“I think,” Dominic harshly gritted out, “if you don’t stop laughing, princess, I’ll show you how they often treated women in the westerns.”
“What?” Maria continued to giggle. She was actually about to ruin her makeup if she didn’t stop. “Respectfully?”
“That depends ….” His voice came out as a warning.
Quickly, she dried a tear that had fallen. “On what?”
Dominic’s eyes slowly slid down her body. “Who the male lead was.”
Suddenly, Maria no longer laughed.
Hiding his smile, Dominic pulled into an empty parking lot.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Parking, it wasn’t exactly what Maria was hoping for.
“I’m going to teach you how to drive.”
“Uh … that’s okay,” Maria turned down the offer.
He couldn’t believe she had done that. “You’re telling me you don’t even want to try?”
Exactly. “Yep.”
“Why?”
Maria turned to face him, deciding to give him the bitchy truth. “Because, as cliché as it makes me, I personally like being driven around. Telling men where I want to go, when I want to go, gets me off. Is that what you want to hear?”
Okay, that last part wasn’t exactly true, but he didn’t need to know that.
Dominic had to blink several times. Then, clearing his throat, he tried a different tactic. “Maria, never getting behind a wheel is”—Dominic searched for the word—“sinful. Everyone should feel what it’s like at least once.”
Seeing how serious he felt about it, she raised a brow. “And you’re really going to trust me to drive your car?” It was obvious this car was his baby. Cassius had made that pretty clear.
“Yes. Just imagine the car you could buy if you did learn,” he added to entice her.
Damn. Dom did know her well.
Maria was already planning which sweet ride she would buy when they got out to switch seats.
“This should do. Nothing for you to sideswipe or rear-end,” Dom joked, closing the passenger side door.
“Don’t worry about my confidence before I even start,” Maria said with snark, staring at the stick-shift car.
“I have every confidence you can achieve anything you want to do.”
Pacified, Maria buckled her seat belt as Dom did his.
Maria smiled. “Good save.”
“I have my moments.”
Damn. There were those dimples again ….
Patiently, Dominic went over the gears and the pedals before giving her another dose of his dimples.
“Do you think you’re ready to give it a try?” He gave her a considering look.
“I guess as ready as I’ll ever be.” Unexpectedly, Maria became excited about trying the new experience. She placed her hands in the position on the wheel that Dominic had showed her, even though she had sarcastically told him she hadn’t seen his in the position.
“All right. Put the car in neutral with your right foot on the brake,” he instructed. “Put your left foot on the clutch all the way to the floorboard. Go ahead and shift to first gear … That’s good. Slowly, take your foot off the brake.”
“This isn’t so hard.” Maria smiled toward him.
“It isn’t too hard,” Dom agreed. “Maria, when I said take your foot off the brake slowly, it didn’t mean not to move it at all.”
“Oh, okay.” Maria moved her foot and her head jerked back.
“Brake!” Dominic yelled. “Not the clutch—the brake! Your right foot!”
Now her head fell forward at the sudden stop. Proudly, she turned toward Dom. “I stopped it.”
“Yes”—he managed to keep his voice even—“you did.”
Did she see a glint of fear in his eyes, or was she just imagining it?
“What’s next?” Maria asked eagerly.
Dominic wasn’t as eager.
“Let’s get the first step perfected before moving on.”
“What’s wrong with the way I did it?”
“Other than you didn’t take your foot off the brake slowly?” he quipped. “Or you couldn’t tell your left foot from the right?”
With her green eyes, she glared over at him. “Are you being sarcastic?”
Silence met her question.
“I was just nervous. I’ll do better this time.”
“Okay.” Dom didn’t seem as laidback as he placed a hand on the dashboard to brace himself. “Let’s give it another try.”
She couldn’t keep from rolling her eyes at his hand placement. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
He simply ignored her insult. “Okay, what gear are you in?”
Maria narrowed her eyes into slits. “Neutral.”
“And … which pedal is your right foot—”
“It’s going to be shoved up your ass if you don’t quit treating me like a child,” Maria threatened before giving him the answer he wanted. “My right foot is on the fucking brake.”
“Good.” Dominic let out a breath. “Now, slowly ease your right foot off the bra—brake, Maria!”
Her head went back again as the car jerked forward.
“That’s the clutch!”
The car kept rolling forward. Can cars be possessed? It took her two more attempts before she could bring the car to a stop.
“Park the car,” he ordered hastily.
Maria quickly did as he asked.
“That’s enough,” Dom gritted out between clenched teeth.
Another perfect brow raised at how quickly Dominic had changed his stance on her learning to drive. “That’s it?”