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“I didn’t know Marshall had a big mouth. He’s always seemed pretty tight-lipped to me.”

“He doesn’t talk about his own stuff. But let him hear something about the family and everyone else in the family will know it in a heartbeat.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I kissed you then.” He opened the passenger-side door for her.

She didn’t get in but stood there. “You didn’t. I kissed you.”

“You’re right. Which is good. You need to show more spontaneous affection.”

She snorted, which made his mouth twitch, but he controlled the smile. She still didn’t get in. “You said I could drive.”

“Once we get out to the country you can.”

Grumbling, she got in.

When he opened the driver’s side door Damaris said, “I’m a good driver.”

“When you’re paying attention,” he agreed. But he’d seen Damaris drive when she was distracted and that was a scary prospect. “You can drive a stick shift, right?”

“Well, duh. I wouldn’t have asked to drive it if I couldn’t. And I do too pay attention.”

He simply raised an eyebrow.

“Most of the time,” she added. “That time wasn’t my fault. It was Dolly Parton’s.”

“So you claimed.” Damaris had run over a curb and crashed into a streetlight on the Square. Nate had happened to be around to witness it.

“If a hundred-pound dog jumped in your lap while you were driving, you’d have been distracted too.”

“You never did say why she did that.”

“Because she saw you. You know how she loves you. But I didn’t tell you because at the time you were being sweet and I didn’t want you to feel bad. So, see, it was your fault as well.”

“In that case I apologize for being on the Square when you were driving past with Dolly Parton in the car.” Having reached his destination he put the car in neutral, put on the parking brake, and got out. “Your turn,” he told Damaris. He knew she was a good driver, but he liked to razz her. Damaris had been driving since she was ten or eleven—tractors, pickups, riding lawn mowers. She’d pulled horse trailers, boats, and farm equipment. Pretty much anything that had wheels Damaris had driven at one time or another. At first he’d doubted her stories but when he saw what she could do pulling a double-wide horse trailer, with horses inside it, he became a believer.

Today, however, she was driving very slowly and carefully. “You can drive the speed limit, you know.”

“I know. I’m getting the feel of it. Once I get out on the highway I’ll drive faster.”

He tried to relax but Iris really was his baby, and he’d never let anyone else drive her. Which just went to show you what a man would do to please a woman he was crazy for.

“Ready?” she asked, pulling onto the straightaway.

“I—” Whatever he’d been about to say was drowned out by the roar of the engine. She was up to speed in seconds. He could see the speedometer and knew she wasn’t going that fast but it seemed like it was faster when he wasn’t in the driver’s seat. Sure, he’d driven it at top speed on the racetrack but that was a whole ‘nuther story. He’d been driving, for one thing.

“This is great,” Damaris said. “What a cool car. Okay if I drive it to the racetrack?”

He’d told her earlier where the racetrack was. What could he say except “Sure.”

Chapter Six

Damaris pulled into the parking lot at the track and put the car in neutral, turned it off and put on the parking brake. Turning to Nate she said, “That was so fun!”

Nate hadn’t said a word. In fact, he looked a little green around the gills. “Oh, come on, Nate. I wasn’t bad.”

“No, you were fine.” He let out a breath. “I wasn’t, though.”

“Apparently not. Hasn’t anyone else ever driven your car?”