Page 12 of The Playboy and the Waitress

I open it up, only to see my yellow glow monster all cleaned up sitting on a new set of tires. Another incoming picture shows someone leaning over her, installing a new windshield. I take a deep breath and I swear I feel my whole body relax. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for all of this, especially if Dage didn’t notify my insurance, but at least she wasn’t destroyed.

I send back a dancing smiling face. The little dots twinkle on the side, and I wait for him to write me back.

“See you at four.”

I update his contact info on my phone to Playboy and wash my hands before I walk back out onto the floor.Damn, it’s going to be a long three hours, I think… and it is. The whole day drags and I’m relieved to see on the new schedule that I have the next few days off. I must have done a better acting job with my customers than I did with Dage this morning as my tips are better than usual. That or they were taking pity on my swollen eyes.

I haven’t heard another word from Dage and, as tempted as I might be, I don’t text him either. My shift is over, and I have everything cleaned up, but I'm dreading heading to that back door.What if he isn’t here?

I roll my apron up in my hand and open the door… my heart hits my throat. Leaning against my car, twirling my unicorn keys on his finger, is Dage. He does the whole Vanna White thing as he walks around the car.

I rush down the stairs and leap into his arms, hugging him tightly. His laughter and surprise at my reaction can be heard across the parking lot. “I know… you have spent the whole day worried about the old girl, but all this time she was just out getting pampered. She now has four new tires, she has been lined up, the oil has been changed, and she was cleaned inside and out. Oh, he also told me to tell you that he fixed the air conditioner. There were a few small scratches that had to be buffed out, but for the most part, she is ready to roll. I will admit I enjoyed driving her more than I thought I would. I love that purr of hers and she does handle like a dream to be her age. I will never look at an older woman the same now.”

I push away from him and walk around the car. “OMG, Dage I don’t know what to say. Thank you isn’t a big enough word. I was expecting all of this to take days not hours. How did you pull this off?”

“I got connections.”

“That’s an understatement.” I run my hand across her roof. “I'm scared to ask how much this all cost.”

“It’s taken care of, and before you get all huffy on me, I contacted your insurance, and my guy is taking care of the rest of it. I’m just happy everything was cosmetic, and they didn’t do any major damage. But now, I need you to do me a favor. I need a ride, and I'm hungry.”

“I think considering all you have done today. I might be able to work you in my schedule. But only if you hand over the keys, my glow monster doesn’t usually like boys. You must have sweet-talked her into letting you under the wheel.”

“Nah, I had the old girl purring in minutes, you just gotta show her some love.”

I roll my eyes as we get in the car. “Where we headed?”

“I left my car at the shop. I figured you would be happy to see yours back in one piece.”

“Thank you so much. I have messed your whole life up these last few weeks it seems.”

“We will just have to agree to disagree on that one, Jenna. The only thing you have done is show me something I didn’t know I was missing.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I change the subject. “I'm not exactly dressed for a restaurant. But I have the stuff to fix pizza at the house if you wanna come out after we pick up your car.”

“You mean like a homemade pizza.”

He looked confused, “Or we can order something… if you don’t like stuff like that.”

“No, actually that sounds great. I don’t think I have ever had a homemade pizza.”

“Where have you been, hiding under a rock? We have to fix this misfortune immediately. You are in for a treat.” I pull up to his car in what seemed like seconds, I must have been driving on autopilot. “Do you remember your way to the house?”

“I’ll be on your ass the whole way.”

“Will you now? Then challenge accepted.”

He is grinning all the way to his car. I wait until I hear his start up before I pull off. I watch him pull in behind me through the rearview mirror. “Let’s see what you got, Playboy.”

I shift down and punch it; my car fishtails for a second before I hear the tires bark as they grab the pavement. He is right on my ass as we fly through traffic and onto the bridge. I slow down, anticipating the traffic light, but the moment I see it turn green, the race is on. For the next twenty miles, we play on the road like we are the only ones on it. Passing each other back and forth. His car can outmaneuver mine ten to one, but sometimes it’s not about the car, it’s the driver. And since I know these roads like the back of my hand, he doesn’t have a chance. If anyone would have told me this morning that this afternoon I would have a smile so big on my face that my jaws were hurting, I would have called them a liar.

The road flies by as we approach the last couple of curves before my driveway. I anticipate his next move because I know he is going to try and pass me in this curve. Mainly because I would. I take the curve wide, my backend sliding sideways on the loose gravels in the road. I grab a lower gear and power through it just like dad taught me. Laughing the whole time as I watch him glide effortlessly from one side of the road to the other as he tries to pass me. I haven’t had this much fun in years.

I slow down as we turn into my driveway, trying not to dust his car too badly behind me. When I pull up to the house I open the car door and jump around. “Whoohoo, I'm the winner!”

He parks his car next to mine and gets out laughing. “Ok, that was completely unfair, and I request a rematch. This time on my turf.”

“You're just being a sore loser, and you can’t race on city streets like you can in the country, Playboy, so suck it up. You could have taken me a few times back there if you’d really wanted to.”

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