Driving Miss Crazy

By T. L. Lawrence

"What are you, taking the scenic route to Richmond?"

Her voice broke into his thoughts as they wove their way through the green beauty of Virginia's horse country. Myles turned slightly to glance at his colleague.

"You could have stayed behind. I don't really need a backup on this."

Tara rolled her eyes. "It was this or listen to Bobby beg me to finish his 302 reports for the month. Feel honored that you rate higher."

A smile quirked his lips as he returned his full gaze to the road. "Then perhaps you should enjoy the peace and quiet."

She was silent for several minutes, looking out her window. Then her voice reached him again. "You know, I just remembered something."

Myles repressed a sigh. "And what might that be?"

She grinned broadly. "I don't go for peace and quiet. Are we there yet?"

He turned again, just to make sure he'd heard her correctly. "Excuse me?"

Her dark eyes danced with mischief. "I said, are we there yet?"

"We are not. We are still an hour out of Richmond, as well you know."

"Oh. Ok." She gazed out her window again, but he eyed her warily for a moment. He'd seen that look in her eye before, and it usually meant she was in a very silly mood.

After a few more minutes of silence, he heard a rather unusual sound coming from the passenger seat. If he didn't know better, he'd swear she was... "hee-haw"? "Tara…"

"Are we there yet?"

He grimaced. "Let me guess. This is the part where you're going to ask that every thirty seconds from here to Richmond, isn't it?"

She smiled innocently. "Who, me? Now would I do something like that?"

"In a heartbeat. I did see Shrek 2… in fact, I believe you were the one who made me see it." He pulled over to the side of the road and faced her fully. "At the risk of sounding exactly like my parents…" He gave her his best glare. "If I have to stop this car again, young lady, you're going to be in some serious trouble."

"What are you going to do? Take me over your knee?" The challenge in her eyes sparked an idea that he wasn't sure he could get away with, but if she was going to push him, he could push right back.

"Try me." He watched her eyes widen as he slammed a lid shut on the image of doing just that. His idea was one thing; entertaining thoughts like that could get him sued. Or punched out.

"All right, all right. I'll behave." She held up her right hand. "I promise." The fact that the fingers of her left hand were crossed didn't escape him. She crossed her arms over her chest and assumed a very credible sulk. "Party pooper."

He internalized the laugh. "Good." He pulled back onto the road and continued toward Richmond, silently ticking off the seconds in his head, waiting to see just how long she could resist.

She managed three minutes. Then he heard the slightest breath of a whisper. "Are we there yet?"

"Tara."

"What?" The dark eyes were all innocence. "I didn't say anything."

"Of course. My mistake." He turned on the radio, wondering if that would stop her. He doubted it.

Soon she was chanting it under her breath in time with Footloose. He waited until he found a side road to turn onto, then screeched the car to a stop and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Out."

Her eyes went wide again. "What?"

"You heard me. Out." He opened his door and stalked around to her side of the car. He opened her door and stared down at her. "Don't make me remove you from the car, Tara."

"You wouldn't dare." But after staring at him for a long minute, she unbuckled her own belt and got out, leaning against the back door of his sedan with a jaunty grin on her face. "Now what? I'd just like to see you try to take me over your knee like I was five."

He closed the distance between them, stepping just slightly to her side to avoid the inevitable reaction. The challenge was both too tempting and too marvelous to pass up. He gripped her chin with his fingers and pressed her gaze up to his own. "You're not five, and I have better punishments available."

"Wha—" Her question was swallowed as he took her mouth, pressing her against the side of the car and waiting for the blow she was sure to deliver. But apparently she was in enough shock that all she did was stand there, not quite responding. When he released her, she stared at him for several long minutes. "I—" She swallowed once, which seemed to kick her brain back into gear. "I cannot believe you just did that. I should belt you for it."

"If you don't get in that car and behave yourself, I just may do it again." He motioned her back into the vehicle, a grin pushing its way onto his face.

"There's incentive." She smiled sweetly at the double-take he gave her, then hopped back into the car and pulled a paperback out of her purse without another look at him.

Myles wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or insulted. But at least it was quiet, so he started the car up again and pulled out onto the highway.

Silence reigned for about twenty minutes. Glad as he was for it, he couldn't help but recall how very soft her lips had been under his, yielding just slightly. The fact that he'd meted it out as "punishment" prompted a flash of her dressed in a leather mini-skirt and vest, which he quashed immediately before it could grow into something totally inappropriate. No… no, no, no, I will not go there. I probably shouldn't have kissed her in the first place.

He'd finally managed to shake the image by losing himself in a Bach concerto on the radio when he got a mental buzz of being watched. He turned and discovered that she was staring at him, a very odd glint in her eyes. His mouth went dry and he could barely form the single word. "What?"

"I was offered a position yesterday in Cyber-Crimes. Did you know that?" She was twisting a dark blonde curl around one of her fingers.

"Really." For some reason, a very nervous twitch was starting deep in his gut. "Are you planning to take it?"

"That depends." The slow smile that crossed her face sent his nervous twitch even lower. Not an unpleasant sensation, he decided.

But with the way she was looking at him, he wasn't sure his voice was going to work much longer. "On what?"

She leaned over until she was as close to his ear as she could get and still stay in her seat belt.

"Are we there yet?"

FINIS...