I pinched his arm. “You are supposed to accept compliments nicely, not argue.”
“Ah. I apologize, then. Thank you for thinking that I’m handsome when everyone else tells me I’m barely passable.”
“Now you’re going to make me think you’re fishing for compliments.” I bit his shoulder gently.
“On the contrary, I’m trying to be honest.” A little smile quirked up one side of his mouth. “I do think that, of the two of us, you are the more attractive. You have lovely brown eyes with perfectly suited eyelashes, so you have no need to be jealous of mine. And your hair is like liquid silk. I won’t go into how your legs leave me weak with desire, or what the sight of your breasts does to me, because I wouldn’t want you getting a fat head.”
I laughed, and pinched him again. “Thank you for that, and thank you for also not mentioning the fact that there is an overabundance of me. Not that I think you would do any body shaming, but I appreciate that you didn’t feel the need to swing to the opposite and tell me how much you like chunky women.”
“You’re not chunky in the least, and I do happen to like the fact that you aren’t one of those rail-thin women who are obsessed with their appearances.”
“And that gets you a gold star for the day,” I said, glancing at the clock radio next to the bed. “Crap. The dinner is supposed to start in half an hour. I suppose I should go get my shower at last.”
“We could stay here instead,” he offered, and for a moment I was tempted.
“Sounds lovely, but I think it would be pretty obviousif we were both missing. I’m not a super-private person, but I really don’t like the idea of the cameras catching us together, and they’d be bound to if they noticed we were off on our own. I know how these reality shows work, you know. They love to film any fights, general drama, or couples who try to sneak off together.”
I got up while I was speaking and slipped the petticoat over my head, followed by the camisole, collecting the other garments and my boots.
“I understand,” Dixon said, watching me with avid eyes. “I am not looking for any attention, either. Kell is welcome to it.”
“And I thought Louise was bad—you definitely got the worst carmate of the two.” I opened the door and peered out into the hallway. With my card key in hand for a speedy entrance, I blew Dixon a kiss and hurried across to my room.
JOURNAL OF DIXON AINSLEY
23 July
5:30 a.m.
Buffalo, New York
The drive to Buffalo yesterday was interesting. Scenery was fairly rural. We stopped to help Paulie and her team. Kell screamed about that for an hour afterward. No time infractions. Car ran fine.
I’m not sure I’m cut out for travel journaling. I can’t think of anything more to say about the trip out.
JOURNAL OF DIXON AINSLEY
23 July
5:36 a.m.
Buffalo, New York
I can think of a lot of things to say about Paulie, though.
JOURNAL OF DIXON AINSLEY
23 July
11:18 p.m.
Sandusky, Ohio
Privacy warning notice. The next couple of paragraphs are not to be included in travel journal and are just for my own reference. And insight—not that it’s done anything but make me feel horrible.
How can I let Paulie go on believing what she believes? That’s the big question that was giving me hell after Paulie knocked on my door last night and we ended up in a lovemaking session. Except there I was, feeling horrible afterward once Paulie had left to return to her own room.
“You ass,” I told myself as I got dressed. “She thinks you’re mourning the loss of your dead fiancée. She doesn’t know the truth. Tell her. Tell her the truth.”
