Drive Me Crazy by Marquita Valentine

driver’s seat.”
    Down shifting, she hit the gas. “Hold on to your hat, baby doll.”
    Carter grinned. For the past thirty minutes, she’d driven as fast a he’d let her up and down Highway Thirteen, her confidence growing with each mile.
    She took a right onto Persimmon and drove another quarter mile before turning into the driveway of a tiny house with a for sale sign stuck in the front yard.
    “ What do you think of this place?” she asked, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out. She walked to the porch and peeked in the windows.
    He joined her on the porch, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Why?”
    “ Because I want to buy it.” Turning to him, her brown eyes brimmed with happiness. “I almost have enough money for a down payment.”
    “ What about a loan?”
    She moved to the front door, fiddling with the lock. “Pre-approved.” Giving the door a push, it swung open. “Come see the inside.”
    Holding out her hand, she waited for him to take it. He knew if he took her hand that there was no going back to what they used to have or what they used to be. Not even after last night and this morning. But he liked to take chances, even when they didn’t pay off. So, he took a deep breath and pulled his hand out of his pocket to grab hers.
    He let her lead him inside, her fingers laced through his. “We won’t get arrested for breaking and entering will we?”
    Giggling, she shook her head. “Janie gave me the code, since I’d been bugging her almost every day to come out here.”
    As they walked through the two bedroom cottage, she pointed out every little thing she loved about it. He couldn’t help but be caught up in her excitement.
    “ Out here, I was thinking that I could have a grill and one of those chimineas, so I can roast marshmallows.” She practically skipped to the right side of the deck. “Maybe put a patio set over here.”
    Wiggling the deck railing, he frowned. “This needs be fixed.”
    “ I could hire you as my handyman.”
    “ If I were planning on staying, I’d love to be your handyman.” The words slipped out, before he had a chance to consider the impact.
    “ You really are set on living in Charlotte?” she asked in a small voice.
    He had to tell the truth; she deserved complete honesty, and he hated liars. “Looks like it, but I’m not a hundred percent.” A look of sadness appeared on her face, but in his next heartbeat it was gone so fast that he was sure he’d imagined it. “It’s not that far away and I plan on coming home for holidays and all.”
    “ Guess it’s a good thing that you and I are just friends, because most women around here wouldn’t be too happy to know that they man they’ve been sleeping with plans on leaving.”
    Just friends? He sure as hell didn’t do what they had done last night and this morning with his friends. But maybe she did. An uneasy feeling settle in his gut, heavy as a tire iron. “Do you usually have sex with your friends?”
    “ No…at least, not until you.”
    That uneasy feeling left him, and he suppressed a grin. He always did like being first.
    “ What about you?” she asked, running her fingers along the top of the railing.
    “ Not since my first year of college.”
    “ Oh, so you’re okay with that kind of relationship with me, then.”
    “ I’m okay with whatever you need to call it.” But he wasn’t. Kneeling down, he examined the boards. They seemed to be in good shape and the deck hadn’t shook when they’d walked on it. He looked up at her. “How long has it been since anyone’s lived here?’
    “’ Bout two years. The bank owns it now,” she said as he stood, wiping off his hands. “Hopefully, real soon, I will instead.”
    Jesus, he was amazed by her, by her confidence and dedication to a goal that her dad made nearly unreachable with his gambling habits. Whoever she ended up with was a lucky man, because he knew that she’d be that guy’s biggest cheerleader and best friend.
    Didn’t