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I extend a latte toward him, and he takes it with a sleepy smile, forgetting how heavy my luggage apparently was.
He closes his eyes and sniffs the steam coming from the travel lid. “Mmm. Smells like heaven.”
“It’s a pecan maple latte,” I tell him proudly.
Brooks opens the passenger door for me before saying, “Maple? Getting us in the mood for Vermont, eh?”
“You know they don’t have Canadian accents in Vermont, right?”
He chuckles, waiting until I’m seated before shutting my door for me. I watch him run around the vehicle to the driver’s side. The air is so cold this morning I can see his breath as he runs. Brooks is the only person I know who would be perfectly content just wearing a hoodie when it’s this cold outside. But the man’s temperature does always seem to run 10 degrees hotter than everyone else’s.
When he gets inside, he puts his cup in the cup holder and blasts the heater as high as it will go, then faces all the vents in my direction. “So, you’re telling me they don’t cut their food with hockey skates up there and drink maple syrup like it’s water?”
He puts his hand on my headrest and cranes his head around to back out of my driveway. Weirdly, I notice the muscles in his neck again. Since I’ve met Brooks, I haven’t once noticed his neck until now … Has he been working out his neck muscles or something?
“Under normal circumstances, I would encourage you to drag some old skates to the dinner table and try cutting your food. It would make a hilarious show, and the horrified looks on my parents’ faces would give me something to laugh about for years to come …”
He side-eyes me before returning his gaze to the busy highway as he drives. “I’m sensing a but.”
“But … I’m gonna need you to be on your best behavior. I’m talking Diane Windell-level expectations.”
He whines, “What? Nooooo.”
“The point of this whole charade is to avoid my family pushing me to get back together with Todd. If they think my new lover is some uncultured yeti man, they’ll never leave me alone.”
He gasps. “Yeti man? I’m offended.” He laughs and looks at me again. “Your parents already know I went to MIT and own a successful business—with their daughter. So how badly could they possibly think of me?”
I whistle a breath out slowly. “You obviously don’t know my parents very well. They’re total snobs, Brooks.”
He grins. “If I remember correctly … a certain someone I know was pretty stuck up when I first met her.”
I laugh. He’s not wrong. “I know, I know. But thankfully a down-to-earth Kansas boy showed me a different way of life.”
“Slumming it with a millionaire,” he says with grandeur, moving one hand from left to right in front of his face like it’s a movie title.
“New reality show?” I ask, and we both laugh.
We make it to the airport, check our bags, and find our gate. I’ve never flown with Brooks before, but the man is the center of attention everywhere he goes. Without even trying. I don’t know whether to be annoyed or impressed. I’m pretty sure the TSA lady selected him for a random pat down just so she could feel him up.
Now the woman seated next to us has been flirting with him for ten minutes. She doesn’t even seem to notice me.
Todd and I did a fair amount of traveling together, and, of course, women would glance at him appreciatively. But the attention Brooks gets is on an entirely different level. You’d think he was a celebrity.
The bubbly blonde woman next to Brooks must be starting to annoy him, too, because he leans back in his chair and drapes an arm around the back of mine. The woman looks between us curiously then continues chatting and ignoring me.
Brooks interrupts her and turns to me. “Do you need me to get you anything before our flight boards, muffin butt?”
Muffin butt? Out of all the pet names he could’ve used. I look at him adoringly. “I’m good, boogie-bear. But thanks for the offer.”
Miss Flirty-pants laughs awkwardly. “I think I’ll grab a drink before our flight leaves. Nice chatting with you.”
Brooks nods and she scurries off toward the gift shop.
“I didn’t think she’d ever shut up. If I had to hear about her three cats for one more second I was going to lose my mind.” He drags one hand through his hair, making it look messier and somehow even better than it already did.
I roll my lips together to keep from laughing.
“Don’t laugh!” he says in an offended tone. “It’s your job as my fake girlfriend to bat all the other girls away from me.”
