Driver's Obsession: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 196) Read online

  A wave of embarrassment washes over me, and I realize how childish I probably sound, how much like a child with a crush on his best friend Steve…

  Dad’s look softens, silently telling me he knows more than I think.

  “It’s a big change honey, I understand. Steve and I went over a ton of things before you got home… it’s not something I’m rushing into and not something you have to feel obligated to do either.”

  I open my mouth to protest, but not wanting to sound like a drama queen all over, I catch myself.

  “Anyway, I have to head back to the shop, collect the trailer and all the gear we’re gonna need. Wanna come or do you want to get your own stuff together?” he asks, looking more like good old dad with every word.

  If dad does suspect something between Steve and me, he’s choosing to believe I’d never do anything like that.

  I almost wish that were true, but the feeling deep inside me, that rush I get whenever I think of Steve is too much.

  I’m hooked.

  “I’ll get ready here, Dad. And sorry, bad day on the job search but who knew the perfect job was waiting for me at home all along?” I chime, leaning in to peck his cheek before he heads out.

  “I won’t be too long, we can talk more when I get back.” He lets me know on his way out.

  Once I hear his truck pull away, I stand in the hall, inhaling the last of Steve’s cologne, then rush to the couch and hug the pillow he held that still smells like him too.

  Throwing myself back on the couch, squeezing the lifeless pillow as if it were the man himself, it registers how silly it would be to even try and pleasure myself.

  Not that that’s something I’ve ever done before, but when I’ve got Steve on the brain, I get that feeling and I know now he’s the only one who can scratch this itch.

  I jump with a shock when the phone rings right by my head, my shivering breath turns to a purr and I tremble as my hand moves down between my legs after all.

  Under the commanding tone of his voice on the other end of the line, it’s hopeless.

  Resistance is useless.

  But I need Steve’s hands on me, not my own.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Steve

  What the fuck am I thinking?

  What the hell am I doing?

  Both questions are canceled out by two things. The aching tent pole in my jeans and the feeling in my chest as I say her name over and over again,

  Penny.

  She’s suddenly the reason for everything.

  I couldn’t stay a second longer once Mike walked in on us. I know what he saw and his face told me everything in an instant, even though he wouldn’t want to believe Penny could possibly fall for an older guy like me.

  Could she though?

  I try to tell myself, and them that I have an early start; that I need to get back to business in readiness for the race tomorrow.

  But as soon as I hear that door close behind me, as soon as I feel myself moving away from her, it all feels wrong.

  No. She belongs with me now, forever.

  I only get as far as the end of the street before I swing around and double back, parking on the street by her side of the house, right by her window too.

  If I can’t be with her tonight, I’ll be damned sure and make sure I can keep an eye on her.

  My eyes, nobody else’s.

  I call the team manager, who puts off our meeting anyway, telling me to only make sure I get a good night’s rest. That we have all day tomorrow to go over things.

  I couldn’t agree more, and the best rest for me right now is knowing Penny is safe and under my watchful eye.

  Almost as soon as I hang up, I see Mike’s truck head out in the opposite direction. He’s alone.

  And that means Penny is now too.

  Just watch the place. No point in causing any more trouble for one day. Just wait and see how things pan out. You still don’t really know if she’s interested. Not in that way…

  But in a split second, I groan aloud, the feeling of my thick hardness shifting to the point of agony in my pants, mixed with the memory of her smooth soft hand on mine.

  A low growl escapes me and before I can even think, I’m like a possessed beast. A wild animal who feels caged off from the one thing he knows is his.

  And she will be mine, I’ve decided.

  I can’t live the rest of my life with this feeling. The emptiness without her, even though she’s only a few damned feet from me.

  No…

  I have to speak with her.

  The instant calm I get, the lightness inside me and the yearning that her sweet voice brings is so good on the one hand, but puts me in an impossible position on the other.

  Her voice has an edge to it, it matches how I feel inside, but I don’t want to scare her off by being too forward either.

  Not yet.

  “Are you alone?” I ask her, rolling my eyes as I instantly fail in my efforts to be subtle.

  “I mean… I just passed your dad, and I have some paperwork. Insurance stuff that I should really get signed tonight,” I correct myself.

  It’s a half-truth, but there’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow, except my need, my boiling desire to see her again.

  To have her touch me again.

  Her voice shivers in a way I imagine it will once my hands touch more of her body than just her hand.

  My mouth working over every inch of her, tasting her.

  Adoring her in every way I can think of.

  Jesus, Steve cut it out!

  My dick’s so hard, and I can feel precome oozing from it now. The urge to whip it out and stroke myself to what I know would be the biggest climax of my life is only prevented by my need to save it all for her and her alone.

  I can’t waste it.

  It’s all for her.

  “I’m glad you called,” is all she manages before she lets out a sound which I swear, no mistake is a soft moan as I hear her shifting on the other end of the line, like she’s laying down.

  I bite down on my urgency, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles strain white at the thought of her.

  “Dad was a meanie, you didn’t have to go so soon, did you? I thought…?”

  “You thought what?” I ask her, my voice dropping an octave, my hand pulling at the wheel now to stop from touching myself as I listen to her speak.

  “I dunno… I just thought… It’s silly, never mind,” she stammers, but I can’t let it go.

  I won’t.

  “Tell me, Penny. Tell me,” I command.

  She shivers a long breath and I feel my hips starting to buck and thrust against my will. The thick denim of my jeans nowhere near as tight as I know she’ll be once she’s straddling my cock.

  As I stretch her wide, claiming her.

  Taking what’s rightfully mine and filling her with my seed.

  With our own family.

  “I just liked it when you held my hand before is all,” she says so quietly I almost don’t hear her.

  And then I know.

  We both know now, I’m not imagining things and neither is she.

  “Steve?” she asks suddenly, and I feel her flushed embarrassment mixed with the pressing need I feel in my pants.

  “I’m here. I’ll be right over if you want.”

  She makes that sound again, like a pleading, whimpering gasp.

  It’s about as much as I can take and she’s not even trying to turn me on, it’s just how things are between us both now.

  I barely look as I shift my truck into gear and turn the corner, right at the same moment as another car which I have to brake hard to avoid hitting.

  Motherfucker.

  I recognize that car, but what’s he doing here?

  I hear my low growl in time with the hair on my neck standing on end. My hands gripping the wheel so hard I hear plastic split somewhere.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Penny

  I feel dizzy, like I’m about to
faint. All the blood has rushed from my head and it feels like it’s all going to my chest and to the warmth spreading from between my legs.

  Dad will be gone for at least a couple hours if I know him.

  I can have Steve all to myself. Better than that, he can have me.

  I practically squeal out loud as I rush to get the door after hearing his truck pull up.

  Checking my hair in the hall mirror, I can’t help but notice how flushed I look, how freakin’ horny I feel.

  Like the only thing I want right now is Steve all over me.

  Inside me.

  “Uh… Mack?” I ask, suddenly shielding myself behind the door.

  What the fuck? Where’s Steve? Dammit!

  Two seconds after it registers that Mack’s here, Steve pulls up and he doesn’t look happy to see him here either.

  “Hi Penny. I was hoping to catch your dad. Just got a few things he might need from the shop, stuff I used today and didn’t leave behind at the workshop… Oh! Hi Steve!” Mack exclaims, giving a big five in the air to Steve as he looms up the driveway.

  “Almost ran into you, I know. You should save your speed for tomorrow,” Mack jokes, but his face falls once he senses Steve’s mood, and then notices mine isn’t much better.

  Talk about bad timing.

  “Everything alright?” Mack asks me gently, glancing from Steve to myself then back again.

  “Sure, sorry Mack.” I let him know, deliberately trying to sound way friendlier than Steve looks right now. “I was just expecting Steve instead, big deal tomorrow, lots to do,” I offer, but Mack’s no dummy.

  Any man could see what’s eating Steve, or rather what’s between Steve and what he’d rather be eating.

  Me, I hope but not at this rate. Dammit Mack, of all the times to just turn up like this.

  Mack’s also older, older than both my dad and Steve, and his maturity shows but he still has his job to do.

  “I won’t hold you up then.” He half-smiles, doing his best to stay cheerful. “But if your dad doesn’t get these tools and this month’s accounts, he’ll be chasing me and I don’t want that.”

  “You must’ve passed him, he only just left a few minutes ago,” I tell Mack, wincing as Steve makes a terrible sound, like a caged animal.

  “Well, I’ll get those tools,” Mack murmurs, and making sure he walks on the other side of his car to avoid Steve, he pops the trunk while I usher Steve inside.

  “What’s he doing here?” Steve asks, sounding more hurt than angry. I can only shrug.

  “He turned up as soon as I hung up with you. Where were you anyway, right around the corner?” I pout, feeling like Mack’s not only ruined a moment I wanted with Steve alone, but also driven a wedge between us.

  Mack will tell my dad, and my dad will have words with Steve and me, I just know it.

  Because Steve came back after my dad left? No, because Steve’s acting like a mad wolf who wants his dinner and anyone between me and him is prey, that’s why.

  My dad’s pretty easy going except for when it comes to his only daughter.

  Maybe not as protective as Steve, by the looks, but it’s not a drama I want right now. It’s seriously flattering, but just not what I had in mind.

  I still don’t even know exactly what I did have in mind, but it sure as hell wasn’t this.

  “Steve?” I ask him urgently, almost hissing under my breath before Mack gets back. “I’m sorry. I had no idea Mack was just gonna show up like this.”

  He’s hurt, but also looks like he’s torn between two or more things himself.

  I seriously wonder now if I wasn’t imagining things. Steve’s got a life changing career ahead of him, tons of responsibility.

  I’m not so sure his mind is going to weigh too heavily on his mechanic’s daughter who is half his age.

  “Just tell me this is real!” he replies, doing his best to keep his voice down, but it’s so deep, so full of emotion I don’t know what to say.

  “That what’s real?” I ask him, more confused than ever.

  “This!” he says, and grabbing my hand he plunges it against his rock hard chest, making me gasp out loud and go weak in the knees.

  Oh, it’s fucking real, Steve.

  We both hear Mack coming and I move to take my hand back, as much as I want to leave it there.

  “Tell me,” Steve demands, and I nod feverishly.

  “Later,” is all I can manage. “Just later.”

  He’s already pulling back but I can’t let him go. Mack is within earshot when his low, growling voice, filled with passion floods my ear as he leans right in, actually touching my earlobe with his lips.

  “I can’t stay. Because if I do I won’t be able to stop,” he says, his voice shaking with emotion.

  “I don’t want you to stop, Steve… just promise me? Another time… soon?”

  He pulls away as Mack pushes his way into the hallway, an armful of tool cases and a box of paperwork.

  “Pinky? Give us a hand, will ya? Thanks.”

  Before I can look twice, Steve’s gone again, and I feel a dry croak forming at the back of my throat.

  Hoping like hell he caught my meaning, wishing with all my heart he felt how much I love him through my hand.

  “What’s eating him?” Mack asks as we both hear Steve’s truck peeling off into the distance.

  “Seen it before though,” he adds casually. “Night before a new gig, it tests a man, no right or wrong way to go about it, I guess.”

  I pull a small smile, and relieving myself of a box by setting it on the kitchen table, Mack reminds me how his arrival really has ruined things for me.

  “I spoke to your dad just now, slight change of plan, he’s getting some take out. We’ll go over a few things tonight and you guys will be off in the morning,” he says cheerfully.

  Stifling a groan, I silently excuse myself and go to my room, bolting my door for probably the first time ever, and throwing myself face down on my pillows to cry.

  Just don’t forget me, Steve.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Steve

  It’s not Mack’s fault. Not really, he’s just doin’ his job. I’ve seen him quite a few times over the years at Mike’s auto shop. Always has his head down.

  Not to be rude, he’s just doing his job.

  And not even a hard word about not offering him a position with the team either. Mike couldn’t have anyone better to cover him while he’s away.

  He’s maybe just got a longer fuse than me, but when I saw him at the door as soon as I got around the corner, all my instincts for Penny took over.

  He’s lucky I didn’t nail him to the wall, even though he’s probably old enough to be her grandpa.

  And you’re old enough to be her what?

  I can’t shake the feeling or the memory after the fact, and I do what I’ve always done when I’m stressed out or just don’t know what to do.

  I drive.

  Even though in this case, I know exactly what I want and I really do think Penny does too. I just need to get to the race meet, the new job, and then I’ll get Mike, Penny’s dad sorted.

  Then… I tell myself, the gloves are off. I’m a man who knows what he wants, and I’ve always wanted to be a Pro driver for a national team.

  And now I’ve got that in the bag.

  I also realize now that I want Penny, more than anything else. And I’ll be damned if I waste another minute holding back.

  And I’ll never walk away without her on my arm again.

  Never again.

  I swear that to myself, opening up the throttle on the open highway that stretches out for miles in a straight line.

  Not crazy fast, reckless driving. Just cruising at the maximum speed the law allows with a window down on a warm evening. It’s nowhere what I really need right now, but it’ll help me focus and blow away some cobwebs before the meet tomorrow.

  After a couple of hours, and nothing but Penny on my mind still, I turn around and despit
e needing to go home to sleep, I find my car making its way quietly back to the same street next to Penny's side of the house.

  I can’t even tell myself I shouldn’t be doing this anymore. Until she’s home with me, I’m keeping my eyes on her 24/7, every chance I get. That’s just how I feel.

  I check my phone, no messages from anyone. Most people know to leave a driver to himself before race day. But I don’t want to be anywhere else, and just as I have the thought of calling her, I see the garage lights go on.

  Without even having to get out and look, I know it’s Mike. He’s loading up his truck for tomorrow. Like Santa, making his list and checking it twice.

  It makes him the best mechanic a driver could want. Too bad I’m gonna have to be the one who’s naughty, not nice. Even though I really hope we can still be friends, I’ve known Mike for a long time.

  Hell, I was there the day he first saw Penny, called her Pinky from then on. He sure does love her, and is protective to boot but she’s a young woman now. Old enough to make her own way in the world.

  It’s my time to be with her.

  Our time.

  Our own family too.

  Mack’s car disappears after not too long and not long after that, the light in Penny’s room goes dark.

  Mike’s up late, tinkering.

  I want to talk to him, to tell him how I feel, but it’s not the right time for that. He’s got his mind set on his job, like mine should be on the race, but since Penny touched me, since the moment she let me know she wants me, I don’t know if I’ll ever sleep again.

  The fence isn’t too high for me not to see over, but I’m not gonna break and enter just to look at her. I decide to keep silent vigil through the night, with a few peeks over the cedar slat fence when I can’t help myself.

  I can’t see her, but I know she’s there, sleeping peacefully and that’s all that matters.

  How am I gonna leave her when she has to be around other people at the track, on the road?

  Do I need to nip this in the bud? Just march in there, throw her over my shoulder and drive off into the sunset, career be damned?

  I need a life for us though, we can’t live on a feeling. I can’t put food on the table with how strongly I feel for someone.