When Mel started laughing, Julian let out his own. He could feel her tension ease away, and when she started to enjoy it, he pressed the bike a bit more, taking the corners and turns just a bit tighter. Nothing he wasn't used to, of course, but a bit less careful than he'd initially been.
The ride was only about half an hour. Julian finally pulled the bike to a stop in front of a homely bakery with a detailed winter scene painted on the front glass windows. There were figures ice-skating on a frozen lake, couples sharing hot chocolate and pastries, and various other winter revelers under a starry night sky. Julian parked the Ducati and retrieved his cane from the sheath. "So? What did you think?"