Hard and Fast (Fast Track #2)(8)
Author: Erin McCarthy

It might just take a bomb to get their attention, given that Nikki’s hair was now caught in the windshield wipers, whipping back and forth, and she didn’t seem to notice.

Imogen reached forward in the driver’s seat and silently turned off the wipers.

CHAPTER THREE

FOR some reason, Imogen’s quietly killing the wipers made Ty burst out laughing. The whole thing was just damn ridiculous.

Here he and Imogen were clearly fighting their attraction to each other so that Ty could do the respectable and decent thing and break up with Nikki first, when Nikki was indulging in a downpour fantasy with a guy Ty didn’t think she’d even met before that night.

“Do you really think it’s funny or are you laughing out of defense?” Imogen asked him, giving him a concerned look, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“I really think it’s funny,” he assured her. “I think I’m staring at a little life lesson—two people shouldn’t be together just for convenience’s sake. It only ends in sex on the hood of the car. And not with each other.”

“True.” Imogen made a sound of distress. “Oh, my God. He’s actually undoing his pants.”

Before Ty could react, Imogen laid on the car horn. They heard Nikki shriek and catapult forward into Jonas’s arms, who stumbled backward, unzipped. It was raining too hard to see their expressions, which was a little disappointing. Ty thought it might be amusing to see guilty blushes.

Instead, Nikki stomped over and knocked on the driver’s side window. “Who is in there?” she screamed.

“You don’t have to answer that,” Ty told Imogen, annoyed that Nikki hadn’t just slunk off the way most people would.

Jonas was hovering awkwardly behind her, like he didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

Imogen glanced over at Ty. “Do you want me to get rid of her or do you want to talk to her?”

“Oh, we can talk to her.” Why prolong the stupidity?

Imogen cracked her window slightly. “It’s Imogen. And Ty.”

There was a pause, then Nikki shrieked, “Ty? That bastard is in there?”

Excuse me? What the hell had he done to deserve that title? Ty leaned across Imogen to try to see Nikki. “Since I’m a bastard and you’re swapping spit with Strickland, I think we can call our relationship over.”

“Unlock this car,” Nikki demanded.

“Why?” Imogen asked even as she did it.

Nikki opened the back door and climbed in. “Because it’s raining cats and dogs out there and I don’t want to have this conversation standing in that mess.”

“It didn’t seem to bother you a minute ago,” Ty remarked, watching Nikki slide across the backseat until she was directly behind him.

She made a tsk sound, then yelled, “Jonas! Get in the car.”

The idiot did, which made Ty grin. “Nikki, I don’t really think we have anything further to talk about.”

“I suppose you’re mad at me,” Nikki said, frowning at him.

“No, not really. A little surprised maybe, but you’re entitled to screw whoever you want. It just might have been nice if you’d let me know we were breaking up first. You know, just maybe.”

“I wouldn’t have had to if you had been reasonable.”

“What exactly was I unreasonable about?” And how soon could he get her out of the car? He was getting a crick in his neck from looking into the backseat, and he was feeling bad for poor Imogen stuck watching the Nikki train wreck roll. He had to admit he was feeling the sting of embarrassment that Imogen was seeing what was clearly his poor judgment in living form.

“You don’t want to marry me.” Nikki was pouting, her plump lip shoved out.

Oh, Lord.

Jonas frowned. “Wait a minute. Are you two dating?” His finger went back and forth between Ty and Nikki.

“Not anymore. It’s all good, man,” Ty assured him.

But the poor guy’s frown got deeper. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing anyone.” He looked at Ty. “Dude, I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool.” Ty turned to Nikki. “No, I don’t want to marry you.”

“Why not?” Nikki wailed, her hands coming up to her face as she sobbed.

“Wait a minute,” Imogen said, sounding totally exasperated. “Nikki, be honest, are you in love with Ty?”

Nikki’s sob cut out. She frowned. “No.”

“Then why do you want to marry him?”

“Because I’m already twenty-two. I should be married.”

Ty winced. Was Nikki honestly only twenty-two? He probably had known that in theory but hearing it out loud was a second wake-up call. At thirty-three, he suddenly felt too old to be dating a woman that young. It was no wonder they never had anything to talk about.

He was about to say something, he wasn’t sure what, but it would probably involve swear words. Fortunately Imogen beat him to it.

“I’m twenty-eight years old and I’m not married and I’m not in the least bit stressed out about that. Being ready to commit yourself to one man for the rest of your life takes serious thought and self-awareness, not to mention a healthy dose of love and passion. You can’t rush that or force that or compromise on that.”

Exactly. Took the words right out of his mouth.

“Whatever,” Nikki said, rolling her eyes.

“I think I need to leave,” Jonas said, looking like he would give his right nut to be anywhere but where he was.

“I’m going with you,” Nikki said. She stared hard at Ty for a second while he tried to imagine what exactly was going to come out of her mouth. She said, “I hope you understand the mistake you’ve made.”

Oh, hell, yeah, he did. No more twenty-two-year-olds. No more dating women who wanted his status and money more than him. And no more casual sex for a while. It was time to step back and wait for a woman he could really connect with.

“I do,” he assured her. “And I’m sorry things didn’t work out. I hope you and Strickland have fun tonight.”

Nikki’s face brightened. “We will. Thanks.”

Then she nudged Jonas to get out of the car, which he did with a speed and dexterity that defied his rather bulky frame, and Nikki followed.

Suddenly Ty was alone again in the car with Imogen, who was frowning.

“God, I’m sorry about that,” he said, feeling downright sheepish.

She just waved her hand like it was irrelevant. “It’s okay. But I find it incredibly curious that Nikki would want to marry you.”