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I, on the other hand, am deserving of the glare she levels. “For your information, Ilovethe mountains. One of these days I’m going to spend a summer there. I want to ride horses through the woods or take my Jeep and go off-roading.”
Detecting a hint of the fire still in her, I smile. I can see her doing these things, and I don’t mean with some take-charge man guiding her through the trails. Nope, I see Annalise, sporting those aviators, guiding a four-wheeler along the ribbon’s edge of a high mountain pass. This is the woman I think she was—stillissomewhere deep inside—before these last months roughed her up. I hope and pray she gets back there soon.
∞∞∞
Wispy little snores make their way from the passenger side to the driver’s. After an extended session of true confessions, Annalise curled into a ball and somehow managed to fall into a sleep deep enough to snore.
So adorable. I would very much like to reach across the console and smooth back the fine hairs that have draped her face and with every breath flutter like linen in a breeze. But I will keep my hands to myself. It isn’t like that between us, and I am confident never will be. The obstacles are too many.
A sigh rises up. My uncomfortably uncertain future notwithstanding, Annalise deserves so much more than a shady guy like me. Who’s to say I’m any better than the infamous baby daddy or the scummy professor? Annalise hasn’t said much about her relationship with Kyle, but I learned all I needed to know in ten seconds in the man’s presence. He’s a loser, a user, and a con. I doubt there was one minute of sincere intent on his part, though I’m equally certain he made her believe there was.
Who am I to talk? Annalise walked into Jake’s last Monday, broken. Far from helping her pick up the pieces, it was good enough for me if they held together long enough for one night.
I’m not proud.
Sure, she was on board, but how, knowing what I do now, can I not rethink every other encounter I’ve had with women who were willing and eager—on the outside. Were they, too, lost and broken on the inside? I suppose the same could be said aboutmyinsides, yet that feels irrelevant here.
A while later, we make a pitstop. Being in the middle of nowhere, we’re forced to settle for the least bad option.
I stick close as she spends a ridiculous amount of time deciding on a snack. Meanwhile, I keep my eye on the usual suspects. Seems there’s always some creepster checking her out.
Presently, a burly guy with a wiry beard is relentlessly eyeing Annalise, who is entirely oblivious. I’m hoping her lack of awareness is due to my lurking presence. I like the thought of her trust.
Now, if I can only manage not to violate that trust…
How tiring it must be, the ogling, the constant need for vigilance. Getting hit on all the time. It’s a fact of life she is going to have to deal with, because that’s the world we live in. The kind of woman she is. She’sthatbeautiful. No flying under the radar for her. On the upside, she can probably land any man she casts her line for—which makes her panic about singleness at twenty-two young years and her choices in men that much more of a head-scratcher.
We walk back to the truck, and sort of in reverse order, I decide to top off the tank. She surprises me by extending a credit card. Shamelessly relieved to be spared yet another expense, I take it—then stop. Turn. “I thought you couldn’t use your card because your family would track you?”
She pulls her lip in and gnaws. “Yeah…about that…I kind of remembered a different card. But I forgot about it before, I promise!”
Smelling a rat here. And I’m angry.
I’m not angry. I don’t like being lied to, but I also understand the need to get away, and it’s becoming clear that Annalise’s flight instinct far outweighs her fight.
Poor Tripp.
No, not poor Tripp. I do not like Tripp Walker. Tripp Walker bad. And there’s nothing remotely poor about him either, metaphorically or literally.
Half an hour later, the silence in the truck is still strained when she finally breaks it. She’s been mutilating her cuticles ever since the gas station. I suppose if I were completely devoid of anger I would have halted the carnage.
“I truly did forget about the card, Marco.”
Her voice is soft and all trembly…and I’m an ogre and a louse. Still, I can’t help but raise an eyebrow.
“Really. We’d already left Galveston…well, left…when I thought about it. I mean, I think we were already out of town when I remembered.”
I’m a huge fan of the old give-’em-enough-rope technique.
“Okay, fine. We were still in Galveston—but we were already on the road.” She glances sheepishly. “I promise what I told you was the truth when I said it. Ihadforgotten an account I opened on my own last year. I’ll pay you back for everything, I promise.”
Tapping the wheel, I ease off the gas. Apparently, I speed when I’m ticked. The problem is, I’m not as ticked as I should be. Pretty much the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met is in the seat next to me, so how bad can things be?
I ease back into the slow lane. “I’m not worried about money, Annalise.” Which doesn’t qualify as even a half-truth, so yeah, we’ve got the whole pot and kettle thing going on here.
Honestly, what I’m really hung up on is how, at the ripe old age of twenty-two, mommy and daddy still hold her purse strings. I’ve worked since I was fourteen, two jobs and a full load in college, so all I can think ismust be nice.
“Look, I’m thinking neither one of us has put our best foot forward here. We started off on shaky ground, you know what I mean?” I glance over pointedly.
