She slides into the driver’s seat and reaches for the ignition, but my hand covers hers on the gearshift, and she freezes.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Fine. Why?”
“Because something’s different.” I study the flush on her cheeks, the way she won’t quite meet my eyes. “Since that nightat the jail, I could barely catch your scent. It was there, but muted. Like trying to hear music through a wall.” I inhale slowly, letting her fill my lungs. “Now it’s like someone turned the volume all the way up and it’s controlling me.”
She swallows. I’m watching her closely, and I see the moment she realizes she can’t bluff her way out of this. Her shoulders tense. Her grip tightens on the steering wheel.
And I can’t help it. I grin.
“Don’t smile like that,” she says quickly.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re up to something and you know something I don’t want you to know.”
“Maybe I do.” I quirk an eyebrow.
She stares at me for half a second, then starts up the car and lunges for the window controls. All four windows roll down simultaneously, cool morning air rushing into the car like she’s trying to air out a crime scene.
I laugh out loud.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I fucking love how you smell. It’s everything. I want to drown in it.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
“Because—” She cuts herself off. “I have something to tell you, and you saying things like that makes it harder.”
We pull away from the curb and head down the main road, wind whipping through the open windows. It’s breezy and cool, but I don’t complain. If she needs the buffer, I’ll give it to her. For now.
We drive for a while, and she hasn’t said a word, so I figure I’ll try to break the ice. “You know,” I say after a moment, “I know almost nothing about you.”
“Maybe that’s for the best.”
“Not really.” I shift in my seat, turning to face her more fully. “Tell me something.”
She’s quiet at first. “My parents live in Dallas. They keep calling, trying to convince me to move down there permanently.”
“And?”
“And they want me to sell the real estate business.” Her hands tighten on the wheel. “Technically, it’s their business. My dad owns the building and the company name. I just… run it.”
“But you built it.”
“Yeah, I did.” She glances at me, then back at the road. “They need money. My dad made some bad investments., so they’re selling, and I’m just supposed to… let it go. Move to Dallas. Start over.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Hell no.” The words come out sharp. Certain. “But what I want doesn’t seem to matter much these days.”
She exhales hard, like she’s been holding her breath, and glances at me again. “God, that was intense, wasn’t it?”
“Nah.” I shrug. “It was fine.”
She laughs. “You’re such a bad liar.”
