“How will I ever convey my appreciation then?”
“How about you give me a private show—model that red lace number—when we get back home,” he rasped, painting the words against my lips. “And I’ll call it even.”
My breath hitched and he smiled victoriously, kissing me.
But the only thing I could focus on was him sayinghome.
He probably didn’t mean to imply that his home was my home.
But that’s how I took it.
My heart filled with immense warmth.
The sun was beginning to set, the canvas of the sky marred with strips of blue, purple, orange, and pink as Hunter drove us back home. Or Ithoughthe was driving us home until he pulled into a deserted parking lot of an old plaza, past opening hours, so all the stores were closed and we were the only car in sight.
Confused, I said, “What are we doing here?”
Wordlessly, Hunter turned off the car, unfolded out of his seat, and rounded the front to come to my side. He pulled open my door and unclicked my seatbelt. “Hunter?”
He drew me out of the car gingerly. “I know we’ve had a long day, but there’s one more thing I want to do.”
I cupped his face with one hand. “What is it?”
He turned his head enough to kiss the inside of my palm before grabbing my wrist, bringing it between us, and…dropping his car keys inside my hand. “You’re going to drive.”
“E-excuse me?”
“You said you wanted to learn.” He caressed a knuckle softly down my cheek. “And I want to teach you, Gabby.”
No one ever had the patience to teach me how to drive. I sat in the driver’s seat a total of two times. First with Papà, but he freaked out when I accidentally ran a stop sign. Second with Mamma, but she clutched her seatbelt with her eyes screwed shut, praying under her breath like I was going to drive us into a ditch. Mind you, we’d only been driving around the residential streets of our neighbourhood. Both times lasted a total of tenminutes. I had my permit, yet I never moved on to the next phase after my parents’ reactions. It deterred me. Killed my confidence before I even had the chance to give this new skill a decent shot.
And here was Hunter, wanting to help me overcome my fear. “Are you sure? You won’t be scared sitting next to me?”
He smiled like I was being silly. “Not at all.”
Before I knew it, I was in the driver’s side of his Jaguar. Hunter helped me adjust all my mirrors, including bringing my seat forward because I had shorter legs. Excitement mixed with dread bloomed within me. I held the steering wheel with a death grip, the car still in park. “Hunter, what if I do something wrong—what if I wreck your car?”
He clicked his seatbelt on and said smoothly, “That’s what insurance is for, baby.”
My pulse thudded faster at his reassurance.
Hunter placed a strong palm on my bare thigh, squeezing lightly. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
I nodded eagerly. “I promise I’ll be careful not to damage your car.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care about the car. I care aboutyou. I want you to try to be as vigilant as possible for your own safety, all right? We’ll take it easy for our first lesson. Do a couple turns, practice your stops, and check your blind spots. Get you comfortably oriented in the driver’s seat. Sound good?”
It sounded amazing.
Hunter’s trust in me caused some of my fear to evaporate. I started the car as he instructed before shifting gears and beginning to drive slowly. We spent the first fifteen minutes going around the parking lot until I felt a bit more confident behind the wheel. I couldn’t believe I was doing it—driving again without a scolding adult. Hunter was patient and calm, praisingme for the simplest of turns and stops. “You’re doing amazing, Gabby.”
My throat was dry. “Really?”
“Really. You’ve got this.” He pointed forward. “Now I want you to exit the parking lot.”
He didn’t say the lesson would actually include driving on the road. A nugget of trepidation nearly had me chickening out. But Hunter’s sheer belief in my ability had me agreeing with a feeble, “Okay.”
I wouldn’t take this opportunity for granted. I wanted to learn how to drive and be good at it.
