Free Plan by Linda; Lyle

that could keep me in this area?”
    She could feel his eyes watching her every move. What did he want? Her approval. “I don’t know, Randy. I think that has to be up to you.” She gathered up her courage and faced him. “I mean we’ve become good friends and. . .” The doorbell interrupted her mid-sen tence. She opened the door to find Kyle lounging in the doorway. One look at the professor and he pulled himself up.
    â€œWhat’s going on here?” Kyle asked. “I thought we had a date for tonight.” Rachel didn’t like his tone at all.
    â€œRandy needed some advice. We were just talking about a possible job opportunity.”
    â€œReally. What kind of opportunity?” Kyle demanded.
    â€œAn administrative job in Dothan,” Randy replied.
    â€œSounds like a good thing to me,” Kyle said.
    â€œWell, I’d better be going, Rachel. You two have plans, I’m sure.” Randy nodded at both of them and slipped out the door, leaving Rachel feeling torn and awkward. She wanted tell him that they should talk about it later, but he was already halfway down the walk.
    â€œCome on, Rachel. Let’s go. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

thirteen
    In the car, Rachel silently fumed. The more she thought about it, the more Kyle’s attitude made her just plain mad. How dare he strut around, acting as if he owned her?
    She was so lost in her anger that she didn’t notice where they were headed until they stopped on a remote road that led to the old drive-in theater. The drive-in had been closed so long that the original name had long since been forgotten—now it was simply called “Lovers’ Lane.” Rachel looked around in confusion. What were they doing here? She was just about to ask Kyle when the words were blocked by his lips. She pushed at his chest, but he used the momentum to get one arm around her while the other was moving into forbidden territory. The weight of his body pushed her back into the seat and suddenly the car seemed to move. Then she realized that somehow he had reclined the seat and he was on top of her, suffocating her. It took a moment for her to realize what was going on, and then her reflexes kicked in, liter ally. One swift move and he was back in his seat with a howl.
    â€œWhat was that for?” he yelped. He was bent over double and his face was red with pain and anger.
    Rachel had already sat up and was resetting the chair with a snap. “I could ask the same question. What do you think you were doing?” Rachel yelled, her eyes blazing.
    â€œJust what you asked for,” he said. He shifted to ease the pain.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” she asked.
    â€œYou said you wanted to get to know each other better. You said we didn’t spend enough time alone. What was I supposed to think?”
    â€œThat I meant exactly what I said. I wanted to get to know you as a person, not in the biblical sense.” Rachel straightened her sweater where roving hands had rumpled it. “I thought you were a Christian.” It was more an accusation than a question.
    â€œI am. I go to church every Sunday and Wednesday. I’m a good guy. I don’t drink or do drugs.” He had re-covered enough from the pain to sit up, but he refused to look at Rachel.
    â€œFrom what just happened, I’d say this wasn’t your first time to ‘Lovers’ Lane,’ was it?”
    â€œWell, it’s not like I come here every Friday night with a different girl.”
    â€œOne girl is one too many.” Rachel stared at Kyle and wondered how she could be so wrong about a guy. This was not the guy she thought she knew. He was an alien. “This kind of thing can get you into trouble. What if you got carried away?”
    Kyle shifted uneasily in his seat. A horrible premonition sent a shiver through her spine. She willed him to tell her it wasn’t true, but his silence said more than she