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Lu shakes her head as she grabs her mug.
“Ok, so what are you here for?” I ask. “I mean aside from the whole you can’t stop thinking about me thing, obviously.”
Lu rolls her eyes again. “Oh boy,” she mutters. “Even though I’m already regretting this, I’m actually here to see if you want to take your rental car back. It must be costing you a fortune hanging on to it and you can use ones of ours. I was going to suggest I follow you into town so you can return it. Maybe, ahh, maybe see if you wanted to grab lunch or something before we come back?”
My grin widens as I stand watching her, hip against the kitchen bench, coffee in hand.
“What?” she asks defensively.
I laugh. “Oh nothing,” I say, shaking my head a little as I finish my coffee.
“No really, what?” she repeats, frustrated. “What are you thinking right now?”
I shake my head. “Nothing, Lulu, nothing at all,” I tease. “I’m just gonna take a quick shower before we go though,” I add on my way out of the kitchen. “Did you want to…” I pause, gesturing first to her and then in the direction of the bathroom.
“Go,” she says, throwing a tea towel at me.
When I walk back into the kitchen, Lu is perched at the kitchen bench, another mug of coffee in front of her, alongside what is now a half empty packet of Tim Tams.
“I thought we were going for lunch?” I ask, grabbing the packet from her.
She swallows, groaning a little. “It is seriously criminal that you keep all of these in here, you know,” she says, licking her lips. “You can eat them anytime you want, you really should just give them to me.”
I chuckle, grabbing my wallet, sunnies and keys. “Is that so?” I ask, gesturing toward the front door.
“Yes,” she nods as we head out to the cars.
“Tell you what,” I say, half way into my hire car. “How about I give you a packet for every time you’re nice to me?”
Lu stares across the roof of her car at me, a small smile tugging at her mouth. “Well in that case,” she says, smirking. “I’ll just grab the rest of the packets when we get back then, won’t I.” Then she hops into her car, slamming the door as she gestures through the front window for me to do the same.
The drive into Napa takes about thirty minutes and as I follow Lu, I can’t stop thinking about what’s brought all this on today. I’ll admit, I’m intrigued, but more than that, I’m happy she’s actively choosing to spend time with me.
I’d never mentioned anything about ditching this car, even though I clearly didn’t need it and hanging onto it was costing me money. But for some reason, not only has Lu thought to save me a few bucks by lending me one of the work cars, she’s also volunteered to be the one to help me out.
Obviously, I am starting to have an effect on her; a thought that has my mind racing with possibilities and a grin plastered on my face the whole drive into town.
After we’ve ditched my hire car, I slide into the passenger seat of Lu’s SUV.
“So where to?” I ask.
She smiles. “You remember much of this place?” she asks, gesturing out the window.
I glance around, nothing much coming to mind as I shake my head. “Not really.”
She nods before pulling out of the car park and heading back toward downtown. Eventually she pulls into a spot in front of a bar and grill specializing in American food.
I grin. “Wow, this place is still here.”
“Uh huh,” she says as we both get out of the car.
“I loved this place,” I say, half to myself as we make our way to the front door. Lu’s family had taken my dad and me here the first day I’d arrived in the US for my summer holidays. I remember being amazed by it, how it was so different to any restaurant we had in Australia and instead, exactly like the restaurants you saw in American movies and TV shows.
“I remember,” she says, holding the door open for me.
I can’t help but grin at her, pausing to say, “Check you out, all reminiscing and shit.” I run a finger down her nose and then walk inside before she can say anything.
Lu steps in behind me and as soon as what looks like the manager sees her, she comes over.
