“Fine, you don’t have to talk. I’ll tell you something about myself instead.” His lips fold down as he hums and thinks. “Well, let’s see, where to start. . .” Pausing, he keeps his eyes forward. “Well, I’m good in bed, we both know that.”
“Seriously?” I ask, jerking my head in his direction.
“Hey, you don’t want to talk, remember? This is the Nick show now, you’re going to have to deal with it.”
“That’s fine, but can we not talk about sex?”
“Why not? You loved it.” He bites his lip and flashes me a sexy grin.
I want to tell him to get bent, but he’s right. The sex was great. It was incredible, probably the best I’ve ever had. But I’m not going to tell him that.
“Ask me again,” I say. He looks at me, not saying a word. “Seriously, ask me again about myself.”
“Oh, all right, I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe you were talking about us and—”
Cutting him off, I avoid the sex topic, “Yeah, I get it. So, ask me again.”
“Tell me something about yourself, Misty.”
“I once got arrested for indecent exposure at a water park.”
“What?” he balks with a laugh.
“Yeah, I didn’t realize my bathing suit was see through when it got wet, and the park called the cops because a few parents complained. I guess I had walked around long enough baring all the goods.”
Nick is laughing hard, his eyes watering so much he has to wipe them with his hand so he can see. “Wow, that’s crazy. Hilarious, but crazy. I wish I had been there.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t so funny when I had to call my parents. Now it’s your turn.”
“Okay, how’s this one for you. I got arrested once too, on Halloween, in a ninja costume.”
“For what?”
“Me and a few friends had gone to a party, and I was walking home, but I guess there had also been some burglaries in the area, and well, I looked suspicious.”
“Yeah, I would think a guy in a ninja suit, alone, late at night, might catch some attention.”
“The looks I got were something.”
Giggling, he laughs with me, and I start feel a little more relaxed. We’re getting further and further away from the city, and the distance is putting me more at ease. We talk about our childhood, funny stories we have, jobs, relationships, and it’s actually really nice.
Nick is smart, he’s funny, and his confidence is sexy as hell.
“Oh, hey, did you see that?” he asks as he looks out my window.
“See what? I don’t see anything but trees.”
We’re on a mountain road in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. All I see are trees. Every so often there’s a break in the forest and I get a glimpse of the valley below.
“I swear I saw a moose, or maybe it was a deer.” He’s squinting his eyes as he slows the car down.
“What are doing? Why are you stopping?”
“I told you, I thought I saw something.”
Nick pulls the car to the side of the road, and into a small clearing. He’s staring out my window, looking around me. I try to scan the trees, but I don’t see a damn thing.
He turns the car off, and starts to open his door. Throwing my arm out, I grab his forearm. “Wait, where are you going?”
“I’m going to look. Come on, let’s go see.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, we don’t have time for this. We’re supposed to be—”
“Misty,” he says, leaning into the car as he holds the roof. “You’re with the boss, you’re not going to get in trouble.” He nods his head for me to get out, walking around to the front of the car.
Letting out a weighted breath, I sit for a couple more seconds, before reluctantly climbing out. Crossing my arms over my chest, I walk to him. It’s a little cooler up here, and I notice instantly the air is different.
It’s crisper, cleaner, and easier to inhale. I can see down into the valley from the small ditch we’re in. There are a few houses, and the rest is fields. I’ve never been this far into the country before, but it’s beautiful.
“Do you think it’s gone? He wouldn’t attack us, would he?”
“Why, are you scared? Don’t worry, I won’t let anything hurt you.”
“You’re going to fight off a nine hundred pound animal?”
He looks back at me over his shoulder as he stalks to the tree line. “I will if I have to.”
I smile with his response, a flutter in my belly at the idea of him protecting me. It’s a sweet idea, but he isn’t taking down an animal that size.
There’s a rustle in the leaves, and Nick reaches back, and slides me behind him to block me protectively. His hand slides down my arm, and I don’t even realize it when it happens, but I wrap my fingers into his.