A Song in the Daylight. Paullina Simons
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Название: A Song in the Daylight
Автор: Paullina Simons
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Зарубежные любовные романы
isbn: 9780007353156
isbn:
Kai blinked at her. “You’re making fun of my sales pitch that I haven’t had a chance to make yet?”
“I’m not making fun. It actually does do all these things. I’m not being ironic.”
“Ironic, no. Mocking, yes.”
“Mocking, no. Questioning, yes. As in, what’s here that’s worth somebody’s annual salary?”
“Four hundred and twenty horsepower. Tell you what. Make a left at the college and drive till you hit the open road. Glenside Avenue runs around the Watchung Reservation on the way to Deserted Village. Let’s go see what this baby can do.”
“It brakes beautifully.”
“All righty now.”
“And the seatbelts work. No, it’s excellent. Your best, you say? Clearly a superior model.”
“Didn’t you notice how everybody on Main Street was eyeballing you?”
“What, you think it’s the car?” Larissa chuckled. “You think they were impressed with the way a Jag sat five minutes at a red light?”
“Maybe they were just admiring the driver. Make a left here and go straight for a mile.”
“Oh! It goes straight so well!” They drove in unruffled silence. She resisted the urge to glance at her eyes in the rearview mirror, to catch a glimpse of herself after he said people might be eyeballing her. Also resisted the urge to comment on how noticeably straight up he was sitting, with Buddha-like tranquility, his entire back flush and composed against the seat.
“This model has a supercharged 420 horsepower 4.2 liter engine. Do you have any idea what that means?”
“Um—no?”
“You can’t imagine power like this. It’s like a rocket.”
“You want me to demonstrate its rocket-like qualities on Glenside?”
“It’s an empty road. And clearly, until you do, you will not cease the snarky comments.”
“Oh, no, those will continue.” Glenside, which ran in a long straight line along the edge of the protected national wildlife reservation, was deserted. No main streets ran through it, no exits to shopping areas, no gas stations, no small towns. It had the forest on the right and forest on the left. The sun was shining.
“Not too far,” Larissa said, stepping on the gas. The car soared forward.
“As far as you want.”
They were gone forty minutes. Maybe forty-five.
“So … what do you think?” He was grinning at her after she slowed down to get on the Interstate. Slowed down to get on the Interstate.
“It’s nice,” she said noncommittally.
“Don’t pretend. Car’s incredible,” Kai said. “Handles beautifully. Has great power.”
She revved up, smoking a Mercedes 550SL in the right lane. “Yes.”
“The XKR goes from 0 to 60 in 4.9 seconds.”
The snark had gone. Rockets couldn’t be as fast as this. He was right. It was unbelievable. Like nothing she’d ever driven.
“You might not need this much power,” said Kai, as Larissa gripped the leather-clad wheel with her leather-clad hands. “It’s more money than the regular XK. Which is also a very fine car at 300 horsepower, and it may be all the power you need. Did I mention it’s less money?”
“Some salesman you are.” Larissa sped to eighty. Then ninety.
“Slow down, this isn’t Glenside. You don’t want to get a ticket,” Kai said. “I know. I’ve gotten two.”
Reluctantly she slowed down. “How fast were you going?” she asked.
“Buck twenty. The cops weren’t happy. I just went to court for it. Ticket cost me a week’s pay.”
She slowed down some more. “You’re probably right. I don’t need this much power.”
“Right.” He paused. “Though it’s great for getting on the highway. You never have to worry.”
“That’s good, not having to worry,” said Larissa. “I like to not worry. But I never go on the highway. Do I really need a supercharged Jag convertible to drive to Stop&Shop?”
“You tell me,” said Kai.
When they were almost at the dealership parking lot, Larissa was surprised to discover it was after one.
“I have to run,” she said. “But I like it. I like it very much.”
“Yes,” was all he said. “I thought you might.”
She didn’t know what to say next. Does she call him? Does he call her? Does she fill out a sheet with her details on it? Does she shake his hand? Does she say how this is going to end, or say, I’ll talk to my husband, maybe call back in a couple of days. What does she do?
“I’m starved,” he said. “Drive on to Stop&Shop. I’ll buy us some sushi.”
“They sell sushi you can eat at Stop&Shop?” This surprised her.
“It’s not bad. It’s fresh. The sushi chef knows me. Makes me an excellent rainbow roll. You like sushi?”
Larissa didn’t want to say she’d never eaten sushi. She hesitated. “Come,” he said. “We’ll get you a tuna roll. You like avocado and cucumber? You like spicy?”
“It’s the raw fish I have a problem with,” she said to him. “Make it medium well, and I’ll eat it.”
Kai laughed. “Regular stand-up today, aren’t we?”
She parked, and they walked in together through the automatic doors, she first. As it should be, she thought. Age before beauty. In the back of the store, she met Al, a friendly wide bald Japanese man with a thick accent and an even thicker goatee. She didn’t understand him at all, but he and Kai spoke a secret language. Kai asked him for something special, while Al nodded and smiled. “It really is surprisingly good here,” Kai said while they waited. “Good enough for a Maui boy who ate sushi before he drank milk.”
She hurried off to buy some sirloin for dinner.
Kai paid for the sushi, they walked out, and got inside the Jaguar, where he turned up the heat and the radio. “I can’t believe you’ve never had sushi,” he said, opening up her plastic container. СКАЧАТЬ