Page 11 of Hearts on Fire

“Do you want to drive it?”

Scotti turned to her with wide eyes. “Can I?”

“I don’t usually let other people behind the wheel, but for someone who has just saved my life, I can make an exception.”

Scotti hesitated. “I don’t want you to think you owe me anything, Naomi. I was doing my job and I was glad to do it. You don’t have to thank me.”

“I may not have to, but I want to.” Naomi took the keys down from the board hanging on the garage wall and tossed them to Scotti, who caught them by reflex.

“You’re on. Direct me to your best route.”

Naomi was more nervous than she let on. She loved this car and had never let anyone else drive it before, but Scotti’s enthusiasm was infectious, and Naomi found that she loved seeing Scotti this excited.

She had to give credit where credit was due—Scotti was a good driver, and she was extremely careful with the car. Naomi directed Scotti to one of her favorite back roads—a long one seldom populated by other cars, let alone cops—and told her to go crazy.

Scotti slowly accelerated, gaining confidence as the car purred happily beneath her.

“Can I roll down the windows?”

“Of course. It’s better that way.”

As they accelerated further, the wind whipping their hair around, Scotti laughed, a sound of pure joy, and Naomi found herself laughing along as well.

Naomi had driven the car to its limits many times before, but she found that she enjoyed being with Scotti while Scotti drove just as much.

“This is amazing! I never thought I’d get to drive one of these.”

“I’m glad I could offer you the experience.”

Scotti slowed down well before the road hit a turn, and Naomi gave directions to get back to her place. Naomi watched the sides of the garage carefully as Scotti backed the car in, but Scotti avoided them easily. She was an absolute natural driver. Naomi enjoyed the effortless way that Scotti handled the car and she let her mind wander imagining how Scotti would effortlessly handle her body.

Scotti was slightly flushed as she turned the car off. The garage lights were still on, providing enough illumination for Naomi to see her clearly.

Scotti turned to Naomi, beaming. “Come on a date with me.”

“What?”

“Well, that was kind of the best first date ever, but we never agreed it was a date, so… come on an official date with me?”

Naomi’s feeling of ease and happiness stiffened. She didn’t want to hurt Scotti’s feelings, but she had to be honest. Her and Scotti’s connection felt magnetic and intense and became more so with every minute they spent together. And she definitely wanted to have sex with Scotti. But…

“I can’t.”

Scotti’s face fell. “Oh. Okay.”

“Okay? Don’t you want to know why?”

“Of course I do, but you don’t owe me an explanation, Naomi. If you don’t want to go on a date, you don’t want to go on a date. If you want to share why, you will. If not, I’m not going to interrogate you about it.”

Why did Scotti have to make saying no so damn hard? She really was perfect, wasn’t she?

Despite what Scotti said, Naomi felt that she owed her an explanation. The question was, how did she explain it without offending Scotti?

“The last person I dated died,” she blurted out.

“Oh, Naomi… I’m so sorry.”

“We weren’t serious. It was just a fling, really, but it still hit me pretty hard. She was a police officer and died in the line of duty. I can only imagine how bad it would have been for me if we were serious. After that, I swore I’d never date anyone in such a dangerous line of work again.”

---