Page 56 of Drive Me Crazy

"Girl, I can't drive you there if you're a permanent resident." I snicker.

"Seriously?" She murmurs just before I feel her flick the hell out of the back of my ear. "Shithead."

"Owwww!" I rub my ear to her amusement.

Harper runs her hand over the back of mine. "Did I hurt it?"

"Maybe." I pout.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." She giggles. "They've always been a favorite of mine."

"Favorite what, target?" I grumble, pretending to have an injury.

The back of my seat moves as she leans in. "I'm hating the 'Driving Miss Harper' thing we have goin' on here."

"Believe me, I'd much rather have you by my side than in my rearview."

Her warm breath sweeps across my jaw, and my chest tightens from her proximity. "I'd prefer a different position too but here we are, separated like always."

"Yeah," I squirm, hoping to give my zipper some relief from the pressure it's under. "oh look, it's the new garage."

"Congratulations! It's huge." She chuckles and before I can say a word, she belts out... "that's what she said!"

I shake my head, laughing with her. "You're a hot mess, I swear you are."

"Whatever!" She shoves the back of my head forward. "Stop actin' like you're surprised."

"Oh, I wasn't surprised you're a hot mess. Only that you were lettin' it show, ya might wanna tuck that back in girl."

I slow to a stop at the next light, and glance at her through the mirror. "Ya know, I think you'd be lost without that thing."

"Huh?" My brows hang low.

She motions to the windshield. "You've been more focused on that thing than the road this entire time, I'm lucky you haven't wrecked us."

"Pretty sure I've had you in more precarious positions and dangerously close calls than this before." I wink and watch as she turns several shades of red.

She cuts her eyes at me before slowly wetting her perfectly pouty lips and leans forward. She brushes my ear with her mouth, leaving me with a cool sensation as her words spill from them.

"Yeah, Ridge. You've had me to the point of never turning back, yet here we are, still at the starting line."

"What I wouldn't give to have you back beneath me," I release the pressure on the peddle and our boiling pot of emotions. "driving you insane until you told me what you wanted."

Harper's so close to me, her scent is a reckoning to my soul. "If I had ever known I could tell you what I wanted, and you'd given it to me, our lives would be so different."

"That's the thing I love most about life, we can change it."

Harper gasps, drawing my attention to her. She's frozen in fear. I cut my eyes back to the road, searching the surrounding area. Just as I turn the corner, I spot him.

"Mother fucker!" I dig my cell out, hitting dial as I come to a stop across the street from the gas station by my house.

"Ridge?" One's deep tone clues me in that he understands.

"He's here, corner of King's Highway and 17 Business. Black sedan, far side of the station. He's walking in, must not be using his cards and is paying with cash." I growl through every word.

"And Harper?" One's voice is even lower.

My eyes snap to her, she's visibly shaking, and her face is wet with tears. "I have her, she saw him."