Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
KINSLEY
My heart skips when there’s a knock on the door and I pause, taking a steadying breath. Glancing over my shoulder at Lily, I laugh when she grins and gives me two thumbs up.
Swinging the door open, my nerves immediately dissipate when his blue eyes lock on me.
“Kinsley.”
He breathes out my name like he’s been waiting to say it forever and my cheeks heat.
“Jace,” I whisper.
“Lily,” she sings.
“Lily. Nice to see you again.”
“Same, Romeo, same. Now, you take care of my girl or you’re next on my shit list, okay?”
“Understood.” Jace nods and I roll my eyes at her.
“We’re going now.”
I rush through the doorway and gently grab his forearm. Butterflies take flight when he slips out of my grip, sliding his hand down my arm and interlocking our fingers.
He leads me down the steps and to the passenger side of his car. I slide into the seat, smiling up at him when he winks and gently shuts the door. Rounding the hood, he waves at my best friend who leans against the doorway smirking.
I laugh at her, sticking my tongue out. “You crazy kids have fun,” Lily calls out as Jace slips behind the wheel.
He glances over at me as the pur of the engine fills the quiet air and I smile, but it quickly drops with a gasp as he leans over the center console. His face is mere inches away, his eyes never leaving mine as he reaches around me.
“Safety first,” he whispers, pulling my seatbelt across my chest and clicking it in place. He lingers, his focus dropping to my lips a second before he settles back in his seat and effectively taking all the air in my chest as he goes.
Is it hot in here? Am I blushing?
I turn towards the window and place my palm on my heated cheek. My eyes catch on Lily as she stands by the still open front door, her jaw practically on the ground.
“Oh my lord,” she mouths, fanning herself.
I laugh under my breath and turn to look at Jace only to find he’s already watching me with a small tilt in his lips. He nods towards the road ahead. “Ready?”
“Absolutely.”
His smirk breaks into a blindingly handsome smile as he shifts the car in gear. I squeal when he accelerates down the street, the car’s power pressing me back into my seat.
He glances over at me. “You okay?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course. Why do you ask?”
His lips twitch. “I don’t think sitting ramrod straight with your hands pinned to your thighs means you’re comfortable. Am I going too fast? I can slow?—”
“No. No, you aren’t driving too fast.”
He pauses, eyes dancing between me and the road. “You’re sure?”
I nod. “I’m sure. I’ve just never been in anything this nice before, unless you count Lily’s family’s town cars. I’m scared to touch anything in here. Like I’ll leave fingerprints or something.”
“Planning on stealing my car to commit a crime, are we?”
I bark out a laugh. “Even if I wanted to, there’s no way I’d be able to drive this thing.”
“What? Can’t drive manual?”
“Can’t drive, period.”
He slows to a stop at an intersection and shifts in his seat to face me. “You don’t know how to drive?”
I shrug. “No one’s ever wanted to teach me. Well, Lily tried, but we don’t talk about how horribly that went.”
“What about your parents?”
I swallow, dipping my eyes down.
I’m not ready to share that part of me. Not ready to see the inevitable pity in his eyes.
I’m not ready for things between us to change that way. Because this part of me has only ever brought sadness and with him all I want are the good parts.
So instead of flooding our time together with the sorrows of the past, I simply reply, “No.”
My eyes move up to his and I hold my breath as he watches me. He sighs, turning his head to glance around the empty roadway before nodding. “Okay.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Okay? Okay what?”
He throws the car into park and shuts off the engine. “Okay, I’m going to teach you how to drive.” My eyes widen and he chuckles. “Don’t look so panicked. I’m a professional, trust me.”
Without another word, he opens the door and steps out of the car. I watch as he rounds the hood to my side.
“Jace, you don’t have to do this,” I quickly say when he opens my door.
He simply holds out his hand and my body moves on its own accord, unbuckling my seatbelt, sliding my hand into his, and letting him pull me to my feet on the side of the road.
He reaches up, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. “You can do this. I’ll be right here the entire time.”
My eyes dart to his polished sports car. “What if I crash?”
“You won’t.”
“What if I scratch the paint?”
“It’ll buff out.”
“What if?—”
“Kinsley,” he whispers, chuckling under his breath as he frames my face with his hands. “You. Can. Do. This.”
His eyes hold me hostage and with every heartbeat, I feel my mind calming. I nod, taking a deep breath. He lets me go and I walk around to the driver’s side on slightly shaky legs before sliding behind the wheel.
After adjusting the seat so that I can reach the pedals, I secure my seat belt and place my hands on the steering wheel. “What now?”
“Now, you turn on the car. This is a semi-automatic with a PDK transmission so—” He reaches over and gently guides my fingers over what feels like a metal wing. “Feel that? It’s the paddle shifters. These let you switch between gears quicker than a regular gear shift.”
“That’s cool, but I won’t be going fast enough to do that.”
He barks out a laugh and my lips twitch in amusement as he settles back in his seat. “This is a push start, so what you’ll do is press down on the brake. Good. Now push this button here and the car will start.”
My hand flies back to the wheel when the car rumbles to life. “You okay?” He asks, failing to smother his amusement.
I fidget in my seat. “Mhm. What’s next?”
“I don’t want you to freak out, okay? The great thing about this being semi-automatic is that this transmission won’t let you harm the engine. You don’t have to use the paddle shifters if you don’t want to and the car will switch to automatic for you.”
“Oh thank god,” I breathe.
He nods towards the road. “Now, all you need to do is put her in drive and press on the gas.”
I fumble with the shifter but get it in drive before settling my hands on the wheel at ten and two. It’s ten and two, right? Or has that changed? He was driving with one hand, but he’s much more comfortable behind the wheel than me.
“Hey.” His whispered words draw my gaze to him and he tilts his head. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
I shake my head. “I want to do this. I’ve come this far already, right?”
He looks at me with a soft expression filled with assurance. “Yeah.”
I glance back at the road and take a grounding breath. Easing onto the gas, the car rolls forward down the quiet street.
“Oh my god, I’m doing it!”
“Yeah, you are,” he cheers, laughing.
I giggle and press down on the gas more, picking up a little more speed. He coaches me every now and then when I start to drift out of our lane.
All the while, my smile never falters.
“Want to try turning?”
My eyes dart between him and the road. “You think I’m ready for that?”
“Absolutely.” He points towards a small turn-off up ahead.
Approaching the turn, I slow, practically stopping, before turning the wheel. He reaches over and helps me move the wheel a little more to the right to avoid going off onto the shoulder.
When I’ve successfully turned onto the next road, I slow to a stop and move the car into park. “Okay. I think I’m done. I don’t want to push my luck.”
“You did amazing, Kinsley.”
I look over at him and blush at the pride in his eyes as he watches me. Emotions burn up my throat and without thinking, I unlock my seat belt and throw myself across the center console.
He freezes a heartbeat before wrapping his arms around me as I bury my face in his neck, hugging him with all I have.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“Thank you,” he says quietly back and I pull away.
“For what?”
“For trusting me.”
I smile, pulling him in for another hug only to spring apart with a shriek when my foot slips and the car roars. Jace bursts out laughing and reaches over to press the ignition button, shutting the car off.
“Whoops,” I cringe and he laughs, shaking his head.
“Come on, speed racer.”
He climbs out of the car and I follow. When we’re back in our rightful seats, he pulls back onto the road and I lounge back in my seat, tracing my fingers over the gear shift.
“What is it?”
“What?”
“The car. What is it?”
“You really want to know?”
I shrug. “Why not? I know nothing about cars, but apparently I’m up for learning new things lately. So, yeah.” I look over at him. “Teach me.”
His hand flexes on the wheel and clears his throat. “It’s a Porsche 911 Carrera.”
“I like the color. It reminds me of your eyes. It’s pretty.”
He glances over, eyes dancing over my face. “Yeah, she really is.”
My cheeks heat at his soft words. I don’t look away when he focuses back on the road, too captivated by the way his arm flexes when he reaches up, running his fingers through his dirty blond hair. The tapping of his long fingers on the wheel. The bob of his Adam’s apple as he talks.
“Oh! I forgot. How was your meeting this morning?”
“A bit brutal to be honest.”
“I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“It’s okay. I just need to make some changes. Had the feeling going into it and what was decided only confirmed that.”
“Are these hard changes?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
Before I know it, he’s pulling into a parking spot in front of a small building.
“What is this place?”
“A guilty pleasure of mine. Top secret, though.”
I mime zipping my lips and tossing away the key. He huffs a laugh and holds the door open for me as I walk into what I’m realizing is an art studio.
“You’re here!” An older woman with red hair thrown into a messy bun comes speeding around the corner. “Everything is set up for you in the back. Why don’t you get settled and I’ll be right back.”
She disappears as quickly as she appeared and I look over my shoulder at Jace with wide eyes. “Did you bring me to join a cult?”
He barks out a laugh. “Maybe.”
We walk back towards the back and enter a small private space that’s adorned with two easels facing one another with a third set up against the wall.
I suck in an excited breath when it dawns on me. “Is this one of those painting places where you paint and drink wine? I’ve always wanted to do one of those.”
I shuffle over to my stool, taking a seat as he settles on his across from me. “It’s kind of like that, yeah. Beth, the red-headed tornado you saw earlier, is the owner. She’s been friends with my mum for years. I used to come here with her every week when I was young. I try to come as often as I can.”
“That’s so sweet. I love this.” I look around, taking in the clusters of paintings covering almost every inch of wall space.
“This is where I come to just be . My mind always settles the second I walk in.”
I bump his knee with mine. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”
Beth tears into the room and we make quick introductions before jumping into what we’ll be painting today.
It’s an hour full of laughter, soft music, trying and failing to get peeks at each other’s pieces, paint getting all over my hands, and Beth sneaking stories about a young Jace when he’s too concentrated on his painting to stop her.
We finish the lesson and Beth leaves us when the phone rings.
Jace glances over at me. “Flip them on three?” he asks when we’ve set aside all our supplies.
“On three.”
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three,” we say in unison.
My jaw drops. “Okay, what the heck? Are you a professional at this or something?”
“Must be all those years of coming here with my mum?”
“Don’t play humble. Jace, that’s amazing!” The bouquet he painted is beautiful, surely something an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to produce in just sixty minutes.
That’s me. The ordinary person. Because no, mine looks nothing like his.
“Yours looks?—”
“Like the previous view when you’re getting your eyes checked at the eye doctor before they show you the correct prescription?”
He chokes on a laugh. “I thought you were an artist?”
“Photographer. Big difference. I can’t draw to save my life.”
“Well, I love it.”
“You’re just saying that again so I’ll agree to see you again.”
He watches me with a hopeful hesitance. “Would you? Want to see me again, that is.”
“Say you hate my painting.”
“No.”
“Say it looks like a five year old did it.”
“It does, but I still don’t hate it.”
“Why?”
“Because you did it.”
I pause at the conviction in his voice, his eyes claiming all my attention. Something drops out in the larger room, startling me and my hand whips up to smother my squeak in surprise.
Laughing, I drop my hand and stand to untie my smock. A low chuckle draws my attention up to a grinning Jace. “What?”
“Hold on.”
He stands, moving to wet a cloth before coming back and standing close. Slowly he reaches up and wipes my cheek, pulling the cloth back to show green paint. My breath seizes in my chest and I instinctively tilt my head up so he has a better view.
His eyes dance between mine as he continues to gently caress my skin, his other hand coming up to hold the other side of my face.
“You never answered my question,” he whispers.
I can barely remember my own name right now thank you very much.
“What question?”
“Would you want to see me again? Maybe tomorrow?”
My lips twitch, my head tilting into his hold. “I could be persuaded.”
He smiles, his fingers flexing on the side of my face before dropping to his side. “Challenge accepted, Miss Jones.”