AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“When I checked earlier, traffic didn’t look too bad. I expect we’ll get to Newport before our reservation. It’s not until six thirty.”
Paige glanced his way. So far she’d forced herself not to simply sit and stare at him, a task she found incredibly difficult. The man was too handsome for his own good. A conversation, however, gave her the perfect excuse to look his way and enjoy what she saw. “Good. There’s nothing worse than sitting traffic.”
“Agreed. I hit plenty of it this morning when I went through Connecticut.”
He shifted the car from third to fourth gear and for some crazy reason she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his tanned fingers around the gearshift. “You… um… you drove here today from New York?” Very intelligent. It’s not like the guy has wings. Of course he drove.
“I considered flying but decided I spent enough time on a plane yesterday. And on Monday morning I’m leaving for England.”
He wasn’t kidding when he said he wasn’t home much.
In front of them traffic, slowed as they approached the exit for Interstate 95. Scott dropped the car back down to first gear and looked over at her. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I never bite, at least not until the second date. And most of the time it’s not until the third.”
His comment left for speechless for a few seconds. Then s
he regrouped and laughed. “What?”
“You look nervous, and I want you to know there’s nothing to worry about. At least not tonight.” The smile trying to spread across his face finally did. “Now, the next time we go out, it might be another story. So be prepared.”
Paige laughed harder and unclasped her hands, which until then she hadn’t even realized she’d been wringing. “That’s a relief.”
“I think your hands agree. I hope you left some skin on them.”
She held them up and examined each one. “Looks like you rescued ’em in time.”
Traffic started moving, and Scott switched his attention to the road again, leaving her to watch him.
“This exit always backs up. Today actually wasn’t as bad as usual.” She drove this route every day to work. Some mornings the traffic at this exit backed up for miles.
“Compared to traffic in Manhattan, this is nothing.”
“Thankfully, I’ve never driven when I’ve been in New York City.”
“Do you go often?”
“Occasionally with Aunt Bebe. She loves to shop, maybe even more than me. According to her nothing beats the stores in New York, not even those in Beverly Hills. And she loves the shows. For her, it’s Broadway or nothing. She took me recently for my birthday. We saw two shows, and she did a lot of shopping. I tried to be good. Managed to leave the city with only one more pair of shoes and a new jacket. For me, that’s a record.” It’d taken a lot of willpower not to buy more. “Aunt Bebe wasn’t as disciplined.”
She’d given him the perfect opening to ask about her family. Rather than jump right to those questions, even though his curiosity demanded it, Scott decided to learn more about her as a person. So far he only knew she had a brother, loved to shop, and worked as a nurse. Considering he’d be spending several hours with her tonight as well as on three other occasions, he should know a little more. If for no other reason than so he could plan their other dates. Since she’d mentioned visiting the city, he’d open his questions there and see where their conversation went.
“My sister Courtney hates going into New York City. She says it’s too crowded. Only visits me there when she has no other choice. Do you enjoy it?”
“I like going once in a while for short visits. It’s such a unique place. But I have to agree with your sister about it being crowded. If I have to spend time in a city, I prefer smaller ones like Providence and Boston. I don’t know if I’d want to live in any city though.”
“There are pluses and minuses to living in a place like Manhattan.”
“I bet you never get bored there.” Paige pushed her hair over her shoulder. With the sun shining through the windows, he noticed the deep red tint to it. In the ballroom, pulled back in some elaborate twist, it had looked simply brown. After seeing it in the sunlight though, he decided it was more auburn.
“You’d be surprised.”
“Is your sister younger than you?” Paige asked.
He’d wanted to use the time to get to know her better, but realized he couldn’t make their conversation a one-sided inquest into her background. “Both my sisters are younger. Courtney is the older of the two, but Juliette and I are more alike.”
“Two sisters. Lucky. I love my brother, and we share a lot of the same interests, but I always wanted a sister. I don’t even have many female cousins. The ones I do have don’t live around here, so I see them infrequently.”
“Have you always lived in Rhode Island?”
“Yep. I grew up in Scituate. My parents still live there in the same house. Then I lived in Warwick for a few years. I moved to Lincoln about two years ago. And you grew up in Massachusetts, right?”
