The answer is a resounding no. At least not in his presence.
Hugh goes to unbuckle his seatbelt. Without thinking, I latch onto his forearm with both of my hands. “Don’t make me go inside and wait for the girl at the counter to give me an answer. Just give me the bad news here and now.”
“Well,” he says, his perfect teeth showing through an embarrassed smile. “It wasn’t the worst test I’ve been on. I mean, at least you didn’t hit a dog.” My hands go to cover my mouth now as I’m gasping at this thought. “But you did commit a number of violations, any of which is grounds for immediate failure.”
My head slumps and I mutter, “I understand.”
He doesn’t get out of the car immediately. Instead, he says, “Look, here’s what I can do. I’ll schedule you in for another test tomorrow morning. In the meantime, practice your turns and parking. Also, you need to check the mirrors more. Stop looking over at me for confirmation that you’re driving well. Think you can do that?”
A breath of utter relief. “And you’ll be my instructor again?”
“That’s right.”
Maybe it’s the fact that he’s not the stereotypical hard-assed, middle-aged instructor I’ve seen in movies. Maybe it’s his amazing blue eyes watching me from the passenger seat. Or maybe it’s just that he’s exactly my type in a new town where I’m ready for a change. But for the first time in my life, I’m actually looking forward to a test.
Chapter 2
Hugh
“We’ve had this planned all month,” Jon says. He takes a swig of his Blue Moon beer and sets it back on the bar. “All weekend at Sturgis. Get out of town, check out some bikes, meet some ladies.”
“I’ll meet you there tomorrow night,” I say. “If I leave at lunch, I can be there by seven at the latest.”
“Just in time for the partying.” He turns to me on the stool he sits on every night. These seats might as well have our names on them. “I thought you were going to tell that asshole of a boss to shove it if he asked you to work another Saturday. What changed? Why am I going to be getting the bikes off the trailer by myself tomorrow?”
For a moment I think of laying the blame on my boss. It would be so easy. A prefabricated excuse ready to be used. The only problem is that Jon will know I’m lying. I’m not the sweet talker he is, and he can smell bullshit a mile away. “There’s this girl…” That’s all I manage to get out.
“Goddammit, a girl? Like a flesh and blood female of the human persuasion? You’re not shitting me, are you?” Jon finishes off his bottle and calls Lucy the bartender over to ask for a second. When she pops the top and hands it to him, he says, “Don’t leave just yet, Lucy. You wouldn’t want to miss the story about our boy Hugh here finally finding a girl.”
“It’s not like that. She’s a student. We just met today.”
“A student?” Jon asks with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t take you for that sort.”
“Not that kind of student. She’s our age. I’m giving her a re-test tomorrow.”
“A re-test?” Lucy asks. She’s born and raised in our town humbly named Branchville. A real woman of the earth. Lucy’s in her mid thirties, but all her sunbathing at the Florida beach has left her brown and looking ten years older than she is. She has that look of having once been someone the boys fought over. Now, she’s the type who isn’t afraid to toss a pitcher of beer over anyone who gets too handsy at the bar. “That means you failed her, right?”
“You failed her?” Jon asks with a hoot of enjoyment at the twist in this story. “You really don’t have even a shred of game, do you?”
“Which is why I agreed to give her a re-test tomorrow.” I finish off my bottle, but wave off Lucy when she goes to open another for me. “I’m heading home a bit early tonight.”
“Need your beauty rest?” Lucy and Jon say almost at the same time. They toast at this coincidence, Lucy with the unopened bottle she was planning to hand me.
“No, but I do need a break from my nosy-ass friend and a bartender who does more talking than listening.”
The truth is that we’ve all known each other forever. Went to high school together. We know each other’s families and my father always invites Lucy to our yearly family barbecue. I think he’s still holding out some shred of hope. We dated for a whole week in high school but weren’t compatible in any way, shape, or form. Friends we can do, but if I had to live with Lucy, we’d end up killing each other.
As I pay my tab and leave a nice tip, Jon stops me before I can get away. “Who is this mystery woman, by the way?”
“You don’t know her. She’s new to town. Came all the way from New York to work for that new company. What’s it called? Orange—”
“Horizons?” Lucy finishes for me. A strange smile lifts up one side of her lips. She tilts her head as though an impossible thought has just crossed her mind. “The girl you met. Her name doesn’t happen to be Diane?”
“Yeah,” I say, not believing Lucy could possibly have any connection with the lovely creature I met today. I drift back to the bar, lean across it, and say in a rough whisper, “Diane Southerton. Do you know her?”
Lucy smiles and opens that beer for me. After placing it in front of me, she finally says, “Know her? I’m related to her.”
Chapter 3
Diane
The next morning, I wake up far earlier than is necessary for a Saturday. My plans to sleep in and spend the rest of the day unpacking boxes and getting my empty new house in order have been pushed aside for my second driving test. By the time I finish applying make-up and choosing an outfit that’s neither too formal nor too Saturday-loungy, it’s nine, which means I have an hour to get back to the DMV. Fortunately, my assistant said she could drive me this one last time if I promised not to screw up again. She worded it more nicely as my subordinate, but the meaning was clear enough: she was tired of being my on-call chauffeur.
When my phone rings and her name pops up on the screen, a shiver runs down my body. It’s like I’m in a movie and the feel-good music has suddenly come to a halt. She isn’t calling with happy news, that’s for sure.
“Hey Dolly,” I say, still not comfortable calling her by such a country-sounding name. “How’s your morning going?”
“Not so good,” she replies in a hectic tone. In the background I can hear the closing of doors and a child crying. “My daughter woke up with some kind of stomach bug. My husband’s gone all weekend for a work conference, and I don’t trust the babysitter to watch Jenny when she’s running such a high fever. I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly get away right now.”
Hugh’s beautiful eyes form in my mind’s eye. I can’t miss this appointment. I open my mouth, ready to tell Dolly to just bring her daughter with her, but even someone without children knows that’s not exactly possible in this sort of situation. Unless you want to end up covered in vomit. So with a heavy sigh I don’t attempt to hide, I say, “I understand. Hope that everything goes okay with—”
“Into the bucket,” Dolly shouts, her voice directed somewhere else. Then she’s back on the phone, saying, “Sorry, but I have to go. Good luck on your test.”
After the call ends, I’m left looking at my phone until the screen automatically turns off. In its shiny black reflection, I can see my own face staring back. There’s one other person I know in this town, but we haven’t spoken in years. Not since an hour before my wedding that never happened.
I have to look her phone number up in an ancient email. After punching it into my phone, I draw in a deep breath as though I’m preparing to dive into frigid waters. I press ‘Call’. She answers on the fourth ring.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Lucy. It’s Diane,” I say through gritted teeth. I really wish it didn’t have to come down to this, but I’m left with either depending on the undependable Lucy or missing my appointment with Hugh. “I need a favor.”
“I’ve got a shitty hangover, so I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“I need you to drive me to the DMV. And let me borrow your car for the actual test. I need to be there in an hour, so this favor is rather time sensitive.” I’m using the same type of language I might employ in a board meeting. As long as I keep Lucy at a distance, I think I can deal with her.
“No can do. I’ve got my own appointment with the sandman. You’re little rendezvous with Hugh is going to have to—”
“Wait. How do you know Hugh?” I cut across her excuse. “How did you know I was meeting him?”
“Don’t get your perfect little panties in a bunch. I’m not fucking him or anything. I’m just his bartender,” she says groggily. “I know everything about my regulars. Look, I’m really tired so I’m just going to—”
“No,” I say, cutting across her again. My brain is flipping through possible ways I can force her to drive me. I need this to happen. She can’t flake out on me. Not right now. “No, you’re going to drive me there. You want to know why? Because if you don’t, I’ll call up your boss and make him quite the offer. I’ll guarantee him an exclusive contract with Orange Horizons. Every office party we have, every event or night out, will be at his bar. We’ll bring him tens of thousands of dollars through his doors every year.”
“And how does that hurt me?” Lucy asks.
“Because I’ll tell him he only gets this deal if he fires you. If he doesn’t, I’ll warn all of our new employees about the terrible standards of your place. Drive away business. Dry up your little Podunk watering hole.”
“You little bitch,” Lucy says. “You wouldn’t. In fact, you can’t. You don’t even know where I work.”
“You think it’s going to take me long to find out? There can’t be more than three or four bars in this whole town. I’ll just call them each until I find yours. So what’s it going to be?”
The other end is silent save for Lucy’s heavy breathing. I should feel bad for blackmailing her. If it were anyone else I would. But this is Lucy. She deserves every shitty thing that happens to her in life.
“Fine,” she finally says, the word more breath than substance. “But this is it. Don’t think you can call me up and threaten me every time you need a ride or something.”
“Finally we agree on something.”
“Oh,” Lucy says. I can hear something evil in her voice. Some sly brilliance building that she can’t wait to drop on me. “I don’t think it’s the only thing we ever agreed on. We certainly have the same taste in—”
“Be here in fifteen minutes or lose your job,” I blurt out before she can finish. Then I hang up the phone before I burn the bridge I’m only planning to use today. And only because I have no other choice.
Because I would do anything to meet Hugh one more time.
Chapter 4
Hugh
I’m standing outside, just in the shade of the awning at the front of the DMV when Diane arrives. After smiling at her through the windshield, I do a double take when I see the driver who’s brought her here.
“I just can’t seem to shake you, can I?” I say after Lucy parks and steps out. She looks haggard. Even more than usual. Maybe it’s the harsh light of day compared to the shadowy bar that I think of as her natural habitat.
“Just make sure my cousin gets her license this time. I don’t have time to be driving her all over the goddamned town.” She walks past me but stops before going inside. Points to the vending machine and calls out to Diane. “You got a buck I can borrow?”
Diane smiles at me before pulling out some cash and handing it to Lucy. After she buys her soda, she heads inside, leaving Diane and me alone.
“Ready to get down to it?” I ask. The words seem to echo in my head. Did that sound dirty in some way? If it did, Diane doesn’t comment on the accidental innuendo.
“I’m going to be extra careful today,” she promises and moves around to the driver’s side. I get buckled in on the passenger side, kicking aside an array of fast food bags and cups that keep me from even seeing the floorboard. “Just to reiterate, this isn’t my car.”
“No,” I say. “I know this car. Always see it parked behind The Ruby Room where Lucy works.”
She smiles at this and repeats it back to me. “The Ruby Room. That’s where Lucy works?”
“Yeah. It’s just a local watering hole I happen to be a regular at. Not much else to do in this town but meet your friends after work for a beer or three.”
“So, same route we took last time?”
“Same route,” I say and mark off a few boxes on my checklist after she checks her mirrors and brakes. “Just take it easy this time.”
The usual routine is not to talk to a student about anything outside of the test. Small driving tips or questions about why they might have done or not done something. We’re not actually supposed to delve into anything personal. I could actually lose my job over it if I asked something that offended the person, and if that person then lodged a formal complaint.
Something tells me Diane isn’t going to do that though. Besides, it‘s a Saturday, and she’s driving beautifully.
“So you moved into town pretty recently, right?” I ask when we come to a halt at a stop sign. She checks both ways, and then starts off again.
“Last month. Still living out of boxes. Watching too much Netflix. Like you said, not much else to do around here.”
“Must be pretty boring for a city girl like you.” I feel corny talking like this, but around her, the words just fall out of me. I can hear my accent too, like I’m listening in on this conversation as an outsider. I must sound so ridiculous to her.
“Especially without a car,” she says. Her focus is completely on the road, but at this she looks over at me. Her eyes so alive. “Hopefully I’ll be able to go exploring a bit more on weekends after I pass this test.”
“You’re doing just perfect this time, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.” We’re on a main road now, nearly back at the DMV. The suggestion I want to make is stuck in my throat. Once it’s out there, I won’t be able to take it back. And her reply will determine if I see her again after this. I take a deep breath that I hope she doesn’t notice and just blurt it out. “If you’d like sometime, maybe I can—”
I don’t finish the sentence as Diane blows through the final stop sign. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that she looked left and right to be sure we weren’t going to be T-boned, but she hardly slowed down whatsoever.
As she parks back in the DMV parking lot, she hangs her head to the steering wheel. This is a look of defeat I see most days when a student knows they’ve failed. “I’m sorry I wasted your time,” she says. “I didn’t even see that last stop sign.”
It’s funny though. Even though everything about her body language shows signs of defeat, I detect the faintest hint of a smile in her voice. Like she’s struggling to contain laughter during a funeral.
She’s right, though; I can’t pass her. Not after that. But I’m secretly glad she made a fatal mistake. The rest of her driving test was so perfect that it was going to be hard for me to justify failing her. The truth is that I never intended to let her pass today.
It’s not that I’m vindictive or anything like that. I just knew that if she passed, I would probably never see her again. Plenty of people flirt with the driving instructor in the hopes of passing the test. That may be what she’s been doing to me this whole time, but I had to hope that there was a chance. But in order to give my chance better odds, I concocted a plan while falling asleep last night. And now that she has legitimately failed the test, I can set it into action.
“You didn’t waste my time, but I’m afraid I can’t pass you just yet.”
She nods her head into the steering wheel. “I guess I’ll have to take the test again. When can I get another appointment?”
“Unfortunately,” I say, “We aren’t open at all on Sundays, so I can’t help you until Monday.”
Diane opens her mouth to say something. I’m afraid that she’s going to say
that she’ll see me then in that case. Or worse, ask if she can have a different driving instructor the next time. So before she can get a word out, I cut her off.
“But if you’re not busy, I could give you some driving lessons. I don’t have anything going on this weekend. Like you said, there’s not much to do around here.”
Diane finally pops up from her contrite position. Her face is one huge smile. “That sounds great! When can we start?” As soon as she gets this question out, her stomach growls loud enough that I can only guess everyone waiting inside heard it too. “Sorry,” she says. “I was too nervous to eat breakfast this morning.”
“Then how about this? I’ll drive you to this fantastic barbecue place—best in the whole state—and then I’ll pass the wheel to you for the rest of the day. Deal?”
Chapter 5
Diane
Not even caring that barbecue sauce stains the lower half of my face, I squeal for probably the hundredth time through my full mouth, “This is amazing!”
“I told you it was good,” Hugh says. He’s already finished his sandwich and ordered a slice of key lime pie.
Today has gone even better than I could have expected. I was worried that he would figure out I’d failed the driving test on purpose, but he bought into my little trickery. I knew that if I passed, I would have no reason to see him anymore. After he told me that I’d failed, I was planning to ask him if he was busy the rest of the day, but before I could get the words out, he beat me to it.
After finishing off our huge plates of barbecue, he orders a single slice of pie, which I think is a bit presumptuous until the waitress brings it to the table. I swear she has to use both hands to place it between us. It must be about a third of the whole pie.
A Sweet, Sexy Collection 1: 5 Insta-love, New Adult, Steamy Romance Novellas (Sweet, Sexy Shorts) Page 14