AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good morning,” I replied, returning his smile. “I slept wonderfully, thank you. But, it’s getting late. I feel like it’s rude if we stay in bed all morning.”
“Don’t worry, I haven’t heard anyone up and about yet, but let’s take a quick shower and then head out,” he said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Today, I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?” I asked, my voice raising with excitement. “It’s not even my birthday.”
He chuckled and then led me back to the bathroom where we conserved water by sharing a shower, but probably used up most of the hot water. The shower had definitely left us both satisfied, though. After we got ready, when he led me outside to the car, Knox was whistling an upbeat melody.
I tried to interrogate him about my surprise during the car ride, but he wouldn’t give even a hint.
His fingers tapped on the steering wheel. “I’ve missed driving, even if it’s on the wrong side of the road.”
“Me too. I miss my car, but driving in L.A. is a nightmare.”
“Do you think I should buy a car? So we can do stuff that’s further away on the weekends? Renting a car just to visit my friends is frustrating.” He changed lanes smoothly and passed the car in front of us. “What kind of cars do you like? We can stop at a dealer and pick one up today.”
I laughed. “Just like that? It can’t be as easy as buying a gallon of milk at the grocery store.”
“It’s not that difficult if you have the cash.”
Was he serious? “If you want to buy a car, you should just wait until the tour is over; otherwise, it’ll just be sitting around idle.”
He glanced over at me. “You could use it while I was gone.”
“Is this my surprise? Because I really don’t like driving in the city and then I’d have to deal with parking it somewhere.” Having access to a car would be neat, but I didn’t want him to think he needed to spend money on me.
“No, it’s not your surprise. It was just something I was thinking about.”
I thought we were heading home as we got closer to my apartment, but he pulled over and parked on the street about a block away from my apartment.
I was about to comment when I noticed the line of people on the sidewalk. “The Underground Coffee Bar! This is where we met.”
He turned to me and winked. “So it is, Sunshine. I thought we could stop and get a coffee.”
“Hmmm. And a few cannoli, too.”
“Sure.” He put on a pair of sunglasses and then slid a baseball cap over his head. “Just don’t say my name out loud. Let’s try to do this incognito.”
“Sure thing, rock star,” I teased, but I really didn’t want any of the remaining time with him taken up by enthusiastic fans.
We headed to the back of the line, spilling out of the shop and onto the sidewalk. An eerie sense of déjà vu filled me. “I’m half expecting my mother to pop up out of nowhere.”
Knox stood in line behind me, but after our next step forward, he wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me back against him, nuzzling into my neck.
“Scotty,” I gasped softly. “Behave! We don’t want Limpie Pie to come out to play.”
He growled in my ear. “There’s not a limp thing about me when I’m around you. Frankly, I wish we could just wipe away the memory of that particular nickname, my wee Bouncy Bumpkin.”
I giggled. “I believe you denied it just as vehemently to my mother that day, too.”
“Aye, I’ve got to defend my manhood,” he whispered in my ear.
We moved up another step. “Remember when you made fun of me for dressing warmly? I mean, it was in the middle of winter!”
“I was just trying to get your attention, lass. It was the equivalent of pulling on your pigtails.”
I turned my head to smile at him. “Well, I’m glad it worked.”
“Me too.”
