closet doors? The other half doesn’t have bedrooms? The other half lives in an apartment so narrow that I can literally touch the opposing walls?” He stood and spread his arms to demonstrate. “Do you even have a bathroom in here, or is this some crazy communal situation that they try to pass off as eco friendly and European?”
She gave him a look that suggested he was the one being ridiculous. “Of course, even the poor have to bathe and pee.” She shrugged. “Let’s go.”
They headed out the door. She locked it while he looked on. “Believe it or not, even I have stuff people would want to steal.” She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Did I say anything?” He felt attacked.
“Sorry, I have a tendency to be a bit defensive, I guess. It’s a learned behavior.” She skipped down the last few steps and headed out the front door. “I learned it from working around people like you…”
Adam had no idea how to respond to all that. It was strange. He hadn’t even known Cammie more than a few hours. In that brief time they had been at each other like cats and dogs. They seemed to mix about as well as oil and water. Yet he couldn’t help but want to spend more and more time with her. While she seemed remarkably open, he still sensed that there were so many mysteries that he needed to unravel.
“You know, you are way too young to be so bitter,” he remarked with a smirk as they sat in the car and hooked their seat belts.
“Yes.” She said simply. Then she started the car and placed her hands on the wheel. She stared straight ahead.
“What are we waiting for?” He asked.
“I still have no idea where I’m going.” She leaned over the steering wheel for a moment as she stretched her back. “So, Jeeves, where to?”
He couldn’t help but smile at her. She was so stinking cute, such a ball of contradictions, so tough and yet so delicate. She was never at a loss for words, but could render him speechless in an instant. She was…fascinating.
Cammie’s eyes shut for a moment. Once again, he was drawn to her long thick lashes. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He found himself imagining what it would be like to feel those lashes brush against his cheek as he crushed her against him. And it occurred to him for the briefest of moments that she might be too tired to drive him. Part of him wanted to end this fiasco, give up, give in, and go home rather than inconvenience her. And the other part of him wanted her around for a while. He needed a new toy. He could make it worth her while. When he tired of her he wouldn’t simply discard her like he had the girls of the past. No, he was changing. When he discarded Cammie, he would leave her better off than he had found her. And she would even thank him.
“What if I just give you directions as we go? That might be easier.” And he gave her a warm smile, confident once more that he was doing the right thing.
She gave him a sideways glance. “Really? See, now you have me wondering. You have me thinking that maybe I’m going to be driving so far that for me to hear the destination in advance would have me kicking you out of my car. Are we leaving the state?”
“No,” he said honestly while he shook his head emphatically. Cammie was not a stupid woman. It wasn’t that he thought he could put anything over on her. It was that he wanted to get her far enough away that she would feel committed and not back out on him. It was a bit of trickery, for sure, but after she saw the house and he invited her to stay, she was bound to forgive him. Every woman he had ever brought here previously had never wanted to leave. Hell, they had been the ones coming up with contrived reasons to stay…couldn’t find an incredibly important item, no way to get into the home/apartment they had left, vehicle wouldn’t start. Ah, but his favorite was the woman who faked a panic attack and her doctor instructed him to keep her in a soothing environment since she was at risk for a deep depression. Funny how no women were hermits or suffered from agoraphobia before visiting, but