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Luke pulled up beside the SUV, trying to get a good look at the driver, but from his view he couldn’t see up into the SUV’s window. Putting Ophelia between himself and the other driver also felt wrong—dangerous. Fuck . . . why had he even told her to get in the car?
“Oh my god, the kid who’s driving looks like he’s maybe fourteen!” Ophelia’s mouth opened in a grimace of indignant shock. “I bet he doesn’t even have a license!”
That complicated matters. If it was just some impulsive kid, who knew what he’d do?
“Luke!” Ophelia screeched just as he noticed a car coming at them. A long line of cars snaked along behind it, like the driver was going well below the speed limit.
He floored it and sped ahead of the SUV. “Hold on,” he told Ophelia then veered right to cut the car off. When he slowed to a stop, the kid behind him was forced to stop too, brakes squealing. He swerved, almost hit the guardrail, then pulled left and bumped the rear of the Corvette.
“Oh my god,” Ophelia whispered, her eyes glazed over as she stared out the windshield.
Luke put his hand on her knee and squeezed. “Are you okay?”
She gulped loudly then nodded.
“I’ll be right back.” He threw open his door. “Stay here.” He had to deal with this kid before he took off, then he’d get back to Ophelia.
The thief was scrambling to get out of the SUV as Luke sidled up to him. His seat belt appeared to be stuck. All the better.
The door was already open so Luke blocked his exit. “Nice try, kid.” He could feel people driving past them, staring.
The kid’s eyes widened under his mop of shaggy blond hair. “Don’t fuck with me. I have a gun!”
Rolling his eyes, Luke put his hands up. He wasn’t in the habit of terrifying children. “I’m not going to hurt you, and I know you don’t have a gun.”
The boy sighed and threw his
head back against the seat. “What are you gonna do? Call the cops?”
“Worse.” Luke leaned in, glad his cousins weren’t here to laugh at him. “I’m going to call your mother.”
***
When given the choice to call his mom or wait for the police, the kid reluctantly dialed her and handed his phone over. The woman was pissed and heading to the diner to pick her son up, profoundly grateful that Luke wasn’t calling the cops.
Luke snuck the Corvette back into its parking spot without anyone seeming to notice it had gone missing. Weird little town.
After hurrying back to the SUV, Luke ushered Ophelia, who’d finally calmed down, from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat. He kissed her before he closed the door and circled to his own side.
“How am I in the passenger seat again?” she asked when he’d slid in behind the steering wheel. “I thought we’d be sharing the driving.”
“I let you drive for a while last night, until I couldn’t hold back anymore.”
“Oh god,” she blurted. “Shut up.” She covered her face with both hands.
“What?” he asked, amused by her discomfort. He pulled out of the lot and back onto the highway. “Don’t blame me. You’re the one who brought it up.”
“I meant driving the car, not . . .” She glared unconvincingly. “You know damned well what I meant.”
“I get the distinct impression you prefer it when I drive.” He chuckled. “Although you’re actually a very good driver when you’re too horny to second-guess yourself.” He patted her knee when she moaned in mortification. “And as for driving your SUV, I drive a lot for work. For me it’s like breathing.”
They followed the hand-drawn map on the back of the pamphlet, taking the twisty trail up the mountain.
“If we meet up with someone going the other way, we’re fucked,” Ophelia said.
Luke laughed. “What? I’d just reverse back to that overlook we saw earlier and let them pass. Not a big deal.”
“That was like two miles ago. You could drive backward that far and not go off the side of this stupid mountain?”
