“What?”
“This feels normal. Walking around, trying weird foods, talking about things I never tell people.”
“And that’s bad?”
“No. It’s just... I don’t live in normal.”
No, she didn’t.
“There’s something addictive about the adrenaline.”
“There’s also something addictive about coming home alive.”
She frowned. “Please. So overrated.”
Right now, with her, in the middle of a food adventure? Maybe.
He reached for her hand, and held it.
She looked down at their joined hands, then back up at his face. “What’s this?”
“This is me trying to convince you that there are things worth staying alive for. Good food, live music, handsome company...” He grinned. “A good-looking guy protecting you from pickpockets.”
“Modest too.”
“I prefer confident. There’s a difference.”
She laughed, and the sound hit him somewhere behind his ribs. “Okay, hero, what else should we try?”
“Dangerous question. I could stay out all night with you sampling street food.”
Oh—where did that come from?
“You could?” She raised an eyebrow.
He stilled.Um . . .
“Calm down there, Mr. Suddenly Serious. I’m just saying, don’t think you can stop me from going to Bangkok. I’m not so full that I don’t remember what you said.”
Right.But, “I know you have to do this.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. Just like I know I have to go with you.”
She stopped walking, studying his face in the neon light from a nearby stall. “Why?” She held up her hand. “Not because Hamilton ordered you to, not because you promised Jake. Why do you want to help me?”
The question deserved an honest answer.
“Because that’s how I’m made.”
Aw, that sounded sappy. And raw.
And he just stared at her, his heart thumping.
“Okay then,” she said.
Wow, she had a pretty smile.
