Page 89 of Handle Me

And teaching her would give me a chance to make sure she knew what she was doing—to know she’d be safe.

But as soon as I climbed into the driver’s side and closed the door, I was questioning my sanity. Her perfume filled the cabin, reminding me just how good she smelled.

“Something wrong?” Her eyebrows flicked up, but I grinned.

“Just thinking about where to start.” I pointed to the wheel. “Steering wheel.”

“I know that.” She rolled her eyes.

I forgot how fucking sexy she was when she was being obstinate. “Ok, prodigy, what are these?” I pointed to two paddles attached to the wheel.

“Uh, windshield wipers?” she guessed.

I smirked. “Paddle shifters. If you want to drive the car in manual mode, you can use them. But they suck.”

“When do I need to do that?” She leaned closer to look at them, her shoulder bumping mine. I leaned back in my seat to give her room to check them out and hoped she didn’t look at my crotch. Not while I was sporting a semi with her this close to me.

“You don’t,” I said. “Some people like to drive in manual. It helps them understand their car better.”

“Am I learning that, too?” She flashed a concerned look at me.

I almost couldn’t believe it. Lola Bishop was scared. I didn’t think that was possible. I kept this thought to myself. “Not now. Not unless you want to. I’m just telling you what everything is.”

I ran her through the rest of the buttons on the wheel before moving on to the pedals.

“Ready?” I finally asked.

She shook her head. “There are still a hundred buttons in here.”

“Don’t worry about that.” I waved a hand dismissively over the console. “You can learn how to work your radio later. For now, it’s all about the basics. Don’t get bogged down in the details.”

“Lesson number two?” she asked dryly.

I winked at her.

“Where are we going?” she asked as I steered the car onto the road.

“The track.”

“What?” she shrieked. “I just want to learn how to drive the car. Not race it.”

“The parking lot will be empty.”

“Fine.” She sank back into her seat.

“So, um, how have you been?” I cringed at the awkward question. It felt all wrong. Acting like friends. Ignoring the sparks between us. Keeping my hands off of her. But I had walked out like a fucking coward and lost my shot. I was just lucky to be near her, even if she didn’t want me anymore.

“Good. Work is crazy. Belle and Smith bought in the country, so I’m going out there for meetings all the time. Figured it was time to get a car.”

I nodded, doing my best to remain casual. “So that’s where your fella is?”

Fella? Fella? So much for acting cool, but did that mean her new guy was staying with them like family already?

“What?” She glanced over at me. “Oh, um, yeah. Sure. Two birds. One stone.”

“Makes sense,” I said through gritted teeth. It was clear she wanted to talk about this even less than I did. I wasn’t sure what was a safe topic. “I approve of your car choice, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Her smile dazzled me. “It’s not too much?”