I nodded.
He leaned closer. "First, I just have a question."
"What?"
"Do you love me?"
My voice was just a whisper, but when I spoke, it seemed to fill the entire car. "Yes."
His leaned closer still. "Say it."
I looked deep into those breathtaking eyes, and said what he wanted to hear, the truth. "I love you."
Something in his expression eased, and he gave me a heart-stopping grin. "Baby, I love you too. More than life itself. I mean it."
When our lips met, it felt like coming home. Or rather, it felt like coming home to the home I never had. His lips were urgent and soft and everything I remembered. A half-sigh, half-moan escaped my lips, and I wanted to melt into him right then and there.
Too soon, with a visible effort, he pulled away and looked around, taking in our surroundings. "We'd better go," he said.
I looked around, too. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing yet. But it'll be dark soon." He settled back into his seat and started the car. "And trust me, the farther away we get, the better."
As he pulled away from the curb, I said, "So, this car? Is it really bullet-proof?"
"Pretty much."
"But why?"
"Why not? Haven't you ever wanted a bullet-proof car?"
"No." I laughed. "Not particularly."
"Eh, you're not a guy. Besides, I'm glad I have it." His voice softened. "Otherwise, I'd have never brought you down here."
"Yeah?"
He nodded. "I might take a lot of chances in life, but with your safety? No way I'm risking that. Not ever."
I felt myself smile. "You couldn't have bullet-proofed one of your nicer cars?" I teased.
"Nope."
"Why not?" I said.
"Let's say we drove the Lexus. We'd be taken for an easy mark." He shrugged. "Or a drug dealer. But in this thing, we're practically invisible." He looked around. "It's perfect for stuff like this."
"Stuff like what?" I said.
"Seeing things without being seen, watching without being watched. A car like this in Rochester Hills, yeah, it sticks out like a sore thumb. But a place like this, it's just part of the landscape."
"But why the bullet-proofing?" I said. I took one last look around. "It's practically a ghost town."
His tone grew serious. "Just because you don't see people, it doesn't mean no one's around. Besides," he said, "I use it for a few other things."
"Like what?" I said.
He turned to give me a heart-stopping grin. "It's a secret."
