Chapter 21

"You got anywhere to be?" He asked over his shoulder, not really expecting her to answer.

Mark figured she wouldn't be too keen on hiding this from Arielle, but he wasn't getting his daughters hopes up anymore then they already were. Not happening. Because if things didn't work out, then she'd be even more crushed. He couldn't put Arielle through that.

"No." She softly answered with a smile, rubbing his back and let him know that she was behind him one hundred percent.

She didn't blame him. He was protecting his heart and he was cautious. After what Jasina put him through, she was shocked he was even giving her another chance. Happiness didn't cover it though as she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back, and listened as he fired the motorcycle up again. She was going to do everything in her power not to screw this up, wanting this more than anything in the world, besides Arielle of course.

Mark had nowhere in particular in mind, he just wanted to drive. To really open up the Harley, something he hadn't done in a few years. Of course he had kept the motorcycle in perfect condition, that went without say, but...He steered them outside of city limits, hoping Jasina didn't mind a little speeding. As soon as they hit country roads, he was going to make this bike fly.

Her eyes closed as Jasina held on tight as soon as he opened the bike up full throttle, flying down the road. That's what it always felt like. Jasina smiled, remembering when they started dating the first time. She was scared at first to get on one so he let her ride in the front and took them for a drive. Jasina felt completely safe with him, always had, and always would. It was almost as if nothing changed in this precious moment, like they hadn't been apart for the past eleven years, though she was fully to blame for that. Jasina pushed that out of her mind, wanting to leave the past alone, and knew Mark could help her let it go. For once in her life, Jasina was going to stop being brave and lean on him for support.

He felt her arms gripping his waist, smiling. Memories flooded his mind, the first time she had ever ridden standing out particularly and chuckled, fairly sure Jasina could feel the rumble, trying to stop, but...She had been so scared, her eyes so wide. But once she had gotten over her fear, she had done great. He had even entertained the idea of buying her a motorcycle when finances got better, but...Pushing that out of his mind, he focused on just enjoying the day and their time together.

They rode for what seemed like hours, knowing Steve would be picking Arielle up from school and bringing her to his and Trish's house. The bike stopped after awhile as her head slowly lifted, looking around, wondering where they were at. Mark knew the country roads better than she did and Jasina hadn't traveled them in years. She seen him dismount and did the same thing, straightening her skirt since it had ridden up quite a bit, though she was glad she hadn't flashed anyone. That wouldn't have been good being on a date and whatnot. She actually giggled at the thought and took a step, groaning as her thighs tightened. She knew why, it'd been a long time since she rode for that long on a motorcycle and smacked Mark when he started laughing at her.

"Not funny." She mumbled, beginning to walk around, stretching her legs and arms as much as she could. "Where are we?"

"Just some old property I was considering buying." He shrugged nonchalantly, stepping over a low fence and turned to pick her up, lifting her over as well. "Nothin's been done with it for years, used to be grazing pasture for horses so the land is pretty damn fertile." Mark grinned, watching her beginning to look around. "You're not going to step in anythin' darlin'."

"I know, I'm just looking around. What are you going to do with this property should you decide to buy it?" She asked, seeing how big it was, and wondered if he might build another house. Then again, the ranch was big enough, plenty big actually, though Jasina hardly knew Mark anymore. Whatever he wanted to do, she would support him, no matter what.

"I don't know, I haven't decided. If it wasn't so damn far out, I'd build a new garage, something bigger. Steve says turn it into a junkyard." Mark snorted, rolling his eyes. "I don't feel like destroying the place though, the land is beautiful. Mostly it's just me wanting something for no particular reason, that make any sense or am I just gettin' old?"

"That makes perfect sense, Mark. And age is just a number."

She winked at him before continuing to walk around. She had to figure out how to tell Arielle they were just friends without hurting her. How the hell did Mark expect them to date secretly anyway? He must've had ideas in mind so she wasn't going to question it, smiling, feeling at peace for the first time in her entire life. That was saying a lot.

"Age is just a number if you're a sixty something guy dating a twenty something girl." Mark snorted, shaking his head, leading the way. It wasn't nothing special, just land. Maybe he was just a down home country boy at heart, but that was who he was. He liked working with his hands and loved building something out of nothing.

"If you say so." Jasina giggled and followed him around the land, knowing he would come up with something.

She seen what he had done to the ranch and had to admit he was very innovative. The deck looked like it was built from scratch and sturdy along and the swimming pool that was right in the center of it. She also noticed he added horses and other animals to the land, which made her smile. Mark was a true southerner and she was glad that he hadn't changed. That's part of the reason why she loved him so much.

The animals had been a bad move on his part since he had to employ people to care for them. He'd done it to please Arielle and wound up biting off more then he could chew. He was so busy with his garage, not to mention being a full time parent…Though, now that he thought about it, he didn't mind.

"I could probably move my livestock out this way, more room." He grunted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Jasina smiled and nodded, agreeing with him. He never disappointed her. They stayed out there for awhile longer until the sun set on the horizon before heading back to town. Jasina gently sighed when he pulled up to the Houston Journal and didn't want to let him go. Not yet. Though she also knew he had to get home to take care of Arielle. Reluctantly, Jasina dismounted the bike and looked into his green eyes, feeling her heart rate quicken.

"Thank you for taking me out today, Mark." She said and felt him pull her over by the hand, wrapping her arm around his neck for a tight embrace. Jasina inhaled his scent and smiled, committing it to memory, not that she ever forgot it, but she wasn't taking any chances.

Mark was tempted to kiss her, but refrained. He was the one who said take it slow and he was going to do that. That and he wasn't too keen on just jumping into bed with her, that wouldn't turn out well for either of them. That and it would wind up requiring sneaking around Arielle and he was now getting a massive headache.

"Thanks for comin' with me, darlin'."

"Thank you for giving me a second chance." She kissed his lips softly, tenderly, and pressed her forehead against his. "I'll talk to you later." She then walked away from him and slid into her car, driving out of there a few seconds later. Jasina went home with hope for the future and sighed when her cell phone rang, seeing it was Trish. "We decided to just be friends." She sighed when Trish began yelling and shook her head, knowing Mark wanted to keep them a secret for now.

She ended up hanging up on her friend when she wouldn't quit ranting and raving, knowing she had no choice. Trish had a big mouth and she talked with Arielle. It was going to slip so Jasina had to be careful.

So much for taking things slow. The minute she had kissed him, Mark had been very tempted to snatch her little ass up and make love to her right there in the parking lot, maybe on his motorcycle. He groaned, envisioning that and had gone home for a shower, a cold one.

"Dad, I'm home! How was your date?"

He locked his bedroom door just so he could have a few more minutes alone.

~!~

"I can't BELIEVE this! What is Mark thinking? I know he loves her! He probably destroyed her!" Trish was livid as she paced back and forth in her and Steve's bedroom, wearing a pale yellow nightgown, shaking her head. "It doesn't make any damn sense! Just friends? They fuck each other with their eyes and..." She seen Steve wasn't listening and stalked out, taking Little Steven with her, ready to go give Mark a piece of her mind.

Steve had been listening to her, he just had a lot of practice pretending not too. Though when he heard her keys jingling, he was up and off the bed in a flash, catching her. "Now hold yer horses honey." He took Stevie from her, grinning at his son before looking at her. "Look, ya can't just storm over and do whatever it is you're thinking about doing." He wasn't sure if she was going to go kick Jasina's ass or Mark's.

"Fine, then you better talk to him and, so help me god, if my best friend is hurt over this, I'm going to KILL yours!" She stated heatedly, her temper up.

Why would Mark take Jasina out only to tell her they should remain friends? Hadn't the woman been through enough heartache? Granted, she brought it on herself the first time, but she deserved to be happy! Sighing, Trish went to take a bath, knowing Steve was going to take care of their son, needing to think.

~!~

Mark listened as Steve repeated what Trish had said, arching an eyebrow and pulled himself out from underneath a Buick, wiping his hands off on his already stained jeans. "Why the hell would she get hurt?"

"I think Trish is a bit pissed ya took Jas out for a date only to say 'lets be friends'."

"First off, Jasina wanted to talk to ME and asked for a time. I took her to LUNCH, which hardly counts as a goddamn date. And tell your woman to mind her own goddamn business. If she thinks I'm crazy enough to just jump back into a relationship with Jasina after she lied and left me, she's outta her mind."

~!~

"I'm fine Trish." Jasina assured her, sighing heavily, having promised to pick her daughter up from the shop and take her to dinner. It was a weekly thing with them that she looked forward too. "Really, I'm fine with it. I don't blame Mark."

Trish looked at her friend skeptically, biting her bottom lip. "So if I suggested you go out with one of-"

"No, I don't want a man in my life right now. That'll just complicate things more. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with my daughter." She smiled before walking out, sliding in her car, and drove away toward the shop before Trish could question her anymore.

~!~

"So how're things going on the dating front?"

"Harry, lemme alone, it's none of your business. We're just friends." Mark grunted, trying to enjoy a beer. He didn't need his friend running back to his wife and telling her whatever he could. That would wind up being overheard by Toni who would in turn tell Arielle.

"Sure and me and Lashonna are gettin' divorced." Harry snorted.

"Good, she needs a real man anyway." Mark smirked, dodging a punch to his shoulder.

The bell dinged overhead as Jasina walked in, wearing a black and purple pinstriped suit with black pumps and her hair was down, glasses on top of her head. She smiled when Mark walked out followed by Harry and Steve, Arielle behind them. "Hey sweetie, ready to go?" She asked, walking over and bent down to give her a hug, kissing the top of her head. She knew Arielle wanted to know what was going on between her and Mark. She was simply going to tell her what Mark wanted her too, refusing to mess this up.

"Yeah, hold on, lemme wash my hands." Arielle showed her grease stained hands proudly. "Steve's letting me help him."

Yeah and she had somehow managed to put a hole in the damn oil can causing it to spurt everywhere, Steve was STILL mopping oil off his face.

Mark shot Harry a warning look, glancing at Jasina. "Little dressed up for dinner."

Harry coughed out, "Jealous?" Another cough followed.

"I'm coming from work, this is the required dress." Jasina said with a smile as she walked over, her heels clicking against the floor and leaned against the counter, giggling when Steve walked out. "Oh my god, what happened to you?" She started laughing harder when Steve told her, in a grumble, what her daughter managed to do, shaking her head. "No wonder she has to wash her hands." Jasina had to catch her breath before raising an eyebrow at Mark, seeing he was blatantly looking her up and down. "Calaway, my eyes are up here."

"I know where yer eyes are darlin', obviously I'm not interested in them at the moment."

Steve -who had been in the process of draining his nightly after work before home beer- snorted it out of both nostrils. "FUCK!"

Smirking, Mark leaned back in his desk chair, arms folded behind his head.

"Steve, what happened to you? You're beat red."

"Obviously, typical male." She smirked back at him and shook her head at Steve. "Try some nuke warm water, Steve." She then grabbed Arielle's hand. "Ready to get out of here?"

Jasina grinned as her daughter nodded eagerly, knowing what was on her mind, and shot Mark a knowing look before walking out of his office toward the front door. They got in her car and drove off toward her apartment, where they were going to make dinner together. Jasina seen how much Arielle loved cooking so this was a perfect opportunity in her mind to get closer with her daughter.