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“Thank you. Again,” she says. “It seems like that’s all I say to you these days.”
“Then don’t say it. We’ll just let your appreciation be assumed.”
She laughs softly. “I never let anything be assumed.”
“Do you always take the bus?”
“Have to. I don’t have a car,” she replies. “Not that it would do me any good since I don’t know how to drive anyway.”
I glance over at her. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“Wow. You’re twenty-one.”
She shrugs. “Never seemed important to learn since I can’t afford to buy a car anyway. Almost everything I make at the diner has to be used to help keep the rent paid, food in the fridge, and the lights on at home.”
As her voice tightens and her expression darkens, I know I hit a sore spot for her. Can't blame her. She's got a shit mother and a shit home life. Knowing she has to help support that woman is beyond nauseating and makes me feel bad for Lanie.
“Listen, we’re going to teach you how to drive,” I tell her. “And I’ve got a couple of cars I never use, so once we get you a license, one of them is yours.”
She offers me a sad little smile. "Lane, that's sweet, but I can't accept that. Letting me crash in your guest room is one thing. Giving me a car is—"
“Going to happen,” I cut her off.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice to me?”
I shrug. “Because I can.”
“But why?”
“Because I’ve got the means and… and I’ve been where you are,” I tell her. “It sucks not having somebody you can lean on. Or more accurately, a parent you can lean on. Like I said, I’ve been where you are and because I have, I’m going to make sure you don’t have to struggle as much as I did when I was your age.”
I almost bang my head on the steering wheel as those last words fall out of my mouth. When I was your age. Jesus Christ, yeah, there’s a bit of an age gap between us—okay, maybe more than a bit—but I’m making myself sound like Methuselah over here.
“You don’t have to do all of this for me, Lane. I’m a big girl—”
“I know you are. But one thing I learned in life is to always pay it forward. I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t gotten a little help along the way,” I tell her. “So, that’s what I’m doing. I’m paying it forward. And I don’t want to hear anything about it from you.”
“So, that’s how it is? I do what you tell me to do?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say with a nod. “Pretty much.”
I flash her a grin that gets her laughing and when I glance over at her, I see a strange expression on her face. I think it’s gratitude, but I’m not sure. But the way her tempting full lips curl upward in a smile is enough to make my heart slam in my ribcage… not to mention how much it gets the blood flowing in the wrong direction. Sitting here with an erection and doing my best to keep from bringing attention to it as I shift in my seat.
“Thank you, Lane. I mean it,” she says. “Nobody has ever taken care of me or been as kind to me as you are.”
"I hate to hear that. I do because you deserve the world. And if I can help give you that, I’m going to,” I reply. “And you’re very welcome.”
We make the rest of the trip to the college in a companionable, though slightly awkward silence. And when I pull in, she hops out but turns back to me with that breathtaking smile on her lips again.
“I’ll see you tonight?” she asks.
“Count on it.”
She slings her bag over her shoulder then shuts the door and hustles off. I watch her as she goes until she melts into the crowd, and I lose sight of her and feel something unfurl in my chest—something hot, raw, and primal. Daisy jumps back into the front seat and looks at me with one of those wise, knowing expressions she gets from time to time.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I say. “I’m trying to behave.”
