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When Lily and I walked out together at the end of our shift, the sun was shining through the disappearing gray clouds, reflecting off the puddles gathered on the asphalt. The humidity was stifling, making my hair feel heavy.
I shoved my jacket into my backpack and grabbed a ponytail elastic out of a side pocket. Stopping above the last step to the sidewalk, I held my bag between my knees and the elastic band in my mouth, twisting up my hair with my hands while I tried to keep my balance.
I froze midtwist when I saw Michael across the street. He was leaning back against a sleek black convertible with the top down, two fingers covering his lips to keep from laughing. He did that a lot. I wondered if it was a habit before he met me.
Lily let out a grunt of appreciation. “Mmm. Santa came early, and look at the deliciousness he brought with him.” She smoothed down her hair and rooted around in her purse, pulling out a breath mint. “Adios.”
“Hold it.” I reached out to grab the strap on her bag, pulling her back. “That deliciousness isn’t available for sampling.”
She turned to face me, eyes wide. “Is that the challenge you were talking about?”
“The challenge that’s off-limits. And occasionally a pain in the ass.” And possibly insane.
“Oh, girl.” Lily shook her head, looking back at Michael with obvious admiration. “I am so sorry.”
“What are you doing anyway? You never approach guys. I realize he’s exceptional, but really?” He might be a pain, but he was my pain. Sort of.
Lily looked at me and shrugged. “Exceptional is an understatement.”
“Later,” I murmured as I jumped the last step and ran toward him, barely looking as I crossed the street.
“Hey.” The breathless thing was happening again, but I didn’t care.
“Hey,” he replied. I wanted to put my hands on him as a test, to see if the connection existed on a busy street in the middle of the afternoon. I reached a finger out to boldly touch the curve below his smile.
He reached up to grab my arm. “Are you trying to get me fired? Or kill me?”
“You would be of no use to me dead.” Although I couldn’t breathe when he touched me, so I guess it all depended on who kicked the bucket first. He still held my wrist, and my whole arm was vibrating.
I almost wished he were telling the truth about the whole time-travel thing. He was way too pretty to be delusional.
“Get in.” Michael let go of my arm, grabbed my backpack, and opened my car door. I slid into the leather seat. As he shut the door and walked around the car, I looked back toward the front of the coffee shop.
Lily, her mouth hanging open, still stood in the exact same spot.
Chapter 17
When did curbside service become part of the deal?” The bucket seats in the small foreign car put us precariously close to each other. At least the sky spread out above us gave the illusion of space. He steered away from the town square and turned down the radio.
“I have to go away for a day or two. I thought if we were both buckled in, I could have an actual conversation with you before I left. It’s important. So don’t touch me.” He made a noise that resembled a growl. “I mean, again.”
“What are we talking about now?” I was ready to do something. At least we could start my … time-travel training. I made a mental note not to say that out loud.
“I’ve got a couple of things I want you to read.” The wind rumpled his hair as he steered with one hand, turning to reach into the tiny backseat with the other. He gave me a hardcover book with the title Space Time Continuum and Wormhole Theories, in addition to a thick, worn three-ring binder with tattered and coffee-stained pages inside. “Concentrate on the binder—move to the book if you have time. It’s theory, not fact. The facts are in the binder. Don’t let it out of your sight.”
One wish granted, even if it was just reading material. Maybe the books held some kind of scientific proof that would help me believe him. Like I would understand it if I saw it.
Michael turned down one of my favorite back roads. It ran parallel to a lake. I took my hair down from the ponytail and rested my head back against the seat, looking up at the trees along the shoreline that were tinged with color. Autumn always fascinated me—so much beauty in dying. Leaves holding on until the bitter end, finally going down in a blaze of glory, almost as if they were trying to convince us to keep them alive.
I looked at Michael’s profile out of the corner of my eye, attempting objectivity. Crazy connection or not, any girl would be drawn to him, as evidenced by Lily’s reaction. Straight nose, strong chin and jaw, and then there was that pesky mouth of his. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun peeking through the trees and the wind in my hair. I recited multiplication tables in my head to keep my thoughts under control and my hands to myself.
I don’t know when I fell asleep, just that I awoke when I heard the engine cut off. We were parked on the side street by the lofts. The sun hung only slightly lower in the sky, so I hadn’t been out long. I stretched and opened my eyes to Michael, who appeared to be in pain. His brows pulled together over his dark eyes, and there was a hard set to his mouth.
I froze midstretch. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said, his voice rough.
I didn’t think I had crossed any boundaries since I touched him before I got in the car, and none of my roommates at school ever claimed I talked in my sleep.
