Page 96 of Betrayed

“Perfect. How about if we take your Porsche? I’ll even drive and let you unwind.” She was only half teasing.

His smile dimmed immediately. “I think not,” he replied as he opened the passenger side door.

“But, why? I returned it to you in one piece the last time.”

“You burned up the clutch, Mari. Get in.”

She slipped into her seat while grumbling, “How will I practice if you don’t let me drive?”

“You don’t need practice if I’m driving.” He leaned in and clicked her seat belt in place, something he did all the time which she loved. It made her feel cherished far more than words ever could. When he had her buckled in, his hand came to her chin and he angled her face until their eyes met. “You stretched the truth into what you Yanks call a whopper.”

“Well, yes, but—”

“And cost me over a two thousand dollars in repairs.”

“Which I offered to pay for,” she reminded him.

“I got read the riot act by my mechanic,” he exclaimed, his usually even tone rising in pitch.

She glared about that one. “That man is a misogynist who would prefer all women ride in the back seat or take the bus.”

“Mari,” he sighed, the force enough to part her hair. “You got a ticket for reckless driving. Was the female state trooper who wrote it a misogynist, too?”

“They knocked it down to simple speeding after I took that class,” she shot back.

His fingers tightened in warning. “That doesn’t alter the fact you were going close to 100 mph in an unfamiliar car.”

“I wanted to see what it could do. Why do they make the speedometer go so high if you aren’t supposed to test it?”

“Nom de Dieu, woman.” His frustration was such that he would have thrown up his hands and started pacing if he wasn’t still bent over in her face. “It registers 190 kilometers per hour, which is the equivalent of 120 miles per hour, but that doesn’t mean you can or should go anywhere near that fast on a public interstate.”

“I know that, sir,” she said in a placating tone as she smoothed and straightened his collar. “But I hadn’t passed a car in forever, so I opened it up to see what it would do. Haven’t you ever done that?”

“During a test drive on a closed track, not on eastbound I-10. And this is getting us nowhere. Stick to your Lexus,” he growled as he stood then slammed the door and came around.

“You know I’m teasing, right?” she asked when he got behind the wheel.

There was a challenge in the green eyes that met hers. “I do. But I’m surprised with a club date tonight and after I busted your sweet ass for it already, that you’d bring it up again. Are you aiming for more of the same?”

“Yes.”

He barked with laughter. “I should have known.”

She smiled softly as she watched his face transform from handsome to gorgeous with his restored good humor. Then she fessed up.

“To be truthful, when the trooper told me how fast I was going, it scared me. I never want to do that again. So even though I’ve done the time for the crime, and promise to go slower, the answer is no, I’m not aiming for more of the same. Different might be nice though.”

“That I can arrange,” he quipped as he started the engine.

“You’re still not going to let me drive?”

“Hell no.”

Mari crossed her arms over her chest and with a pout and complained, “That isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t always fair. That’s why I’m the dom and you’re the sub, and also why you’re in that seat and I’m behind the wheel.”

She grunted.

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