Page 5 of Kissing Danger

Before I could respond, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the bench. Although the room was just as crowded as before, Nathan apparently had a magical ability to make people move out of his way through his sheer presence alone. The crowd seemed to just part around him even though he didn’t say a word. With little effort, he brought me to a door that led out of the banquet hall.

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Kiki among the crowd for a brief moment. Guilt gnawed at my stomach. I shouldn’t just abandon her without a word. She’d be furious.Yet, I didn’t have the heart to pull my hand out of Nathan’s strong grip and I left the room with him.

If what Nathan said was true and he really was looking to hire a designer, and I managed to land the job, then surely Kiki would forgive me.

Beyond the banquet hall, the rest of the museum was practically empty. Its halls looked empty without guests to marvel at its displays, and the minimal lighting created a strange assortment of shadows that made the place look uninviting overall.

Just as Nathan had promised, on the far side of the museum there was a small racetrack where people could test drive some of the rare and classic cars. He had talked about convincing the staff to open it for us like the idea had just occurred to him, but he must have spoken to the museum staff earlier because they were already prepared when we got there.

“Any particular one you want to try?” he asked, indicating the line of cars parked beside the track.

Looking at the selection, I didn’t have to think long as a cherry red frame caught my eye. “The Aston Martin would be fun,” I said. “But I don’t know how to drive a manual.”

Nathan was already heading toward the Aston Martin before I’d even finished my sentence. He held the passenger door open for me. “Don’t worry. I do.”

Once inside and buckled in, the staff handed us the keys. The interior of the car looked like... well, it looked like a car. In the end, most modern cars looked basically the same on the inside. However, the quality of the materials they were made from was vastly different. I could tell how expensive the car was just by the butter soft texture of its leather seats.

“Do you want to learn?” Nathan suddenly asked.

“What?”

“How to drive a stick shift car. Do you want to learn?”

“Oh, um...” I glanced down nervously at the third pedal on the floor by his feet. “I guess.”

“Don’t worry about the pedals,” he said as he grabbed my hand. “I can’t really show you that from here. Let’s just start with the different gears.”

He placed my hand on the gear shifter, then pressed his own hand overtop of mine so we were both holding onto the stick.

“To get started, we need to first put it in neutral.”

Squeezing my hand, he guided me to move the stick into the proper position. Then he turned the ignition, so the engine started rumbling.

“Then, to get going, you need to shift it into first gear.”

Again, he squeezed my hand against the stick and moved it into the right position. With a few presses of the pedals on the floor, the car started moving, yet I didn’t even glance out of the window, too distracted by the sight and feel of his hand controlling mine.

This pattern continued every time the car needed to switch gears, but even when the stick shifter wasn’t needed, he still kept my hand trapped in place.

After one slower lap around the track, we started going faster until we were flying around each corner. Centripetal force pressed me back against my seat, like a hundred hands werepinning me down, and the car’s engine purred gently beneath me.

We took the next turn faster than any before, and Nathan squeezed my hand against the stick tight enough that the leather handle ground into my palm.

I gasped. Hands weren’t supposed to be an erogenous zone, but something about the heat and strength of his grip trapping my hand in place lit up every nerve in my body. Neither of us said a word as the atmosphere grew heavy between us. The lighting in the car was dim, shrouding everything in half shadow. Most of Nathan’s expression was hidden as he watched the track, never once looking at me, but there was a spark in his expression that let me know he was acutely aware of the effect he was having on me.

We took the next turn just as fast, and he squeezed my hand again. I nearly moaned as I squirmed in my seat. Somehow, it would have been less intimate if he’d just put my hand on his dick. This oddly sensual yet innocent touch was driving me up the wall in a way I didn’t know was possible.

CHAPTER 3

Deacon

I never lookedat my watch, so I had no idea how long we stayed in that car. By the end of it, as Nathan pulled the car back into its parking spot, I was biting my lip to keep myself under control. I was not going to be a cliché blushing virgin who came just from having their hand held. I wasn’t even a virgin. Sure, I’d never gone quite...thatfar, but I’d certainly done enough other things that the title of virgin no longer applied to me.

The car came to a stop, and I tried desperately to calm my racing heart.

“Give me your phone.”

I stared at Nathan dumbly for a moment, not comprehending the sudden demand.

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