Drive Me Crazy (2 page)

Xavier glanced at them and grinned. “Friends of yours?”

Jaime nodded, fighting a sudden lump in her throat. She raised an eyebrow at Xavier in a silent question. He shrugged and pulled along the curb.

“Miss Cruz! Miss Cruz!” The two girls ran towards them from the bus shelter.

“I got it!” Yumi said breathlessly as she reached the car. “My dorm assignment. I’m really going.”

“I’m glad it’s real for you.” Jaime reached out and took her hand, grateful for the look of pure joy in the girl’s dark almond-shaped eyes. Four years ago, Yumi had been a gang member on the fast track to becoming a juvenile delinquent. Now, she had a partial scholarship to a Midwestern university looking to raise its diversity.

“Oh, it’s real all right. I looked online at the some of the classes I’m taking. I don’t know how I am going to read so many books.”

“For which class?”

“American literature. It’s part of the freshman interest group you suggested. You know, so that I’d have the same twenty people in most of my classes.”

“You’re driving to Iowa, right?” Jaime twisted in her seat, pulled at the zipper of her bag and snagged out the three audio books she’d bought for the trip. “Hawthorne, Twain, Cooper. These might be on the list of books you need to read. You can listen to them on the drive and get a jumpstart on your list.”

Yumi nearly fell into the car when she reached forward to wrap Jaime in an embrace. “Thank you, Miss Cruz. I’ll make you proud, I promise.”

Jaime squeezed the girl tighter, tears filling her eyes as she looked past her to the small collection of her former students that had gathered on the sidewalk. “I’m proud already.”

“Miss Cruz?” A brooding figure with skin the color of coffee approached the car, his hands shoved into his baggy jeans. “Thanks for talking to my mom about the student loans. It’s a lot of money, but knowing that you worked it off here helped her not worry so much.”

Jaime smiled up at Keshawn. Who would have thought he’d be one of the fourteen kids this year she’d help find scholarships? The first day she’d met him, he’d spit in her face.

In a few short years he’d be the one staring down kids, bartering for their respect.

“I expect to be invited to every one of your college graduations, you know.” Her voice was thicker than she would have liked. She had never cried in front of her students, and she wasn’t about to start now. “We have a long way to go, so we need to get on the road.”

“If I had that taking me home, I’d be headed West too. Shoot!” Someone from the peanut gallery chimed in.

Xavier cracked a smile, putting the car in gear and taking her away before the first tear slipped. She swiped at her eyes and wiggled her fingers at the kids she’d come to admire.

Heading off to college had been an expectation in her world. For her students it was the ultimate victory. Being Latina gave her an edge with them, so she’d used it to work her way into their lives, to make a difference. She wiped a tear from her cheek, wondering if she’d ever find such an opportunity to matter in so many lives again.

Xavier reached over, taking her hand in his. He pressed his warm lips to the dampness. “You must be a wonderful teacher, Jaime, for them to think so much of you.”

He released her hand, returning his attentions back to the road. Jaime swallowed hard, not sure if she should be more shocked by the tender gesture from this handsome stranger, or that this time he’d pronounced her name right.

Xavier shifted in the seat, the leather clinging to his back in the afternoon heat despite the thin barrier of his T-shirt. The Pennsylvania countryside wasn’t half as intriguing as the woman beside him. He chanced a glance over at Jaime where she sat silently, her gaze shuttered by sunglasses.

He’d been certain he’d find an icy blonde with an attitude to match, just like Allison. But Jaime looked nothing like her sister, and by the way she responded to her students, he knew she wasn’t a closed-minded snob either.

Jaime had a throaty voice, caramel skin and deep dimples when her warm smile appeared. She was a beauty, but watching her interact with the teens made her an even more tantalizing mix of alluring and soulful, a darling with big ideals and a warm heart. She’d seemed so emotional after seeing her students that he’d wanted to give her some space. But now curiosity was getting the best of him.

He cleared his throat to get her attention. “What did you teach?”

Jaime turned towards him, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head. His fingers itched to sink his hands into the mass of long dark hair whipping in the wind. She had a truly unaffected beauty, an ethereal exotic look that drained the blood from his brain. He couldn’t decide if it was a blessing or damned inconvenient. There was some clichéd Americanism about the best man and the maid of honor, wasn’t there?

“I teach languages mostly. Spanish, French, German, Japanese.”

Unlike most women, Jaime had the ability to look both brazen and pure with a simple grin like she was giving him now. Even with her hair held away from her face with a white headband, wearing a simple pink tank and beige linen pants, she pulled off an elegance most women couldn’t manage in couture. Her beauty radiated from within, the kind of woman who looked better in her own skin than in anything she could ever put on.

“Japanese?
Huresisam itak eeraman ya?
”

Her fun, full-bodied laugh made him smile. “I think the better question is why do you want to know if I speak Russian? That’s what you just said, right? I’ve never been asked if I speak Russian in Japanese before.”

“I have a meeting with a Russian supplier next month. He refuses to speak anything but Russian, and I have to coordinate shipments with him and a half dozen Japanese silk importers.”

She tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Sorry, my Russian doesn’t go beyond the introductory level.”

“How many languages do you speak?”

“Only English and Spanish fluently. The rest are borderline.” She folded her hands together and set them on her lap. “What about you?”

“I’m what you’d call borderline in too many, fluent in French and American.”

“You mean English.”

“No, I have no idea what the Brits are talking about half the time.”

The laugh was back, and it was infectious. The potency of her smile shocked him. Trent’s email mentioned she was a few weeks past a break-up. He’d asked Xavier to be nice, but he doubted they had the same definition of
nice
just now.

He wanted this trip to be spontaneous and carefree, especially after the time he had in New York fighting with buyers over distribution rights. That bit of work out of the way, he intended to spend his holiday enjoying himself, seeing and doing all the things he should have done long before now.

Watching Jaime with her students today showed she deserved the break from all that hard work. Her commitment to them shone in how much they appreciated her efforts. Someone ought to reward her.

Xavier grinned. There were a lot of ways he’d like to treat Jaime Cruz.

Wanting to hear her voice more than the roar of the wind, Xavier pushed the button to raise the ragtop of the convertible. He wanted to find out just how much fun this trip with her could be. From the way her cheeks had heated when he kissed her hello, he doubted it would go as far as he wanted it to, at least tonight. And any minute now she was liable to get mighty angry with him.

He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to let her in on his plans now that they were too far from DC for her to turn back.

Chapter Two

The sky darkened and the storm that had been threatening for the past few hours loomed in the distance. Xavier must have sensed it too. He’d raised the roof of the convertible, closing them in the small space with no distractions from the conversation they needed to have. But even with over an hour of driving behind them, she still hadn’t figured out how to talk him into getting her to Oregon as fast as possible.

She turned in her seat and pulled out her travel folder, then placed it on her lap. Inside were the maps of three different routes they could take, with hotel stops marked along the way. She’d taken the drive so many times she barely needed them anymore, but it was always best to be prepared.

“What do you have there?” Xavier’s deep voice slid over her like molten chocolate over a truffle.

Truffles. Like the white chocolate version Allison had ordered for the wedding. Jaime blinked and steered her mind back to business.

“Driving directions. Since we got a late start and it looks like a storm up ahead, I think we should stop in Pittsburgh for the night. If the weather holds we might be able to make it to Ohio.”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. “How long were you thinking it would take us to get across the country?”

“Less than three days if we drive in shifts and get lucky with the weather. I don’t mind driving in the dark as long as it’s clear, but when it storms I’d rather be inside.”

“I don’t think we should get too caught up in the details, J’aime. It’s far too restricting.”

“It’s much more efficient this way.”

The muscles in his neck flexed as he swallowed. “I think we should stop sooner rather than later. That way we can get a few things straight before we head out tomorrow.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Such as?”

“I’m not driving three thousand miles to get somewhere; I actually want to see the country. I won’t be driving at night, or in a hurry. I want to enjoy the trip. You should too.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but wasn’t sure which argument to make. It wasn’t that she was against enjoying the trip. It just didn’t serve the purpose of getting to Oregon. She had to get there soon so she could start networking her way into a teaching position and find an apartment. She’d been on her own far too long to live at home for more than a couple weeks.

“This is an adventure. When was the last time you did something exciting? Something just to enjoy it?”

She couldn’t come up with a single instance, but would die before admitting it. “My life has plenty of excitement.”

He smirked. “Tell me about it.”

Clearing her throat, she offered up the graduation party she’d chaperoned, carefully omitting the fistfight that had broken out in the parking lot.

“That’s work. Do you ever enjoy yourself away from the kids?”

Again she felt like a fish, her mouth gaping open. “I run and I taught rock-climbing classes.” He looked thoroughly unconvinced she’d ever experienced elation. “Teaching is fun for me.”

“But what do you do for you, J’aime?”

Lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating angry clouds and a horizon blurred by driving rain. Electricity crackled in the atmosphere, the current flowing through the dense, humid air. She spied a road sign as they barreled down the freeway. Ten miles to Bedford. She checked her notes to see if they could stop there.

“What are you doing?” His voice held a mocking quality she didn’t appreciate.

“Looking to see if there is a Holiday Motel in Bedford. The weather looks pretty nasty up ahead.” The thunderous skies above them loomed ominously, waiting to release their fury.

“We’re not staying in a motel.”

“I have a preferred-customer account there. For every ten nights I stay, I get a night free.” Jaime rifled through the papers, looking for the list of participating motels along their route. “There isn’t a Holiday Motel in Bedford, so we’ll have to keep going. The closest one is in Mt. Pleasant, but that is barely an hour from Pittsburgh, so we might as well go all the way.”

“J’aime, can I see that folder?” He held out his large hand, never taking his attention from the road.

“While you’re driving?” To emphasize her point, large raindrops began to splatter on the windshield.

“I want a better look at that map on the top of the page.”

Reluctantly, she slipped the folder into his hand. He set it on his lap and pressed a button to lower the window. Before she could decide what he was up to, he’d slid her folder out the cracked window.

“Hey!” she yelled, the seatbelt cutting into her shoulder as she turned to watch the pages fluttering behind them. “That was mine. And littering is a huge fine, I’ll have you know.”

“Do you feel better?” A drum roll of thunder underscored his words.

“Better? I’m in a car with a crazy man who just dumped our itinerary in the middle of the road.”

He waved a hand, dismissing her words. “The trip will be better for it, I promise you. Besides, tomorrow we’re going to see not one, but two houses built by Frank Lloyd Wright.”

She slunk down in her seat, a faint memory of a magazine article highlighting the angular architectural designs coming to mind. She tried not to whine. “Are they on the way to Oregon?”

“J’aime, the shortest distance between two points is not the only way to go.”

Three cleansing breaths did nothing to calm her desire to have a toddler-worthy tantrum. Xavier might be hot, but that was severely cooled by his takeover of her travel plans. She couldn’t scream at him, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d shaken her like a bottle of cola, and all she wanted to do was explode. Instead, she rolled her frustrations inward and tried a new approach.