“So, like what? Give me an example of a classic rock song theyknew.”
In profile, Jacques fought to keep a straight face. The sight of it made Rainey smilehard.
“Okay,ready?”
She nodded. “Ready.”
Jacques turned off the music. He cleared his throat again, and his deep voice became an announcer’s, even and detached.“‘Though his mind is not for rent. Don’t put him down as arrogant.’”He spoke slowly as though deadpanning a nursery rhyme. Rainey frowned, completelyclueless.
“Huh?”
He glanced at her. “Want me to keepgoing?”
“Uh, yeah, I have no idea what you’requoting.”
Jacques snickered. “Yeah, I bet you do. Okay, here’s the next line.” She watched him sober again, though now she knew by the light in his eyes it was all an act. Mirth hid just beneath the surface.“‘He reserves the quiet defense. Riding out the day’s events. Theriver.’”
“Theriver?”
Henodded.
“The river? That’s it? That’s the whole line?” She felt her left brow quirk up. “What the hell. I swear, I’ve never heard this song. Classic rock? Are you sure? I know my classicrock.”
Jacques was now laughing at her unchecked. He wasn’t even trying to fightit.
“Next line,” he said when he’d almost stopped laughing.‘‘‘What you say about his company is what yousay—’”
Rainey gasped and flapped her hands. “‘ABOUT SOCIETY!” she shouted. “‘Catch the mist. Catch the myth. Catch the mystery. Catch the drift.”She sang the rest of the Rush lyrics as Jacques took his hands off the wheel and clapped forher.
“Aww-right! Not bad, Reeves. Now, for the point, artist and title,” hedemanded.
“‘Tom Sawyer’ by Rush,” she practically squealed, bouncing in herseat.
“Excellent,” he crooned, his deep voice filling her with a ridiculouspride.
“Okay, okay, my turn.” Rainey kicked off her sandals, drew her feet up onto the seat, and sat lotus-style.
From the corner of his eye, Jacques’s gaze swept up from her bare feet, and for a moment she thought she saw a flash of heat there, but in the next instant, his eyes were back on the road ahead ofthem.
“Ready when you are,” he said to theinterstate.
“Okay…” She searched her memory for another classic rock song that wasn’t too obvious. Stumping him was going to be hard, and she so wanted to stumphim.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Jacques teased about a minutelater.
Rainey scowled. “Can I use myphone?”
He wanted to laugh. She could see it in the tightness around his mouth. “Sure. It’s your first time. You can use that handicap if youneed.”
She narrowed her eyes and attempted a growl that sounded — judging from Archie’s perked ears — like a puppysqueal.
Beside her, Jacques’s shoulders shook once, but he made no sound. Ignoring him, she Googled “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs.” She found her favorite Tom Petty song — one she hadn’t heard in years — and tried to school her voice in the same flat monotone Jacques had used, aiming to forget the pacing and emphasis Petty gave thesong.
“‘She grew up in an Indianatown—’”
“Had a good lookin’ mom who never was around,”Jacques interrupted, his rumbly voice curling around the lyrics and caressing them in a way that Rainey felt in her panties.“But she grew up tall and she grew up right with them Indiana boys on an Indiananight.”
“No fair,” she protested, clutching her phone to her chest and hoping he didn’t notice the blush of desire on her cheeks. “Youcheated.”
