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“What’s in those pictures?”
He should have known she’d ask something like this, but in all honesty it would be a relief to get it off his chest and for some reason he thought he could trust her. However, this wasn’t something he could sit there and tell her. He put the car in gear and eased back on the road.
“Me committing about a dozen crimes, but the time/date stamp has been photoshopped.”
“So they’re fakes?”
“Not exactly.
“Why don’t you release them yourself, prove what really happened and then move on?”
“Any other time, I’d agree with you, but there’s more at stake than my career. There’s this organization that has taken a chance on me and staked their reputation on my word that I’ve changed. It’s called Back To School or B.T.S. for short. They help kids get back on the right track.” He changed lanes and blew past a silver minivan. “I’m supposed to start doing PSA’s for them in the fall, but if this gets out—not only will I look bad, they will look worse.”
“What made you do something illegal in the first place?”
She sounded a like a journalist asking him these questions, but it felt good to confess his sins to her. “Got in with the wrong crowd, tried to be a badass. Whatever my brother did that pleased my father, I made certain to do the exact opposite. Eventually it caught up with me when I decided to join the real thing.”
“What happened?”
He flicked his eyes in her direction. There was no sign of judgment on her face. Yet. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I’ll give you the highlights. There was this guy, Giles, and he never liked me. He was always trying to pick a fight or just fu— er, mess with me. Usually, I shrugged it off, but that night it was my birthday and not one person in my family called. Not one. ” His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. His jaw tightened and he had to breathe in a couple of times before he was able to speak again. “Can’t actually blame them since I was a complete ass to be around.”
“They still should have called,” she said, her voice so firm that it felt like she was on his side.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He opened the moon roof with the press of a button. “So this piece of work is calling me out. Telling me I’m just playing at being like them. That I didn’t belong. Of course by this time, I’m pissed – drunk—and tired of putting up with him. I wanted to prove him wrong. So, it made complete sense to snort half of Columbia up my nose and off of some rather unusual surfaces. If it hadn’t been for Sasha, my cousin, getting me out of there, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“Oh.”
That was it? He glanced at her again. There was a furrow between her brows and her teeth nibbled on her bottom lip.
“I warned you about the whole answering truthfully thing.” Wind blew into the interior, whipping her ponytail around and obscuring her face. “Look, I get it that a woman from your background doesn’t want to be with someone like me. My past isn’t –”
She laced her fingers through his and squeezed. His heart tripled its beats at the small gesture.
“We all make mistakes. And you can trust me to keep all your secrets.” She placed his hand back on his thigh, but he wouldn’t let go when she tried to pull away.
Desire and comfort warred with each other. He really should take her back to the hotel. It wasn’t fair to foist the consequences of his bad decisions on her. She’d already done her part to make him look good.
With a heavy sigh, he did a U-turn on the mostly empty interstate.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “I thought we were going to spend the day together.”
“After what happened on the plane and what I’ve admitted?”
“My turn to be truthful.” She shifted in her seat, facing him. “I want to spend the day with you.”
A grin found its way to his face and he couldn’t stop smiling. It was as if the albatross hanging from his neck had been cut loose by her kiss and words. After pulling off his earpiece, he turned the car around and handed her his phone. “How about you turn off my phone and chunk it in the backseat. Today, it’s just Christian and Zoe, two people who are visiting the town of, ” He scanned the road sign, reading the list of upcoming town exits, “Coyote Hallow.”
“Oh my God.”
He checked his side mirror, eyes widening in disbelief as his phone crashed to the asphalt. “What the—”
“I’m so sorry. I overdid it and your phone went through the moon roof,” she said as he braked hard and reached for his seatbelt. “I’ll pay for a new one, with an indestructible cover.”
“Don’t worry. It might have survived.”
A semi in the opposite lane barreled by, decimating it.
“I don’t think it survived,” she said, her voice thin.
He blinked a couple of times, then got out to collect the remains.
There were tears in her eyes when he returned with the carcass of his phone. The sound of ‘Angry Birds’ gave one last hurrah and he chuckled. Then full blown laughter came rushing out. She stared at him like he’d just lost his mind.
“What the hell? Now, we’re really free,” he said.
Chapter Fourteen
Coyote Hallow was a one of everything town. One beauty shop, one general store, one police station, one diner and one gas station/taxidermy shop with the motto: ‘We stuff while you pump. Road-kill welcome.’ all crammed on one street.
Christian parked near the diner, then rushed over to open the door for Zoe.
She gave him a grin and her hand as he helped her out. “Thank you kind sir.”
“The lady is most welcome.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to whisper in her ear, “Tell me when I get too handsy. Wouldn’t want to break the boundaries you’ve set.”
She pushed him away, but grabbed his hand in her familiar fashion of interlacing her fingers through his. “The lady is very hungry.”
Heads swiveled as they entered the restaurant, but for once Zoe seemed unfazed by it all and headed over to the nearest booth.
“Customer service,” someone yelled as they sat across from each other.
He plucked a menu from behind a mini-jukebox and handed it to her before snagging another.
A gum-smacking waitress with big hair meandered over to their booth. “What can I get ya?” Her gum snapped, crackled and popped like the cereal.
