Josie gasped and fumbled to grab her phone again while the rest of them dissolved into laughter.
And just like that, I started to understand something about this group.
They weren’t just bad with technology. They were dangerous with it.
Chuckling to myself, I ducked into a little shop that smelled like cedar and sage. My fingers skimmed a shelf of hand-painted pottery, and one piece caught my eye: a squat, slightly lopsided planter with a sun on one side and a moon on the other.
I reached for it. Then stopped.
What would be the point? All my plants were long dead now.
“You don’t like it?”
I startled, spinning around to find Noah behind me. Not that I hadn’t noticed him orbiting, I just hadn’t realized he’d entered my gravitational field.
The woman at the counter was watching us… Strike that. She was watching him.
I couldn’t blame her.
His head was tilted, causing that wayward strand of hair to curl around his cheek. Even with his mostly neutral expression—low-key irritated—it was hard not to give into the urge to brush it back.
“I do, actually…but…”
He stood there, one hand in his pocket, the other one holding three of his mom’s shopping bags.
At least I assumed they were his mom’s.
“They could wrap it,” he offered. “If you’re afraid it will break.”
“I realize that.”
I didn’t want to tell him the reason I wasn’t buying it. Did I like it? Yes! I loved it. But I wasn’t sure I could give it a proper home…
So I just shrugged. “We have a long way to go. I’d better pace myself.”
“What are you two scheming over here?” Babs popped up from behind a display, her eyes bouncing between us from behind those scarlet-rimmed glasses.
“Our escape,” Noah replied dryly, answering for both of us.
“Oh, you!” Babs gave his chest a playful slap. “You love hanging out with us beauties. Just admit it.”
“You got me,” he said, stepping away with that annoyingly smooth ease—his eyes unexpectedly lit with mischief.
Hot Annoying Aisle Seat Guy, it would seem, had a sense of humor.
Which was…inconvenient.
Especially when it made me like him a little.
I spent the rest of the afternoon trying not to think about that.
By the time the bus delivered us to our hotel, the sky had turned a moody shade of blue-gray, and without the sun burning down on us, it was cold!
Tay greeted us in the lobby with a clipboard and a smile, informing us that our luggage would be delivered to our rooms while we enjoyed a group dinner. And then she directed us toward the hotel’s banquet room.
Tucked off the main dining area, in what felt like a newly renovated wedding venue, four massive round tables, each seating ten, had been arranged for our group. Pristine white tablecloths and floral centerpieces added a touch of formality to the otherwise cozy setting.
I wasn’t sure if it was chance or Babs’s doing, but somehow, I ended up seated next to Noah. Again.
