SVH06-Dangerous Love (10 page)

Todd's brow creased. "But I don't have my--" He followed her gaze to the bike and shook his head. "No. No way. I promised your parents. And besides, you don't want to get on that thing. You've said it a billion times."

"I know. I know what I said," Elizabeth replied, stepping up to the bike. "But it's just one ride and it's not that far. I want to see what's so great about it before you give it away. I want to do that... for you."

"Well, that's okay, because I don't want you to," Todd said firmly.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked.

"Liz, come on," Todd said, standing on the other side of the bike. "You made a pact with your family. This is a major thing for you. I don't want you to change something like that for me. What if you hate me in the morning?"

"We're not having sex, Todd; we're just going for a ride on the bike," Elizabeth said wryly.

Todd blushed. "Hilarious, Liz. But no. I told your parents I wouldn't make you ride this thing, and I'm not--"

"You're not making me do anything. It's something I want to do," Elizabeth told him. "Just once."

Todd hesitated, but Elizabeth could see she was breaking him down. "But what if your parents find out?" he asked.

"How would they?" Elizabeth replied, feeling deliriously naughty. Deliriously

Jessica-esque. "It's just one ride."

Todd took a deep breath and braced his hands on the seat of the bike. Again, he shook his head. "I don't like it."

"I will take full responsibility," Elizabeth assured him, unhooking the pink helmet from the bike. "Come on. You ride this thing every day and it's just a short trip. It'll be fine."

Todd looked up at her, his brown eyes unreadable. "You're sure."

"I'm sure," she said.

And finally, finally, he started to smile. Elizabeth's heart flip-flopped in her chest. She knew she was making another dream of his come true-to ride around town with his girlfriend on the back of his bike.

"Fine. Let's do it," he said.

He climbed onto the bike and fastened his helmet. With a yip of exhilaration and excitement, Elizabeth climbed on behind him, tucking the skirt of her dress between her legs. She rested her feet on the pegs just behind his heels and settled in against him. With her arms wrapped tightly around Todd's waist, she was surprised at how secure she felt. The bike was a lot sturdier than she had imagined. Relief settled over her shoulders. This was going to be fine. In fact, it was going to be fun.

"You ready?" Todd asked.

"Yep," Elizabeth called out.

With that, Todd started the bike and it shook between her thighs as it roared to life. Elizabeth's heart hit her throat as Todd took off down the driveway. He wasn't even going very fast, but those first few seconds were still the most frightening of Elizabeth's life. Even scarier than her first roller coaster ride. Trying hard to keep from shaking, she hung on to Todd for dear life, every

muscle in her body tight. When Todd began to lean the bike, first to the left, then to the right, Elizabeth closed her eyes and held her breath, certain she was going to fall off at any moment. She was beginning to regret having been so insistent.

You just have to make it to the Caravan, she told herself. That's less than ten minutes away.

Soon they had begun the straight descent toward town, and now that they were beyond the curves of the country club drive, Elizabeth was able to open her eyes again. As she saw the familiar sights whooshing by, she started to relax and enjoy the ride.

"You okay back there?" Todd shouted at one point.

"So far, so good!" she shouted back.

After a couple more turns, Elizabeth felt comfortable enough to lean into them with Todd, their bodies swaying together with the bike. With each negotiated turn, Elizabeth felt as if she'd achieved something. Like when she was first learning to drive and she managed to get through an entire trip to the mall with her mother without making a mistake.

I'm doing it, Elizabeth thought. I'm doing the thing I've always dreaded most. And it's actually kind of fun!

She felt proud of herself for conquering her fears, and happy that she had done this for Todd. All in all, her crappy night was taking a turn for the good.

The rest of the ride was like nothing Elizabeth had ever imagined. Even at Todd's careful speed, the evening air tickled her bare skin and tossed her long hair every which way. With her hands clasped tightly around Todd, she rested her chin on his shoulder and just enjoyed the closeness of him. The more relaxed she felt, the more she was able to appreciate the sensation of flying through the night air. She finally understood what Todd was talking about when he referred to being surrounded by the elements, and she didn't want the ride to end.

He shouldn't have to sell this thing, Elizabeth thought. Not if it makes him feel like this.

When they got to the club, she was going to insist that he keep the bike. And the next morning, she would sit down with her parents and carefully explain why it was time for them to rethink their rule. There was nothing wrong with a motorcycle. Not when it was being handled by someone as competent as Todd.

She closed her eyes and imagined that she and Todd were the only people on the planet, whizzing through the wind. Nothing could stop them. Nothing at all...

CHAPTER 9

She pulled away from Brian abruptly--so abruptly that he fell forward and knocked heads with her.

"Ow!" Brian blurted out, bringing his hand to his forehead.

"Okay. That hurt," Jessica said. She slid away from him in the backseat of his car and touched her head with her fingertips. Two seconds before, she had been wrapped up in one of the most amazing kisses she'd ever experienced. Now her forehead was throbbing with pain.

"What's the matter? Did I do something?" Brian

asked, his face half visible in the light coming from the overhead parking lamps in the Caravan lot.

"No. Sorry. I just..."Jessica felt silly admitting what she was about to admit. "I just had the weirdest feeling that Liz needs me."

Brian smirked and reached across the seat to toy with a lock of her hair. "Are you two psychic or something?"

"It's a twin thing," Jessica said. Her heart was pounding rapidly, and not just from Brian's nearness. Something was up. Had she forgotten to do something or-"Oh, no! We were supposed to drive her here!"

"We were?" Brian asked, his brow creasing.

"Yes! I totally spaced," Jessica said. She groped through her bag for her phone to see if Elizabeth had called her, and sure enough, there was one missed call. "She's going to be so mad."

"Okay, calm down. We've already been here half an hour," Brian said, touching her bare shoulder. "I'm sure she's gotten another ride by now. She probably already went inside and we just didn't see her."

Jessica sat back and pondered that. It made sense. She and Brian hadn't seen much traffic in the past twenty minutes or so. And if Elizabeth was really stranded, she would have called Jessica more than once, right? So why

couldn't Jess shake the niggling feeling that something was wrong?

"C'mere," Brian said, tugging on her wrist.

Jessica looked into his gorgeous face and felt herself start to cave. She leaned into him and touched her lips to his again. He ran his hands up into her hair, undoing her carefully constructed chignon, and she sighed as her fallen locks tickled her back. Brian was really good at this. Had he always been, or were college guys really that much more experienced? Jessica scooted closer to him, pressing her legs against his, and deepened the kiss.

Liz.

"Argh," Jessica groaned, pulling away.

"What is it now?" Brian asked.

"We have to go back and see if Liz is still there," she said, pushing her hair back from her face.

Brian sighed. "Jess, come on. Your sister must have realized by now that we left. She has enough common sense to have called someone else."

"I know. I know," Jessica said, shoving open the car door. "She actually has way more common sense than that, but something's wrong. I can just feel it." She stood outside the car and bent at the waist to look back in at him. "Are you going to get out and drive me or do I have to pickpocket your keys?"

"You're serious," Brian said dubiously.

"Dead serious," Jessica replied. "Come on, Brian. It's like a ten-minute drive. Once I see that she's okay, I'm all yours."

"Fine," Brian said reluctantly.

He got out of the backseat and Jessica quickly jumped into the front. Her heart was racing now and she hoped, for once, that everyone was right about her tendency to be overly dramatic. But something told her that wasn't what this was about. Normally, if she was with a guy as hot as Brian, Elizabeth would never have entered her head again. That was just the way Jess was. Live in the moment. Let everyone else take care of themselves. So the fact that Elizabeth's name kept popping into her mind was very disturbing.

Brian pulled out of the parking lot and drove through town. As he started up the hill that led to the woodsy area where the country club was located, Jessica's breath started to come short and shallow. She gripped her purse in her lap so tightly she was sure she was going to tear it apart.

Something's wrong... something's wrong....

And then Brian went around a turn, and the entire roadway was suddenly illuminated with the eerie orange glow of traffic flares. Up ahead, two police cars were pulled to the side of the road, their lights flashing.

"Looks like an accident," Brian said, easing up on the gas pedal.

"Oh my God," Jessica said under her breath, noticing some shattered glass on the street. "It looks bad."

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Please don't let it be anyone I know. Please don't let it be--

"No. Look," Brian said, pointing at an SUV on the opposite side of the road. "It doesn't look damaged at all."

Jessica pulled in some air and was just about to nod in agreement when she spotted the broken remains of a black motorcycle lying about a hundred feet beyond the SUV.

"Oh my God! I think that's Todd's bike!" she gasped, grabbing Brian's arm. "Pull over! Pull over!"

Jessica sat forward in her seat, trying to spot Todd among the men standing around the wreckage as Brian slowly pulled off the road. So this was what the awful feeling was about. It wasn't Elizabeth, but Todd. What if he was badly hurt? Or worse? How was she going to tell Elizabeth?

Trying to swallow her dread, Jessica opened the car door and ran to the scene. She was a few steps away from the bike when a female officer moved in front of her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the woman said, holding up both hands. "You can't go any further, miss."

"But that's my friend's bike!" Jessica blurted out, her eyes stinging with tears. "Is he--"

"It's okay. She's her sister."

Jessica started at the sound of Todd's voice. His words didn't register. Only the fact that he was alive did. She whirled around and saw Todd limping toward her from the other side of a police car. Relief flooded through her just as two wailing ambulances came whipping around the curve and slowed to a stop.

"Todd! You're okay!" Jessica cried, throwing herself into his arms.

Todd hugged her back for a millisecond before pulling away. He had a cut on his chin and tears were streaming down his face. "I tried to stop her. I swear I did."

Jessica blinked. "Stop who? What're you talking about?"

Todd pressed his eyes closed. "Liz. She ... she just wanted to try it once. .. ."

Todd's words were like an ice pick to Jessica's heart. She froze entirely, not wanting to let them sink in. He didn't mean ... he couldn't mean...

"You'd better come with me, son."

One of the officers put his hand on Todd's shoulder and led him toward an ambulance. It was then that Jessica saw her sister, her body lying twisted and motionless on

the hard pavement. Her blond hair splayed everywhere, her black dress torn, her pink helmet lying ten yards away. Two policemen knelt over her, looking grim.

"Liz!" Jessica screamed. She ran toward her sister as fast as she could, choking for air, tears coursing down her face. "Liz! No! No! No!"

Suddenly, she ran into something solid. It was one of the paramedics, his beefy arm blocking her from getting anywhere near her sister.

"Let me go!" Jessica shouted hysterically. "That's my sister!"

One of the policemen stepped over and held Jessica's shoulders, even as she struggled against the grip of the paramedic.

"Miss, you're going to have to calm down," he said in a soothing voice. "I know it's hard, but please. Take a breath and try to calm down."

"Let me go! Are you insane? That's my sister!" Jessica cried again.

"We know. And we're doing all we can for her," the policeman told her as two paramedics hustled toward Elizabeth with a rolling cot. Someone placed an oxygen mask over Liz's face. They slid an orange board beneath her to help them lift her from the ground.

"Oh my God. Oh my God," Jessica said over and over

again. "Is she okay?" she asked the officer, gripping his arm. "Is she going to be okay? Don't let her die, please. Please, please, please don't let her die."

"Like I said, we're doing everything we can," the police officer told her. "But you have to calm down."

"Please let me see her," Jessica cried, hot tears covering her face as Elizabeth was wheeled toward the ambulance. She looked so small and frail and alone. "She needs me."

"As soon as her condition is stabilized, she'll be taken to the hospital. You can ride there with her."

Jessica nodded blankly. Even in her state of shock, she started to realize that at the very least Elizabeth was still alive. They were giving her oxygen; they thought they might be able to stabilize her condition. These were good things. Jessica took a deep breath and tried her best to calm down so that the police would start to trust her. There was no way that ambulance was taking Elizabeth unless Jessica was in there as well.

"I'll be all right," she told the officer, keeping her voice even. "You can let me go. I promise I won't do anything."