“I know I have a bit of a lead foot,” Patti explained, trying to keep her patience. She was verging on being offended. “But I’m an excellent driver. I’ve never been in an accident, never even came close. I know how to handle myself on the road.”

Jon’s thumb traced small circles on her skin. It felt so good, giving her tingles everywhere. “I never said you weren’t. In fact, I can see that you’re a good driver, but there’s always a first time for everything.” He turned his soft blue eyes on her. “Let’s just slow down, okay?”

Patti glanced from the road to him and back again, and frowned as her mind was carried away. “Was that supposed to be a pun? Are you saying we’re moving too fast?” She mentally counted off all of their dates and, since this was only their second one, concluded that it was impossible. They’d barely spent enough time together to get to know one another let alone need to dial it down a notch.

“It’s not a pun. I’m strictly talking about the car.”

Patti felt her stubborn streak kick in. While a part of her wanted to slow down to please him, another part shouted at her not to give in to him. She’d always hated being told what to do, and although she recognized that Jon wasn’t being pushy in any way, her knee-jerk reaction to please him made her cringe. She’d spent far too much of her life catering to men, so why should she concede now?

“Why is this so important to you,” she questioned, weaving in and out of traffic. “Don’t you trust me?”

Jon’s free hand came up to grip the door handle, the only physical sign that he was bothered by her driving. “I trust you fine; I just don’t think we need to break any laws to shave a few minutes off our drive time.”

“Would you prefer if I had let you drive?” Patti’s teeth grit together. She saw a small opening in the next lane. It was rush hour and traffic was wall to wall. The space would close up in a heartbeat. While she could have waited it out in favor of something that wasn’t on the verge of qualifying as death-defying, she felt the need to prove to Jon that she possessed the skills to make that leap…and maybe she wanted to see just how much “trust” he really had in her, too.

Pressing the gas pedal, the car shot forward. The bumper came so close to the car in front of them that the hood concealed the other car’s license plate. Beside them, the cars moved at nearly the same pace, pushing forward slightly and then retreating, shrinking and widening the gap she was aiming for.

“What are you doing?” Jon’s face lined with worry.

Flipping on her blinker, Patti whipped into the next lane with barely a margin of error to account for. She sucked in a breath, feeling her heart gallop in her chest as the spike of adrenalin rushed through her veins.

“Jesus Christ!” Jon shouted. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

The proud smile Patti wore died instantly. The deep grooves of anger coupled with the dark look on his face made Patti’s stomach clench painfully. She let her foot up off the pedal. Cars zoomed by them, switching lanes as though they were going slow enough to bring traffic to a standstill. She knew how they felt. Just then, she felt like they were crawling down the highway, but the pit that had opened up in her stomach knocked the wind out of her, and she didn’t think she could keep up her normal pace even if she wanted to.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into the pervading silence. Humiliation, bitter and strong, coated her insides. She’d never expected him to react so strong. Driving had always been her strong suit. Her dad taught her everything she knew. Now, that strength felt more like a weakness. It didn’t help that Jon’s hand had long ago left her, leaving her feeling bereft.

With one hand firmly gripping the wheel, she wrapped her arm around her waist. Impending tears burned the back of her throat and she swallowed convulsively. Stupid hormones. Sometimes it really sucked being a girl.

Jon didn’t speak right away, but when he did, he surprised her. “No, I’m sorry.” He released a long-suffering sigh and dragged his hands down his face. “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

Patti shook her head. “No, I should have been more considerate. I might like driving fast, but that doesn’t mean everyone else does. I should have listened.”

Returning his hand to her leg, Jon squeezed. “No, really. When I say it wasn’t your fault, I mean it. It’s just me dumping my old hang-ups on you, and it won’t happen again.” Lifting his arm, he wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and kneaded the muscles. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

His soft voice coupled with his firm touch melted Patti’s resolve, and she leaned into him. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s really not, and like I said, it won’t happen again.”

“Okay.” Carefully shifting into the next lane, Patti took their exit.

“Do you still want to hang out with me?”

Pulling to a stop at a red light, Patti looked over at him. Jon sat there looking sheepish as ever. She smiled, and then sighed dramatically. “Well, since I’ve already cleared my schedule, I guess I have nothing better to do.”

“Ouch. Has anyone ever told you that you’re brutal?” he joked.

“Can’t say that they have.” But they’d called her worse.

Jon blew out a breath. “What do you say to picking up a movie or something? We can go back to my place, or yours, if you prefer. I’ll even whip you up some of my world-famous spaghetti.”

“Can spaghetti be famous?” Patti grinned.

Jon winked at her. “World famous, and when I make it, it can.”

Although Patti’s head was still reeling from their sudden shift from happy to mad to happy again, she knew that she wasn’t ready to call an end to their day. Like her, she got the impression that Jon was a passionate man, which made for passionate responses. It wasn’t the end of the world that they’d had a little meeting of the minds, and aside from her father, he was the only man who’d ever taken the time to admit when he was wrong. When it came down to it, that’s what sold her. Jon had strength of character that didn’t come along often, and she wanted more time to explore what he had to offer before she wrote him off.

Stretching her arm out, she rested her hand on his thigh and rubbed it suggestively. “Then I can’t wait to taste it.”

12

Jon felt like a total ass.

After they’d hit the video store and picked up a comedy from the new releases, Patti had handed over the keys and told him to drive. After what had happened, he’d refused the offer, but she claimed that she was tired and since he knew the way back to his house better than she did, it made more sense.

He knew the real reason behind her wanting him to drive, but instead of causing another argument, he’d let it go and got behind the wheel.

Despite the obvious tension that sat between them, he had to admit it felt great to drive a car of its caliber again. He wasn’t sure how much Patti knew about cars—although considering that he’d found her underneath one when he’d gone to pick her up for their first date, he suspected she knew plenty—and he wondered if she understood just how much power she was packing under the hood.

Without a doubt, it was enough to give any one of those cars at the raceway a run for their money.

On the television, Jason Bateman hit Melissa McCarthy in the head with a Panini maker. It should have been funny, but neither one of them were laughing.

Looking over, Jon observed Patti’s stiff demeanor. An entire cushion separated them. It might as well have been an island. Her hands sat clasped in her lap, her legs pinned together at the knee. She hadn’t moved for the last hour, not even to scratch her nose.

She looked uncomfortable.

Extending his arm across the back of the couch, he twisted his body so it angled toward hers. Patti glanced over, smiled a little, and then returned to the movie.

Jon wasn’t naïve. He knew she was avoiding him, and he knew it was his fault. He’d fucked everything up. What should have been a nice day had gone down the shitter the moment he decided to open his trap and critique her driving ability.

He needed to get over himself. She couldn’t have known the reasoning behind his outburst, only that he was yelling at her, and he knew he’d hurt her. There wasn’t a good enough excuse for his behavior. It was reprehensible and he wouldn’t blame her if she walked out the door tonight and never looked back, but that was the last thing he wanted her to do.

From the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew he wanted to know her better. From the way she looked to the way she carried herself, she was nothing like any of the women he’d been keeping company with for the last several years. She breathed life into something inside of him he’d thought died long ago. She was like a ray of sunshine in his cloudy world, giving him warmth and offering hope of brighter days ahead. He wasn’t ready to let her walk out of his life just yet.

He wanted to make it up to her, but he needed to find a way to bridge the gap first, and the best way to do that was for both of them to let off a little steam.

* * *

Patti tried to relax and watch the movie, but she just wasn’t feeling it. Her mind was preoccupied with the fight she’d had with Jon earlier. The more she combed over it, the sadder she became. How had everything gone so wrong so fast?

Less than a month since her break-up with Kyle and already she had managed to forge a relationship and burn it to the ground. That had to be a new record somewhere.

With a mental kick, she reminded herself that if she could find some way to stop being such a hardhead, she might actually find a relationship that would stick one day. Unfortunately, she wasn’t holding out much hope for this one. As determined as she was to hold on to it a little more than an hour ago, once they reached his condo, all of her hope had dashed right out the door.