“Yes. I’ve been here several times.”
She kept her eyes on the road ahead, her fingers wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. Although her face appeared to be calm, her white knuckles made him question her facial expression.
“Does your stepfather know we’re coming so late?” he wondered.
She chuckled lightly. “Zack, it’s only eight o’clock. That’s not late.”
“I know. It’s just so... dark.”
“That’s because the clouds are hiding the moon.”
“Do you still know your way?”
“Yes.” She peeked at him before returning her gaze to the road. “Will you stop worrying?”
“I can’t help it.” He shrugged.
“Tell me, Zack.” She glanced his way again before looking back at the road. “Are you an outdoorsy kind of guy?”
“Of course, I am. Put me on the beach and I’ll stay there for months. Or,” he looked at the window at the trees growing thicker by the second, “put me in Switzerland at a ski lodge and you’ll have to drag me off the snow-packed mountains.”
“Have you ever gone camping?”
“Sure. I was a boy scout when I was young.”
She laughed. “Oh, really? Do you remember anything about what you learned?”
“Hmm...” He tapped his fingers on the arm rest of the door as he tried to remember what he’d learned. “I have started a fire before. I’ve even chopped wood.” He looked back at her. “I could probably even tie a square knot if given some rope.”
“I’m proud of you, then.” She smiled. “At least you remembered something.”
He leaned toward her and bumped her with his elbow. “But I probably wouldn’t remember how to set up a tent.”
She laughed again. He realized he liked the sound of her voice when she was lighthearted this way. It made him grin.
“What about you? Were you ever a girl’s scout?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I could sell you cookies once a year.”
He threw back his head and chortled joyfully. “What do you know... Agent Whitney has a sense of humor after all.”
She tossed himthat lookwhere she rolled her eyes at him and her mouth thinned in a straight line. He was getting to know her expressions quite well and they hadn’t been together for very long. But he enjoyed trying to read her, only because most of the time he was correct.
“Ha-ha-ha,” she said slowly. “I have a sense of humor. Just because I don’t show it all the time, doesn’t mean I don’t have one.”
“Hey, I know you want to be this tough FBI agent,” he shifted toward her on the seat, studying her profile, “but you might as well loosen up now that we’re both in hiding. If not, you’re not going to enjoy this fun adventure.”
She gasped and glanced at him with wide eyes before snapping her attention back to the road. “Why should Ienjoymyself when a hitman is after us?”
He leaned over closer to her, smiling. “Because, seeing you smile and hearing you laugh makes the day brighter,” he said softly in her ear.
She sucked in a fast breath and peered at him again. Her gaze dropped to his mouth and her face relaxed.
“We might as well make the day the best we can, especially when we don’t know how long it will last.” He winked.
He knew the squirrels were running the wheel in her head a little faster so that she could figure out what he was saying. But then she shook her head and looked straight ahead. Seconds later, she cussed and yanked on the steering wheel. He fell against her. She pushed on the brakes and the car came to a stop.
His heart accelerated as panic grew inside of him. He swung his focus to the windshield. Whitney had run off the road and nearly smashed into a tree.
