Test Drive (33 page)

“Should I know you?”

Rena sighed. “It’s a terrific costume if you read Abby’s forthcoming book. I did, because I’m her number one fan.”

Lara shuddered. “Wasn’t there a Stephen King book about some stalker with a mallet who breaks the author’s ankles?”

“
And so
I got to read the book before publication.” Rena ignored her, appearing annoyed. Except annoyance on Rena only made her cuter. “I’m the heroine she based on Del.”

Johnny paused in the act of taking another sip of beer. “Wait. On Del?” His enthusiasm for the evening increased. “Has she seen you yet?”

“Yeah.” Rena frowned. “That’s why she’s way over there.” She motioned to the opposite side of the room.

“No, we can’t waste this. Let’s go find Sam and Foley. And Lou, too, if he’s here. Then we need to see Del and you together.” His wicked grin lured Rena to his side, but Lara saw some people she wanted to talk to.

“I’ll find you in a few.” She gave him a kiss.

On the lips. Right in front of Rena and anyone else watching. Man, he
loved
that.

“Okay. But no vomiting on anyone but me.”

Rena stared from him to Lara. “That’s gross…and strangely romantic.”

“Isn’t he the best?” Lara smiled then waved to some friends and left.

“Come on, Selena.” Johnny crooked his arm and waited for Rena to take it. She did, and they hunted down his boss. He couldn’t resist the opportunity to bait her. His smile widened when he saw her and McCauley—the one she was planning to marry. “Please tell me I’m not dreaming this.”

Rena laughed. “Nope. Mike convinced her to wear a Delilah costume. He’s Samson, by the way.”

“I figured, with the sandals and the toga. Oh man. I get to call her Delilah all night long. This is too perfect to be real.” He tugged Rena with him. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Lara was glad to see Kelly and a few of her friends from school, determined to ignore the two rumormongers who’d also arrived. When she’d mentioned her party plans in class the other day, a few had mentioned they had invites as well. Some big tax firm and a few other companies got together every year to throw the Halloween party of the year. It had gained popularity in the past few years, and she’d been dying to go, ever since she’d heard from Rena and Del about it.

“Lara?”

She turned from her friends and got another surprise. “Pete.” She accepted his hug and returned it, then stepped back to see him. “Wow. You look good.”

He wore some kind of zombie-hunter costume, baring a nice bit of arms and chest. Not on par with Johnny, but still handsome all the same. Her lunch buddy laughed. “You look good too…for being possessed.”

“Nice. You recognize me.” She’d taken pains with the growths on her face and the scraggly hair, though it pained her to mess with her straight, clean ponytail.

“Hey,
The Exorcist
is a classic.”

“You like horror movies?”

“Yeah. I guess we hadn’t gotten to that yet, had we?”

“No, just office gossip. Thanks for that, at least.”

They chatted about his favorite movies and hers, then more about Nurse Guyen and the student she’d made cry the day after Lara had been with her.

“I swear, she’s a nasty, mean woman.” Lara shook her head. “I don’t know why she volunteers to help us, when the only thing she’s doing is teaching me how
not
to act.”

“Yeah, well, I think she was told she had to mentor you guys. I overheard one of the nurses complaining about her during training.”

“How’s that going?”

“Pretty good, actually.” He frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I don’t mean to pry, and it’s certainly none of my business…”

“Pete, what is it?” Was she in some kind of trouble at the hospital?

“I overheard you on your phone the other day at lunch. Something about a financial aid situation?”

She blushed. “It’s nothing.”

“Well, that’s your business, and I totally don’t mean to be intrusive. I was just going to say that if you’re interested, my company has a few grants we give out every year, and the deadline for them is Sunday.”

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious of the timing. She hadn’t imagined Pete’s interest, though she’d done her best to prove herself no more than a friend. Hell, she’d even mentioned Johnny a few times, so he knew she had a boyfriend—though at the time she hadn’t been sure what Johnny was to her.

“I know that look.” He laughed, and something in her eased. “You can check Drey Consulting’s website. We give away five scholarships a year. It’s a great tax write-off for the company, and our boss put herself through school a long time go. Julie’s into giving back.”

“You’re serious.”

“As a heartbeat.” He paused. “Or in the case of those I hunt, no heartbeat.” He held up his fake crossbow. “I swear.”

She felt a sense of renewed hope. She’d been trying to deny it, but the thought of not following through on her schooling scared her. Working full-time while taking her course load was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. And she’d done it all on her own. She refused to ask her parents for help, because their savings was all they had. Kristin had her own worries. And no way in hell would she ask Johnny for a dime. They were dating, not married. Besides, a girl had her pride.

Overjoyed, she yanked Pete to her and gave him a huge hug. When she pulled back, she felt her grin stretching from ear to ear. “Thank you so much.”

“Anytime.” He stared back at her, a little too seriously.

“I, ah, I mean—”

He blinked then smiled, easygoing Pete again. “No problem. Make sure to send in the online application ASAP. The grant is good to cover a full term, and you can reapply each year. The essay is key. And before you ask, I have absolutely nothing more to do with this than getting the word out. We sent out an email to the admissions staff, and they were supposed to have disseminated it to everyone a while ago.” He frowned.

“I might have missed it,” she admitted. Caught up in Johnny, work, and her family’s troubles.

“In any case, now you know. I love being the bearer of good news. Money and zombies. You can’t go wrong with that.” He gave a wry grin. “And—”

“Lara.”

The bite in Johnny’s voice warned her to be wary. She turned an overly bright smile on her boyfriend and didn’t shrug Johnny’s heavy arm off her shoulder. “Hey, baby. Johnny, this is Pete, a friend from work. Pete, this is my boyfriend, Johnny.”

Pete didn’t flinch at Johnny’s stone face. Nor did he make a big deal when Lou, Sam, and Foley surrounded him like a ring of thugs.

“And that’s Lou, Sam, and Foley. They work with Johnny at Webster’s Garage.”

“Hi, Johnny,” Pete said in a calm, friendly voice.
Go Pete.
Though she’d mentioned Johnny, seeing him in the flesh had a lot more…punch. “Lara’s told me a lot about you.”

Johnny seemed to relax. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. In fact, I’m glad you’re here. You mind a little shop talk?”

Johnny kept his arm around her but eased his hand from her shoulder, stroking now instead of gripping. “Sure thing. What’s up?”

Behind Pete, the guys watched her and Johnny, and she glared at them.

“My brother has a ’63 Dodge Polara he…”

She lost the rest of what Pete was saying, too busy giving Foley the evil eye. He shrugged and pointed at Johnny. Sam nodded and remained quiet. Lou smiled, but she didn’t trust him to keep his big, handsome head out of her business.

Before Pete and Johnny stepped another second into the conversation, Lou interrupted, not fooling anyone in that stupid angel costume. “So what’s with all the hugging, Pete? Made my boy nervous.”

Pete, to his credit, didn’t react except to tell the truth. “Just delivering some good news.”

Let it go, Lou.
She scowled at him, but he ignored her. “Oh?”

“My company has a few grants we give out to hardworking students, and I told Lara she should apply, what with her situation. And before anyone here asks,” he said drily, “I have nothing to do with the awards. I’m just in charge of making sure the word gets out.”

Johnny turned to her. “You still having problems with financial aid?”

“It’s no big deal.” She had no intention of sharing her financial worries with the entire garage and Pete.

She wormed her way out from Johnny’s arm and clamped on to Pete by the wrist. “You have to do me a favor and meet Kelly. Don’t let her know I told you, but she’s been hounding me about my cute lunch buddy. And I’m not talking about Mrs. Norris.”

He chuckled and held out a hand to Johnny. “I’ll do that. Great meeting you, Johnny. Maybe I can bend your ear about the Dodge some other time?”

“Yeah, sure. Call the garage and ask for me.”

They walked away, but Johnny kept his gaze on her. She felt him glaring a hole into her back, and she didn’t like it.

“Thanks for the save,” he said under his breath, though he needn’t have bothered. The music swelled around them as they cut through the dance floor to see her friends by the other bar.

“No problem.”

“Do they feed them muscle enhancer at that garage or what?”

She chuckled nervously, still on edge. Johnny had never acted outwardly jealous before. The one time he’d been so volatile with another man in her presence had been Ron. And that had not turned out well at all.

“Lara, if I can give you any advice after having been divorced once and engaged twice, it’s that financial problems can impact a relationship.” He sighed. “People are slow to forgive those who hold on to bad news.”

“I’ll take that into consideration.”

“Do that.” He stopped her before they reached Kelly and the others. “If things don’t work out between you and the angry priest, you know where to find me.” He squeezed her hand. “See you at lunch on Wednesday?”

She nodded. “You’re a good friend, Pete.”

He winked. “I could be an even better friend if you’d let me. But just to do you a favor, I’ll talk to Kelly, okay?”

She snorted. “Doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty.”

Pete laughed. “No, it doesn’t.”

She watched him go, saw her friends envelop him, and made her way to the bar. After the hellish week she’d had, she deserved a drink. Or two.

* * *

Johnny watched his pretty, possessed girlfriend downing a glass at the bar. He shook his head and started to head over when he heard her name mentioned. He slowed and listened in to the two women chatting and drinking, keeping a large Frankenstein and his ghoul posse between them.

“Can you believe Lara would rather have that guy than Pete?” a sexy blond in a bunny costume asked her friend. “Sure, the priest is sexy. But Pete in that zombie-hunter costume? Please let me be his mattress.” The women giggled. “Lara’s so stupid.”

He tensed.

“I don’t know about stupid, but I agree about Pete. Oh man.” The witch who answered the sexy bunny wiggled her eyebrows.

The bunny laughed.

“But you know what I mean.” She lowered her voice, and Johnny leaned closer to overhear. “Lara was talking about him in class last week. I think he’s a mechanic.”

“Seriously?” The bunny shook her head. “She’d rather have some minimum-wage schlub over Pete? A six-figure professional?” Bunny took a drink. “Hey, I’ve done the lowbrow thing before. A big cock and tough-guy attitude is only sexy for so long. I want a guy with substance.”

“I think you mean a substantial bank account,” her friend said drily.

“Well, sure.” They both laughed. “But I mean, what do Lara and her sexy priest talk about? Nuts and bolts? Cars?” She snorted. “I doubt they’re talking about investment strategies and career advancement. Or about his ex-wife and the Porsche she got out of him in the divorce.”

The witch sighed. “This isn’t about Lara, is it? It’s about Brendan.”

“He’s such a shit.” Bunny shrugged. “But at least he’s got money and a brain under
his
looks. What do you suppose Lara’s mechanic has under his coveralls, other than tattoos and greasy nails?”

They spotted another of their “friends” and started talking about the growing size of her ass and her ineptitude with needles, and Johnny moved away.

Bitchy, drunk women at a party. He’d seen his share over the years. But their words lingered, and he sought out Pete, standing with a few women, all smiles and polish, apparently with a big wallet.

Johnny frowned. He had more than a big dick going for him. He had a steady job, a good life with good friends. He had substance…

Didn’t he?

* * *

When Johnny found her again, Lara had already downed two rum and Cokes and had ordered another. “Please,” she said to forestall him. “I’ve had a hell of a week, and I was really looking forward to tonight. So no more talk about my personal finances, or I’ll throw this amazing drink all over your saintly ass.”

Next to her, Frankenstein chuckled. “I’d believe her, man. If you’re Johnny, she’s been ranting about you for like ten minutes.” He left, and Johnny took his place after ordering what she had.

“What?” She’d pounded back her drink, liking the burn, only to see him staring at her.

Two—no, three—drinks. Her minimum to a good time. Not that she needed to drink to have fun, but it had been so long since she’d had a nice buzz. She wasn’t driving, and damn it, she deserved to forget about her problems just once.

“I agree,” Johnny said, a hint of humor in his eyes.

“Huh?”

“You were talking out loud, said you deserved to forget your problems.”

“Yeah, well, you try managing a full course load, mean precepts, working at Ray’s, and a needy boyfriend who doesn’t have the balls to tell you he loves you.”
That
he didn’t seem to find amusing. “Then again, maybe he doesn’t love me.”

“Maybe you don’t love him.”

“Maybe I don’t.” Maybe this, maybe that. “Maybe he’s just using me until something better comes along.”

He stood and pulled her close. “Or maybe he’s afraid you’ll dump him if he pours his heart out to you.”

Feeling the burn of alcohol and the liberation of telling the truth, she responded with, “Well, maybe he’s a pussy who can’t open up. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”