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He tried again, and again, but there was no start. “Come on, Minnie,” he muttered. “Not again.”

Winnie watched in silence for a minute. This did not bode well for the rest of their trip. “Maybe you should call her Grannie instead,” she said.

“Hush. She just takes a bit of warming up, that’s all.” He stroked his fingers down the steering wheel. “Come on, girl. We’ve got a busy two days ahead of us.”

“Do you think maybe⁠—”

“I’ll have no more cheek from you, Miss Knox,” Matthew said, turning to look at her with a stern look.

She clamped her mouth shut at his feigned scolding as a smile begged to be let out on her lips.

Matthew tried once again to start the car, and this time, it roared to life. Well, perhaps roared was the wrong word. Minnie coughed and sputtered more to life than roared.

“There, you see?” he asked with a triumphant look in Winnie’s direction.

“Oh, yes. Super reliable, this one,” she said.

He didn’t respond, merely turned the radio on and put the car into gear before easing across the drive.

With no stalling car or broken handle to focus on, Winnie’s mind finally settled on the man beside her. For the first time in their professional relationship, they were alone. Like, alone, alone. Before, there was always the chance of someone happening upon them—someone from the festival staff or household staff, or one of Matthew’s family members.

But now, in the car, they were officially by themselves, and for some reason, the thought made her uncomfortable. There was no out now. No escape. No chance of running away if things got awkward or uncomfortable. This was it. An entire overnight excursion with a man whom she could barely handle—a man who could barely handle her.

A man by whom she was sitting far too closely.

She had to hold both hands on her lap, tucking in her elbows to avoid touching him, especially with him adjusting the gear shift so often. One swift turn, and she was sure she’d lean right into him and his distracting, muscular arm.

“Comfortable?” Matthew asked, shifting the gears again as they made it off the gravel and headed along the windy road out of the estate.

“I mean, I’d be more comfortable in the Aston Martin…”

He shook his head. “Trust me. One day with Minnie, and you’ll rue the day you have to get back inside that sports car.”

“I think the fumes from old Minnie here have gotten to your head,” she returned.

To her surprise, he cracked a smile. The car clanked loudly as he shifted gears again. “She needs a new transmission. Don’t judge her for it.”

Winnie glanced to his hand that rested on the gear stick so near her leg. The tendons across the back of his hand shifted as he controlled the speed at which they traveled, his fingers, long and capable, curving around the top of the handle.

What was it about a man driving a manual car that was so attractive? Even in Minnie here, she had to admit Matthew looked good.

They drove in silence, “Golden Years” by David Bowie playing on the crackling stereo before a loud buzzing occurred beneath Winnie. She paused, unsure of what the vibration was until she remembered that she’d slipped her phone into her back pocket. She so rarely wore jeans, she wasn’t accustomed to the sound or feel of it.

She leaned toward the door and pulled out her phone, careful to avoid any touch to Matthew as she looked at the screen.

Dad’s name lit brightly across the front of it.

Instantly, her stomach churned. She’d been doing so well focusing on the present, laughing and enjoying her time with Matthew, and now, she was back to where she’d started.

Dad had called her for their Sunday chat yesterday, but Winnie just hadn’t been able to get herself to answer it, just like right now. She couldn’t deal with the disappointment in his voice, the scolding she would inevitably receive like she was a child.

She had to focus on the task at hand, on really improving the festival and no longer wasting Mr. Wintour’s money. If she spoke with Dad, her thoughts would muddle, her insides would knot, and any instinct she might still possess would most assuredly vanish.

And more than anything? She just didn’t want to talk to him. Period.

Without a word, she pressed the side button of her phone to stop the buzzing, then slipped it back into her pocket.

“Everything okay?” Matthew asked beside her.