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Tom almost laughed, the question was so unexpected. “No. She was more the Pilates type.”
Lexie nodded slowly. “She sounds like a grade-A bitch.” She could have been commenting on the weather.
This time he did laugh a little, mostly in relief. He’d told her about Haylie, and she was acting like it was no big thing. Haylie wasn’t the whole story, but that was okay. Telling her about Haylie was a good start.
“That’s pretty much what Taryn says.”
“I knew I liked your sister.” Lexie stood, polished off her ice cream sandwich, and licked her fingers. “So what did Beth ever do to you?”
“Nothing.”
“Then you shouldn’t have been such a bastard to her.” She clasped her hands behind her back to stretch her shoulders, then offered him her sticky hand. “Let’s go. I’d like to get through this miserable excuse for a state as quickly as possible.”
He let her pull him up until they were standing a few inches apart, face to face. “So are we good now?” he asked.
She furrowed her forehead and squinted up at him, dead serious but cute nonetheless. “You think next time you can manage to tell me a little quicker? Like maybe an hour or two after I ask, instead of a week later?”
Considering this had ended up being fairly painless, he thought he could manage it. “Yeah.”
“Then we’re good.”
He leaned forward and licked the corner of her mouth, where a little bit of cream and chocolate still lingered. “Good. Because I missed you.”
Cupping the back of his head, she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Not me. All the sex and none of your usual crabby speeches—I’d say I got the long end of the stick.”
But then she kissed him again, fiercely this time, and he knew she didn’t mean it.
At Tom’s suggestion, they stopped at the bird refuge in Stafford and followed a hiking trail through woods and marshlands. Late July was evidently not the best time to see migrating birds, but he still managed to spot a kite, two kestrels, a pheasant, and several hawks, all in the course of an hour-long visit.
“How do you do that?” she finally asked, amazed at the depth of his knowledge.
“What, identify birds?”
“No. I mean, yes, but more to the point, how is it that you know the name of practically every plant, animal, and geological feature we’ve come across in the past two thousand miles?”
He shrugged. “I’ve always liked knowing what things are called.”
“You’d make a great tour guide if you didn’t hate people.”
“When we start our tour company, I’ll let you handle the people, and I’ll give the nature talks. I can keep the bikes in good shape, too,” he replied with a smile.
He was joking. But her stupid heart sped up anyway, because it was the first time he’d made any reference to a future that might include the two of them. It wasn’t going to happen. They had a deal—they were splitting at Yorktown. So why would he even say such a thing? And what did it mean that the casual comment had sent nervous energy thrumming through her chest and made her palms clammy?
Whatever it meant, it didn’t bode well for what was going to happen to her heart after she returned to Portland alone.
They rode side by side after they left the sanctuary, but then the shoulder narrowed, forcing Tom to take the lead.
“How come you always get to go first?” she complained halfheartedly, not really caring. The truth was, she liked it that Tom went first. It meant she could look at him as much as she wanted to.
He smiled at her over his shoulder. “I have to go first. Riding behind you drives me insane.”
“What, I go too slow? Or shift too often? What’s my sin, Geiger?”
The grin widened. “It’s not what you do that’s sinful, honey, it’s how you look. I can’t see your ass in those shorts without getting hard, and it’s damned uncomfortable to ride a bike with a hard-on.”
It took her a few beats to realize he wasn’t joking, but once she did, she put on a burst of speed and passed him, pulling into the lead. She glanced back at him. “Like this? Is this what drives you crazy?”
“Don’t do that. I’ll have an accident.”
