Page 74 of Gin & Jewels

“Where’d you get that?” I asked, pointing at an old beat-up truck parked in front of the house. When I was in the hospital, he had returned the rental car and had been using his mom’s car.

“Borrowed it from a friend.” He opened the passenger side door.

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to drive today.”

“What?” I halted just before I climbed in.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be on the open road.”

“I can’t drive,” I protested.

“Cass.” He turned to me after placing the bag on the bench seat in the cab. “Yes, you can. We’re going somewhere where you won’t hit anything.”

My palms started to sweat. “I haven’t been behind the wheel since I was in driver’s ed.”

“So, you knowhowto drive?”

“Yes,” I stated in a hurry, hoping he would let that settle it.

“Then you’re good to go.”

“Please don’t make me do this,” I begged.

He bent slightly so he was looking directly into my eyes. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to, but I’m telling you that youcando this. Think of the millions of people who drive every day.”

“And some crash and die.”

“We’re not going to crash. We’re going to be on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The worst that could happen would be running out of gas, but I filled up the tank, and we’re good to go.”

I stared into his brown eyes, knowing he was right, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared.

“You survived a gunshot, princess. Think about that. You can do this.”

I sighed and whispered, “Okay.”

“Good.” He pressed his lips against mine, and I relaxed. His kisses were always my undoing.

Brad drove us about twenty minutes away from the house. I had no idea if it was closer to or farther away from Nashville, but once he turned onto a dirt road, there was nothing for me to crash into except trees in the distance. He pulled off to the side and cut the engine.

“Ready?”

I looked over at him. “Do I just drive straight?”

“Well, there will be a turn at the end. If you go left, it will loop back around. If you go right, it will take you to a small lake.”

My eyes widened. “A lake?”

“Yeah, that’s where we’re having lunch.”

“Oh?” I beamed. “I’ve never been to a lake.”

“Really?”

“My parents took us to places like Disneyland and Universal Studios when we were kids, and we went to the beach too, but we never went camping or anything like that.”

“We went camping for Gabe’s bachelor party. We can go to the same place. It’s fun.”