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“I’m not. I want in on your”—she gestured vaguely—“car stealing business thingy.” She realized how amateur she sounded after she’d already said it but excitement seemed to make her tongue-tied.
“First of all, no. Second of all, never call what I do a ‘car stealing business thingy.’ And thirdly, no.”
“Why not? I would be an asset.”
He snorted.
“You haven’t seen me at my best. I just made that hacking device on the fly. I was still trying it out when you found me.”
“You made that?”
“Yes.” She watched his lips twitch into an almost smile. “You’re impressed, aren’t you?”
He didn’t answer.
She sat back in the seat, feeling victorious. Maybe if she showed him some of the other devices she’d made, he’d see how valuable she could be. Like the RFID app she’d been working on to hijack the NFC signal and emulate a car’s smart key.
“You’re obviously an intelligent girl,” he said. “Why don’t you do something important, and legal, with your life?”
“I’d rather do what you’re doing.”
“Well, I’m not taking applications right now.”
“Well, I won’t take no for an answer.”
“It’s cute that you think it’s up to you.”
She exhaled a long breath. Stubborn man. He didn’t know who he was dealing with. Her dad used to say, “Your stubborn streak is my punishment for my preteen years.” Her parents wished she’d use her determination for things like graduating with high honors and finding a nice boy to settle down with. If only they knew.
“I’ll find a way,” she warned him. “I’ll stalk you until you give in.”
Anger flashed in his eyes when he turned to look at her. A second later, his gaze moved back to the road. “You need to forget everything you saw tonight. Go back to your normal life.”
“But . . . I don’t want a normal life.” Two point five kids, a mortgage, and a tedious career . . . That wasn’t her future. It had never been what she wanted for herself.
Her parents had been married for twenty-five years. High school sweethearts. They’d worked the same jobs for the past twenty years. They literally graduated high school, got married, started their careers, and had a baby. That was their life. Doting on Addison, scrapbooking every moment, and watching game shows on the couch with their dog. It was perfect for them, because they were happy doing it, but even as a kid Addison had known it wasn’t for her.
“Fine,” he said. “Steal cars with your little gadgets, get caught and go to jail. But stay away from me or we’ll have a problem.”
“What? You’ll lock me in your basement again?”
“Worse,” he grumbled.
She didn’t believe that for a second. If he were a bad person, he’d have killed her by now. O
r at least threatened her with more than some vague words that may or may not have implied violence. She’d always been a good judge of character. Fox may have been as dodgy as she was when it came to the interpretation of the laws of ownership, but he wouldn’t intentionally harm her. Just below the mask of intimidation he was trying to scare her with, there was a decent guy. She was sure of it. And even if he was as dangerous as he wanted her to believe, she still wasn’t afraid. Although maybe that just made her stupid.
“Over there.” She pointed to a lot behind the plaza where her junky Mazda sat. The white, dented-up beater ruined the image she wanted to project. Instead of saying “dangerous and important” like most of the cars in Fox’s garage, hers said “broke and underpaid.”
At the last minute, she pointed him toward a black Prius.
He parked two spots over then turned and glowered at her. “I’m serious, Addison. I don’t want you near me or my property again.”
“Yeahhhh. I don’t take orders from you so . . .”
Slowly, she opened the door, keeping her eyes on his. Once outside, she leaned down and smiled through the open window. “See you soon, Fox.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. Something about pissing him off seriously turned her on. She straightened and backed away and he drove off without another word.
