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“Did you enjoy yourself even a little?” the guide asks.
“Sure.”
He laughs. “You’re not a very good liar, sir.”
“Noah.” I correct him with a shrug. “How about this, then? Once we got going, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
“Fair enough. I didn’t realize you were afraid of heights.” He sounds surprised, like he’s just realized I’m human.
“A little,” I admit.
“Well, you did great.” He slants a glance toward Harlow. “She seemed to have a good time. You were a nice guy to do this for her.”
I don’t tell him that she really did it for me because that would raise too many questions. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say that I’d do anything to make her smile. That sounds like a good-guy thing to say, sure. But it’s surprisingly true.
I think I need to introduce her to Trace, get his feedback. He knows me probably better than anyone else. More and more, I suspect she’s not just a summer fling. After the hell she’s been through recently, though, I wonder if she’s ready to feel more for me.
“She’s an amazing person,” I say with all honesty.
“She looked as if she was there for you during every moment of your ride.” His boyish grin morphs into an apologetic grimace. “It’s none of my business and I don’t listen to gossip much, but she doesn’t strike me as the sort of woman the press has painted her to be. What her ex did to her seemed really skeezy.”
“Thanks.” I could say a lot more, but it’s always a good policy to neither confirm nor deny. Instead, I voice the minimum to let him know that I appreciate his kindness but don’t give him enough to prolong the situation or feed to the press. And of course, I tip him well. “And now we’re going to eat lunch and I’ll hope that putting something in my stomach will settle me.”
Matt laughs. “Good luck. It was an honor. And for the record, I’d probably go out of my way to watch more football games if you were providing the color.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.” I give him a little two-fingered salute, then join Harlow at the SUV.
“Make a new friend?” she asks, one bud in her ear as she records responses from our session onto the paper in her lap.
“He seems like a decent guy.” I jerk my head toward the test booklet. “Come to any conclusions yet?”
“Nothing firm. I have some thoughts but I need to do some additional research, have a few more conversations, maybe try another assessment or two. I’ll let you know.”
She knows way more about this subject than I do, so I shelve my disappointment that we can’t just jump into the therapy part of this. “So what should we do, then? How about lunch somewhere?”
“Know a good picnic place?”
“No.”
“Then let’s find one.”
Under better circumstances, I’d rather take her out and show her off, but that’s not smart now. “Sounds like a plan.”
As we head down the bumpy road toward the highway, Harlow glances at her phone, then curses. “Well, our peace and quiet has run out. Unless one of us wants to claim that we’ve contracted prolonged explosive diarrhea, my brothers are insisting that we get together for dinner.”
That’s good news…and bad news. I need some answers, but every fricking time I’ve talked to them, I’ve been unable to finish the conversation. How the hell am I supposed to sit across from the pair of them while they glare at me as if they know all the dirty things I do to their sister and still be able to carry on the conversation?
“When?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really. I might be able to sidestep them for a while, but I’m pretty sure their wives are insisting, too. So I’m afraid there’s no getting out of it if I want to keep any family peace.”
I sigh. “Where?”
“Maxon and Keeley’s place. They recently opened the Sunshine Coast Bed and Breakfast. It’s a really relaxing place. Full of Keeley’s kitschy charm. Britta’s mom moved to Maui from Chicago to work for them, and let me tell you that woman can cook. It will be private and relaxed.”
