put her foot on the gas pedal and found she couldnât. The boy had long legs and had pushed the seat back. She couldnât reach it.
âScoot forward,â Dante instructed.
Mary didnât have to be told twice. She shifted forward on his lap so swiftly one would have been forgiven for thinking heâd lit a lighter under her butt. Once she was perched on the very tip of his knees with as little of her behind touching him as possible and the steering wheel digging into her belly, she was able toreach the pedal. She pressed her foot down hard, half on his foot and half on the pedal itself and heard Dante suck in a quick pained breath behind her.
âSorry,â she muttered, unable to infuse even the slightest bit of apology into her voice. Poke her in the bottom with his body parts, would he? Hmmph. Take that, horny boy.
âNow grasp the steering wheel,â Dante instructed.
Mary raised her hands and grasped the wheel above his hands, careful to avoid touching him.
âGood,â Dante praised. âNow, all you need do is concentrate on keeping your foot on the pedal and steering straight, I will do all the work.â
âThatâs what she said,â Mary heard her husbandâs old line in her head and smiled weakly, wishing something fierce that he was there right now. He would be the one sitting in Danteâs lap if he was, or no one would be. Joe had been a brilliant man. He would have come up with a way to handle all of this without so muchâ
âWho said what?â Danteâs confused question interrupted her thoughts and Mary glanced over her shoulder to see that he looked as confused as he sounded.
âWhat?â she asked uncertainly.
âYou said, âThatâs what she said,ââ he explained. âTo whom were you referring? And what did she say?â
Maryâs eyes widened as she realized sheâd spoken the words aloud, and then she just shook her head and turned to face forward again. âNever mind. It was nothing. I was just muttering to myself.â Scowling at the stretch of highway ahead, she added, âI thought you were getting up to make your call?â
A moment of silence followed, as if he wanted to question her further, but then he agreed on a small sigh, â Si . Keep the RV going this speed and steering straight. I will be as quick and careful as I can.â
Mary merely nodded and waited. But when his hands released the steering wheel and suddenly dropped to her bottom, she stiffened and jerked the steering wheel again.
âSteady,â Dante admonished. âI am going to lift your bottom and slip out from under you.â
âI can probablyââ Sheâd been about to say she could probably lift her own bottom by standing on the gas pedal, but swallowed the words as he slid his hands under her butt cheeks. It was probably done quickly, but to Mary what followed seemed to take forever as he lifted her up off his lap, his fingers squeezing her butt cheeks with more than necessary familiarity, and then his body seemed to slide forward before sliding sideways under hers, the pokey part rubbing across her bottom toward the right before it was out from under her.
âSteady,â Dante repeated by her ear and Mary shifted her attention back to the steering wheel that had somehow started to turn to the right as well. Straightening it out, she tried to ignore the fact that he seemed really slow about setting her down on the edge of the seat. Letting her breath out on relief, she glanced toward him and cursed. âYouââ
â Uno momento ,â Dante breathed, interrupting her complaint that heâd lost his afghan and was now completely naked again.
Mary almost swallowed her tongue then when he practically laid his head in her lap as he felt around under her seat for something. At first she thought it was the afghan he was trying to reclaim, but when she realized it was lying