Valorous(42)

“I suppose you must have a staff member devoted to the DMV since you own sixty cars.”

“I do have my connections.”

We’re stopped at a light waiting to take a left turn into Beverly Hills when she looks over at me with that sweet, loving smile that stops my heart every f*cking time she directs it my way. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Pulling strings to get me a permit, letting me drive this very expensive and beautiful car, taking me to lunch at your parents’ home and, most of all, sitting next to me during that interview when it was the last place in the world you wanted to be.”

The light turns green, and she makes the turn, her face a study in concentration. I direct her through the neighborhood to my parents’ house. We pull up to the security gate, and I give her a code to punch in that will open the gates.

“I can’t believe the way you just give me this kind of info.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I trust you with my life.” The nagging voice in the back of my mind reminds me that while I may trust her with my life, I haven’t trusted her with my truth. When the big wrought-iron gates swing open, Natalie pulls into the driveway.

“Where should I park?”

“Right there is fine.”

We come to a stop and Natalie turns off the car, releasing a huge sigh of relief as she leans her head on the steering wheel.

I give her a second to recover. “Hey, Nat.”

She raises her head and looks over at me.

“What you said before about the interview…”

“What about it?”

I reach over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and take full advantage of the opportunity to run my fingertip over her cheek. “I didn’t want to do the interview, but that wasn’t the last place in the world I wanted to be. I want to be wherever you are, and if that means doing things I don’t want to do, so be it.”

She stares at me, seeming to take inventory of my face. “Are you real? Is this real? You’re not going to suddenly turn into a raging bastard at some point, are you?”

There it was again, that pang of guilt over what I’m keeping from her. “No plans for that.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, baby, I promise.” I’m about to kiss her when someone knocks on the window behind me. I growl with frustration and turn to find my father grinning like a loon as he stares into the car. Amused, I push the button to lower the window. “Hello, Dad.”

“Hello, son. Natalie.”

“Hi, Max.”

“Whatcha up to?” Max asks.

“Well, I was about to kiss my girl before I was very rudely interrupted.”

Natalie giggles like the girl she once was, before her innocence was stolen from her. The sound is music to my soul.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Max says.

“The moment is lost,” I say, winking at Natalie. “Rain check?”

“You got it.”

“So you’re letting your lady drive you around, son?” Dad asks when we’re out of the car and following him inside. “That’s not like you.”

“Natalie is learning how to drive and doing a fine job of it.”

I can see by the way my dad’s face softens that he immediately understands that learning to drive was something she missed out on. “That’s wonderful.” He hugs and kisses her and welcomes her into his home like she’s his long-lost best friend. I love him so much. He’s the best man I know, and my whole life I’ve strived to make him proud of me.

Natalie is blown away by the house. She tries to be surreptitious about taking it all in as my dad whisks her through the big airy rooms to the back patio, where my mom and the housekeeper, Ada, are laying out a spread of food.

“Look who’s here, Stel,” Max says.

My mom stops what she’s doing and comes right over to hug Natalie. “Oh, my sweet girl. I’ve been so worried about you.” She pulls back so she can see Nat’s face but keeps her hands on Natalie’s shoulders. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay.” Natalie glances at me. “Flynn has been taking good care of me.”

“He’d better be.” Mom reaches out to me, and I kiss her cheek. “This whole thing is just beyond outrageous. I hope you’re going to sue the ass off that guy in Nebraska.”

“We’re on it, Mom. Don’t worry.”