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“You okay?” he asked.
Her eyes began to water, and she started to feel itchy all over. “I don’t know. I haven’t felt this way since...” She leaned forward in her seat and looked for one of the five triggers that kicked her allergies into high gear. While staring at him, she caught movement from the corner of her eye. She jumped and fought against her seatbelt to move forward enough to see into the backseat. There was a German Shepherd on the floor directly behind her. “You have adog?”
“That’s Max. He’s family.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you have a dog?”
“You didn’t ask.” He glared at her. “What do you have against my dog?”
She returned his glare. “I’m allergic. Obviously.”
Her sentence was punctuated with three more sneezes and a groan. Shaking her head, she said, “I am sorry, but I cannot stay in the same house with a dog all weekend. Look at me. My eyes are watering, I’m sneezing my head off, and I already feel like I’m breaking out in hives.”
With a grim twist to his mouth, Skylar changed lanes. He took them through a nearby town. They stopped at a pharmacy long enough for her to go inside and get enough medication for the weekend trip to Vermont. He waited in the Camaro with his dog. A voice in the back of her mind demanded she tell him to take her home. Playing a couple in front of his parents was a bad idea.
As soon as the medication kicked in and they were back on the Interstate, he returned to the questions. He reminded her that she hadn’t answered him yet. How had she lost her virginity? She couldn’t believe he wanted the details.
“I was twenty-one and in college,” she said. “I only did it because I was embarrassed about being a virgin. All the other girls talked about their sex lives, and I had nothing to offer. Having sex is part of being an adult, so I found a cute guy in a bar. I got a little drunk that night and told him I didn’t want to be a virgin anymore. He was eager to help me out.”
Skylar mumbled, “I bet.”
“I’ve dated since then, but I’m too busy for a relationship. I can barely make it through dinner without getting a call from a client. Anyway, most men find intelligent women intimidating. You should see how their eyes glaze over when I tell them I have a law degree. What about you? Are you a serial dater?”
“Guess you could say that.” He reached behind his seat to pat the dog. “Once in a while I meet someone interesting and take them to bed. Unfortunately, my interest rarely lasts until dawn.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I’ve heard the rumors. You are a womanizing gambler. Everybody knows it.”
Rather than deny her softly worded accusation, he changed the subject. “Our first date. What do you recommend?”
“Seeing that we are both busy people, I’d say we worked late on a case one night. We had Chinese. It got romantic. That was our first unofficial date.”
“And our firstofficialone?”
She let her mind run wild with the fantasy. If she and Skylar went on a real date, what would she want to do with him? Besides the obvious. “I can’t cook, so we would have to go out.”
That brought a broad smile to his handsome face. “I would offer to cook for you. My mother believes all young men should at least be able to cook one meal, something that might impress a lovely young lady such as yourself. On our first date, I grilled you a steak with a baked potato on the side and some rolls from the neighborhood bakery.”
Getting into the game now, she smiled. “I can’t cook, but I make a mean salad.”
“Good. You contributed a salad. I don’t drink, but I would offer you a glass of wine. I keep some on hand for guests.”
She noticed how he didn’t say hecouldn’tdrink. Curious, she pressed him on the subject. “Your parents will probably expect me to know about your alcohol problem.” At his shocked expression, she said, “I saw the sobriety chip in your box earlier.”
Jaw tight, he gripped the steering wheel until his fingers didn’t seem to have a drop of blood left in them. “My parents don’t know. So I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it to yourself.”
“How is that possible? I mean, how could they not know?”
“Well, actually, my mother figured it out, but nobody told my father because he would have fired me. He’d see it as a weakness, and my father doesn’t tolerate weakness in his only son.” Skylar snorted. “I was a good drunk. In fact, you could say I put thefunctionin functional alcoholic. No one could tell. I carried a flask and only used it when needed. It was medicinal. I only got drunk at night and on weekends when I wasn’t working.”
Feeling awkward, Anna shifted in her seat. “Good to know. I won’t mention it then.”
“The only thing you need to know is I’ve been sober for over three years.”
Three years? “Wait a second. I started at the firm a little over three years ago, and the first case they put me on was yours. Is that why you were so rude to me? Because you were trying to sober up?”
“I was not rude.” He pointed a finger at her, clearly agitated, but he kept his eyes on the road. “You were brand new to the firm, and you were acting like Perry Mason. I couldn’t say a word without you arguing with me.”
“That is not true.”
