a wheelie Toni sagged in relief only to tense again when he popped over the next hill and flew sideways, his bike parallel to the ground.
“He’s good!” Birdie clapped excitedly on Logan’s next jump.
He was good—no, better than good. He was amazing. But dear God, he was going to kill himself! Or kill her from heart failure.
By the time he’d skidded, jumped, flipped, and sped around the track half a dozen times, Toni began to relax and then got caught up in the excitement of watching him control the bike as though it were an extension of his body. The strength and athleticism he displayed was truly inspiring, but it was his daring that had her switching from terror to arousal. The man was risking his life for a thrill, and Toni suddenly wanted to tackle him off that noisy motorcycle and ride him for hours.
It was almost an hour later before he finally zoomed off the track. Toni took Birdie’s hand and together they left the stands to find him. He was easy to spot in his bright red race pants and jersey, even though he was completely surrounded by women. And a few men. But Toni only noticed the women. Jeez, not only did they flock to rock star Logan, they also flocked to freestyle motocross Logan.
“Is Logan a slut?” Birdie asked.
Good question.
“He has a lot of sweethearts.”
He certainly did.
Toni squeezed Birdie’s hand. “You aren’t supposed to use that word, remember?”
Logan leaned in close to a woman to hear what she was saying over the noise of the track and then laughed, that charming smile of his turning heads.
“Is there a good word for someone with a lot of sweethearts?” Birdie asked.
Asshole came to mind. Toni knew it wasn’t Logan’s fault that he was gorgeous and talented and fun and outgoing, but she wished she was the only woman who noticed.
“Toni? Is there a good word?”
“Um.” Toni racked her brain for a child-friendly synonym for manwhore. “Popular?”
“Logan sure is pop-a-lure. Did he see all these girls’ boobies?” Birdie looked up at her, her inquisitive eyes enormous behind her thick glasses.
“I don’t think so.” But she couldn’t say for sure. Toni stood on tiptoe and tried waving to catch his attention.
Logan smiled when he spotted them standing at the edge of the gathered crowd. He easily meandered his way to her side.
“There are my girls.” He moved to stand between them and settled one arm around Toni’s waist and his other across Birdie’s shoulders.
“You already have enough girls,” Birdie said.
“A man can never have too many girls.”
Toni’s scowl didn’t lessen even when he kissed her temple.
“Are you ready to head back to the hotel?” he asked in her ear.
She’d been ready to jump his bones, but now she was plain grumpy.
“You were jumping so high!” Birdie said. “And then you did a flip and flew like Superman with your feet out. Was it fun?”
“Very fun.” Logan tugged at one of Birdie’s pigtails.
“Can I try it?”
Logan glanced at Toni, and she gave him a definitely not shake of her head.
“Maybe when you’re older,” he said. “These bikes are for grownups.”
“Do they have loud bikes for kids?”
Logan looked to Toni for assistance, but she was still irritated about his entourage of dirt-bike groupies, so she let him struggle for his own answer.
“I almost forgot,” he said, unzipping a pocket in his race pants and pulling out a small brown paper bag. “I got something for you and your sister at the gift shop.”
Birdie was immediately distracted. “What is it?”
“I’ll give it to you in the car.”
“Let’s go, Toni!” Birdie grabbed Toni’s hand and jerked her in the direction of the entrance. She’d apparently already given up on the idea of a kid-sized loud bike.
Birdie bounced up and down in the limo as she waited for Logan and Toni to settle in the seat.