Kate accelerated. There was a fairly empty stretch of road ahead, so she kept her foot on the pedal as the speedometer inched toward eighty-five, ninety, ninety-five. She realized that music would have actually detracted from the experience because the sound of the engine, loud and raw and unbridled, was all she needed.
There were two cars up ahead, one in front of her on the left and one on the right. Luckily, neither of them were police cars because Kate flew around the first and, as soon as she passed it, had to immediately swerve back into the other lane. She lost herself in the sensation, feeling more invigorated than she had in a long time.
“Go, baby, go,” Ian shouted.
She continued on that way, passing cars when she encountered them. When she checked her speed, she experienced a moment of exhilarating panic because the needle hovered just below one hundred and ten. A little voice inside her head warned that she would surely lose her license if she came upon a policeman. She told that voice to shut up. Besides, she walked to work.
Kate spotted a cluster of taillights up ahead, which would leave her no room to pass, and she reluctantly began decelerating. She was surprised at how slow ninety felt as she brought her speed down to a more acceptable level. A few miles down the road, she pointed to an exit sign which listed several options for gas and food. “Shall I pull off here?”
“That depends. Have you satisfied your need for speed?”
She laughed. “For now. But you might have created a monster.”
“Come on over to the dark side, Katie. I’ll save you a seat next to me.”
Kate nosed the car into a parking space at a restaurant whose sign promised the best charcuterie in Minneapolis.
She followed Ian inside, and after the waitress seated them, Kate said, “That was absolutely incredible.”
“I agree. Watching you drive my car was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen. The only thing that would have made it better is if you’d been wearing a skirt. But even in jeans it was awesome.”
“Driving your car while wearing a skirt might be difficult.”
He looked perplexed. “Not if it was short enough.”
“You’re shameless.”
Ian opened his menu. “When do you need to be back?”
“I don’t. I left Helena in charge. She’s closing up today.”
“I promised you lunch over an hour ago. You must be starving by now.”
“A little. Should we see if they’re right about the charcuterie? There’s a sharing platter.” Kate had fallen in love with the dish—basically an assortment of salty and tangy cured meat—in college.
“Drives fast, likes meat. I might have to marry you.”
Kate looked at him pointedly. “You forgot pretty.”
Ian started laughing. “You’re like a breath of fresh air. Really you are.”
They gave their order to the waitress and asked for tall draft beers to go along with their meal.
“One of the conditions of this date was that you would no longer be accessing my computer. Have you kept your word?” Kate had googled whether she’d be able to detect the presence of a backdoor, but she’d learned it would require more technical knowledge than she currently possessed. And if the hacker who’d put it there was halfway competent, it would be nearly impossible.
“Katie,” he said, looking offended. “Of course I have.”
“I hope so, because my next browsing session is going to be epic.”
His eyes grew big and he leaned forward. “Tell me.”
“No.”
“It’s going to be something dirty, isn’t it?”
She gave him her best sultry look. “Boy, is it ever.” Kate was actually planning on watching hair tutorials on YouTube, but she couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him a little.
“You can’t just dangle things like that in front of me. I’m not that strong.”
“You’ll have to be. That was our agreement.”
“Okay. But you didn’t say anything about staying out of your dating account, so I might have made a few enhancements to your profile picture.”
“Yes, I saw that and updated my bio accordingly.”