ChapterOne
Asnake was loose in the cab.
Quinn swerved around a horse-drawn carriage parked in front of Tavern on the Green, whipped over to the curb and slammed on the brakes.He was out of the door and halfway across the street before he knew it.After several deep breaths, he finally worked up the courage to edge toward the car and jerk open the back door.Then he crept around to the passenger side and quickly opened both curbside doors.
He hated snakes.Come to think of it, he wasn’t fond of lizards, either.One of the things he liked best about Manhattan was the absence of reptiles.If he’d known his fare was carrying snakes in that shoe box he wouldn’t have picked him up.But the guy hadn’t announced he was making a donation to the Central Park Zoo until they were almost there.
Quinn figured he’d been set up.It was too much of a coincidence that on the very day he’d accepted the challenge of driving one of Murray’s cabs he’d be transporting snakes.Murray was convinced Wall Street had made Quinn too soft to handle a day driving cab, and it would be just like Murray to stack the deck and guarantee he’d win the bet.
Once Quinn had found out about the snakes, he’d almost gotten in a wreck twice on the way to the zoo.At last he’d let the guy off at the zoo entrance and pulled away with a huge sigh of relief.Then he’d looked down to find beady eyes staring at him from under the front seat.An escapee.
“Taxi!”Quinn didn’t turn around.He wasn’t taking anybody anywhere until he got that snake out.The woman would have to find another cab.
“Taxi!”
Quinn realized she was coming over and turned to fend her off.“Sorry, I’m not...”He forgot what else he’d planned to say as he stared.Ogled.Lusted.Murray, always politically incorrect, would call her a babe.Tucked into a white silk shirt and red velvet jeans, with a red Stetson perched on glossy brown curls, she certainly produced a politically incorrect response in Quinn.
She adjusted her load of packages, which caused her silk blouse to shift and reveal a bit of cleavage.“I must get to the airport immediately.”
“Airport?”Quin struggled with the sad news that this fantasy cowgirl was leaving town.
“JFK.I’m in a hurry.”She started toward the cab.
Watching her walk in those tight jeans and high-heeled boots was a treat.He also had a thing for long, curly brown hair after seeingPretty Womanat an impressionable age.Taking this lady to the airport would be the highlight of his day — if it weren’t for the reptile problem.
Quinn hated choices like this.The snake or the lady.“Uh, I’d better warn you about something.There’s a snake in the cab.”
She swung around.“Don’t tell me you’re one of those guys who keeps his pet boa constrictor near him at all times.”
“No.My last fare left a snake.That’s why I have all the doors open.I was trying?—”
“Poisonous?”
Oh, God.He hadn’t even thought about that.“How can you tell?”
“Folding fangs.”She freed one hand and folded two fingers into her palm.Then she flicked them out, curving them to look like fangs.“They do that.Did this snake do that?’’
“No.”And if it had he would have fainted.
“Then let’s go.On the way I’ll coax him out for you.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary.”
“You look a little pale.You’re not afraid of snakes, are you?”
“Me?Afraid of snakes?Nah.Not me.”Quinn couldn’t believe she could be so cool about the idea of a snake in the cab.She hadn’t even asked what size it was.“I’m actually worried about the poor snake.He must be scared to death.”
“I’m sure he is.Look, I really have to go.If I miss my flight, my sperm will spoil.”
Quinn almost swallowed his tongue.“Excuse me?”His voice broke like a sixteen-year-old’s.
She rearranged her bundles and lifted a small cooler, the kind that could hold a six-pack.“Horse sperm.”
Finally it dawned on Quinn that she, too, was part of this elaborate practical joke.“Okay, okay.You guys had your fun.First the snakes and now the horse sperm, just to throw old Quinn a curve.Murray’s creative, I’ll give him that.I’ll bet that cooler contains the beer you’re going to share with Murray while you celebrate winning the bet.”
She looked confused.“Who’s Murray?”
“Let me refresh your memory.”He folded his arms and rocked on his heels.Now that he’d figured out what was going on he felt much better.“Murray’s the guy you’re in cahoots with, the one who owns the cab company, the guy who grew up next door to me in the Bronx, the guy who until today was my best friend, the guy I’m going to strangle once this shift is over.”
