The Million Dollar Virgin

Chapter Seven - Rian

Echo was waiting outisde. In his slick – bright yellow – two-seater car. No way in hell did Rian want Steffania jammed in beside his brother for thirty minutes with nowhere to go but into his arms. Echo made no secret of just how often he'd used that particular car as a tool of seduction. He had a whole damned technique.

Knees touching through the ride. Fingers brushing thighs with every gear shift. Swanky-ass sound system playing in the background.

The car had seen so much Echo-action that Rian wouldn't get into it at all. Unless maybe his brother volunteered to cover the passenger seat with a plastic sheet.

So the thought of Steffania's slim body pressed into that leather...

"No fucking way," he muttered at the same time as Steffania said, "Oh my god."

Rian prepared to watch her run toward the vehicle as excitedly as every other girl on the planet. Instead, she stayed exactly where she was. Inched a tiny bit closer to him, actually.

"Echo drives a douche-mobile," she stated, her voice low and horrified.

"You were hoping for something else?"

"No. But actually...I'm kinda glad I wasn't. The disappointment probably would've been worse."

In spite of himself, Rian smiled. "You can ride with me."

"Why? Don't you also drive a douche-mobile?"

"I drive an old truck. But I hitched a ride here in the town car with Echo's friends." He gestured up the street.

The luxury vehicle waited on the corner, all but blending in with its surroundings. Charcoal grey, like the building behind it.

"Your choice," Rian added.

"Hmm. A choice between riding with both the man who won't promise not to kiss me and his thugs, and riding with the man I'm going to marry."

"They're Echo's thugs. And it's really more of a choice between the douche-mobile and the ultra-comfortable backseat of a car your grandmother would be proud to own."

"My grandmother rode a Harley."

"Of course she did."

He waited for another second, then decided to deal with it himself. If it pissed Echo off, so be it. Better than the alternative. Rian strode toward the yellow car, shaking his head.

"Nice try," he said.

Echo shrugged innocently. "What?"

"You think I'm letting her get in there with you?"

"I think there's a good chance she wants to get in here with me."

"And I think you should have the damned thing detailed before she gets anywhere near it."

"Or maybe just light the whole thing on fire?" his brother asked.

"Better than letting her get pregnant from sitting there." He heard Steffania make a noise – Strangled? Disgusted? Hard to say. – and ignored it. "Be really awkward considering she's a – fuuuuuuck!"

Her booted foot had landed on his ankle with what he assumed to be the force of a baby elephant. He spun to face her.

"Whoops," she murmured, her eyes wide. "I slipped."

"Christ." He shook his leg, trying to ease the throb. "That hurts."

"Sorry."

He knew she was anything but. "Apology accepted."