“Grading papers, probably reading through the articles we found.” Her gaze dropped to the bag. “If reading in the car didn’t give me horrendous headaches, I’d start now.”
“They can wait. Should we split the pile in half to tackle them?” Maybe he’d read through a handful tonight, but not until he burnt through the energy built up in him from being mostly sedentary since yesterday morning.
“Sure. What are your plans for later? Don’t you have Sunday evening dinners with your family?”
“Not always.” He slid his sunglasses from the top of his head to his eyes to block the sharp glare of the sun. “Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?”
He clenched the steering wheel. “I completely forgot we’re all having lunch after church today to catch up with Mom and Dad after their cruise.”
“You should still make it. We’ll be back by eleven-thirty.”
“They’ll want to know why I wasn’t at church but could make lunch.” A dry laugh tickled his lips. “Twenty-eight years old and I’m afraid of my family’s questions.”
“Tell them the truth. Weren’t you going to anyway?” She made the concept sound so easy.
He wrinkled his nose. “Well, yeah, but the in-laws will be there also. I’d prefer a small crowd.”
Anna scoffed. “Do you really think Kelly won’t tell Tommy and Owen won’t tell Haley?”
“I know, I know.”
“If you’re not comfortable, tell them when you’re ready. I’ll deal with Kelly if she says anything else.” She reached an arm across the cab to give his hand a quick squeeze.
After last night, she knew why he didn’t want to share the information, and he admired her for giving him an out. The trouble was, he couldn’t accept that out while being able to salvage his pride and integrity. What happened to him in sixth grade was a lifetime ago. It was time to let go.
He hadn’t realized that until he’d found a reason to.
He drew a long breath, exhaled slowly. “Can we talk about last night?”
“We don’t have to.” She waved a hand, suggesting she’d rather not. “We got caught up in the moment, but we’re heading back to reality. It’s fine, really.”
“No, it’s not.” Having a little sister taught him it’s never okay when a woman says it’s fine. More than that, it wasn’t fine with him. He wasn’t going to let himself take the outs she kept giving because he knew that’s not what she wanted.
If he truly believed she didn’t care, he’d never say another word.
But Anna deserved more. She gave of herself to everyone in her life without ever doing the taking.
He spotted a sign for a rest area ahead and took the exit for it.
“What are you doing?” Her gaze went from the road to the rest area to him.
“We’re going to talk, and I want you to see my eyes and face as we do.” He hopped out and ran to open her door. “There’s a table over there we can sit at.”
“You have lunch with your family. You need to get home.” Her hand trembled in his as he helped her down.
“I’ll be there when I get there. This thing between us, whatever it is, takes precedence.”
“What if I’m not ready?” she asked in shaky voice.
He stopped walking. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want to figure this out and we’ll get back in the truck right now, and I won’t bring it up again until you do.”
“It’s not that simple.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Do you know how long I dreamt of kissing you? Years. It took me years to finally end my crush on you, and now this. The reality was so much more amazing than any fantasy my teen self could have imagined, and I feel incredibly stupid for admitting that.”
Coming from any other female, those words would have boosted his ego. From Anna, they only created a need to protect her from any hurt or embarrassment. He resumed walking, keeping her hand in his until they reached the table.
“When I told you I’d never purposefully hurt you, I meant every word. That’s why I walked away twice last night before finally kissing you because I knew with you it wouldn’t mean just a kiss. It would be the start of something, if you’re willing to see where this will lead.” He paused again and faced her, rubbed his hands on her arms. “It’s up to you. If you’re not ready, I’ll wait. I want you to be happy, whatever that means for us.”
