Free The Princess Problem by Diane Darcy

before carefully tucking her inside. He looked at her expectantly for a long moment.
    She took a shuddering breath and slowly turned her head to look up at him. “Point.”
    His lips curved in a slow smile. “That’s five.”
    She nodded. “I know.”
    He shut the door, hurried around to the driver’s side, slid inside, and took off for her car.
    Breathless, she stared out the windshield. He seemed to be in a hurry, and as far as she was concerned, they couldn’t get there quickly enough.
     
    * * *
     
    As Jonas anticipated his kiss with Alicia, he was glad they didn’t have far to drive. That was a big plus as far as he was concerned; it gave Alicia less time to change her mind. Tension seared the air between them and he considered several conversational tidbits but discarded them all. His hands clenched and unclenched on the steering wheel. If he said the wrong thing, she might end up subtracting a point, and he didn’t want to risk it.
    Lights flashed behind him and Jonas looked in his rear-view mirror to see a police car on his tail. He glanced at the speedometer and his mouth parted on a groan. He was going eleven miles over the speed limit. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gotten pulled over for speeding. He lifted his foot off the accelerator. “Alicia, I blame you for this.”
    She glanced at him in surprise. “For what?” As he pulled the car to the side of the road, she looked over her shoulder and laughed. “How is this my fault?”
    “You know good and well how it’s your fault,” he said darkly.
    She giggled as he lowered the window.
    A young female police officer approached, her dark hair pulled back into a bun, her stance wary. She bent slightly to look in the car. “License and registration please, sir.”
    He fished out his wallet, retrieved his license, then leaned over Alicia to get his registration out of the glove box. He gave her a narrow-eyed glare. “All your fault,” he whispered, and when she giggled again, he smiled at her, then handed everything to the officer.
    “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
    Jonas looked at the officer. “I guess I was speeding. I didn’t realize until I saw your lights.”
    “Why were you speeding, sir?”
    “My girlfriend promised me a kiss when I dropped her off at her car.”
    Alicia gasped. “I can’t believe you just said that.” She hissed the words at him.
    Jonas’s lips curled, the smile coming easily.
    The officer stared at him for a long moment. “Have you had anything to drink, sir?”
    “No. Nothing.”
    “Hmm.” She flashed a light into the car, at Alicia, then into the backseat. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a moment.”
    As soon as she left, Alicia hit him in the shoulder. “I really can’t believe you said that.”
    “She’s an officer of the law. Did you want me to lie?” His brows lowered. “You’re not going to minus a point are you?” He felt slightly panicked. “Seriously, I only said it to make you laugh.”
    She crossed her arms. “I should,” she said, but looked at his mouth.
    He smiled. “But you won’t?”
    She shook her head slowly. “No.”
    He couldn’t help it. He leaned toward her. “How about a small preview? Just to tide us over?”
    Alicia glanced over her shoulder. “She could see us.”
    “They can’t put you in jail for kissing. They don’t even give you a ticket.”
    “How do you know?”
    He leaned down and when she tilted her face, he took a deep breath, satisfaction filling him.
    “Okay, folks. That’s enough of that.”
    Alicia put a hand to her chest and leaned back into her seat.
    The officer passed Jonas a ticket. “Slow down, Romeo. People get hurt and killed every day from speeding.”
    “I will, officer. I promise.”
    With a last look and a nod, the officer headed back to her car.
    Jonas looked at Alicia. “Some things are best savored, anyway.”

Chapter Eight
     
     
     
     
    Jonas continued on and, though he didn’t speed anymore, they got