“Hey, friend,” Von called from behind the wheel. “Keep that one out of trouble for me.”
Ashanti brought two fingers to her forehead in salute. “You got it,” she said with a laugh.
“Ignore him,” Thad said. He got Puddin’ out of the back seat. “Thanks for the ride,” he told Von as he shut the door.
The passenger side window lowered. “Remember, the keyword isfun,” Von said.
“You have a house to demo, right?” Thad asked.
“And TikTok videos to post.” Von gave him a thumbs-up before winking at Ashanti and pulling off.
She laughed again. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still upset that you’re turning the Bywater house into a bar, but it helps to know that Von will make sure there’s never a dull moment there.”
“I guess that’s a selling point,” Thad said. “Can we check the dogs curbside?”
“The ticketing agent inside told me to come straight to her once you arrived. She’ll let us bypass the line.”
They started for the terminal, Ashanti carrying Duchess’s much smaller crate in her right hand and rolling the hard-case carry-on she’d borrowed from Evie with her left. It had been so long since she’d taken a vacation that she hadn’t realized she didn’t have a proper suitcase until she went to pack.
She glanced over her shoulder as they walked through the parting automatic doors. “I’ll be honest, I thought you were standing me up.”
“I would never do that,” Thad said. He stopped her,catching her by the arm. “Really, if I say I’m going to do something, I follow through. I’m sorry again for making you wait.”
His earnestness softened any hard feelings his tardiness had caused. She could tell how much it bothered him to have her think he’d gone back on his word.
“You’re here now,” Ashanti said. “That’s what matters, right? Come on, let’s do this.”
They checked the dogs in with the ticketing agent and headed for security. Even though he had TSA PreCheck designation, which had a much shorter wait, Thad joined her in the regular security line.
“It’s not as if I’ll get on the plane without you,” he told Ashanti when she tried to get him to go through the shorter checkpoint. He nodded toward the front of the line. “It’s moving fast. We’re good.”
It took them less than ten minutes to get through the line, leaving enough time for Ashanti to stop at her favorite candy store in the airport. She loaded up on overpriced chocolate-covered Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales.
“You sure you don’t want any?” she called to Thad, who stood just outside the store with his arms crossed, as if he was a bodyguard on a detail.
“I’m good. Thanks,” he said.
Ashanti paid for her candy and walked up to him. “I forget that you’re a former soldier. You probably haven’t eaten sugar in a decade.”
One corner of his mouth angled up in a grin as they started for the B concourse.
“What?” Ashanti asked.
“If you only knew how much junk food I have in my grandmother’s pantry,” Thad said. “I’m addicted to Tootsie Rolls.”
“Seriously? How can you be addicted to junk food and still have a body like that?” Her steps came to an abrupt stop. “Not that I’ve spent too much time studying your body or anything,” Ashanti said. “I just figured…”
Goodness, girl! Shut up!
It would be challenging enough to get through this trip without it being awkward between them, especially after his grandmother’s comment about the two of them sharing a room. One way to ensure the awkwardness joined them in New York like a giant third wheel was to let the man know that thoughts of what his body must look like naked flashed through her mind at least a thousand times a day.
Please, God. Don’t let her mention his naked body.
“You haven’t spenttoomuch time? Which means you’ve spent some?” Thad asked.
Ashanti’s head shot up at the amusement she heard in his voice. She didn’t need a mirror to know that her freckles were the color of the Hot Tamales she’d just bought.
“Excuse us,” a woman said as she cut between them. Three young children—all pulling Mickey Mouse suitcases—trailed her.
