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Sophie recognized my lame diversion tactic for what it was. “You’re going to be the end of me,” she said. “Can you at least promise me you’lltryto have fun on this trip?”
That was easy enough. “Yes. I promise.”
“And maybe pack some sexy underwear?”
“Sophie.” I laughed, to deflect from the fact that I didn’t own any. “Absolutely not.”
Sophie sighed. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
•••••••
At nine the next morning,Reggie was waiting for me outside the hotel he said he was staying in while his apartment was being renovated with two large duffel bags slung over his shoulders. A not-small part of me had hoped he’d be wearing Old Fuzzy, or some other hideous thing, so that the next few hours alone in a car with this man who could get my heart racing with just a glance would be less distracting.
But as luck would, or wouldn’t, have it, he looked fantastic. It couldn’t have been more than twenty-five degrees outside, but jeans and a long-sleeved green Henley were all that separatedhim from the elements. And all that separated my eyes from the muscles I knew lay beneath them.
“No coat?” I asked when he climbed into the passenger seat beside me. He smelled good, like leather and mint. I resisted the urge to reach out and touch his shirt to see if it was as soft as it looked, but only just.
“It’s in my bag,” he said, jerking a thumb towards the backseat, where he’d tossed it. “I brought some other key winter wear as well.”
“Such as?”
He held up his hand and began counting off items on his fingers. “Long johns, knee socks, a knit cap with Santa on the front that has reindeer-themed earflaps, and gloves.” He paused. “Oh! And a pink feather boa I found at Goodwill a week ago.”
I stared at him. “A feather boa? That’s key winter wear?”
He shrugged. “Probably not. But it’s fun, and you said there isn’t much to do in Wisconsin, so I thought maybe I would bring the fun with me.”
I laughed. “I did say that, didn’t I.”
He jerked his thumb towards the backseat again. “You did. In that vein, I also packed a one-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle featuring cats in outer space that we can do if we get bored.”
An image of me and Reggie, sitting around a small coffee table with my nieces as we did a puzzle together flashed unbidden in my mind. It nearly bowled me over with its unexpected sweetness.
“I also brought my glockenspiel.” He looked at me hopefully. “I hope you like music.”
I thought of what I’d taken with me on this trip: a small roller bag with a few changes of clothes, my laptop, and a briefcase fullof work. Much less fun than what Reggie was bringing. I sighed; there was nothing to be done for it.
“Go ahead and fasten your seat belt and we’ll be off,” I said.
Reggie stared at me a moment, as though I’d just said something to him in a language he didn’t understand. Then he burst out laughing.
“You’re hilarious,” he said between cackles. Then he added, in an uncannily good impression of me, “Go ahead and fasten your seat belt!”
He’d lost me. “What’s so funny about wearing a seat belt?”
He shook his head, still giggling. “For you? Nothing. Youshouldwear one. Car accidents can be deadly. But for me?Everythingis funny about it.” He sighed, then reached behind him and drew the seat belt across his torso. “Okay, I amwearing my seat beltnow. Shall we be off? Oh, and I hope it’s all right if you do all the driving. I never learned how.”
It was good that Reggie periodically tempered his hotness with downright bizarre behavior. It made it more likely that I’d be able to focus on work on this trip. I chanced another glance at him out of the corner of my eye as I pulled away from the curb; he was examining the holster that attached the seat belt to the car with such intense interest it was like he’d never seen one before.
“I’m fine driving,” I agreed. I wasn’t sure I wanted him driving my car, anyway. “By the way, is there anything specific you’d like to do on this trip?”
I expected him to reply with some variation on the outdoor activities theme, because that was largely what there was to do up there. “Avoid getting stuck in the blizzard that they expect to hit sometime between now and tonight,” he said instead.
I almost choked on my tongue. “What?”
He looked at me, incredulous. “Amelia, you’re someone who plans for every eventuality. Are you telling me you haven’t checked the weather forecast?”
I opened and closed my mouth several times, trying to make words form. Ordinarily, before any big trip I would check the weather multiple times.
