Pedestrians stopped to watch as our car squealed by.
“You thought I killed him on purpose.” I gripped the steering wheel.
“I thought you had very cleverly stolen my ticket, but once I calmed down I realized you hadn’t meant to do it.”
“Ticket?” I was innocent. I knew I was innocent, but I still felt horrible. Guilt gnawed at my stomach and squeezed my chest.
“You need to turn. You’ve been on this street for too long.”
Yanking the wheel, the car slid around the corner and onto an empty road. I could still see the other car in my side mirror and had no idea how I was supposed to lose them.
“What do we do?” I turned the car down a different road without being told to. I had no idea where I was going, except for away.
“We need to get on the motorway.” My eyes must’ve widened, because he reached out and touched my arm. His gaze was steady, no signs that he was panicked or worried about lying. “We can switch. I’ll keep you safe.”
My gaze darted to his. “What’s your name?”
There was a moment’s hesitation before he answered. “Owen.”
“Ava.” I looked back at the road and swerved around a car that had stopped to let someone out.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ava.” His lips turned up and I felt something different than guilt flutter through my chest. “Will you let me drive now?”
“How?” I couldn’t stop. Who knew what would happen if I stopped. Would they just start shooting at us? Would they shoot other people in their attempt to get us?
“Get on the M1 and we’ll trade.” His fingers squeezed my arm. “It’ll be easy.” There was no way switching drivers while on some sort of expressway would be easy.
“Where is the M1?” Something slammed into the back windshield and I ducked. They had shot at us. In public. So much for hoping they were trying to get us somewhere quiet.
“We’re not far. Can you get us a few more blocks?” His eyes were so calm, as if nothing was happening and we were just practicing driving around the town.
“Pfft. No problem. I’ve gotten us this far.” Where the hell this bravado was coming from, I had no idea. But I noticed the smile on his face, and knew that I’d put it there.
“That’s my girl.”
His girl? Hardly. Under other circumstances… well, that wasn’t an option now. Following his directions, we made our way to the on ramp without any accidents. The car tailing us never disappeared, no matter how hard I mentally wished flat tires on them. I sped up, going around cars until we had a nice swatch of clear road. I looked on the dash until I found the cruise control and hit the little button.
“Okay.”
He reached over and unbuckled the seat belt I hadn’t realized I had put on. Sliding his arm behind my back, he shifted over the center console and moved closer to me. Carefully I used my feet to push up so he could slide underneath me. His body pushed against mine and I could feel every manly inch of him pressed behind me, down to the muscles his button up shirt concealed. As his hands slid around my waist to help steady me, his thumbs pressed against my back and rubbed soft circles, as if he was trying to comfort me—but instead it was accomplishing the exact opposite. I let the weight off of my feet, easing down on to his lap so I could move to the other seat.
“I’m ready.” His voice was husky in my ear and for a second I thought about telling him I was more than ready myself. Thankfully I was able to keep my senses and remember that there was someone intent on killing me in a car not far behind us.
With extreme caution I tried to lift my left leg so that I could step over the console, but my skirt was too tight. Understanding the problem, his hands slid moved down my hips and over my skirt so he could slip it up my thighs. Goosebumps erupted along my skin as his knuckles brushed along my legs. Once the material was high enough that I could lift my leg, I slid into the other seat and let him take control of the steering wheel.
“Buckle up.” He smiled at me as he took the car off cruise control and hit the gas pedal.
I HAD TO force my mind back onto the task at hand as Ava adjusted herself in her seat. She checked the side mirror before turning to look at me.
“What are you going to do?” Her voice held a throaty edge that made me smile. Apparently she had enjoyed changing seats as much as I had. It was certainly a better sound than the horror it had held earlier.
“Lose them.” I wrenched the car around a tour bus and tried to put a little more distance between us and the idiots following close behind. There were only two real options. Lose them in traffic, or take them out. And I had a feeling that Ava would be upset if I used my particular skill set right now.
Knowing that there was road construction nearby, I headed there. It would be one of the easiest ways to lose our tail. And then I needed to get somewhere safe so I could work out just what was going on here.
“Ava? Why would someone want to kill you?”
“Me? I don’t know! What about you? You put bombs under people’s cars. Maybe they’re trying to kill you.”
“They were aiming for you, Ava.” I swerved around another family car and gritted my teeth when our tail almost clipped their bumper. “I was just collateral damage in that scenario.”
“They’re stopping!” Ava reached up and grabbed the handle above her door.
“Yes.”
“Then why are you speeding up?” Her voice rose in pitch.