The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,287

sounded so worried.

They rode in silence for several minutes before she asked, “Where are we going?”

A big grin spread across his face. “Crazy.”

Chapter Nine

The hour and a half drive to Wilson, Kansas, was awkward for the first thirty minutes and it was entirely his own fault. He had no idea why he’d burst out with his suggestion that she move to Seattle, but there was no reeling it back in now. Even more alarming, he’d meant every word. He wanted her to move to Seattle with him. He wanted to try a real relationship.

What the hell did he do with that?

Libby was right, of course. There was no way she could move into his one-bedroom apartment with him as a friend. Would she be willing to try it if he moved to a bigger place? Maybe living together would help convince her they had what it took for a long-term relationship. He just needed to show her how compatible they were. Besides, now wasn’t the time for her to think about a new relationship. She was still devastated over her non-wedding to Mitch. She might not have gone through with it, but she was the one who’d proposed in the first place. Her heart had to be hurting. But if he was patient, if he showed her that he didn’t want to date other women, surely she’d be willing to give them a try.

What was he thinking? He’d quit his job less than forty-eight hours ago. He might be inexperienced with relationships, but he did know he needed to be gainfully employed to prove to her that he was a grown-up. Why had he gone off and quit?

Part of it was that he felt he could never be taken seriously at the firm after all the goofing off he’d done over the years. Up until a few months ago, the job had never been more than an obligation to him, and his own father had made it clear to him how poorly he would fulfill the family legacy. But the crazy thing was, he’d recently learned he liked responsibility and took pride in a job well done. The problem was that he needed to convince other people of that . . . and now he’d left the company on a whim and he had no idea what to do with his life.

He wallowed in his thoughts until the atmosphere in the car mellowed, and soon he and Libby were chatting easily, as if nothing had happened. As if he’d never mentioned Seattle.

Libby was looking down at the radio, trying to find a station in the middle of nowhere, when Noah spotted a billboard advertising the place he was taking her.

“Could you check my phone?” he asked. It had been charging for over an hour, and while he’d felt it vibrate on the seat next to him, he hadn’t bothered to check it. He was sure it was full of texts and voice mails from his brother, admonishing him for his irresponsible behavior. And while he didn’t exactly care to deal with that right now, if Libby was busy reading over the list, she wouldn’t look up and see the sign.

“Okay.” She left the radio on a Latino station and checked the phone. “A text from Donna, three from Josh, two from Megan and one from Blair. Ten missed calls. Five voice messages. Oh, and a Facebook notification that Tiffany Brown has accepted your friend request.” She glanced up at him. “I didn’t think you used Facebook.” She sounded irritated.

“I don’t.”

“Yet you friend requested her.” Her mouth pursed. “You haven’t even friend requested me.”

“Because I’m never on there, Lib. You know that. It’s a work thing.”

“On Facebook?” She sounded skeptical.

“It doesn’t matter now anyway. I don’t need it anymore,” he said, not wanting to share the whole sorry story of how he’d lost the account and promptly quit. “This is our exit.” He turned off, thankful he had an excuse to dodge the conversation.

She looked around. “Where are we?”

“Wilson, Kansas.”

“Why are we here?”

“It’s your first surprise.” He was suddenly nervous. This had seemed like such a good idea last night. Now it seemed incredibly stupid and lame. “Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

She covered her eyes with her hands.

He glanced over at her. “No peeking.”

She grinned. “You’re not planning to slow down and dump me on the side of the road, are you? I’ll pretend I prefer Iron Man to Thor if it means that much to you.”

He laughed. “I already told