Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

38

Tom's POV

Now that the adrenaline was starting to leave my system, I had to admit that this whole experience was a bit surreal. As always when it came to Claire, I had far more questions than answers; driving abilities like that certainly were not very commonplace.

"Tom?" Claire said in an exasperated tone.

"Yes, darling?"

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've asked twice now if you wanted to talk now but you didn't respond," she explained, glancing at me with concern.

I blinked at her, at a loss for words. Now she wanted to talk?

"No, not right this moment." I shook my head to clear it as she changed lanes. "I'd rather be able to have your undivided attention. Can you tell me one thing, darling?"

"Maybe, maybe not," she said, giving me that damn Mona Lisa smile that made me only wonder what she knew that I didn't. Her prevarication didn't anger me, though; it intrigued me.

"Where on Earth did you learn to drive like that? I've only seen that done on closed sets before - with trained stunt drivers."

"I've had a bit of training a while back," she said, glancing over at me. "You've probably seen The Fast and the Furious movies, right?"

"Yeah."

"What if I told you the basic storyline isn't as far fetched as you might think."

I gaped at her as I considered the implications. "You mean...street racing gangs really do exist?"

"Yes, and they were a huge thorn in my side until I convinced the main organizer he'd be better off renting an airstrip that's never used at night and charging admission instead."

It took a moment to digest her statement. "However did you manage that?"

Claire flashed me a grin. "Let's just say I can be very convincing when I want to be, darling. On the plus side, I now have a lifetime pass to the races...if you're into that sort of thing."

As I considered that, I realized her wording was rather ambiguous. "To attend them or to drive in them?" I clarified.

"Either," she smirked. "Depends on what I feel like that day."

"Perhaps once you're healed?" She nodded agreement. "Is there anything you can't do, darling?"

"Hmmm." Claire was quiet for a moment, her hand idly toying with mine. "I can't land a triple axle on a regular basis."

I blinked; of all the things she could've said I didn't expect that. "So you can do a double axle, then?"

"Well, I did grow up in Minnesota, Thomas," she snorted, lacing our fingers together. "Everyone ice skates there and you start young. Kara had a great time tonight, by the way; thank you for inviting her."

"You're very welcome." I brought her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. "Thank you for coming as well; did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yeah, I -"

I sighed as the ringing of her mobile abruptly claimed her attention and she didn't finish her sentence.

* * *

Claire's POV

I slid my hand from Tom's, frowning at Davy's name on the caller ID; that was quick. I had a gut feeling that whatever he'd learned was not information that Tom should know, so after quickly disconnecting my phone from the car's Bluetooth, I raised the device to my ear.