What the fuck had I ever done to him to deserve this much messing with my head?
On Friday afternoon, with him pulled up outside my house, I said, “Well, thanks for driving me around this week,” and waited for him to unlock the door.
I stiffened when he turned to me. “Your new car should be ready by Monday, Callie.”
“Really?” It was good news I hadn’t been expecting. I had only just gotten the obvious bad news from Rob: my old car was not going to be worth saving according to the insurance people. I’d sort of counted on having to wait at least two weeks for whatever Lucas’s family was offering to come through, and that would have been a blessing considering it took three for me just to be ready to pay to fix my old beast.
“It’s a done deal,” Lucas said. “Come Monday morning, we’ll have your new car and mine sitting in our driveway. His and hers.”
I flinched at his wink, too. I hadn’t realised it before, but some people were more natural winkers than others… and Lucas Starling was not a natural winker in any sense. That sort of cutesy cheekiness didn’t suit him at all.
After the shock of it, the gesture did put me at ease. It sort of reminded me that Lucas was a real human after all, with a few real flaws. Like being bad at winking, ha. Some flaw.
“Should I come around to pick it up on Monday morning then?” I asked. “Or…”
“I’ll drop it to you early,” Lucas said. “Come around half an hour sooner, then you can drive me back to get mine, we can see if you have any complaints.”
“I’m not going to have any complaints,” I said. “I mean, so long as it has all the necessary parts.”
“It’s going to have all the necessary parts,” Lucas assured me.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t be putting some money towards this?” I asked. “Just to, I don’t know…” To make my parents not look at me
like I’m some really unsuccessful whore was perhaps not the best thing to say.
“Do you really think you could contribute anything meaningful to the cost?” Lucas said, nodding towards the phone I’d finally started to get less awkward about having out in his presence. When I’d been keeping it my pocket or bag earlier in the week he’d started muttering about the possibility I was secretly recording him again, and I really didn’t want to have him flip the new one over the side of the car and lose all the FarmVille progress I’d accumulated over the week.
“You know I never needed an expensive car,” I said. “I was perfectly happy with what I had, it got me from A to—”
“It got you run into all the time,” Lucas said. “People see a shitbucket, they don’t worry so much about being careful. We’re getting you something nice. It’s used, a bit newer than what you had but it’s not like we’ve sent away for something direct from the factory.”
“That’s good to know,” I said.
Lucas shook his head. “You’re an annoying mystery. Never heard a girl so relieved she isn’t going to be the first driver.”
I wanted to make some comment about how only guys cared that much about being first in something, but I started blushing so hard at the thought I knew it was a terrible idea. “How many girls have you had to buy cars for, anyway?” I said.
“Just the one, and my family is pretty happy she’s willing to accept the car and not sue my arse off for running up the back of her.” His grim stare nearly snatched my breath away. “So maybe you could keep them happy and actually just accept the damn thing.”
“Okay, okay.” I heard the click of the door being unlocked and scrambled out before he could convince me to buy any bridges as well. “I guess I’ll see you and my new car on Monday, Lucas.”
“I look forward to it.”
He didn’t say it with anything in his tone that led me to be worried. It just seemed like a generic polite response, a normal parting for the sort of guy who knew all there was to know about how to say the right thing. I walked up to my front door feeling like the next week would be, if not better than the one I’d just endured, at least not worse.
I should have known better.
I definitely shouldn’t have texted Tamara to let her know to expect me in my new car the next week.
Chapter Eight
My heart sank when I peeked out the front window at half-past seven at the sound of a horn and saw Lucas sitting behind the wheel of that damn pink convertible.
Well, the car thing must have fallen through for the moment, but that one was on me for being so willing to believe a guy’s brags.
“I might be late home again tonight,” I yelled into the house before I slammed the door and jogged down to meet the car.
“Hi, Lucas. Isn’t your sister going to want her car back at some point?” I asked.