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“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Far, far away.”
He rumbles with laughter. “Kiss me first, then I’ll let you go.”
“Deal.” I unclick my seat belt, gather my dress, and shift myself so I’m kneeling on my seat and half-leaning over the middle console. “Like this?” I gently touch my lips to his. “Or this?” I kiss him harder. Slicking my tongue against his bottom lip until he opens for me.
He lets out a satisfied growl and threads his fingers through my hair, holding me in place.
Three quick taps on the glass pull us apart.
“Guys, really?” Libby squints through the blacked-out driver side window. “Ugh. I’m going to go check out Heidi’s car.”
I watch my sister run across the track. Heidi welcomes her with a hug.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to do this.” I bite my thumbnail and shift my gaze to the empty racetrack.
Dex pulls my hand away from my mouth, drawing my attention to him again. “You two seem to be butting heads a lot lately. Might be less stressful for both of you to have a neutral party teach her.”
I sigh and flick my gaze toward my sister, who’s admiring Heidi’s car. “You’re right.”
He shrugs as if he agrees but doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.
I tip my head toward the girls. “Thank you for the emphatic hell no, on letting her learn to drive on a muscle car.”
He doesn’t laugh. “Emily.” He rests one hand on my shoulder. “Road safety is my job for the club. I won’t let her do more than I think she can handle. I promise.”
I force a confident smile, but Dex isn’t fooled. He curls his hand around mine. “She’s going to be fine.”
I reach for the dashboard. “It’s awfully big,” I mutter. “You sure you don’t want her to learn in my car?”
“If she can handle this, she’ll be able to handle almost anything.”
I can’t argue with that logic.
DEX
Tension ripples through Emily’s body. Her sweet, overprotective, sisterly nature has pushed her into the red zone this afternoon.
“She’ll be fine,” I assure her.
“I know.”
I run my gaze over her. She can handle letting Libby behind the wheel for a few minutes. It’ll be good for both of them.
“I trust you.” She flashes a more confident smile.
Her trust means a lot to me. Little by little, she’s letting me in. Accepting my help. Letting me take care of her.
The breeze picks up Emily’s loose waves and tosses them around her face. Sunglasses hide her eyes from me. Her long, floaty dress swirls around her ankles. Sexy as fuck. I can’t stop picturing what she might be wearing underneath. Red bra and panties to match the little red roses dotted all over the black dress? Or did she choose simple black?
A mystery I’m looking forward to solving later tonight.
I lean down and kiss her cheek. Excited, girlish laughter drifts over to us.
“Oh my, I didn’t realize Shelby came too,” Emily says. “Libby might forget all about driving lessons.”
“Maybe.” I recognize Eraser and his wife Ella. “Let’s go say hi to Eraser. This is his uncle’s place.”
“I definitely need to thank him for letting us borrow it.”
Eraser lifts his chin and smiles as we approach. He nods at Emily with respect as I reintroduce them.
Shelby walks over, smiling big.
“You’re about to have a day, ain’t ya, Dex,” she says.
“Nah, it’s gonna be good. You come with Rooster?”
“I drove with Heidi.” She points over to the ticket shack across the field. “Rooster, Jiggy, and Murphy are over that way.”
Eraser claps his hands. “Griff’s getting the grill ready.”
I bet he is.
“We’re all gonna eat and race some cars today,” Ella shouts, punching her fist in the air.
I better get going on that lesson.
“You ready, Libby?” I call out.
She waves to Heidi and runs over to me. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“Good luck,” Emily says. I can practically hear her holding back a warning for her sister to be careful.
“Thank you,” Libby calls over her shoulder.
She skips ahead of me to the SUV and I’m glad I parked away from everyone else. Don’t want her getting distracted.
If I’m doing this, we’re starting with the basics. I walk Libby around the SUV, getting her familiar with it. Once it looks like I’m losing her attention, I move to phase two.
“All right.” I hand her the keys—mostly symbolic since it’s just a fob. The key on it actually goes to a locked box in the cargo area. “Let’s get to know the inside.”
She flicks a nervous glance toward the windshield. I open the driver side door for her, and she stares at the interior like she’s about to jump on a moving boat instead of climb inside a stationary truck.
“You’re sure you trust me?” she asks with a wobbly smile. Underneath the question, I sense fear.
“I wouldn’t let you near it if I didn’t trust you.”
