Page 60 of All In Good Time

They stepped into the cool night, and Becca wrapped one arm over her chest while the other reached out toward Derek for the keys.

He shook his head. “Hell no. No one drives my baby but me.” His keys jingled as he pulled them out of his pocket and walked to the driver’s side of the car.

“You’re drunk, Derek. I think it’s in your ‘baby’s’ best interest if I do the driving.” She bent her fingers inwards and motioned for him to place the keys in her hand.

He paused, looking between his keys and her hand, then he sighed and gave in without a fight. The keys flew right into her awaiting palm, and he switched spots with her, so she could enter in the driver’s side and he the passenger’s.

“Wait.”

Her hand froze right above the handle of the door, waiting for him to finish his thought.

“Consider this a privilege. You’re the only person who has ever driven her except me.”

“Her?” Becca teased.

He winked and lowered himself into the passenger seat.

There was no hint about where he was guiding her. He could have just told her where, but all he did was give her the directions right before every turn. They arrived downtown a quarter-to-ten, and he told her to pull over to the side of the road in front of a small ice cream parlor with flashing neon lights.

“This is it?” Becca put the car into park and took in the small place. It wasn’t even a real building, just a small hut that you had to walk up to to order.

Derek answered by getting out of the car, and she followed his lead.

“You left a party for some ice cream?”

He ignored her question and walked up to the window, Becca on his heel. The girl behind the counter looked up and perked up when she saw Derek there. Most of the time, bored part-time employees would be annoyed by customers showing up ten minutes before close, but she grinned at Derek and leaned both elbows on the counter to get closer. “Hi there. What can I get for you?”

The menu was huge, full of thirty or so different flavors—some of which sounded absolutely bizarre.

“What do you want?” Derek wasn’t looking at the board. He was looking at Becca as she observed the insane amount of options. “My treat.”

Two sets of eyes were on her, waiting for her to answer. After a few more moments of rushing to decide, she settled on something familiar and easy. “I’ll have chocolate.”

“Two chocolates—with the waffle cone.” He pulled a bill out of his wallet and pushed it across the counter.

The girl beamed up at him and scooped their orders before handing them both to Derek. Becca rolled her eyes at the way the girl’s fingers lingered over his in the transaction. She reached into the register, but Derek shook his head and winked. “Keep the change.”

Ice cream wasn’t exactly the first treat Becca would pick on a chilly night at the end of March, but she accepted when Derek ignored the girl’s coquettish grin and placed the cone into her hand. She licked at the sides of the treat, catching parts that were melting faster than she could keep up with.

They could have sat on the circular tables stationed outside the ice cream hut, but the heat of the car sounded much better. Becca took her spot in the driver’s seat, while Derek slipped into the passenger’s again, and they sat in the comfort of the locked and heated car, licking at their dessert. In the background, Derek nodded along to the Metallica playing through his stereo.

While Becca couldn’t bear the thought of biting directly into the freezing treat, Derek ate like he was starving. She cringed.

“How can you do that? Doesn’t it hurt?” She shivered thinking about the way the ice felt on her teeth.

He shrugged, already nearing the top of the waffle cone. It crunched as he took a bite. “It tastes too amazing to care.” He leaned his head back against the headrest and sighed, content.

Shaking her head, Becca moved slower. The ice cream was melting too fast, coating her hands in sticky chocolate. “Dammit. It’s getting everywhere.” Becca leaned over the middle console trying to search for some napkins. The motion made her hair settle on the top of her cone, and she winced. “It’s in my hair.”

Derek paused his eating and placed his cone in a cup holder to hold it while he took over Becca’s job and rummaged through the console. She licked at her cone and hands and waited. When he looked up, there were no napkins in his hand, only a light blue hair tie.

“What are you doing with that?”

“Hold still,” he instructed, bringing his right hand up, brushing away the hair in her face until it was back behind her ears.

Becca stopped moving, becoming acutely aware of the gentle brush of his hands as he guided all of her hair over her shoulders and turned her so she was facing away from him. Behind her back, Derek’s hands moved quickly and pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail, twisting the hair tie until almost all the strands of her hair were secured away from her ice cream.

Becca’s hand came up and touched the ponytail with a few clean, tentative fingers. She laughed. “Did you just use another girl’s hair tie to put my hair up?”

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