Free Slow Ride by Kat Morrisey

amount of clothes Kyla had in her bag when
     she rolled into town, Maggie and Kyla could talk for hours about that subject. Right?”
    “Sure, because women are so shallow those are the only subjects we talk about.” She
     rolled her eyes and shook her head. “‘Course when we talk about sex, just so you’re
     aware, it often involves us talking about performance issues and what, uh, improvements
     that can be made in that regard.”
    “Ain’t that the truth,” Rose muttered from a nearby chair. Kyla and Maggie met each
     other’s gaze, then looked to Rose, the three of them collapsing into gales of laughter.
    Kyla was wiping at her eyes and felt Cooper dig his fingers into her hip. She looked
     down to find her own hand, the one she wasn’t using to eat, was resting on his thigh.
     How the hell had that happened?
    Cooper’s head ducked down to her ear and he whispered, “Don’t have any negative performance
     issues to talk about, babe. As for improvements, if you let me in, you’ll like how
     creative I can be.”
    Kyla lifted her gaze to his and saw an intensity radiating from his eyes, directed
     right at her. She felt her body warm from his heat. All of which made her snappy comeback
     come out breathier than she’d intended. “Sure of yourself much?”
    “I was sure about you the minute I walked up to your car and heard you singing. The
     header you nearly took off the trunk was an added bonus.” He winked, clearly amused
     at her stellar performance the day they’d met.
    Kyla’s mouth dropped open. She pushed her plate away. Maggie and Rose watched her
     with knowing looks. They’d heard what he’d said. Suddenly her stomach was doing gymnastics.
    Steve thankfully started gabbing, talking to the guys and dragging Maggie and Rose
     into the conversation. “So, Kyla, what are you going to do about your car?”
    Steve’s question snapped her out of the thoughts churning in her head. She glanced
     at Cooper, then back at Steve. “Um, Cooper said the Mustang is in pretty bad shape
     and since I don’t have that kind of cash laying around, he offered me a job at the
     shop.”
    “Are you taking me up on my offer?” Cooper asked.
    Kyla nodded. “We still have to talk details but yeah, I think that could be a good
     thing. I need to get Lola fixed, so the sooner that can get started, the better.”
    There was dead silence at the table before Steve finally spoke. “You named the ‘stang
     Lola?”
    She felt Cooper’s body vibrating with laughter and she shot him a glare. “I hate you.”
    He ducked his head and whispered into her ear. “No you don’t.”
    “Cooper!” An annoyed voice came from somewhere behind them. A bleach-blonde, sickly-thin
     woman was standing behind them in a skirt that showed her ass and a top that nearly
     showed her nipples. She couldn’t have been more obvious unless she wore a neon sign
     that flashed the words “open for business.” “Derek said you’re DD, can you give me
     a ride home? ‘Fraid I had too much to drink, baby. You know what that means. . . .”
    Kyla felt Cooper tense next to her, his jaw clenched tight. He turned to catch Derek’s
     eyes and communicated something that could only be described as a promise of an early
     death. He gripped Kyla’s hip tightly one more time and turned to the group at the
     table. “I’ll be back later. Food was great as usual. Rose, we need to talk about dates
     for the Halloween gig. Maybe convince Kyla to sing at it. She’s got an amazing voice.”
     With that declaration he stood and ground out to the stranger, “Let’s go, Marla.”
     He disappeared around the corner of the motel with the woman struggling to keep up
     with his long strides.
    “Skank,” Maggie muttered, letting out a huff. “I don’t know why Cooper hangs around
     that.”
    “Maggie,” Rose chastised softly. “They’ve known each other a long time. Leave it be.”
    Kyla fidgeted, uncomfortable that she’d been practically