I take a seat on the vinyl couch, which surprisingly doesn't swallow me whole like I half-expected it to. "You haven’t talked about your parents in a while.”
She sits up on the bed and leans back against the headboard.
“I don’t know why. It’s been a long time since they passed but they’re always with me in here,” she replies, holding her hand against her chest.
“They sound like fun.”
"They were. They loved findin’ offbeat motels and diners whenever we’d hit the road.”
A thought hits me. “Is that why you have the diner?” I look around the room again. “I mean, it’s nothin’ like this, but it’s definitely somethin’ special and memorable. Then again, maybe that’s just because it’syours,” I tell her, no longer overthinking what I’m saying and how it might be taken.
If the silence on the drive here achieved anything, it gave me time to clear my head and strengthen my resolve. Mags is going to be mine. If she hasn’t made the connection between how things have been between us on this trip and from reading Aster’s book, then maybe I’ll have to start making my feelings clearer.
Mags smiles and the sight warms me up. “Yeah. Whenever we’d go on our little adventures, it was never about luxury for them, but about the experience," she muses, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “When I opened the diner, I wanted to give a little of that back to my hometown.”
“You’ve definitely done that. Look how often we all come to eat there.”
Her mouth quirks up. “That’s cause y’all are addicted to my Corned Beef Hash.”
“And the company.” She opens her mouth to reply but slowly closes it again, a gratifying blush tinting her cheeks. “I wanted this trip to be about the experience too. Somethin’ new. Just the two of us havin’ fun and makin’ the most of our time away, you know.”
Her gaze softens. “It still could be. Hell, it alreadyhasbeen. I got to feed a moose, remember?”
A chuckle escapes me. “Yep. Can’t forget the look on your face when you thought it would swallow your hand.”
She shudders. “Did youseethe size of those chompers?”
“Sure did. Why do you thinkIdidn’t want to feed them?”
“Ah, I see how it is. Sacrifice the woman to save yourself,” she giggles.
"Damn, you’re onto me.”If only I could be sure you were. Then I could stop dancing around these damn feelings I have…
Mags looks around the room. “This place ain’t that bad. Besides, we’re hittin’ the town tonight remember.”
“Are we? You still haven’t told me where we’re goin’…”
“Not goin’ to either. You’re bein’ all secret squirrel aboutyoursurprise for me, so now it’s my turn.” She winks before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and rising to her feet. “We better get cleaned up. If we’re makin’ this a trip to remember and I’m goin’ to get you to step outside your comfort zone, then weactuallyhave to leave the motel room to do it.”
I arch a brow, my eyes dancing with humor as I wait for what she said to sink in.
Mags starts spluttering. “I didn’t mean... oh, hell,” she giggles. “That soundedfarbetter inside my head than out of it.”
"Mmm hmm," I reply. "Sure, darlin'. You keep tellin' yourself that."
I earn myself a half-hearted glare for that. “Just you wait, Red. I could still book us in for matchin’ducktattoos. I’m sure someone would be able to draw Duck Norris’ likeness.”
I don’t even try to hide my look of horror, something Mags doesn’t miss if her laughter is anything to go by. “Can you imagine the look on everyone’s faces if we came back home withtattoos, let aloneduckones? They'd think we've gone mad and had a mid-life crisis or somethin’."
“Naw,” she says, waving me off. “They’ll just think you’re livin’ up to your new empty-nester status.”
“Likethat’sever goin’ to happen. Too many responsibilities back home to shirk off now,” I reply.
She crosses the room and stops next to the couch, reaching out to rest her hand on my shoulder, her touch making my pulse jump through the roof.
“We’re not on the ranch now, Red. Just like I’m not workin’ all day and night at the diner. This isourtime, remember?” The intensity in her gaze has me thinking of things thatare definitelynot about home, the ranch, or anybody else except the woman standing in front of me. "But don't worry, Redmond. There ain't no way I'm goin’ to honor that damn duck's menacin' ways by puttin’ his picture on my body. Besides, it wouldn’t go with the tattoo I already have.”
She shoots me a wicked grin before pulling her hand away and making her way toward the bathroom. I turn and watch her go which doesnothingto help the current state of my libido. Whatever that mountain spirit is doing to me, it left me unable to think about anything else but Mags. She’s the only thing that matters right now and I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to sleep in the same room as her and be able to relax, not when every cell, every nerve ending, every part of my body is pulling me to her.
