As soon as I stood there and smiled my best saleslady smile, someone came up to me and asked, “What’s the Thunderbird packing?”
First: What the hell is a Thunderbird? Isn’t this a car show? And second: Why would it be packing anything?
“Sorry?” I asked, hoping he’d think I just didn’t hear him properly.
He pointed to the car I was standing in front of. “The Thunderbird. What’s it packing?”
At least I found out he was talking about the car. “I don’t think there’s anything inside,” I answered. “But I’m happy to check for you.”
His eyebrows drew together, and he looked like he wanted to ask another question.
Fudgeblaster, I didn’t think it through when I offered to help. Why can’t he just read the damn brochure?
“Key ring?” I asked when he seemed to have gotten over his initial confusion and opened his mouth once more.
He took the key ring, and I held up the bottle opener as well. “Everyone needs a bottle opener.” I pushed it into his hand. “There you go. Have a nice day.”
He blinked at me but thankfully moved on. Could have gone worse. Could have also gone better.
“Can you start the Thunderbird up?” another guy asked as he came up to me.
Where are they all coming from? And why all the questions? Can’t they just appreciate the beauty of the car and walk away?
“Let me see if the key is inside,” I said, still wanting to be helpful.
The key wasn’t in the ignition, but when I pulled the visor down, it fell out. I was too slow to catch it. No surprise there. Coordination had never been one of my assets.
Unlucky for me, the key disappeared somewhere in the car. I checked under the seat, in every crease of the cream leather seats, and on the ground next to the driver side, but it was gone.
I was half lying on the floorboard of the passenger seat, lifting the mat, when Landon came over.
“What’s going on? Did you lose something?” he asked.
Please, if there is a higher power that can hear my prayers right now, don’t let my butt show.
My undies had the day of the week printed on the rear. And they were monstrosities. Not fit for public consumption. If they weren’t so comfortable, I would have gotten rid of them long ago.
I stood up with as much dignity as I could muster and met Landon’s questioning gaze. “I lost the keys to your car.”
He frowned at me. “I didn’t catch that. I thought you said you lost the keys.”
“That’s because it’s exactly what I said,” I whispered, my voice getting quieter with each word.
Landon blinked at me. Not a word left his lips. Now, I didn’t know him all that well yet, but he didn’t strike me as someone who was quiet. He had been talkative from the moment we met. I guessed his silence to be a bad thing.
Turned out I was wrong when a grin overtook his features. Then he threw his head back and roared with laughter.
“I’ll find them. Promise,” I said, not sure if he was laughing because he thought it was funny or because this was a case of either laugh or strangle me.
“We have a spare at the motel. Don’t stress if you can’t find them. I’ll have a look later.”
I wavered, trying to comprehend his reaction. Why wasn’t he angry? I’d just lost the keys to what looked like an expensive car. “I’m really sorry.”
He waved me off and tugged on a strand of my hair again. He seemed to have a fascination with touching it. I didn’t know if it was because he liked it or because he found it interesting. The second option usually wasn’t as good as it sounded.
“Don’t worry about it. Wouldn’t be the first time we lost keys, so we’re prepared.”
He studied me for a moment and stepped closer, the tip of his black boots touching my flats. “Hey, honestly, it’s no big deal. We lose things all the time. And as I said, there’s a spare key somewhere.”
