“Yeah?”
“It’s all I ever hear about.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Um, I’m single, Rider.”
I take in her beauty, everything from her freckles to the warmth in her eyes. “For the life of me I can’t figure out why.”
She snorts and twists her mouth, and beneath the wry look on her face, I get a glimpse of some deeper pain. Her hands intertwine on her lap, and she turns from me. What is it she doesn’t want me to know…to see? Not that it’s any of my business. While I might be honest, there is a part of me I keep hidden, too.
“Do you want kids, Jules?” I probe.
“I suppose so, yeah. But it’s not in my future.” I’m about to ask why but she turns the question back to me. “Do you want a big family?” she asks.
“Bachelor for life,” I say, a canned response that holds no emotions—one I’d practiced for years. She opens her mouth, and I gesture with a nod. “We’re here.”
Her eyes narrow as she looks out into the street. “Why are we at Pike’s Place Market? There are no art galleries here.”
“Come see.” I open the door, circle the vehicle and put my arm around her waist. She gives me a quizzical look.
“What are you up to, Rider?” she asks.
“See that alleyway?” She turns and looks into the dark space. “That’s where we’re going.”
“You expect me to go into an alleyway with you, in the middle of the night?”
“Hey, we’re friends, right?”
“Yeah, we’re friends,” she agrees.
“Good, then you can trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you. And it’s eleven o’clock. Not the middle of the night, unless you go to bed after dinner.” She eyes me and I laugh. “Oh, hell you do.”
“I’m not a night owl, or a thrill-seeker like you,” she announces with a tip of her chin. God, she’s so adorable, it takes everything in me not to bend forward and plant my lips on hers.
“You’re killing me, Jules,” I say and tug on her hand. “Come on.”
I lead her into the alleyway, where there are a few people milling about and she tenses.
“Rider,” she says, and shuffles a little closer to me.
I call up my flashlight app, and shine it on the wall.
“Oh my God,” she says and starts laughing. “That’s disgusting. I can’t believe you brought me here.”
“It’s not disgusting. It’s bubble gum art.” I shake my head and wave my hand toward the colorful display. “Now of all people, I thought you’d see the beauty in it.”
She turns to me. “I really don’t,” she says and purses her lips. “Like…at all.”
I hold my phone up. “Look, people have made heart art and fruit art. I think that’s a cluster of grapes, and over there, if you really stretch your imagination, you can almost see an elephant in that cluster. It’s quite fascinating, if you ask me.”
“I think I need to show you my version of art,” she says.
“I do remember you saying something about you getting to pick the next place we go.”
Her eyes move over my face, and I can almost hear the wheels spinning in her brain. I’m not sure what is going through that pretty head of hers, but she’s definitely waging some sort of battle.
“Well…” she begins, her body so close to mine I can practically feel her heart beating. Heat arcs between us, and dammit, I’m pretty damn certain I’m not the only one feeling this. We have a connection, some strange sort of chemistry. And that, my friends, is damn near impossible to ignore.