Worth It
I nodded. “Some of my father’s coworkers, Mother’s fellow charity planners and families, their lawyer—”
“Their lawyer? Did he bring his skeevy son? What’s his name? Jeremy?”
“Yeah.” I sighed and curled closer to him. “He was there too.”
He began to stroke my hair. “He didn’t try anything with you, did he?”
“No. He just teased me about being sixteen and never been kissed.”
“The ass. Wait, why’d he think you’d never been kissed if the last time he saw you, he accused you of being sexually active?”
“Probably because I set him straight about all that the day he accused me.” I lazily drew the words I love you on his chest with my finger.
“I love you too.” Pressing a kiss to my temple, he asked, “And he didn’t try to kiss you himself?”
I shook my head. “No.”
His fingers found my hair. “Good. Did you get any good presents?”
Clenching my teeth, I wished he hadn’t asked that. So I mumbled the answer, hoping he dropped it. Except he frowned and lowered his ear to my mouth. “Sorry, what was that?”
“I said I got a car,” I muttered on a sigh.
His eyes widened. “Holy shit! Really? A car? What kind?”
I looked up at him nervously. “You aren’t mad?”
“What?” He blinked and frowned. “Why the hell would I be mad?”
“Because...” I glanced away, blushing. “My parents can just go out and buy me a brand new—”
Catching my chin, he coaxed me into looking up at him. “You can’t help it if your family has money and mine doesn’t. I think it’s amazing you have something to drive. Be grateful, not ashamed of your good fortune.”
I made a noncommittal sound and burrowed into him, wishing I could pass some of my “good fortune” his way so he didn’t always have to work so hard.
“What kind is it?” he asked, nudging his shoulder into mine.
“An Audi.” I looked up in time to catch his eyebrows lifting, impressed.
“Cool. I want to see it. Wait. Can I see it?”
As an idea hit me, I perked to attention. “You want to drive it?” I offered instead.
His mouth began to fall open before he sputtered, “Umm…hell, yes.”
“Shit, City, I’ve never been in a car this nice. Goddamn, it even smells awesome. Don’t you love that new leather smell?”
Grinning at him from the passenger side, I curled my legs up onto the seat with me and rested my cheek on my knees. “I love you more.”
“Ditto.” He grinned at me as he ran his palms over the steering wheel. “But you gotta admit this ride is sweet.”
I shrugged because, yeah, it was a nice car, but it didn’t really feel like mine. Across the center console from me, Knox groaned as he reached forward to run his fingers over the dash.
Cocking up one eyebrow, I asked, “Are you ever going to drive it, or just sit there and stroke it all night?”
“Hush.” He held up a finger my way. “I’m savoring the moment.” Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and then sighed. “God, that’s nice.”
I shook my head in wonder. “I can’t believe you took a night off from work just so you could sit in the driver’s seat of my car and smell it.”
“Oh, Lord. I can.” He breathed it in again, and I laughed. Then he opened his eyes and started the ignition. “Okay, let’s drive.”
“Finally.”
His lips quirked at my overdramatic sigh. “Mind if I take it out onto the highway?”
We’d met on a backcountry road. Knox had hiked nearly a mile to get there and meet me, which I hadn’t liked much, but it’d been his idea. I had to admit, it was smart thinking. Absolutely no one else was around.
With a flutter of my hand, I motioned for him to go. “Take it wherever you like.”
He glanced at me. “Dangerous words, sweetheart. What if wherever I like is a completely different town far away from here, where no one knows either of us, and I set up house with you and keep you with me for the rest our lives?”
A grin lit me up from the inside out. “Then I’d say floor it so we can get there faster.”
Chuckling lightly, he turned his attention to the car as he gingerly pulled it onto the road. “I wish. If we went away together now, we’d probably be forever on the run from your parents. I’d never find a job, and we’d be dirt broke and homeless within a week.”