“You too,” I said, though I was still wicked confused.
“You ready to take it for a test drive?” Terry asked.
“Take what for a test drive?” I queried.
“The car,” Terry explained. “Didn’t he tell you?”
“No, I wanted to surprise her,” Brooks said, hugging me tighter. “Terry’s selling a gently used Volvo XC90. You’re going to take it for a spin and tell me if you like it. You like it, we’ll buy it.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Oh yeah, I can tell she loves surprises,” Terry drawled. “Well, we’re here. May as well check out the car.”
Terry led us to a spot with a silver SUV. He held the keys out to me. “I’m gonna be waiting over there.” He pointed to the bench outside the DMV building. “You two can talk without me around.”
“Thanks, Terry,” Brooks said.
Terry strode away, leaving me alone with Brooks. I wrangled his arm off me and turned to face him. “You did this,” I stated.
He nodded.
“You found a guy selling a car and had him meet us at the DMV so I could test drive it?”
He nodded again.
“Wow,” I murmured right before I launched myself at him and hugged him around the middle.
Chuckling, he said, “Guess you’re not pissed at me?”
I shook my head.
“You wanna take it for a test drive?”
I nodded again.
He took my hand and led me to the driver’s side door. He opened it and I slid into the comfortable seat. Brooks shut the door and then went to the passenger side and climbed in.
“It’s got seat warmers, automatic lights, and three rows of seats.”
“Three rows of seats?” I asked in surprise, turning around to look behind me.
“For the car seats, Freckles,” he said, grasping my chin and coercing me to face him. “For the many, many car seats.”
My insides liquified with need.
I took a deep breath, and he dropped his hand. “I need a minute,” I muttered. “Otherwise, I’m gonna crash before I’m even out of the parking lot.”
Three hours later, I was sliding my-new-to-me car into a spot on Silver Street. Brooks parked the truck behind me.
“You look good at the wheel, Freckles,” he said as he came to me.
“It feels good to have a car.” I draped my arms around him and stared up at him with a smile. “How can I ever thank you?”
His eyes flashed with heat. “I have some ideas.”
Brooks leaned down to capture my lips, and I was just about to sink into him when I heard catcalls coming from across the street.
I wrenched my mouth from his and stared in the direction of the noise. Salem and Hadley were standing outsideSweet Teeth, hooting and whistling like fans at a sporting event.
