When I opened the bedroom door, Turner was standing in the kitchen leaning over the counter staring at a newspaper. His eyes caught mine as I stepped into the space.

“Morning.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, and looked down.

“Good morning.” He strode to me and tilted my chin up toward him. “How’d you sleep?”

I briefly wondered if I had morning breath. “Well, actually.”

“Mmm, good.” He bent forward and kissed my lips tenderly. “Coffee?”

I smiled. “Yes, please.”

He released me from his hold and walked back to the kitchen. Getting a mug from the cupboard, he poured me a cup and asked if I needed cream or sugar. I nodded. He set everything out and let me fix it the way I liked. He watched what I was doing, and I wondered if he was taking notes in case I stayed again.

Turner was leaning against the counter looking edible. He was wearing a fitted shirt, and a pair of gym shorts. I guess he got up and went for a jog.

“You want something to eat? I can make us eggs and bacon. Pretty sure I have everything for pancakes as well.”

My bare feet made no sound as I went around the island to the bar stool. “No, you don’t need to go to any trouble. Coffee is usually pretty sufficient for me.”

“You sure? ‘Cause I also have . . .” He made a show of grabbing a box of cereal out from a small pantry. “My favorite, of course.”

I giggled. “Of course. Fruity Pebbles, why didn’t I think of that?” I shook my head. “As good as those look and I haven’t had them in forever, I think I’m okay.”

He set it on the counter. “Okay, well if you change your mind, I’ll leave the box out.”

I took a sip of the extra hot coffee. “Thank you.”

Folding up his paper, he kept looking up at me with a funny expression.

“What?”

The side of his mouth tipped up. “You look good in my shirt, Annabelle. I should see you like this more often.”

Tilting my head to the side I felt heat creep into my cheeks. “Is that so?”

“Yes, ma’am. Even in the morning, just woken up, you look perfect.”

I twisted the mug in my hands. “I don’t know about all of that, but you are being awfully sweet this morning.”

“Pretty sure we established that that’s one of my many admirable qualities.”

My eyes shot up to his. “One of many,” I admitted with a smirk.

He let me sit and drink my coffee, while he picked up the kitchen from whatever he left out last night. There wasn’t really a mess, just more him straightening and us once again enjoying the other’s quiet presence. I liked watching him move about his space. For such a large man, he was very graceful and meticulous. Being a doctor was a very good career choice for him. His hands were flawless. I don’t think he even realized how methodical he was.

“So what would you like to do today?” he asked, breaking the silence.

I didn’t realize he wanted to spend another day together. I thought about it. “I don’t know, actually. It’s nice outside, but I don’t really wander too much.”

“Well, we’ve already established that you don’t know how to drive a standard vehicle.”

The statement seemed completely out of the blue, but there was a gleam in his eyes that told me he already had an idea before he mentioned anything.

“Noooo, I don’t.” I drew out.

“Good. We have plans then. We can stop by your house for a change of clothes. You’re going to want to wear something with long sleeves and jeans.”

“Turner, it’s not that cold outside.”

He grinned. “Oh, it will be with the top off on the Jeep. You’re going to learn how to drive my baby today. I need to go get cleaned up. Make yourself at home, grab some more coffee if you’d like—eat something too, please. I won’t be long.”

My mouth was hanging open. Was he kidding? What made him think that I could drive the Jeep? I knew it was a standard but honestly, I had no interest in learning. He drove it just fine. Riding with the top off was the only appealing part of this little excursion. And where did he plan on taking me to do this? I was bound to hit something or somebody. I swear to God, I wouldn’t be held responsible for any damage to his vehicle or a human. This was nuts.

Turner came back out of the bedroom freshly wash, hair spiked every which way from being wet and looking sexy as ever. He had on a gray, long sleeved shirt, and a pair of worn jeans. He looked like he was ready to go off-roading or to get dirty. It was mouth-watering.

“You ready to go?”

“Uhhhh, sure?” I said confused.

“Grab your clothes and let’s head out.” He picked up his keys and put his wallet in his back pocket.

Looks like I didn’t have much choice in the matter. But have I had a choice with him since we started this whole thing? Sighing, I knew better than to argue. I went to the bedroom and put my clothes on from the night before. When we got down to the jeep, Turner jumped into the driver’s seat and we took off down the road, headed to my house to I could get cleaned up too.

“There are some dirt roads about fifteen miles down the way. We’ll switch spots there,” he shouted over the wind in my ears.

The top was down, and at the speed we were cruising, it was definitely cool. I didn’t feel like responding or yelling loud enough for him to hear me so I kept my mouth shut and waited ‘til we got to where we were going. Turner had a nice sound system in here and it played over the sound noise of the wind whipping around. My hair blew across my face and I reached up and tied it into a ponytail to keep it all back. I was going to look a mess by the end of the day. It didn’t take long until we were pulling off to the side of the road and there were trails of dirt and hills. This looked more like a dirt bike road than something you’d drive a Jeep on.

“Here?” I asked.

“Yep, here.” He grinned. Turner pulled forward and pulled the parking break up. “You ready?” He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at me expectantly.

“So you really want me to do this?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Any way I could talk you out of it? I’m not really in the mood to give you, or me, whiplash today.” I came across grumpy.

“Turn that frown upside down. It’s easier than you think. Hop out and switch spots with me.”

I did as he asked, and apprehensively buckled back up.

“Okay, I’m sure you understand the concept of the gears. The thing you need to pay attention to and feel is when the RPM’s hit between these two numbers. You’ll hear the engine rev and that’s when you shift. Got that so far?”

I nodded.

“Push your left foot down on the clutch ‘til it’s on the floor.” He watched me do it. “Now, I want you to slowly give it some gas. It’s going to be like an equal give and take.” Turner was showing me hand motions trying to explain. “It’s okay if the gas revs the engine while you’re in first gear. As you gradually remove your foot from the clutch, the Jeep will move forward. You ready to try?”

My palms were sweaty. “No.”

He chuckled, placing his hand on my forearm giving it a squeeze. “Relax, this is fun and you’ll be surprised how easy it really is.”

“That’s what you say now,” I mumbled under my breath.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” I said rolling my eyes.

Having my first go, I visualized the motions he made with his hands. “It’s an equal give and take.” Right. My foot was pressed into the clutch, and I slowly gave it some gas. As the engine roared, I gently began releasing my foot from the clutch. The Jeep crept forward a couple of inches, and I got excited.

“We’re moving!” I smiled.

Clearly getting too excited, I did things a little faster than I was ready for. I picked my left foot up before there was enough gas being given and the Jeep jerked forward, hard. Turner uttered something along the lines of “gas, gas, gas.” Too late of course. We stalled.

He rubbed his hands together. “Again.”

I looked over at him. “Are you crazy? I’m going to break your damn Jeep. This was the dumbest idea you’ve had so far, which is saying something ‘cause we’ve done some insane shit, Turner.”