A Love Like Ours

Chapter 38

I gripped the handle above the passenger side seat as we careened around a blue Nissan on the parkway. "Now, I remember why I don't let you drive."

Mads smiled beside me. "I'm a perfectly good driver."

"You're a speed demon."

"I'm a New Yorker." She stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward once more. "And New Yorkers don't like it when drivers go below the speed limit in the left lane."

I chuckled, then, my foot instinctively pressing down on an invisible brake at my feet. "Well, he's gone now, Mads. You successfully circumvented him. Time to go the speed limit."

"I'm going five over, Harry. I think it's time you relax. We're almost there."

I kept my eyes wide and on the road in front of us, willing the cars ahead not to cross her path. "I'll relax when we're home."

Mads laughed, then. "That's what you think, but Mom's not going to let us relax for a second. Hope you got some sleep on the plane."

When she glanced over at me, a smirk on her lips, my heart stumbled. I reached for her hand where it rested on the gear stick as I answered, "Luckily, I've gotten quite good at sleeping while in transit over the years."

Her eyes made their way over to our joined fingers, and I smiled because her lips fell open—like she was as pleasantly surprised by the physical contact as I was after so long.

"Eyes on the road, my girl."

Blinking herself out of the daze, her lips curled up again. "In that case, it's probably best you don't touch me right now."

I chuckled, but before doing as she requested, took her hand and brought it to my mouth—kissed her knuckles.

After four months apart, it was damn near impossible not to touch her—not to stare at her constantly. But at least I didn't have to pay attention to the road like she did. At least I could look at her as much as I liked—enjoy the way her hair was tied up in a small bun on her head, pieces of it falling down around her neck, like she didn't have time to do anything with it before she'd left this morning; enjoy the fact that she was in a pair of cotton shorts, her left leg hiked up on the seat as she drove, her arms bare on this already warm June morning, and the fact that she hadn't put on a stitch of makeup. If she was feeling something even close to the same amount of desire I was feeling, I knew how hard it was for her to concentrate on anything else.

I let go of her hand.

"So, your mum going a bit mental with the preparation?" I asked a few seconds later, trying to distract myself—and her.

Mads sighed. "If I didn't already have to wake up at six this morning to get you, she probably would've had me up anyway. Just to give you an idea of the kind of rampage she's been on these last few days."

I breathed a laugh. "I can't wait to get there."

"Why didn't I detect even a hint of sarcasm in that statement?"

"Because I meant it," I said. "I don't think you realize how enjoyable being with your family is for me."

"Thank God for that." Mads was grinning. "Otherwise there would've been no way you'd hang around."

"On the contrary, babe," I said, reaching for her hand again, tracing circles on top of it. She glanced over at me, that same sort of daze coming over her. "I probably would've put up with much, much worse, if I'm honest."

Her back straightened as she sucked in a breath and focused on the road again. I smirked as I pulled my hand back, knowing full well what she was feeling. Because I was feeling it, too.