Head Over Wheels - Samantha Chase Page 0,3

and twisted to face him. “Malcolm?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

He frowned. “For what?”

“For trusting me to help you with this. I think this trip is going to be a good thing for us.” She paused and blushed. “I mean…for the business. It’s going to be a good thing for the business.” And before he could comment, the earbuds were back in and she was settled in her seat, humming softly.

Yeah, I’m not going to survive this…

2

“When we stop for lunch, can I take over driving?” she asked hopefully.

“Hell no.”

Eyes wide, mouth agog, she stared at him. “Excuse me?”

The damn man never took his eyes off the road. “You can’t drive the truck, Dani.”

“Why not?”

Somehow, Malcolm even managed to make condescension look sexy.

“Seriously? You’re a terrible driver! You can barely handle driving your car without getting into trouble. There’s no way you can handle the flatbed,” he reasoned. “And considering we’re hauling a car worth one hundred thousand dollars, I’m unwilling to take that risk.”

Well that was a little harsh…

With a huff, she sat back in her seat and stared out the side window. Damn the man and his honesty. What did he think would happen if she drove the truck on the interstate for an hour? How much damage could she actually do? Crossing her arms over her chest, she pouted. She knew she was pouting, and if Malcolm turned his head or even glanced at her, he’d see it, but she didn’t care. She was pissed and he should know it.

Not even a minute passed before she huffed, “I don’t see what the big deal is. I would totally respect the car and the truck. I’m not an idiot.” She snorted before mumbling, “I really don’t see what the big deal is.”

And that’s when Dani heard something she never heard before.

Beside her, Malcolm mimicked her sound–snorting with annoyance.

Turning, she looked at him. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That snort! What have you got to snort about?” she demanded. If there was one thing she had learned about Malcolm in the last several years, it was how he hated confrontation of any kind. Well, with anyone except his father. The two of them had had some major blowups in the garage, but if anyone else pushed, he tended to back down.

“Just let it go, Dani. You’re not driving. Period.”

“Then I want to go home,” she said, resuming her pouting position.

“I’m not taking you home,” he said mildly, reaching for the radio and turning it on.

She reached out and turned it off. “Then when we stop for gas or for a break, I’ll just call my mom or someone to come pick me up.”

“We’re not scheduled to stop for another two hours. You can’t expect your mother to drive that far to come get you.” Again, his tone was completely calm and reasonable and it just irked her that much more.

“My mother would drive anywhere to get me if I needed her,” she countered, feeling slightly smug.

“But you don’t need her, Dani. You’re just being a brat because you’re not getting your way.”

It didn’t matter that he was completely accurate, but it pissed her off how well he knew her.

“I bet your father would have let me drive,” she murmured.

“I’m sure he would have,” Malcolm agreed, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “And then regretted it. But he’s not here so...”

In that moment, she knew it was pointless to keep arguing. The man was as stubborn as he was honest, and this wasn’t a fight she was going to win.

At least not now.

So she turned the radio back on–the classic rock station Malcolm favored–and forced herself to relax and think of something else to talk about.

“You’ve been to this car show before, right?”

Nodding, he replied, “We used to go every year. The last few years we’ve been too busy to do it. This is the first time we’ve entered a car of our own into the show. Usually we just go to see what’s out there.”

“And you’re really going to sell it at the auction?”

“Yup.”

Unable to help herself, she sighed.

Malcolm briefly turned his head to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” she said but knew she was lying. “If I had that kind of money, I would have bought the car myself.”

“Because of the photo?”

“Yeah. I know it’s crazy because it’s not the actual car, but…I don’t know, ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved those pictures. There’s a whole series of them with both my grandparents and great-grandparents. I