Chapter Thirteen #2
“My whole life has been about moving fast.” His eyes turned serious, and a look of something darker, deeper, washed over his face and quickly disappeared, as if he was used to doing that, too, locking away parts of himself. “Let’s get you started.”
He helped her into the driver’s seat and buckled her in, tugging the belt to test it out before letting go.
“Uh-oh.” She covered her mouth with the realization that she couldn’t drive the car. “This is a manual transmission. I can’t drive it.”
He laughed. “You’ve never driven a stick?”
She shook her head. “I feel so stupid. I was so caught up in the excitement that I didn’t even realize you’d been shifting gears.”
“Well, then, it looks like you’re in for a driving lesson.” He closed the door and went around to the passenger seat. “Do you know the mechanics of driving a manual transmission?”
“Sure. Push the clutch, shift, use my right foot for the gas.”
His lips quirked up in that sexy way he had. “Awesome. Go for it.”
“Wait. What? Can’t I ruin the clutch or something? I’ve seriously never done this before, and this car must have cost a small fortune.”
“Darlin’, I have a small fortune, and you’re not going to ruin the clutch. Let’s give it a try.”
“I like when you call me darlin’,” she admitted, trying to distract herself from being nervous.
“That’s good, because I like calling you darlin’.” His eyes darkened.
“Do you call all your women that?” Oh shit. Word vomit…Her nerves definitely had the best of her.
He shifted his eyes away, and when he turned back, they were serious. “It’s not like I have a harem of women that I keep around for the hell of it.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous and not thinking before I speak.”
“Kat, I’ve been with plenty of women, and I have no idea what I did or didn’t call them, but I can tell you that I’ve never felt with anyone what I feel when I’m with you. Darlin’ comes naturally when I’m with you, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can call you something else.”
Now she felt stupid for asking. “I’m sorry. Please don’t change. I do truly love it when you call me that. It makes me go all gooey inside. It was a silly question.”
“Gooey, huh? Why does that turn me on?” He leaned across the console.
“It wasn’t a silly question at all. It was real, and I like real.
Believe me. I have a million questions I want to ask about the men you’ve been with, but the answers would only torture me, so I’m pretending you’ve never been with another man, and for now, that’s working mighty well. ”
She laughed. “I’ll try that.”
He tipped her chin up again with his finger—she loved when he did that because he was giving her his full attention, and she knew he wanted her to give him hers, which meant that whatever he was going to say was important.
“You just continue being yourself. I’ll answer all of your questions honestly.
” He kissed her softly, then settled back into the passenger seat.
“Any more questions before we get started?”
“Just one.” She paused for a moment before asking, afraid of how the answer might feel. “Have you ever done this before for a woman? Taken her to the track after it was closed and let her drive your car?”
His intense gaze never wavered from hers. “Not once. I’ve never let a woman drive any of my cars. Hell, I’ve never let anyone but my team drive them.”
“Then why me?”
He stared at her for a long moment, and when he finally spoke, he began with a knitting of his brows and a smile.
“I told you there was something about you that makes me want to be closer to you. I feel like you’re part of me.
Like you have always been part of me. I know it’s crazy, but crazy has never felt so right. ”
She exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “The camp.”
He settled a hand on hers. “Have I scared you off yet with my directness?”
“Not even a little. I’ve felt like you were familiar, too, and after last night, I can’t stop thinking about you. About us.”
“I think that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard. Now let’s see if we can make you a race car driver.”
“Okay.” She smiled at the excited glint in his eyes. “But here’s the thing. If I do ruin your car, you’ve been duly warned. All my worldly belongings would not be able to pay for whatever I might break. Of that I’m one hundred percent certain.”
“I’m sure you can pay me back in more interesting ways.” His face spread into a devilish grin as he placed his hand on her thigh.
“Gosh, you do know how to keep a girl on her toes.”
“On your toes is not at all where I’d like to keep you.”
How was she supposed to concentrate with that on her mind?
“Shall we?” He nodded to the track. “Some people like to get comfortable while the car is off, pretending to gas up and change gears, but I’m all for feeling your way through things. Why don’t you start her up and let her roll.”
“Start her up. Let her roll. Got it.” Her heart was racing from his innuendos. She tried to focus on shifting the car into first, and it jolted forward and stalled.
“That’s okay. Try it again.”
“I’m sorry. I suck at this.”
“No, you don’t,” he said with a comforting smile. “You’re learning, and learning to do anything can take time. Stop thinking about getting in my pants and think about driving.”
She laughed. “Oh, that’ll help.”
“You know you want me.” The heat in his tone made her cheeks flush. “I’ll tell you what. If you can get us around this track safely, I’ll think about giving you a shot at the old bod.”
She glared at him. “Like you wouldn’t if I couldn’t drive?”
He shrugged with a too-fucking-sexy smile. “Let’s not find out. Focus on the road and drive this baby so we can get to the fun stuff.”
She eased into first gear, then second. “Maybe I don’t want fun stuff.”
“Not likely,” he said as she shifted into gear. “Look at you. You’re made for this kind of driving. Keep it up, darlin’, and I might just let you drive my Ducati.”
“I don’t know what that is, but if it’s slang for your penis, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” She flashed what she knew was her best flirty, smug grin, while watching the road, and took the speed up to seventy-five. “This is awesome!”
He chuckled. “You’re incredibly sexy when you’re driving. How does it feel?”
“Amazing.”
“Give me real feelings, Kat. You’re too smart for cliché answers, and I want you to really experience the thrill of the ride. Focus on how it makes you feel inside. Tell me what you feel.”
She loved the way he challenged her, and she loved that he cared enough to ask for her real feelings. Feeling more confident with his words, she kicked up the speed to eighty. “It feels dangerous and exciting, like you.”
“I feel dangerous and exciting?”
“Definitely, and I wish the windows were down and I could feel the world racing by.”
“Loosen your hands on the wheel just a little. While it’s important to be in control, it’s also important not to forget that you’re in control. Part of that is recognizing the power it takes to manage the vehicle and where that power comes from. If you’re too tight, your reflexes will be slower.”
She loosened her grip a tiny bit, the ache of her death grip easing around her knuckles. “That does feel better. It’s like you have experience with this driving stuff,” she teased.
“Feel the power, Kat. Feel it everywhere. When you get out of the car, you’ll realize your entire body—back, legs, feet, hands, neck—were all tightly wound.
Allow yourself to ease up just enough to remain in control of the car without the fear.
Become one with the energy. Let it sink into you but not take you over. You control it.”
She focused on each muscle and realized that he was right.
Her body was like one big bundle of nerves.
“Amazing. Wait…” She wanted to dig deeper, to give him more.
“Once I got past the dizzy, anxious feeling, it’s like a feeling of euphoria.
It feels unreal, like I’m infused with a sense of freedom and power.
I totally get the allure of driving fast.”
“My fearless wonder.”
She loved hearing the possessiveness in his voice.
“Are you ready to conquer more fears?”
“More? Should I pull over?”
“It’s up to you. This is your night. Take her around as many times as you’d like. I could watch you drive all night long.” He lowered his voice and said, “But there are other, more pleasurable things I’d like to do, too.”
That was too enticing to pass up. She could only imagine what more pleasurable things would mean with a man like Eric.