She sucked in a sharp breath. Then she turned, her hands shaking as she unlocked the inner door that led through into the garage. He could hear her feet hitting the concrete. No leisurely stroll. She was running.
No other woman could ever have proved how much she loved him by running in the opposite direction, he thought. But before she got what she wanted, there was one more thing he needed to do. He shoved a hand into his pocket, pulled out one of the bags of sweets he’d bought in the newsagent’s. The top ripped easily, and he tipped the whole lot out into the palm of his hand until he found what he wanted. A yellow sweetie ring with a disturbingly red jelly gemstone. The corners of his mouth turned up.
Who’d have thought having a business partner could be so much fun?
Epilogue
‘Dear Ella’, Nic began, smoothing the paper flat with her hand. ‘Didn’t want to wake you, but we found a 1957 baby pink T Bird for sale on the internet and we’re going to take a look at it. It’s somewhere in Redwood City, hope we don’t get lost! After that, Sebastian’s promised to take me to see that tattoo artist Adam recommended. If I lose my wedding ring one more time I think he’ll ban me from working — at least this way I’ll always know where it is. Love, Nic.’
She grinned as Sebastian leaned in and nuzzled her neck then pressed a to-go mug of coffee into her hand. They’d spent a fantastic ten days in California, hanging out at the beach with Ella and Adam, sightseeing, generally soaking up the sun and the atmosphere. A couple more days and they’d be heading back to Cornwall for a few weeks. Then on to France for some pre-season testing. Sebastian might not be racing any more, but his experience and knowledge made him a highly sought after test driver, and Nic never turned down the chance to mess with an engine at the developmental stages.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
‘Sure,’ she said, half rising from her seat. ‘No, hang on. Just one more thing.’ She picked up the pen. ‘P.S’, she added, ‘did you get the email from the organisers of Misses and Motors? They’re dropping the Misses this year. From now on, it’s just going to be Motors. Sebastian is pretty unhappy about it. He was hoping they’d take his suggestion on board and make it Men and Motors. No chance!’
Setting down the pen, Nic stuck the note on the fridge with a Cinderella magnet, then glanced up at the clock. Time to go. Outside, sunshine was already pouring down as Sebastian revved up the Harley they’d hired for the holiday. She settled herself in behind him and wrapped her arms round his waist. ‘Truth or dare,’ she yelled over the roar of the engine.
Sebastian slowly turned his head and glanced back over his shoulder. He grinned. ‘Either way,’ he said, ‘you win.’
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ISBN: 978-0-85799-070-9
Title: She Who Dares
Copyright © 2013 by Jane O’Reilly
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. NSW, Australia, 2067.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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