Boosted Pt. 10

"Pretty impressive," she said as the story ended and the talking heads moved on to a fire in a Raleigh apartment complex. He shrugged and returned to the wok, putting it back on the heat to finish cooking. "The Sheriff tried to make it sound like it was his department that broke the case, but you shut that down."

"It doesn't matter who gets the credit."

"Well, it does to me. The DA read a statement and said the Brunswick PD made the arrests, but Sheriff Doudy said 'our investigation' at least three times. The jerk."

Sean smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried about it, but it's not right him trying to take credit for something you did."

"I'm just glad it's over and we caught them."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't like you going out in the middle of the night."

He leaned over and puckered his lips for a kiss. "That's sweet."

She kissed him quickly. "Yeah. My bed kept getting cold."

He snickered as he removed the wok from the stove and began scraping the contents over the two piles of rice. "Is that all I am to you? A bed warmer?"

She grinned as she made a noncommittal noise. "Maybe a little more than that."

He smiled as he placed the wok in the sink for cleaning. "Only a little?"

She shrugged, her eyes still dancing with her smile. "Maybe."

"Maybe I'll have to try to do better."

She melted into him. "Babe, I don't know if I can stand any better."

He wrapped her up, his hands resting comfortably on her ass. "I think I'll try anyway."

"Please do," she murmured as she pulled his lips to hers.

He took her lips fully, their connection strengthening with their kiss. Their dinner was getting cold, but he didn't care, and she didn't seem to either.

"Think it'll make it this time?" Maggie asked as Sean closed the boot on the Jag.

"I think so."

It was the second week of June and they were going to make another attempt on the aborted vacation in the Jag. The weather was a little warm for his taste, but they were going to the mountains instead of the beach, and Maggie promised it'd be cooler there. The plan was to spend the week exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway, driving its entire length from its start near Afton, Virginia, to its end just north of Cherokee, North Carolina. They were going to drive when they wanted, stop where they wanted, and take any side trips that interested them. They weren't going to stay in the same place twice, and while the Jag had forced them to pack light, that was part of the fun.

When they'd settled on the date, he'd looked at a map and planned their trip to avoid interstates as much as possible. The E-Type would do fine on the freeway, but in his opinion, driving the car on the interstate was simply doing it wrong. The XKE lived and breathed twisty backroads, not long straight slabs of concrete.

It'd been three weeks since he fully moved in with Maggie. She'd borrowed a truck from the plant, and with a little help from a couple of his officers, and a second pickup, they'd hauled her rundown bedroom furniture to a family that needed it. With the room now empty, they'd driven directly to his apartment after unloading. There, they'd reloaded the trucks with his bedroom furniture before carting it to her house. It had taken less than four hours from the loading of Maggie's old furniture into the trucks, to the unloading of his furniture into the room. After they'd paid the moving crew with pizza and beer, and sent them on their way, they'd returned the truck, stopped by his apartment to gather a few remaining items, switched off the air conditioning, and locked the place up tight. He still stopped by a couple of times a week to collect his mail, but he hadn't returned to his apartment since.

It was funny how little things had changed between them, and what had changed had been for the better. He'd removed the Jaguar from storage and parked it in her garage. His cruiser had to sit out, but it had sat outside at his apartment before. It was a small price to pay to have the Jag handy, and he and Maggie took the E-Type out often. They shared the cooking and cleaning duties and split the expenses down the middle. It was a win for both of them. In another month or so, he'd turn in his key for the apartment and change his mailing address at the same time. He'd kept the storage unit that once housed the E-Type to have a place to store the remainder of his furniture, what little there was, but unless something changed between them, that was a temporary situation as well. He'd give it six months. If he didn't need his furniture by then, he'd find someone that did and donate it.

He opened the passenger door for her. "Ready?"

She smiled as she folded into the leather seat. He shook his head slightly as he shut the door. The hood, what the Brits called the top, was folded down, so Maggie had wrapped her head in a scarf and dressed in a light and breezy blouse that made his mouth water. Between the head scarf, the tastefully sexy top, and the pair of cat-eye sunglasses she'd found last year, she was almost unbearably alluring. In his opinion, there were few things that could compete with his Jag for attention, but one of them was sitting in the passenger seat.

He backed out of the garage and turned for the street. The Jag had been running fantastic since BIGS had tinkered with the carbs. BIGS was still closed, but hopefully someone would recognize a good thing and open it up again. In the meantime, he was going to find out where Dalton Pierce ended up and see if he wanted to do a little work on the side. Even if the man was involved in some way with the car thefts, that didn't mean he couldn't tune a Jag.

They burbled their way through town as they made their way to Highway 70 for the first leg of their journey. It was over 200 miles from Brunswick to Afton, a four-hour drive, but he couldn't think of a better way to spend four hours. Once out of town north of Raleigh, he allowed the Jag to sing. He needed this. After two weeks he'd called off the investigation of Jasper Kohler to prevent his department from getting slapped with a harassment lawsuit. It torqued him, and his entire department, that Cotton was going to get away with stealing his safe, but there was nothing else they could do. They had nothing other than their deep-felt knowledge he was guilty, but that wasn't enough for an arrest, much less a conviction.

"I'm so looking forward to this," he said.

"Me too."

He reached over and took her hand. "A whole week of having you all to myself."

"You'll get tired of me."

He spluttered. "Hardly."

She smiled at him as she pushed a lock of hair out of her face and back under the scarf.

They stopped for lunch in Lynchburg, and visited Appomattox Court House, before refueling the car.

"You want to drive?" he asked as he filled the Jag's tank.

"Do you mind?"

He smiled as he shook his head. "Of course not."

She beamed at him. "Then yes, I'd love to."

As the car filled, she went to the restroom. When the pump clicked off, he took his turn. He had to wait for his opportunity to use the bathroom, and when he returned, a small crowd had gathered loosely around the car to talk to Maggie.

"Nice car," one of the guys said. "What year?"

"Sixty-six," Maggie replied as he approached.

"Damn, that's a sweet ride."

Sean opened the driver's door, shutting it behind Maggie as she settled in and adjusted the seat. He wasn't sure if the guy was talking about the car or the driver, but it would apply to either.

"I like your car!"

"Thanks," he replied as he circled the E-Type and fell into the passenger seat.

Maggie brought the car to life before creeping away from the pumps, waggling her fingers at the bystanders as they passed.

"You have admirers," he murmured when they were out of hearing range.

"I think it was your car."

"Maybe, but only until you came out."

She rolled to a stop at the edge of the road and waited on traffic. "I don't know about that."

"I do. You, driving this car? Any man with a pulse would notice that."

She grinned. "You're such a flatterer!"

A hole opened in traffic and Maggie went for it, winding the car out and banging through the gears as they howled away. She'd left harder than strictly necessary, causing him to smile. She was feeling frisky and showing off a little for her admirers. It worked. He damned sure admired her, so much so he could hardly keep his eyes off her.

"What?" she asked, glancing at him as they left Lynchburg behind and the traffic thinned, the road opening up ahead of them.

"You."

"What about me?"

"You make this car even sexier, and the car does the same to you."

She glanced at him again, a smile on her face. "You're going to get laid tonight. You don't have to keep spreading it on."

He chuckled, but it was true. He had already started falling for her, but now that he'd said the words, now that they were sharing living space, he was falling hard. In his mind there was no more his and hers, only theirs. Their house. Their car. Their life.

He forced himself to look away from her. Having her alone for a week and not having to share her with work? He couldn't stop the smile that appeared. He looked at her again.

"Love you."

She smiled but didn't look away from the road. "You just want me for my car," she teased, claiming his Jaguar for herself.

He chuckled and looked away. He wanted her for more than that. Much more. She reached over, took his hand, and squeezed it. He looked back to her. She was looking at him, a small loving smile on her lips. She glanced away to the road for the briefest of moments but then looked back at him, blowing him an air kiss.

"Love you too," she said. In the noise of the open car he'd barely heard her, but he'd seen her say those three words so often lately he had no trouble reading her lips.

He squeezed her hand in return. She could have the car. He'd take the driver.