“Yep.” He squeezed her hand again, his eyes on hers. His gaze made her feel warm, and every time he looked at her like that, it felt like something broke open in her chest. “That’s what I’m telling you.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Why shouldn’t you?”
Lindsey’s eyes rolled. “I can think of about a million reasons.”
“Can you think of one reason to trust me?”
She thought of the way he looked at her, how he was with her parents, and what he said tonight in the car. “Maybe.”
“Hang onto that one.” He squeezed her hand again and smiled.
In spite of what past experience had taught her, that’s just what she did.
* * * *
Zach turned down the radio, talking over the whistle of the wind coming in through the t-tops that Lindsey had insisted he take off on the way home. Her hands were dancing in the breeze, her body still swaying to the music.
“Do you have I.D. on you?” He nudged her, getting her full attention.
“I’m not twenty-one,” she reminded him and then grinned. “But I think I still have a fake I.D. in my wallet from last year that says I am.” He shook his head, smiling. “No-real I.D. Something that says you’re eighteen?”
“Driver’s license do?” She fished her purse off the floor.
“Yep.” He took a sharp right turn, away from the direction of her house. She smiled, shaking her head. In spite of what he’d said, she was pretty sure they were headed somewhere private. During the concert, he had looked at her the way all guys do, with the heat of lust in his eyes when she ground her hips back against him as she danced. She had felt his response against her behind, in the way he gripped her hips, and she loved it.
But she thought she’d at least play along. “Why do you ask?”
“I want to show you something.” He steered the car down a long, curving road.
There were no houses and not even much foliage exposed by the low headlights sweeping around a turn.
“I bet you do.” She couldn’t help her smile, and felt a familiar warmth in her lower belly. She didn’t mind that they were going somewhere-she’d been a little disappointed when he claimed he didn’t want to have sex.
He smiled back, shaking his head. “It’s not what you think.”
“Uh-huh.” She tossed her gum out the window and found her wallet in her little purse, taking out her I.D. “Is this what you wanted?”
“Thanks.” He took her license and slid it above the visor, using one hand to steer while he dug into his back jean pocket for his wallet. Lindsey frowned, seeing a sign flash by on her right that she just missed reading. She didn’t miss the next one though:
“Uhhhh…” Her belly felt even tighter now, and she swallowed hard. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” Zach stopped at a white, well-lit booth with a long crossbar in front, keeping cars from entering without stopping first.
Lindsey stared, wide-eyed, at the gun strapped to the man’s hip as he leaned his uniformed head down to the window. “How can I help you tonight?” Zach handed their I.D.s over. “Visiting a friend. Colonel Pullman.” The uniformed guard looked at their I.D.s one at a time, and then leaned in to take a look at Lindsey. She felt his eyes moving over her in the darkness, something she would usually relish, but tonight she found it disquieting.
“All right, lieutenant.” The man handed their I.D.s back with a nod, writing something on a clipboard. “Have a good night.”
“Thanks. You, too.” Zach waited for the crossbar to go up, and then edged the car slowly forward.
“We’re visiting a friend of yours?” Lindsey frowned, craning her neck back to look at the guard. She had goose bumps on her arms in spite of the warmth of the night.
“Not really.” He shrugged, turning the car down a side road that ran next to a tall fence topped with high, barbed wire. “Just an excuse.”
“Where are we?” Lindsey leaned forward, trying to see into the darkness past the reach of the headlights. There wasn’t much to see, just a bunch of small, blue lights, close to the ground.
“You’ll see.” Zach smiled over at her, steering the car around a curve to the right.
The ground sloped upward here, and he pulled off the road itself onto the grass, parking there. She smiled as he turned the key off, listening to the engine ticking as it cooled. It was so quiet she could hear crickets chirping somewhere in the darkness.
“Pretty.” She breathed deep, stretching her hands up through the open top of the car, looking up at the stars. “Is this what you wanted to show me?”
“Almost.”
She smiled, sliding as close to him as she could with the gearshift between them.
“Am I getting warmer?”
“Actually, no.” He grinned, his teeth gleaming. She slid her hand up his thigh, leaning into his shoulder. “But I am.”
“Good.” She kissed his neck, the soft spot right under his ear, licking in little circles. Her fingers danced over the zipper of his jeans, just lightly, feeling for a response, some sign of encouragement.
