Love Is the Drug by K. E. Saxon

*
    Julie was barely in the truck before Jason slammed the passenger door. She heard the gravel crunch and the muted sound of pounding feet as he jogged around to the driver’s side and then yanked open the door. He hoisted himself up onto the seat and put the key in the ignition. As he started the engine, he looked over at her.
    “ Look,” he said, “I’m sorry if I was a little rough getting us out of there—did I hurt you?” He put the truck into reverse and, looking over his shoulder, pulled out.
    Julie studied him more closely. She was still having trouble processing all that had transpired in the bar a moment ago. “No, I’m fine” She turned her gaze forward and looked out the windshield, keeping her sights on the broken yellow lines in the road. She took in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Jason, I think it’s time we talked about what happened five years ago.”
    He shot a quick glance in her direction. “What? Why?” And then he turned to focus on the road ahead again.
    She swiveled around to face him fully. “Because, if we don’t want to be fodder for every wagging tongue in this town for—oh, I don’t know— the rest of our lives, we’d better show a united front and give them just enough information to make it plausible. The only way I can see us doing that, is for us to talk about IT.”
    Jason’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. Talking about Connie, and that whole sordid, degrading, and life-changing episode in his life, was the last thing he wanted to do. Not now. He wasn’t ready. Now all he wanted to do was drop Julie off at her house, get in his Vette and drive. Drive as fast and as far away from this place as he could get. Dallas, maybe. He could stay there a couple of days—at least until he could get a handle on how he wanted to deal with Nora Lee.
    “When I get back. We’ll talk about it then,”—he gave her a quick glance and then returned his focus to the road ahead—“okay?”
    Yeah. He’d go to Dallas. That was perfect. He’d call Jeanette, the lady he’d met about four months ago on the Revelett Business Park deal, they could resume where they’d left off—and Lord knew he could use a little bit of that kind of distraction—especially after three full days of fighting his baser instincts in regard to the girl next to him, as well as being deprived in general for going on three weeks since moving to this country cowburg.
    Yes, indeed, the best tension reliever—hands down—was sex, hot and dirty.
    “Get back? Get back from where?”
    He swung his gaze to hers again. “Dallas. I’ve a little business I need to take care of—didn’t I tell you?”
    He saw her shoulders stiffen before he turned his eyes back to the road. “No. No you did not,” she said.
    “Sorry. Yeah, I’ve got to meet with someone tomorrow about a project my company completed last March.”
    “I see.”
    When Julie didn’t say anything further, he relaxed and continued on to her house. They didn’t speak again until he pulled into the space next to his Vette. He removed the keys from the ignition switch and handed them over to her. “Thanks for letting me drive this beauty. It’s a real dream machine.”
    “Yeah, well don’t forget you promised to return the favor.”
    He smiled. “Next week. You can take her out next week. Okay?”
    “Great.”
    He opened the door and slid his foot to the ground. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in a few days.”
    He was just about to shut the door when he heard her say, “A few days? How am I supposed to answer people’s questions until then—and you know they’re going to ask, now that they know who I am.” She opened her door and got out. She slammed it shut, so he did too. They walked a few paces toward the back of the truck and faced each other across its bed. “Well?”
    He shrugged. “Don’t answer any questions. I don’t see why we need to explain anything to these people.”
    She dropped her hands onto her hips.