“Whatever. I saw something interesting that way.” I hadn’t forgotten about the shiny black vision. I marched off, stopping directly in front of the sleek, black car to absorb its beauty.
“This?” He looked incredulous, like I’d just asked him to marry me.
“What’s wrong with it?” I reverently skimmed my fingertips along the sloped hood.
He laughed. “These things have no guts. And they’re known for breaking down.”
“But it’s so pretty.” I wondered if the interior was leather.
“It wouldn’t meet your parents’ criteria.” He sighed. “See anything else you like?”
I shook my head dejectedly.
“C’mon. There’s another dealership a couple miles away.”
I reluctantly turned away from what was now my fantasy car, climbed into the Jeep and strapped myself in. “Zack?”
He checked over his shoulder, then steered onto the street, blending with the flow of traffic. “Yeah?”
“Maya said you and Trevor were the same age, but you seem so much older than him. And not many high-schoolers could lift a big guy like Daniel off the floor so easily.”
He gave a small shrug. “Genetics, I guess.”
Seemed like a logical explanation, but I sensed something more. My eyes drifted from his wide shoulders to his cut forearms. “So you’re honestly only a few months apart?”
“Yeah.” A slow smile spread over his face. “Werewolves mature faster than humans.” He winked at me, a lone dimple appearing in his left cheek.
His comment gave me an eerie chill, but I gave a fake laugh. “It’s all so clear now. I was thinking maybe you were a vampire, but that couldn’t be it, not with how much you’re in the daylight. Werewolf makes much more sense,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Of course, it does.” Zack took his eyes off the road long enough to grin at me.
He acted like he was kidding, but everything he’d just said freaked me out. Especially since my new abilities defied the norm. Still, the idea of werewolves was absurd. A few extra muscles, sure. But changing from human to a completely different life form?
I stared at him, my irritation escalating. Soon, my thoughts returned to the man in the cowboy hat. “That man at the dealership. It was like you two had an entire conversation that didn’t really take place.”
“So?” His eyes remained focused straight ahead.
“What am I missing, Zack?”
The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Autumn, let it go.”
The episode was too weird to forget. “If you’re in trouble, maybe I could help.”
“Even if I was, I wouldn’t tell you,” he said.
“Fine,” I replied, shifting in my seat to stare out the window, annoyed that he still wouldn’t give me a chance. If we didn’t find a car today, then tomorrow, I’d find someone else to help me. Someone who hadn’t already convicted me.
At the next dealership, Zack killed the engine and drew in a long breath, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.
I reached for the door handle.
“Wait a sec.” He studied me a brief moment. “I’m sorry for snapping. You didn’t deserve that. I’ll be better.”
That was an improvement and I didn’t want to waste time finding anyone else to help me. “Okay.”
Leaping out of the Jeep, I scanned the inventory, spotting a car identical to the one I’d just been drooling over. Except this one was red. I nodded toward it. “I don’t suppose there’s a chance that car would be the exception.”
He followed the path of my eyes and shook his head. “If Timothy found out I let you buy one of those, I’d never work in this town again.”
I sighed and walked between the rows of cars, stopping at a shiny, dent-free blue car with a sunroof. The price on the window was marked well within my limits.
“This one gets decent gas mileage.” He began reading the statistics. “No warrantee, probably because it’s got over a hundred thousand miles on it.”
“That much?” I shook my head and moved on.
Zack shadowed me, then paused in front of a blue mustang. “What do you think of this?”
I tilted my head. “I like these, but they’re such boy cars.”
Zack glanced up at the setting sun. “How about we call it a day, then you go home and search the Internet? Get an idea of what you like. Check some sites that have classified ads of used cars. Find one and we’ll check it out tomorrow.”
“Brilliant plan.” I brightened and smiled.
“That’s what you’re paying me the big bucks for. Let’s go.”