glanced at him through my lashes.
“Hell no.” The wind whipped several wavy locks into his eyes, shadowing them. “I just want you to know that you’re not a foregone conclusion. I plan to earn my way step by step to your final yes.”
“I like that.” I swallowed hard, imagining what those steps might involve. “I like you.”
“I like you too, Lotus. More than I ever could have imagined.”
That was a funny way to say I was unexpected.
I tilted my head, watching him as he opened the passenger door for me. When I climbed in, he closed the door, and I continued watching him as he rounded the hood. Something about his profile and stride seemed vaguely familiar.
“Have you ever visited Ocean Beach before?” I asked as he dropped the blankets in the back and reached for his seat belt.
Journey froze in midmotion. “Yeah, I have.” He clicked his belt and put his key in the ignition.
“Ah, maybe I saw you. Did you play one of the clubs with a band?”
“No.” He threw his arm over the back of my seat and turned his head to back out.
“Oh. Did you go to the Deck Bar for drinks or food, maybe?”
“No.” Turning the steering wheel, he shifted and steered the car out of the parking lot. “Is that one of the places where you work?”
“Yes,” I said, noting his motions were stiffer than before. But I couldn’t see his features clearly. The parking lot had some lighting, but it was mostly dark, and his loose hair shadowed his eyes. “You just seem somewhat familiar to me.”
“I get that.” Journey’s words were clipped. “You seem familiar to me too. Maybe we ran into each other before.”
He glanced at me, and as we passed under a streetlight, I noted that his brow was creased. “Is it important that we figure it out?”
“No. I guess not.”
“It’s been a long time since I was in OB. Even if you saw me back then, I’m not that same person anymore.” He pulled to a stop at the top of the hill and flicked on his blinker.
“What type of person were you?” Worry like ice-cold fingers crept along my spine.
He turned the Scout onto a two-lane thoroughfare, and we passed through several intersections before he answered. “Just one unrecognizable to the man I am now.”
“How so?”
Journey blew out a breath, folding his arms on the steering wheel at a red light. He glanced at me, holding my gaze. “I’m a man jaded by my circumstances. I’m one who never had a woman like you with him . . . ever. I’m a man who doesn’t want to talk about the past. Or the future, really. I’m accustomed to living in the moment. To working hard for each unencumbered moment I get. I live hard, Lotus. I play little.”
I was digging and asking questions, trying to get to know him better. But this was playtime. Temporary. It wasn’t serious.
Message received.
“I’m sorry I pried. I was just curious. I work hard too and don’t play much at all.” I swallowed the hurt that he wasn’t interested in letting me in, not even just a little. “I understand that your time is valuable, and that you choosing to spend some right now with me is what it is and nothing more. You’re handsome. Confident.” And experienced, for sure, but I didn’t say that part. “Frankly, I’m flattered that you’re interested in me.”
Journey reached over and took my hand. “I’m honored that such a smart and beautiful woman agreed to come with me.”
The light changed to green. He moved our joined hands to his muscular thigh, keeping them there.
“Thank you.” My lips curved and my cheeks heated. The hurt disappeared like a mist burned away by the sun.
“No. Thank you, baby,” he said in a low, intimate tone that made my skin sizzle and other parts of me throb.
I turned my attention to the scenery, trying not to combust. The wind cooled my skin and carried the briny scent of the nearby Pacific to my nostrils.
The businesses on both sides of the street were dark and somewhat familiar since I’d been in Manhattan Beach before. The Dirt Dogs had played at a coffeehouse in the middle of town. MB was a little like OB, only sleepier, especially in the wee hours of the morning.
“Gonna warn you now, my place isn’t much to look at.” Journey put on his blinker, turning left just before the outskirts of town.
“I doubt that’s entirely true.”
“One room,