As soon as the garage door was opened, I took off, already enjoying myself. Maybe Amelia was right and the perks to this job were worth the antagonistic conversations. Besides, I had a credit card with basically no limit.
Why not shift from anIndecent Proposalmentality to a littlePretty Womaninstead? A short laugh escaped, but my mind was still processing everything that had occurred in the last few days. The whirlwind had left whiplash.
I’d gone from worrying about the electricity being cut off in my house to driving around in a two-hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle. I couldn’t have imagined myself in such a vehicle.
Unless I’d stayed under my parents’ roof followed by working for my father and giving up on my dreams. I’d be living in some huge house in the suburbs of Atlanta with two kids in private schools, a husband who would likely be an attorney or a doctor, a perfectly coiffed frou-frou dog, and a group of friends I had cocktails with every Thursday night.
Nope.
Not for me.
I’d never looked back once I’d moved into the dorm in a college far enough away my mother wouldn’t beg me to come home for the weekend.
Not that she ever had.
I rounded the corner, feeling the need for speed. As I flashed by a group of vehicles, I realized either they were crawling, or my foot was pedal to the metal.
The answer was provided by the flashing blue lights behind me. Well… shit.
Sighing, I checked the rearview mirror before trying to figure out a safe location to pull over. This wasn’t the best situation. Why? Because this wasn’t my vehicle and technically, I’d stolen it. Well, maybe not in the eyes of the law, but I had no proof I was anything to Christian. Even if I’d had my contract with me, which we’d discussed would be ridiculous since we were trying to pretend that we were madly in love, I wasn’t certain that would do it.
Maybe I could use my charm.
First, I had to figure out how to roll down the window. The mechanism wasn’t where I’d thought it would be and by the time the officer was on the driver’s side, I was close to being frantic, slapping my hand on every mechanism.
I sensed the man in uniform was hovering by the window. I gave him a smile, throwing out my hands like I was confused. The scowl was clear to see under his mirrored sunglasses. I thought people only wore those in the movies.
He finally rapped on the window.
“I don’t know how to put the window down.” I was forced to yell the words.
I tried again and he looked away before shaking his head. “Open the door, miss.”
When I did, he reached around the glass, pressing a button that was right in front of my face. Great. Now I looked like an idiot. He had the decency to close the door, which hopefully meant I wasn’t going to be arrested.
“I’m sorry about that, Officer. It’s my first time driving my fiancé’s car and I admit I’m a little flustered.” I certainly wasn’t lying about that. I was certain my face was beet red at this point.
“License and registration.” With his shades still covering his eyes, I had no clue what he was looking at, but I could tell he wasn’t amused.
“Um, well, let me see if I can find the registration.” This was why I shouldn’t go around stealing cars out of spite. I had no clue if he even kept his registration in the car. Not in the very tiny glovebox. Not under the seat. When I removed my seatbelt so I could twist to try to see if there was anything behind the seat, I’ll be damned if the officer didn’t reach for his weapon.
I held out my hands, very slowly pulling down the visor. When a piece of paper floated down, my cheeks immediately puffed up before I blew out hot air. “Here you go. I’ll just get my license.”
After handing it to him, I tried not to fidget. He barely glanced at the thin plastic, lifting his sunglasses for the first time and sighing. “I’ll be right back, miss.”
When he walked away, I gripped the steering wheel, groaning as I dropped my head. Nothing was going well. Not one thing. Istill had no idea how to convince my brother that what he’d call robbing him of his freedom for eighteen months would help him get his life back.
At least we could sit down and talk. If he agreed, then we could pack a bag. I’d also need to get rid of his apartment, putting his furniture and other personal items in storage.
Unless I just trashed everything and he could start fresh. A clean start.
Maybe that was the best thing to do. Hell, I’d be able to afford getting him a nicer place to live, new furniture. Clothes. Maybe that would make up for the evil of being married.
A snort turned into close to hysterical laughter. I glanced into the rearview mirror. What in God’s name was taking the officer so long?
Exhaling, I turned on the radio and instantly, metal music blasted at a volume I couldn’t imagine anyone listening to. I also had to fumble to try to find the stereo system. I could only imagine the heavy thrum of the bass outside the car. The cop must be annoyed.
Finally, I turned it down, now curious about Christian’s choice of music. He certainly had several interesting sides.
