“No, thank you,” he said, voice hollow.
Mati curled a hand over the fist on Reese’s thigh and squeezed, cursing herself for not thinking ahead. “Reese doesn’t drive,” she explained.
“I do,” Reese said. “I mean, I know how.”
“Right, but you choose not to,” she said matter-of-factly.
David dropped into his seat behind the wheel and started the car, one eye on Reese in the mirror.
Reese didn’t notice, his gaze turned out the window. “I just need to practice. Then I can get back to it. At least when Hodges isn’t around.”
“Has it been a while?” David asked as he merged into the traffic.
“Not since shortly after I was run off the road and chased home.”
Mati watched David do the math on the intervening five years.
David nodded, and Mati wanted to hug him for not making it a big deal.
“I can see why that might put you off driving,” David said. “You should get some practice before you try tackling Boston’s streets. We can do that sometime. Practice, that is, if you want.”
Reese looked at David. “Yeah?”
“Sure. This thing isn’t the easiest to maneuver, but we could get your car and take it for a spin. Find some good places for you to get your feet wet.”
“Don’t say that. I may drive us right into the harbor.”
“I’m sure you won’t, but if it makes you feel better, we can practice somewhere far away from any bodies of water.”
Reese smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Great,” David replied, but his attention was no longer on them. Instead, he had a close eye on the traffic around them.
“Is someone following us?” she asked.
“Not anyone who isn’t supposed to be.”
Reese frowned. “What would you do if there were?”
“It depends,” David said. He pulled up to a red light and twisted in his seat to look at them. “I’d like to be able to hand the wheel over to either of you, if the situation called for it. It’s safer if you can both drive. That goes for today, and ten years from now, when I’m long gone.”
She liked how David was certain she and Reese would be together a decade from now. She felt the same way. Reese had saidforever.
The idea of David beinglong gonesat far less comfortably.
Reese nodded. “I should drive tomorrow, then. Get some practice.”
Mati snapped out of her reverie. “You sure?”
“Yes. If it means you’re safer, then yes.”
A pleased smile crossed David’s face as he turned back to focus on the road. Clever bastard had known just what buttons to push.
David did his job—checking the street for cars and people who shouldn’t be there, who he’d seen before, or who just looked sketchy—but a portion of his brain was reserved for the total freak out he was having about bringing Mati and Reese to his home.
He’d been considering the offer the entire time he’d been struggling with the tiny kitchen and thinking about all the things he wanted to cook in the next few days—and the thought sure as hell had crossed his mind while he’d attempted to sleep on that god-awful pullout couch—but he’d underestimated howintimateit would feel.
He’d bought the place a couple years ago, in the hope that having his own space, a safe-haven he could retreat to, would preserve his tenure with the BPD.
