Fred Munson likes his job as a traffic cop. He’s good at it. It’s his personal life that could use some improvement. With no friends, and being too shy to talk to anyone while out of uniform, when Fred is forced to use some of his vacation time, he has nothing to fill his days. At least not until he comes home to find his driveway blocked by a stranger with car troubles. A month after losing his father, Zen Zeppelin Cave has also lost his place in the world. The only thing holding him together is focusing on a charity junk car race to raise money for cancer research. And he's crossing that finish line even if he ends up replacing every part of the car along the way. Zen had planned on completing the race on his own, but a spur-of-the-moment decision changes that when he invites the adorable, blushing police officer whose driveway he’s blocking to tag along. Going with a stranger on a road trip is completely out of Fred’s comfort zone, so when he accepts the invitation, no one is more surprised than himself. Together, Zen and Fred head south. But will the old junk car hold together long enough to reach their destination? And will crossing the finish line mean the end of the road for a budding romance, or will they find there’s more to their journey?

Banger Challenge

He didn’t have time to see exactly what it was, but there were cogs and bolts, and…was it a hydraulic pump? The fabric fell down, and Fred quickly looked away so Zen wouldn’t notice him watching.


“You can…eh…use my bathroom.” Fred blew out a breath and looked at the garage as it came into view.


“Wow, you live here?” Zen stopped to gape at the house. Or it wasn’t so much the house as the garage holding his attention. Fred liked his garage too, despite not using it other than to park his car.


The former owner had been a collector. Fred couldn’t remember what kind of cars he’d been into, but the three-door garage had become too small, so he’d moved.


“This is awesome! What kind of cars do you have? Or are you into motorcycles?” Zen walked toward the building like a moth drawn to a flame. “I have a Ducati 998, so there’s some tinkering, but I love it. It’s my pride and joy, the only thing I kept when I left.”


Chapter 7