Crash into Me (Heart of Stone #1)

He sat down behind the wheel and revved the engine. "Ready?"

I was nowhere near ready, but there was no turning back now. The sharp click of the car's doors locking signaled it was time to go, and with a deep breath, I pressed a nervous smile onto my lips and nodded. I just hoped this wasn't going to end up being the biggest mistake of my life.

Tristan flew through the streets of SoHo, weaving through traffic at sixty miles an hour as I covered my eyes and silently prayed for my life. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"Are you going to keep your eyes closed the whole time?"

I opened my fingers and peeked through just in time to see us swerve around a cab and quickly closed them again. "Yes. The whole time, which will probably be about another minute at this speed."

"C'mon, open them up. You're safe. I won't let anything happen."

Slowly, I lowered my hands to my lap and worked hard not to dig my fingernails into my legs. I wasn't usually this uncool, but then again, I wasn't usually racing through the city at top speeds in a car that likely cost more than Jordan and I combined made in a year.

Tristan's Jaguar rode like it was gliding on air. The body hugging black leather seat may have been more comfortable than any piece of furniture I'd ever sat in. A soothing blue glow emanated from the dash, which was full of knobs and buttons around a center touchscreen. I may not ever have cared much about cars, but even I knew this was top shelf.

"Nice car. Do you always drive it like you plan to wreck it?"

As he swerved to miss a car stopped in front of us, he said, "Drive it like you stole it, right?"

Looking around the inside of the car, I wondered out loud, "You didn't steal it, did you?"

Tristan let out a deep laugh that sounded like it came all the way from his toes. "You're funny, Nina. Nothing like you were back there during the show."

"Back there I was working. My boss pays me to be serious." I stopped and chuckled. "Well, actually, she pays me to be like her personal slave."

"I knew there was something more to you than the pretty girl who served the drinks and disgusting little hot dogs."

God, he was sexy! There was something about the way words slid from his mouth when he spoke that made me want to beg him to stop the car so I could press my lips to his.

I turned to look at him and his strong jaw caught my attention. Even from the side, he was gorgeous. Relaxed for the first time since the car had begun moving, I joked, "I'll have you know those cocktail weenies are a big hit."

He turned his head and smiled a sexy grin. "I bet they are."

While my gaze slid down over his torso and I noticed how perfectly his shirt lay on his body, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a road sign as we sped past it. I-95? "Uh, I think you're going the wrong way. The Cross Bronx Expressway doesn't go anywhere near my house."

He shifted into third gear and hit the gas, pushing me back against the seat. "Guess you should have been paying attention instead of hiding behind your hands."

Fear raced through my body. Was he serious? "Are you kidnapping me? I mean, this feels a little bit like kidnapping since you obviously aren't taking me home."

That I sounded ridiculous and a man like him probably didn't have to kidnap women didn't occur to me in my fear. Women likely pleaded with him to take them anywhere.

"I don't think they'd call this kidnapping," he teased. "Maybe if you were tied up or at least had a gag in your mouth."

"Please take me home, Tristan. We're nowhere near my house and you're scaring me."

My hands began to get sweaty at the real fear that I had made a terrible mistake. I didn't know this man, and no matter how infatuated I'd been with him just hours before, he had total control of me at that moment, something very frightening.

Still speeding toward God knows where, he took his hands off the steering wheel and held them up in front of him. "If you want to go home, take the wheel and turn the car around."

I frantically grabbed the wheel and the car jerked to the right, racing off to the side of the road. I panicked, turned it to the left, overcompensating, and screamed in terror as we began to spin out. Then everything before my eyes went black.

The car rolled to a stop on the shoulder and I heard him say my name in a soft voice. "Nina. Nina, it's okay. We're okay."