Pride swelled in Josh’s chest. He knew that it was silly that the look on Audrey’s face as she admired the Nova made him feel like he was Superman. But he couldn’t help it. She had that effect on him. Other than Nonna, he’d never given two shits about what people thought of him. But with Audrey, he did. He wanted her to be awed by his work.
“Thanks again, for helping me with the kids this weekend.” He stood and wiped off his hands with a rag.
“Sure, of course, it was fun.” Audrey licked her lips nervously.
Now that he knew what her soft lips felt like brushing against his. Now that he’d tasted the sweetness of her mouth, now that his tongue had glided against hers all he could think about was wanting to kiss her again.
He wanted to make out with her like he had in middle school. He’d thought that maybe, just maybe kissing her was like an itch that needed to be scratched, and once he did it, he’d be able to move on with his life. But it was the opposite. Kissing her had been like taking a hit of the most addictive drug, and now he was feigning for his next fix.
“Um, I’m sorry to bug you but—”
“You could never bug me,” his voice was raspy with desire.
She grinned and sucked in a shaky breath. “Um, right, well, um I have a flat tire and I was wondering if you could fix it. I need to head up to Moonlight River. I’m checking out a new resort up there because they want to offer a package for Viv’s singles week. I would just ask if they could reschedule but—"
“I’ll take you,” he cut her off.
“What?”
“I’ll take you up to Moonlight River,” he repeated.
“Oh...no...” She shook her head and blinked the way she did when she was flustered. “You don’t have to do that. I just...all I need is my tire changed.”
Seeing her reaction did not sit well with him. Did she not want to spend time with him? That was a first. Audrey always seemed happy to spend time with him. Had he damaged his friendship with her being a weirdo the past few weeks?
He grinned, hoping to disguise the sting of rejection he felt with charm. “Sooooo, you’re saying you don’t want me to take you up to Moonlight River?”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No. I didn’t mean that. I just don’t want to take up your time. You’re obviously busy and it’s like an hour drive each way.”
He wasn’t sure if she meant what she was saying or if she really didn’t want him to go, but to be honest he didn’t care. He didn’t want her driving up in the mountains when it was going to be dark in an hour meeting some guy about to show her around his resort.
Since offering wasn’t working, he figured he’d try a different tactic. “A drive out of town actually sounds nice. Plus, I want to see how well Thor does on the mountain roads and make sure he doesn’t get car sick.” He motioned to Thor who was standing beside her.
As if on cue, Thor looked up at her giving her his biggest puppy dog eyes and whined.
She smiled down at him then looked up at Josh and her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Then I guess, it’s a road trip.”