It had been incredible.She laughed.
Nick smiled down at her.“What’s funny?”
“Well, not funny, actually.It’s just that crossing streets in Naples is like entering the gladiator ring.You never know if you’ll make it out alive.You made me feel invincible.Incredible.”
His smile broadened.“Want to go again?We could cross back over and come back.Would you like that?”
Hmm.A chance to be plastered up against that strong body again.Oh man…
But…she was an adult and had to be a grownup about it.
“Tempting as that sounds, I think we should get to your car.”
“Well, we’re here.”They had reached one of the thousands of tiny piazzas that served as paid parking spots.
She blinked.“We are?”
He knocked on the fender of a big black beast, more a tank than a car.“Yep.Here she is.”
“You are driving around Naples inthat?”
“I was assured it is what the mafiosi drive and no one would dare steal it.”He shrugged.“It’s a rental anyway.”
He opened the passenger side door, and she looked in dismay at the step.It was a long way up and she was wearing a tight skirt.Sighing, she grasped the side of the door and was preparing to haul herself up when two strong hands grasped her waist and she was lifted up onto the seat like magic.
“Hey.”She turned to look at him.He looked serious.“Sorry to manhandle you like that, but these SUVs are built really high off the ground.And since I’m apologizing, I’ll also apologize for grabbing you when we crossed the street.”
He was standing in the open doorway, one hand on either side of the door.He was frowning slightly.
Parker had been manhandled a lot in her life.Guys often used the flimsiest excuse to cop a feel and no one, not once, had ever apologized.Or look dismayed.
But not Nick.He actually looked…a little worried, so odd on that tough face.She smiled at him.“Well, considering that all the drivers in the city have been driven crazy by the earthquake and we took our lives in our hands crossing Via Caracciolo, I’m actually grateful I survived the experience.And—” she fingered her linen skirt.“This is a designer outfit and wouldn’t have survived me scrabbling to get up and onto this seat, so I have two things to thank you for.Thank you.Twice.”
That tough face cleared.“My pleasure.”He got into the driver’s seat and turned on the engine.“So what’s the address?”
“Via Verdi 327.It’s halfway up the Vomero.That’s the?—”
“The hill right in front of us, yes.”He tapped in the address on the navigator and took off.
Parker sat back, not wanting to disturb him.Every once in a while, the traffic in Naples was touched by Satan and this was one of those days.Instead of a straight progression, traffic was in Brownian motion, more circular than linear.Full of bottlenecks and traps.The car was sound-insulated, but still the sound of a thousand honking horns trickled in.
Nightmare traffic and it had always scared her.Most days, traffic was a little chaotic, but if you went slow and gave others the right of way, you could eventually make your way home in relative safety.
Today was not one of those days.
It had her in a sweat, and she was a passenger.
Nick, however, didn’t seem to be affected at all.He drove as if they were on a deserted country lane.She was sure he’d never been in her part of town, which was residential, with no monuments or museums, and yet he drove straight there as if he’d done it a hundred times before, only checking a few times the GPS screen.
A few blocks from home, she realized she could talk to him without distracting him and causing an accident.The traffic was one endless snarl, as if the minor earthquake had messed with people’s heads.“Amazing how you seem unfazed by the traffic.Today is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
He turned his head to smile at her, then returned his attention to the road where someone ran a red light, nearly killing a family of five.
“I’ve driven under fire, this is nothing.”
Oh.Well, yes.Bad as the traffic was, no one was actually shooting at them.
“What do you drive?”he asked.
