“I have a feeling you’re going to ask me anyway even if I say no.”
“You’d be right. How is it possible that the cut under your eye healed so quickly?”
He seemed put off by my question. “You just thought it was a deep cut. It wasn’t.”
“You forget I touched your face. I felt the cut. It was deep enough I was concerned you needed stitches.”
“I think you were just excited. It’s a little sore but that’s it.”
When he touched his face, his dark chuckle should annoy the hell out of me. Instead, I was even more turned on than before. “Uh-huh. Are you a shifter?”
My question startled him to the point he pressed his foot down on the accelerator, almost causing us to get into an accident. “Do I look like a shifter to you?”
“I don’t know what shifters look like. In truth, I think they are nothing but figments of people’s imaginations.”
“Oh, you do, huh? Even after all the sightings?”
“You know how the press is. If they do exist, they aren’t just walking around amongst us. That’s crazy.” I was now using both hands to try to get more air.
It wasn’t working.
I was close to suffocating.
“From what I understand they do exist.”
“Then how do I recognize one?”
He rubbed his jaw. “Honestly, I don’t know if there’s any telltale sign.”
Was he grinning at me? Oh, the arrogance of the man. I’d been right in the first place.
“My turn for a question. Why are you so nervous about having dinner with your parents?”
“Just wait until you meet them. Then you’ll completely understand. They’ve tried to control my entire life since birth.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning they are insufferable. Just wait. It’s way too hot in here.” Shifting back, I pressed the button for the window. The whirring sound indicated that the motor was working but the window wasn’t budging. When I smacked my fist against it not once but twice, his reaction was swift.
Somehow, while still driving, he managed to unfasten his seatbelt, reach over and grab my arm. The shot of electricity from his touch was as unnerving as the heat rushing through my system.
“You’re going to break the window.”
“I need air.”
“You’re just anxious, but I have a cure for that,” he insisted.
“What’s that? Are we going to stop at a bar so I can get blind stinking drunk? Sounds great but if I do, I won’t be able to act like a lady. Which is…” I managed to jerk my arm free, pounding three more times. “Necessary according to the rules. Why else would I be in this ridiculous dress?”
His sigh turned into yet another husky growl just seconds before he was forced to swerve to avoid a near head-on collision. “I have something better than alcohol. Just stop.”
“I can’t.”
The moment he was required to stop at another traffic light, I yanked at the door handle, managing to climb out.
“What the hell?”
Smack in the middle of the road, he obviously put the gear into park because before I could take two steps away, he was right beside me.
