Dawn Autumn Read Free

temperamental, and she needs special handling, you know? Maybe I could drive you...” He trailed off at Fred’s look, and then slowly dug the keys from his pocket, looking at them regretfully as he placed them in Fred’s hand. “My poor baby.”
    “Thanks. I‘ll take good care of her.” Quick as thought, the keys disappeared into Fred’s pocket. He had a hot date to prepare for.

    Chapter Two

    Jay opened the door without looking through the peephole, recognizing Fred’s jaunty knock. The sight before her made her blink. It was an improvement...sort of.
    For once, Fred’s famous hat was missing. To her surprise, she discovered he had long, straight hair that went to his shoulders. The dark, slightly greasy locks were clipped back by a plain barrette at the back of his head. He was dressed in a baggy white t-shirt with the slogan, “Elvis Lives” printed on the front in bold black letters. An extra-large, black fanny pack was strapped to his hips over the t-shirt, making it bag.
    In honor of the occasion, he’d changed his pants. Instead of stripes, he wore a pair of paint stained jeans that looked like someone had stomped on them, left them out in the rain, and then tossed them to a pair of junkyard dogs to fight over. They slopped over his unlaced high top sneakers, pooling on the floor around his feet.
    “Hi,” she said faintly, unable to quite believe his ensemble. Her eyes remained glued to his shoes for long seconds as she tried to overcome her horrified laughter.
    “Hi.” His voice cracked on a high note. He dug in his pocket and jangled a set of keys with a dice key chain in front of her. “Cole let us have the car.”
    Jay let her gaze rise to his huge, wraparound sunglasses. Sheer will enabled her to swallow her choking laughter. “Yeah. Great.” She took a gulp of air and turned to lock her door, taking her time. When she turned around again, she’d regained some of her composure, maybe enough to keep from insulting her companion.
    Fred held the door for her, and then offered his arm with a flourish as they descended the concrete steps. Cole’s pink low rider was there waiting with the top down.
    Suddenly the ludicrousness of it got to Jay. She started laughing.
    Fred stopped and looked at her, smiling. “What?”
    “I...” She looked at his face and tailored her words. “It’s just that I feel like a princess in a very odd fairytale.”
    His lips quirked. “Hello, Rapunzel. Let down your hair tonight.” Before she could object, he reached out and snatched her hair-stick out of her hair.
    “Hey!” she reached for her hair, but it was too late; the long mass had already tumbled down. “It’s going to get in my way.” She reached for the hair-stick, and then frowned as he tucked it in his belt pouch.
    “One night won’t kill you,” he said teasingly as he opened the car door for her.
    Rolling her eyes, she slipped on her cropped leather jacket and slid her jean clad bottom into Cole’s white leather seats. She frowned at the mat under her blue suede boots, a shadow outline of African dancing girls with wild drummers. A pair of fuzzy white dice dangled from the rear view mirror.
    Fred grinned as he flexed his fingers and gripped the pink leather steering wheel cover. “I’ve been looking forward to driving this.”
    He started it up and threw it into gear. The car lurched forward, and then slammed to a stop.
    Jay gripped the seats and stared at him, grateful for her safety belt. “You do know how to drive a stick, don’t you?”
    “Sure.” He frowned in concentration and lurched forward again, narrowly missing a fire hydrant. “I’ve had a couple of lessons.”
    Jay gulped and opened her mouth, but by then he’d pulled out into traffic and it was too late to make a break for it.
    By the time they arrived at the library, she had a white knuckled grip on the door frame and seat.
    “Are you all right?” Fred asked in concern as he came to open her door.
    “Fine. I’m