Page 23 of Jaz
“She didn’t say she drove a classic too.”
“It’s pretty.”
Mandi’s classic was a Ford Torino, ’69 or ’70. Could even be a ’71. Man, he hadn’t seen one in such pristine condition in years. She said her brothers had a restoration shop. If they did the work on her car, they’d done a fucking awesome job. Light blue that it was almost white body with a midnight blue roof.
He pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked the car. The unblemished interior matched the roof with wood accents. The retro dash gleamed and the only modern part of the car was the stereo system.
He reached in to slide the seat back, then got behind the wheel. Damn. He wanted to pop the hood to take a look, but he’d do that later. At the moment, he was more tempted to get back to the owner of the car.
“You sure you don’t want me to drive her car back to her place?”
“Yeah. I’ll trust you not to kill mine on the way.”
“I have excellent driving skills.”
“Uh-huh. Remind me to ask Mac about that.”
“Screw you.”
“Not on your life. Your girl over there, though …”
“No way. Don’t even let her hear you suggest such a thing or she’ll be begging me to take her someplace she can watch men get it on. No thanks.”
“She still wearing you out?”
“Hell. Every chance she gets. Can’t get her off me. She’s turned into a damn nympho.”
“Don’t sound like you’re tired of it either.”
“Fuck no.”
Dallon walked away, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Jaz closed the car door and cranked the engine, which hummed to life. He pulled on the old-time gearshift and put the Torino in reverse. It only took a little gas to get it moving, and once he pulled it out onto the street, it drove like a wet dream.
Then he heard the screeching tires behind him. “Shit.”
* * * * *
Mandi stretched and rolled over. She slid her hand to the other side of the bed, only to come up empty.
“Jaz?” she called out. No answer came back to her. She listened, but heard nothing. No television, no stereo. She didn’t smell food or coffee.
Lifting her head, she moved the pillow he’d slept on out of the way and looked at the clock. “Shit.” It was well after three in the afternoon. She’d slept the damn day away.
With a grumpy sigh, she crawled across the mattress, winced and got out of bed. A hot shower would ease the aches in all the places she wasn’t used to having aches. She hadn’t had an all-night sex fest in more years than she cared to think about. And her previous lovers weren’t the let's go all night and sleep all day kind, either. No, they were fun and some were quite creative, but they were usually asleep hours and hours before dawn. And … Wait. She looked down at the bed. How had she gotten there? She turned around in a circle, taking in the room, trying to jog her memory.
She’d gotten out of bed and gone to make coffee earlier. She didn’t remember drinking the coffee or going back to sleep, so how …
“Dammit.” She stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door in frustration. Jaz must have put her back in bed. She’d fallen asleep at the friggin’ counter. What a delightful date she was. Give her the best sex of her life, a sweet tattoo she was in love with, and this was how she thanked him?
She turned on the water, and as she waited for it to heat up, she turned and looked over her shoulder at the ink. The candle was so perfect, so very pretty and delicate. He’d added a swirl, and the fancy script the date and his name were in was so …
She was gonna fall so hard for him. There was no way to avoid it. He’d turned out to be even more amazing than she’d ever dreamed.
Stepping over the edge of the tub, she was careful not to get the tattoo wet as she washed the other parts of her body. She’d have to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. After she was all clean and shiny and fresh, she would need to try to find Jaz. She owed him an apology for being so lazy when he’d planned to spend the entire day with her.
She shut the water off and pulled the curtain back. “Coffee,” she groaned. She took a deep breath. It was close, fresh and … She stepped out, grabbed a towel to hold in front of her body and left the bathroom. She came to halt with a smile crossing her lips. Jaz sat on the edge of her bed, holding a cup of her very best friend in the world save for Jackie … Coffee.
“I don’t know how you take it,” he said, nodding to the cup.
