The Boy Toy

And wasn’t it? The very question made her go weak.

Reining in her errant thoughts, she managed to say, “Okay, you’ve convinced me you’ve fixed my car.”

Pete zigzagged past two slow-moving vehicles. “That’s not all I want to do.”

“Oh?” She swallowed hard.

“I want you to appreciate her, see what she can do.”

Allison grimaced. “Have you ever been tested for mental illness?”

He chuckled. “I could tell when I was tuning her up today that she was dying for a good, hard ride.”

Suddenly Allison was strangling. Everything Pete said was rife with sexual meaning. And her nerves were hardly soothed by his breakneck driving as he vaulted them onto Highway 290 and shot down the freeway in a squeal of rubber.

In a near-futile attempt to keep her head above water, she changed the subject. “You take pride in your work, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

She offered him a conciliatory look. “Guess I was a little hard on you today.”

“A little? A grease monkey, a moron, a creep.” He shrugged. “Guess I’ve been called worse.”

“Well, can you blame me for being suspicious after I’ve been screwed around by you guys?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Screwed around, have you, darlin’?”

Allison felt her face smarting. “You know what I mean! My point is, you did a good job, and that’s commendable.”

He tipped his hat to her. “Hot damn, thank you, ma’am.”

“Now who’s being prickly?” she accused.

“Actually, I appreciate the vote of confidence. And I do like my job.” With deliberate relish, he continued, “There’s nothing like getting your hands on a hot little engine, feeling it purr and throb to life, revving it up and feeling the power surging—”

Now Allison did groan aloud. “Will you stop it?”

“Stop what?” he inquired innocently.

“All the service bay sexual innuendo. I’ve had my fill of it.”

“Sex on the mind, eh, sugar?”

“You mean sex on your mind,” she shot back.

“Lady, I’ve been talking cars.”

“Cowboy, you’ve been talking smut.”

He grinned unabashedly. “But you’re with me, aren’t you?”

Oh, yeah, she was with him. “I’m not with you,” she denied aloud. “We’re taking a drive in the country, for heaven’s sake.”

“Getting hot under the collar, are you?”

She resisted the urge to comment.

“You know, in my granddad’s day, taking a drive on the prairie would’ve been grounds for marriage.”

“My God, you are a dinosaur,” she declared.

“Hey, I’m only twenty-six,” he protested.

“Me, too,” she put in, pleased to hear they were the same age.

He eyed her quizzically. “Really? When’s your birthday?”

“December.”

“Hah!” he declared, full of smug superiority. “Mine’s October, which makes me older and wiser.”

“Get out of here!” she declared.

“Can’t, ma’am, I’m driving,” he quipped, returning his attention to the road. They were heading northwest on Highway 290, leaving the suburbs behind at a fast clip. “You hungry?”

“I beg your pardon?”

He feigned a tone of exaggerated courtesy. “Has madam eaten? Does she have plans for the evening?”

Allison glowered. “No, I generally play catch-up on Wednesday nights.”

“You’ve got to eat, woman. As a matter of fact, there’s a place I’d like to take you to.”

“And where is that?” she simpered. “To a bordello in Hempstead?”

“No, to a genuine restaurant.”

“Aha! So that was your purpose all along? A date?”

“A date?” he mocked. “Hell, honey, you offered to buy me dinner.”

“Now you want me to pay?”

Pete’s expression gleamed with secret pleasure. “I’m not sure I should answer such a loaded question. But as far as buying dinner is concerned, it’ll be my treat.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Let’s just say I want to retain the goodwill of one of our valued customers,” he drawled with exaggerated courtesy. “So what do you say?”