Test Drive - Samantha Chase Page 0,62

how that conversation would go. Any progress they had made thanks to Levi’s conversation with her father would be completely undone, and then she’d have to move to Seattle. It was the only way to get out of this.

“I don’t want to move to Seattle,” she cried into her hands.

“Why are you moving to Seattle?”

Gasping, she looked up and saw Levi staring down at her.

“You’re still here.”

Frowning, he asked, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Slowly, Willow came to her feet, afraid she was seeing a mirage or that maybe she hit her head during the death-spin in the car and was hallucinating. “You left,” she blurted out. “I watched you drive away!”

Gently, Levi grasped her shoulder and turned her a little to the right. “I parked the car.”

She threw herself at him and wrapped herself around him and started crying all over again. “I’m so sorry! I am so, so sorry, Levi! You have to know that! And I swear I’ll pay for all the damages! It may take a while since neither of my part-time jobs pays much, but I’ll walk a hundred dogs if it helps! Or…or…I’ll do dishes at the pub! Or mop! Or anything!” She hugged him even harder. “Just please tell me you forgive me and that we’re still friends. Please! I would hate to think of us not being friends anymore!”

Levi returned her hug, and then carefully put some distance between them. Then, taking her by the hand, he began to lead her back to the car. “There’s something you need to see.”

“Oh, no…” she groaned. “It’s bad, isn’t it? I don’t need to see it. I’ll take your word for it. There’s no need to…”

He stopped, and she walked right into him, because she was staring at the ground instead of where they were going.

“Willow…”

She scrunched her eyes shut and shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t look at it.”

“Willow…” he said with a little more heat.

“I’m the worst. I get it! I’ll sit in the back seat for the entire rest of the trip and I won’t say a word. You won’t even know I’m there! And I promise not to touch anything! Ever!”

“Willow!” he snapped.

And that tone had her stopping and opening her eyes.

He was smiling and motioning toward the car.

“What the…?” Slowly, she stepped around him and toward the car, unable to believe what she was seeing.

“There’s…I mean…how…?”

“There are no scratches,” he explained. “And no dents. No damage.”

“How is that possible? I was a one-woman stunt show back there.”

Leaning in close, he said, “And a good stunt person knows how to pull off a stunt without causing any damage.”

Willow examined the car more closely, running her hand along the entire passenger side. “I don’t get it. Those roosters are eight feet of solid concrete. How could they not scratch up the car?”

“Wait, are you actually upset that you didn’t damage the car?”

The car felt perfectly smooth–the only marks were the smudges from her fingerprints. “No, that’s not it. I’m just confused. I thought for sure…between jumping the curb and flying through the air and then…you know…the roosters…”

He chuckled softly. “Somehow you managed to miss the roosters. You got close, but…never touched them. Seriously, you were only a hair’s width away, but it was enough to not even touch.”

“Holy crap! This is great!” She threw herself at him again, but this time while laughing and feeling better than she had…possibly ever! “Seriously, this is amazing!” Her legs were around his waist, and he was laughing with her. Placing a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek, she repeated, “Isn’t it amazing?”

Levi spun her around one more time before putting her back on his feet. “I’d say more like a miracle.”

Her heart was racing, and she knew her laughter was verging on hysterics, but she couldn’t believe her luck. “You have no idea how relieved I am! I was certain I had totaled your car – or at the very least done some serious damage!” She let out a long, shaky breath and tried to calm down. “And I am so glad you weren’t hurt! How embarrassing would that be to explain–that you were hurt by a pair of giant concrete roosters!”

He cleared his throat and tried to look like he wasn’t amused, but she knew he was. “Um, yeah. I’m glad I don’t have to explain that to anyone. Ever.”

Turning her back to the car, Willow leaned against it until she caught her breath. When she did, she looked over at Levi. “So I