“Something like that.”
I nodded and tucked my mass of bed hair back behind my ears. Then I messed it back up again because exposing myself right now was plain dumb. “Well, it’s great that you got a big offer on the house right away. Just great.”
“Mm.”
“I should go shower. Make some small attempt to look less like the undead.”
“Hey,” he said. “Did you want to go check out some cars today?”
“Yes, that would be good. Thanks.” I rose, my legs feeling bizarrely flimsy, weak.
The great thing about crying in the shower was that with all of the noise and water, there was no real evidence.
No one need ever know.
* * *
“See, babe. Isn’t this nice?”
I gave him an unimpressed look. Not an easy feat, given how good he looked. With the window down, his golden-red hair blew wild in the wind and a toned inked arm leaned on the door frame. He was like an ad for the good life.
“Come on, you have to admit this is a great car.”
I didn’t have to admit a damn thing.
“Lydia, this is the right choice,” he said smoothly. “Comfortable interior, high safety standards, handles well in wet weather and snow, and it even has a small sunroof just for you.”
“You’re being condescending. Stop it before I hurt you.”
“I know you like that piece of shit Prius and the cute little MINI Cooper.” He reached out, slipping a hand behind my neck and massaging gently. Dude was lucky I didn’t bite off his limb. If he wasn’t so good with his fingers, I would. “But the WRX will work out far better for you, I promise.”
“I didn’t even want to take it for a test drive. You and that idiot ganged up on me.”
“Babe.”
“It’s true. You know you did.”
“I had no idea Mitch even worked there,” he said with a laugh. A devious one. “Is it really so bad that me and my old friend want you to have an awesome car at the best price possible?”
“It is a good price.”
“It’s a fucking amazing price and you know it. You’re supposed to be test-driving it, not me.” He pulled into a gravel parking lot in a secluded spot by the lake, switched off the engine. “Fastest line-built vehicle on the market, Lydia. You know you want to try it.”
“It probably got thrashed by its previous owners.”
“No way would Mitch sell you something that’d been treated bad. I’d come back to Coeur d’Alene to kick his ass if he did, and he knows it.”
“God, would you stop talking about leaving?” I snapped. And immediately regretted it.
Vaughan cocked his head.
“Sorry.” I took a deep breath, let it out slowly. “Apparently, I’m Ms. Bad Attitude today. Let’s just enjoy the here and now. Okay?”
He slowly nodded his head. Then he gazed back out the windshield at the sparkling blue water. “You wanted the Vaughan Hewson Coeur d’Alene experience.”
It took a moment for my poor brain to catch up. “This is where you brought your dates when you were in school?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Nice. Very nice.”
“Far enough out of town, away from the lights. The whole sky would be full of stars.”
“Mm.” I smiled wistfully. “Sounds romantic. Too bad it’s daytime.”
“No one’s around.”
I turned my head so fast we both should have gotten whiplash. “What?”
“No one’s around.”
“Ha.” I smiled, raised my eyes to the heavens. “God, I thought you were serious there for a minute.”
“I am.” He was? Shit. He was. Beautiful blue eyes all intense and heated, looking at me and licking his lips like I was definitely at the top of today’s menu.
“Oh.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, trailing his fingers down my neck. Toying first with the spaghetti strap of my blousy white top and then with my bra beneath. The man had moves. But also, he basically had me on a leash, the bastard. Mind, body, heart, and soul. Not that I’d ever tell him. Immediately my breathing picked up pace, my skin grew all shivery.
“Lewd acts. Exposure.” I giggled hysterically, sounding a lot like an idiot. “I’m pretty sure there are laws protecting public places against that. Especially in broad daylight. We better not.”
“We’re not going to get caught.”
“But we might.”