Page 37 of Wicked Bite
“I thought we might have a bit of an adventure today.” His accent was light and playful, like at any moment he was going to be like, Psych, you suck and I’m out. Even being around him for two minutes made his mood infectious.
“Oh, adventures are the best form of entertainment.”
He turned and motioned to a dark, sleek-looking BMW 840i sitting on the curb. The windows were tinted nearly black, and I could tell the car was a driving machine. “Then let us have one for the day.”
“Are you after my days?” We walked down the stairs and stopped at the car, and he opened the door for me. I dropped into the deep seats that seemed to hug my every curve. They were already warm, and a steady stream of heat blew on my feet. The dash was lit up like a rocket ship. Even the gear shift glowed.
“Nights, too.” He winked and closed the door as soon as I was seated.
I chuckled. “Greedy.”
He was in the driver’s seat within seconds, pulling his seatbelt on. “Greed is just another word for allowed to have some fun.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “I didn’t think one of the seven deadly sins should be a guideline for fun?”
He threw his head back and laughed as he pulled away from the curb. “Eh, they’re more like suggestions, if you ask me.”
“Kind of like the yellow light you’re about to go through?” I pointed to the traffic light hanging in front of us.
“It’s not red, is it?” He didn’t take his eyes off me.
I dared to glanced away from him. “No.”
He pushed the accelerator and the car surged forward, and I sank into the seats. Dark slush splashed up around the tires, and he didn’t even blink. He motioned to the open street before us. “See, just a suggestion.”
“Do you always live like this?” I motioned to the car and the world around us. Grayson treated it all like a playground. Like every day was made for fun. Yet, deep down, there was something behind his eyes. Something serious lingered behind those mahogany depths.
Shrug. “Sometimes I work.”
“Work hard, play harder?” I barely observed that world speeding by us. I didn’t pay attention to how fast we drove or where we were going. It was just me and him in this tiny space together with all the time in the world ahead of us. And I wanted to know him, to know everything he could ever want to tell me.
“Any time you want it harder all you have to do is ask.” He gave me a sideways glance that was half-playful, half-serious. He turned the wheel, guiding the car down another street.
I chuckled. “Oh, you don’t have to worry. I’ll tell you exactly what I want when I want it.”
“Direct.” He pulled onto a highway. “I like that.”
“What else do you like?” I wanted to know more about him. It was all part of the game, wasn’t it? Prying knowledge from each other to decide if we actually liked one another or not. While at the same time appearing to not pry too much while remaining interested. That was dating in a nutshell. But with Grayson there was something different. I felt . . . freer.
“In London, there are nights when it gets so cold, all you can do is hunker in and listen to the rain next to the fire. Perhaps with a good book. But also, it falls like a blanket of silence. Not very different from the snowfall in the winter here. That I like. I prefer nights to days. I prefer to do rather than to do not.”
How intriguing. “So, take a chance?”
“Indeed. On everything. At least once.” He curved off an exit ramp and guided the car easily to a restricted area.
I glanced around and didn’t recognize a single thing. “Where are we?”
“Do you trust me?”
For the first time in forever, I could answer this question honestly. “Yes, I do.”
How odd it felt to say that I well and truly trusted someone. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to, but for some reason it came so easily with Grayson. Like, he didn’t go through my walls—he just danced right around them. When, in reality, I wanted him to get beyond my walls. I wanted to trust someone, to have them near and know they were mine and I was theirs. It was a simple way of thinking, and it wasn’t real life, but it’d be beautiful if it could be.
He waved to the guard and the gate slid to the side. We pulled through a thick fence. The car glided forward until we reached a tarmac. A lone private jet stood waiting with the door open and the stairs lowered for passengers. I sat forward, looking around at the hangar and the bright lights of the airport. “Are we flying somewhere?”
“Would that bother you?” He put the car in park and unbuckled his seatbelt.
I shook my head as threads of excitement nearly had me bouncing in my chair. “So long as we could be back for my shift tomorrow.”
