Touch Me Not(12)
“What was the idiotic thing he said, anyway?” Janet asked.
“Didn’t tell you that, did he?” Lily bit out. “He insinuated that I’m not good enough for Nikoli, that I’m too far out of his league to ever even catch his eye.”
“Well, dressed like that…” Janet grinned.
“Shut it,” Lily snapped. “I don’t need you reminding me I’m not worth his time too.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Janet sat up. “Lily, if anything, you’re too good for the manwhore. He doesn’t deserve anyone like you. I’m sure Adam didn’t mean…”
“Can we not talk about Adam?” Lily asked, tired all of a sudden. “For once, I’d just like to forget Adam exists and have some fun.”
Janet gave her the pitying look Lily hated with all her heart. Mikey knew how she felt about Adam, and Janet knew because Mikey knew. Why the hell had she let herself get drunk and confess to Mikey she was in love with Adam?
“Look, I just want to get this over with. He should be here in a minute. I told him I’d meet him out front. You can tell Adam to mind his own damn business.”
Lily grabbed her purse and pointed to the door. Janet frowned, but followed Lily out the door. “Want to come wait with me so you can see his face when he gets a load of this?”
Janet grinned and nodded. The two of them laughed as they took the elevator down to the first floor and outside to wait on the front steps for the manwhore of the hour.
They didn’t have long to wait, and when he pulled in, Lily gasped in delight. It had nothing to do with Nikoli and everything to do with the car he got out of. It was a black 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. She hadn’t seen a car like that since the one her dad owned when she was a kid. He’d loved it. She gave a squeal of delight, much to Janet’s chagrin, and ran over to the car. Nikoli gaped at her as she lovingly ran her fingers just above the body of the car as she examined it. You didn’t touch them with your fingers. Luther shook his head as he pulled himself out of the passenger seat.
“Are you running a 440 or a 426?” she asked as she squatted and inspected the rims.
“You know cars?” Nikoli asked incredulously.
She ignored him and looked at Luther. “What’s it running?”
“Let me pop the hood for you, and then you tell me.”
Lily waited impatiently and then dived to put the hood up when it popped. There, in all its glory, sat an original 426 engine running 425 horsepower. The car could run, and run fast. There were only a limited number of the ’Cudas manufactured. Her dad had one of the first ten off the factory line, and after he’d died, her mother sold it to help pay the bills.
“426.” Lily grinned like an idiot at Luther. “It’s gorgeous.”
“How do you know about cars?” Nikoli stepped closer to Lily, his arm brushing hers. She took an instinctive step to the side to keep distance between them.
“My dad taught me,” she explained as she examined the engine more closely. “I could put a carburetor back together by the time I was nine, and rebuild an engine before I turned twelve. I used to live under the hood of a car when my dad was racing.”
“Your dad was a racer?” Luther frowned and then gasped. Lily figured he probably just put her last name together with her dad’s.
“Martin Holmes,” she muttered and stepped back out from under the hood. Her dad had been one of the biggest NASCAR drivers on the circuit, but his real love had been rally or strip racing. He’d never let her go to any of those, though. Said it was too dangerous for a kid. She’d grown up on NASCAR tracks instead. “He died in a crash down in Daytona the summer I turned twelve.”#p#分页标题#e#
Luther let out a low whistle. “Did he teach you to drive?”
“’Course he did,” she laughed. “I was driving before I could reach the pedals. I used to sit in his lap and steer the wheel until I grew enough so my feet actually touched the gas pedal.”
“Who would have thought sweet, innocent Lily Holmes was a car junkie?” Luther laughed.
“I can still be sweet and innocent and be a car guru,” she said with a wink and turned to Nikoli. “Can I drive her?”
Nikoli frowned. This was not what he’d expected. She knew cars. She knew them enough to know the engine model under the hood of the limited edition car he drove. It threw him slightly.
“Well, can I?” she demanded impatiently.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I don’t even let Luther drive my baby. She’s…”