Guy? There? “You’re discussing this with others without talking to me first?”
“No. He just knows that I’m coming and have questions about researching a photo’s origin. He’s a photojournalist, so I thought he could point me in the right direction, if he couldn’t provide anything else. What do you think?”
I think there’s no way you’re going to meet some guy in New York without me.“I can make flight arrangements and we can leave first thing in the morning.” The look on her face said that didn’t agree with her. “Would you rather leave later?”
“I don’t . . . fly.”
“At all?” Roger asked. She shook her head. “Afraid?” Gia nodded. “I’ll be with you.”
“It won’t matter. I can’t do it. I’ve booked flights before and gotten as far as standing in line to board, but each time I freak out.” She dropped her eyes to the plate in front of her.
Since she couldn’t meet his gaze, she wasn’t only avoiding traveling with him. Usually people had a reason for such a strong reaction. “Did something happen?”
“My uncle was a fireman in New York City. He died when the towers collapsed. Even though I was young then, I can’t forget the sight of the plane crashing into the second building and my mother screaming my uncle’s name in panic.”
“I’m so sorry.” He understood loss all too well. Roger wasn’t going to try to convince her it would be okay and nothing would happen to them, because it had nothing to do with that. It was a trigger for something she couldn’t control. “We can drive.”
She lifted her eyes and asked, “You’d really do that for me?”
He nodded. “It means leaving a lot earlier and, if you don’t mind, staying a night or two in New York.”
She was quiet, and he wasn’t sure if that had been enough. Then she asked, “Could we take time to visit the memorial? I haven’t been there since it was completed. I think it would make my parents happy.” In a softer voice she added, “And make me happy.”
He reached across the table and covered Gia’s hand with his. “We can stay as long as you like.”
“I promise I won’t get distracted from why we’re going.”
“Gia, the photo is over a hundred years old already. It can wait a day or two.”
“Roger, are you serious?”
“Of course I am.” As far as he was concerned, this little project was ahead of schedule. Brice would get the information when he got it. If Brice didn’t like that, too bad.
Gia turned her hand over so her fingers interlocked with his. “Roger, why are you so . . . nice to me? I mean from the moment your tires made contact with the puddle, you’ve been . . . I don’t know . . . fixing everything. First helping me with my purse, then the job, and now . . . this. I wouldn’t have expected this from you.”
Roger cocked a brow. “I’m afraid to ask what you did expect.”
Gia grinned. “Well, based on your looks and the vehicle you drive, I thought you might be a conceited jerk.”
Roger laughed. “Then I guess it wasn’t difficult to exceed your expectations.”
“True,” Gia teased. “But then again, I’m sure I am not what you expected either.”
Definitely not.“You have surprised me on a few occasions. And before you start wondering if that is a good thing, let’s just say few people can make me laugh.” He stroked her hand with his thumb. “You’ve done that quite a bit.”
“I didn’t realize I was that funny.”
There were a lot of things he could tell her he’d noticed, but this conversation had already gone deep and serious enough. “If I wasn’t starving, I’d tell you more.”
Gia grabbed a slice of veggie and another of meat lover. Turning one over, she made what looked like a pizza sandwich. As he stared she said, “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
Roger guzzled the remainder of his beer and then copied her technique. “I’ll try anything once.” He winked and as expected, she blushed. Although tempted to pursue this line of flirting, he brought the focus back onto her. “You seem to have had a busy morning.”
Gia ran her hand through her long blonde hair. “Yeah. It was a long process. I never thought Vickie was going to show up so early either. I’m glad she did, or we’d still be stripping color from my hair.”
“Stripping?”
“Oh you have no idea what it took for me to get back to my natural color.”