Page 30 of The Flirty Forward

“Yeah? He sounds like a smart man. Want to drive?” He waves his keys at me, and I stare at him.

“You’d let me drive? Your C8 Corvette?” When he nods, I stare at him. “This car?”

He laughs. “It’s just a car. Catch.” He tosses his keys to me and walks over to the passenger side and eases into the car. It takes me less than a second to make up my mind. If he’s offering, I’m taking him up on it. I keep my steps slow and steady, even though I want to run over to the car. I climb in, handing him my purse. He grins and takes it. I sit in the driver’s seat, taking it all in. I run my hands over the steering wheel reverently.

“You good over there?” Sebastian asks, humor in his voice.

“Shh,” I tell him. “I’m having a moment, and you’re ruining it.”

“Oh, my bad. Please carry on.”

Everything is made of soft leather. All the accents in the car are the same bright blue as the outside of the car. I run my hands down the console that separates us. “There are so many buttons,” I say as I run my finger down the rounded partition between us that’s lined with buttons.

“I like pushing buttons,” he says from next to me.

“Yeah, you do,” I mutter.

“Know how to start it?” he asks.

I level a look at him even as I put my foot on the brake and push the button to start it. The car comes to life, rumbling beneath me. I can’t help the smile that crosses my face. “Are you sure this is okay?” I ask looking over at him.

“Just as sure as I was when I offered.”

I put my seatbelt on and look over at him with a mischievous grin. “Better hold on.” Before I pull out, I reach down and push the button to move the seat forward slightly. Next, I look in the rearview mirror and tip it forwards slightly.

“Are you going to readjust everything in my car?” he asks, sounding pained.

“Nope. That one was strictly to make sure I look good.”

“You need to look good to drive?” he asks.

“Yep.” I level a look at him.

“For me?” he asks with a big grin.

“Nope. For any hot guys that see me when I’m driving.”

“You know what, I think I changed my mind.”

“Hang on,” I tell him. I push the button for reverse, still amazed that it’s a button. As soon as we’re on the street, I push the button for drive and give it some gas. I can’t help the smile on my face at the power beneath my hands.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” Sebastian asks.

“Nope.”

He laughs. “Take a right up ahead, Danica,” he says.

I smile. “I’m not even going to take offense to a compliment like that,” I tell him. “Do we need to go on the highway? Please tell me we do.”

I can see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. “No, we don’t need to. But for you,” he gives a dramatic sigh.

I grin and head toward the highway. I can’t wait to see what the get-up-and-go on this is. A few minutes later, I accelerate, pushing the pedal to the floor, just for a few seconds. I just want to feel the horse-power. All too soon, he directs me to take an exit; and then we’re navigating through town. It’s not long before we pull up in front of a beautiful home with a wrap-around porch that I’m instantly in love with. I pull behind the other cars on the driveway and shut it down. “That was amazing. Thank you!” I turn to Sebastian with a huge grin on my face. He stares at me. “What?” I ask, suddenly self-conscious.

“That’s what it takes? Letting you drive my car?”

I grin and hold out the keys to him. As soon as he reaches for them, I yank them away and climb out of the car. I walk quickly towards the front steps. He catches me at the top of the steps. He grabs my arm and whirls me around, being gentle with me. “I’ll take those,” he says, reaching forward. I keep them behind my back. There’s no way I’m surrendering them that easy; I want to drive again later.

“Nope. You gave them to me; I’m driving home.” I turn around to knock on the door and shove them into the front pocket of my jeans. Sebastian shocks me by shoving his hand into my pocket, trying to snag his keys. I whirl on him, shrieking. But his hand is still in my pocket, so when I turn, it puts us in a very awkward, tangled position. It’s upon this unique position that the front door opens.

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