Surrender to Temptation (Agent Lovers Series Book 1) (16 page)

“What’s going on? You planning to spend the night here?”

“His leg is trapped!”

“Shit!” Liz went around to the other side of the car, crawled inside, and tried to release him. She pulled his leg vigorously and the man moaned in pain.
Probably broken,
she thought.
But if he’s going to survive, he’ll have to bite the bullet.

“Jenny!” she yelled. “You have to pull!”

“I am pulling!” Jennifer replied just as loudly. She pulled at the young man’s arms with all her strength while Liz pulled on his trapped leg with all of hers. Then suddenly, he was free. Quickly Jennifer pulled him away from his car. Other helpful hands came to assist, and the young man was carried to safety.

“Liz! Get out of there! The engine is already burning,” Jennifer yelled as she waited for her friend to emerge from the wreck.

“Then grab some hamburger and we’ll have a barbecue. Back off! I’m coming.” Jennifer turned on her heels and ran to safety. Once she was a good distance away, she turned and looked back at the wreck, relaxing only when she saw Liz’s blonde head sprinting from the car in the opposite direction. A few seconds later a tremendous explosion threw both vehicles into the air where they spun for a moment before crashing to the ground in flames.

“Liz!” Jennifer hurried around the burning vehicles and saw Liz sprawled out on the ground, on her stomach, with all four limbs extended. She ran to her. “Liz?”

“Was that crazy, or what?” Liz pushed herself up from the ground to her knees and grinned broadly from ear to ear. “The blast got me!” She stood, brushed the dust from her clothes, and wiped the dirt off her face, revealing a few small scratches. She and Jennifer walked back to the others, who cheered them wildly.

“You are both really insane! If it weren’t for you, Zack and Jim would both be dead.” In a voice full of wonder, Sam voiced what everyone else present was thinking.

“I’ll say,” muttered a hulk of a man in a black leather jacket standing behind Sam, half obscured by him. This giant with short-cropped hair had been the driver of the Toyota wagon that Liz had outdistanced. “We’ve held a lot of races here, but we’ve never had a crash like that before. Good thing you two didn’t freeze up like the rest of us.” He grimaced at the memory of his own delayed reaction. Then he laughed and clapped Sam so forcefully on the shoulder that he lunged forward. “Good thing the girls weren’t frightened away by the big bad guys!” Loud laughter broke out and echoed through the clear night air.

Sam rolled his eyes at the man and then smiled at Liz and Jennifer. “Thanks. Really.”

“No problem. Glad to do it. You should take your buddies to the hospital.” Liz looked around. “Who won, anyway?”

“You, of course!” Sam fished Jennifer’s Rolex out of his pocket, put it on top of a thick pile of bills that he pulled out of another jacket pocket, and held the entire pile out to her. Liz took the watch and gave it back to Jennifer, but she waved the money away.

“Divide it between the guys who had the accident.” She pointed to the wrecks that some of the other drivers were still spraying with fire extinguishers. “They need the money more than we do.”

“You want to pass on the cash?” Sam looked shocked—probably, Liz thought, because he and the other drivers had put the Mercedes—and with it, her and Jennifer—through the wringer. He was probably stunned that, despite being made such a target, she and Jennifer were still going to pass up the winnings.

“Of course. We said we only wanted to race. And we did that.” Liz gave him a wink. Then with Jennifer beside her, she walked back to Gray’s thoroughly demolished SUV and got behind the wheel.

The other drivers stared after them as their spinning tires threw up dust and sent small stones flying, like missiles into the night. Racing away from the race course, Liz turned back toward the highway.

“So what do we do now?” she asked. “The car’s still drivable.”

“How would you feel about getting a drink? I’m pretty thirsty after all the dust I swallowed during our little adventure. We could stop at a bar before we head back. One or two drinks couldn’t hurt.” Jennifer examined a long tear in the left sleeve of her jacket, acquired during their recent rescue operation.

“I was about to suggest just that.” Liz accelerated in the direction of a bar they’d recently passed. In the parking lot they locked the SUV’s doors to prevent theft. Then they linked arms and, chatting merrily, stepped into the bar whose neon sign hanging over the entrance identified it as
Moe’s Tavern.

They settled into a corner booth and ordered drinks. After a while someone tapped Jennifer and Liz on the shoulders. Turning around, they recognized the massive Toyota driver, who had come in to have a few drinks with some of his friends. He introduced himself as Steven.

“You two put on quite a show earlier. Well done, ladies!” He extended his coarse hand to them. Liz and Jenny smiled. Under his leather jacket a white T-shirt with a skull on it stretched across his broad chest. He looked over his shoulder and yelled across the bar to his buddies. “Hey, check out these ladies who pulled Zack and Jim out of their wrecks!”

Before Liz and Jennifer had a chance to respond, they were surrounded by a horde of drivers who thanked them profusely and sprang for a good number of drinks. So the short stopover they had planned turned into a two-hour stay.

After a glance at her watch, Jennifer pointed frantically to her wrist. Liz was shocked by the time. They had planned to be back at Gray’s house by now. Quickly they said their goodbyes and headed for the door.

Liz and Jennifer were halfway across the bar when the heavy wooden door was thrown open. Gray appeared in the doorway with Chris on his heels. Between their threatening body language and their grimly pinched faces, they looked like they were ready to kill someone.

Glowering, they looked around the bar until they spotted the women who stood frozen in shock in the middle of the room, awaiting judgment. They crossed the room to Liz and Jennifer.

“What did you do to my car?” Gray roared. He didn’t seem to care that people were staring at them.

“We just borrowed it.” Liz shoved her hands into her pants pockets and shrugged. Nothing about her expression betrayed a trace of fear or remorse. Quite the opposite; she had the audacity to smile at Gray.

“Borrowed?” Her demeanor infuriated him. He yelled so loudly, he managed to draw the attention of every person in the bar. “It’s totaled!”

“Oh, it’s not that bad. Anyway, that’s why I left my credit card on your table—as collateral.”

“Are you saying that you
planned
to do this?”

“Well, of course we didn’t know how extensive the damage would ultimately be, but we knew it would be bad,” she admitted, eyeing Gray with defiance.

Gray pressed his lips together until they were just a thin line and he seized Liz by the collar of her leather jacket. With a powerful jerk he pulled her closer. Her face was only a few inches from his. Through his teeth he hissed, “This is going to cost you dearly!
Very
dearly.”

“Are you going to throw us out?” Jennifer’s voice pulled him out of his rage. She stood next to Liz, looking at Gray hopefully.

“That was what you were trying to accomplish?” Chris had been ready to step in and wrestle Gray away from Liz at any second, so that she wouldn’t be strangled. Now he looked back and forth between the women. “Unbelievable!” He grabbed Jennifer’s arm and dragged her toward the exit.

Gray wasn’t quite as considerate. He let go of Liz’s collar, pushed her in front of him so that she stumbled, and snarled, “Get your ass out of here!”

Liz’s and Jennifer’s new friends took this rough treatment as their cue. The entire group, which had been watching the quarrel quietly up until now, stood up and prepared to attack Gray and Chris.

“We don’t like how you’re treating the ladies,” Steven said to Gray.

“This doesn’t concern you. Who are you anyway?” Gray turned to him angrily. He’d had enough. It wasn’t enough that Liz intentionally totaled his car. She’d also picked up an entire bar full of suitors in the few hours she’d been gone.

“We’re their friends. You got something against that?”

Friends? Did they expect him to believe that? Gray snorted. Not for a minute did he believe these guys wanted friendship with Liz or Jennifer. Especially not this wanna-be gangster who was devouring Liz with his eyes. Gray wasn’t blind. He’d noticed the interested looks this guy and his buddies had directed at Liz and Jennifer the second he walked into the bar. They’d been impossible to miss, even while he was seething with anger and was busy yelling at Liz.

“What if I do have something against that? Butt out. This is a private matter and doesn’t concern any of you.” Gray glowered at the man, but the guy wasn’t easily intimidated. He didn’t even bat an eyelash. He crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his head slightly and looked as though he was sizing up Gray’s ability to fight. “You will treat Liz and Jenny with respect!” he demanded, making the words sound like a declaration of war.

“Like they treated my car?”

“Your ride doesn’t matter. They saved two of our buddies’ lives, and we won’t let you treat them badly!”

“Did they save your friends before or after they totaled my car?”

“While they were totaling it, actually.” The guy’s laugh sounded like a muffled bark and his friends all joined in. After they’d quieted down again, he shrugged his broad shoulders and said in a nonchalant voice, “But that’s what happens when you race.”

Gray swung his head around to Liz again and stared at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head. “You raced? In
my
car?”

“I couldn’t very well take mine, could I?” Liz said defiantly.

Gray ran his fingers through his hair with one hand, took a deep breath, and swore loudly. This woman was driving him crazy. “Enough already! You’ve got to stop this, Liz. I’ve had enough of your childish behavior!”

Liz was sure that what she heard in his voice was resignation and she suppressed a grin. Now he would boot her out for sure. Her plan had worked. Feeling certain of her success, she snuck a look at Jennifer, who quickly lowered her own head in order to hide her delight. Gray and Chris seized Liz’s and Jennifer’s arms and pushed the women through the bar and out the door.

“So long boys!” said Liz over her shoulder to her fellow racers who had sat down again, and they shouted back their regards.

“It was really great getting to know you,” Jennifer called out and Chris gripped her arm even more tightly.

“The pleasure was all ours!” someone called out.

“Thanks again you two!” said another.

Several other voices called out from the corner booth as the door closed behind the departing foursome.

***

Gray opened the back door of a silver BMW station wagon, his second car, and shoved Liz roughly onto the leather seat. Jennifer was pushed in next, then the door was slammed behind them. Groaning, the men leaned against the side of the car and looked at each other.

“Are you going to kick them out now?” Chris crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the top of his sneakers. Chris really believed that something could develop between Jennifer and him, if only they could spend more time together. He fervently hoped that Gray wouldn’t throw the women out.

“No, I won’t. Bu they’re going to have to pay for the damages! Just look at my car.” With a helpless gesture Gray pointed in the direction of his SUV. His former prize possession. He’d own the brand-new Mercedes GL with the customized paint job and high-end interior for only a few weeks. After the women’s joyride, there wasn’t a spot on it that didn’t have a scratch or dent. The back bumper had fallen off and only the taillights’ shattered brackets were recognizable.

“It’s pretty bad,” Chris admitted. “What are you going to tell your insurance? And just what do you have planned for those two now?”

“I’m going to make sure that they can’t do something like this again. It’s time for more clearly defined fronts. Enough is enough. I’m not going to let them walk all over me anymore.” Gray grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest. Chris nodded approvingly as Gray pulled his cellphone out of his jacket pocket and dialed a number.

“Morning, Carlos! I know it’s the middle of the night, but could you tow my SUV?” he said after someone finally answered.

As Gray made arrangements for his Mercedes, Chris rubbed his eyes and thought back on the moment two hours earlier when Gray burst into his room and woke him with the words, “They’re gone!” Within seconds, he’d slipped into his clothes and hurried after his friend, who was already down the stairs and storming out of the house. They’d searched outside intensely, but in vain. Everything was quiet; nothing stirred. Unwilling to just sit around, twiddling their thumbs while they waited for the women to return, Chris and Gray had gone in search of them.

It was by sheer coincidence that Gray had stopped at
Moe’s Tavern
. They had thought they’d just step into the bar and ask if anyone had seen the women. Then Gray had noticed the totaled Mercedes in the parking lot. He and Chris had jumped out of the BMW, run to the SUV and walked around looking for Liz and Jennifer. It looked like the car had recently made the close acquaintance of a freight train. Several times.

It was when they heard Liz’s laughter coming through an open window of the bar that Gray had finally lost composure. He’d raced to the entrance like a steam engine, and Chris had followed, fully prepared for the possibility that he would have to stop Gray from spanking the women in public—even though, given their most recent idiotic move, a good swat on the seat of their pants was what they deserved. Fortunately, Gray didn’t lose his composure, otherwise they would have gotten into a bar fight with Liz’s and Jennifer’s new “friends.”

That would have been the icing on the cake,
thought Chris.
The evening was already plenty memorable, but that would have made it utterly unforgettable.

Chris sighed, ran his hand over his face and scrutinized Gray’s profile. His friend’s face spoke volumes. He was furious, seething with rage, but he managed to stay in control. The determined look in his eyes could only be about Liz. It was the same determination Chris felt when he thought about Jennifer. He almost laughed out loud when he thought about the motivation for their crazy stunt. Did they really think that if they provoked Gray enough, they would get what they wanted and Gray would show them the door? Liz and Jennifer had come to the right place if they were hoping to lock horns with someone.