that it was green and eased her foot off the brakes.
Neither of them spoke again for the rest of the trip. She didn’t know what Cale was thinking, but her own mind was so busy running around in circles that she was hardly able to give driving the proper attention. Alex even forgot to stop for the coffee she’d suggested when they’d started out as she pondered the possibility of a real, permanent-type relationship with him. Cale was the kind of man every woman was looking for, smart, sexy, considerate, and an incredible lover. The fact that she found him attractive was just the icing on the cake, because frankly, even a not-so-attractive man started to look like a supermodel when he had all those other traits. And he might be hers, she thought, her head whirling … and then the more cynical side of her spoke up, saying there had to be some huge flaw to the man, or he surely would have been scooped up by some other woman years ago. He probably liked to dress up in women’s clothing on the weekend and pick up men, she thought … or maybe he was a serial killer.
“You go ahead and drive this car,” Cale said as shepulled in next to her own, still waiting in La Bonne Vie’s parking lot. “Your car will still be cold.”
He was out of the rental before she could respond, but Alex was quick to follow.
“Get back in the car.” Cale scowled at her over the hood of the rental. “There’s no need for both of us to be cold.”
“I can help. Two scrapers are better than one,” she said lightly, and started to tug off his gloves. When he came around the car protesting, Alex kept one on and handed him the other as she slid her now bare hand into her pocket. “I only need one hand to scrape.”
Cale hesitated, but then smiled wryly and accepted the glove, commenting, “Compromise is good.”
“Yes it is,” she agreed softly, and turned to her car to retrieve her own scraper.
“Here.”
Alex straightened to see him holding out her keys.
“Get the engine going while I start scraping.”
Nodding, she took the keys and slid behind the wheel, starting it quickly. As she had in his car, Alex then turned on the defroster and cranked up the heat, but she also took a second to adjust the seat back to accommodate his long legs before grabbing her scraper and getting out.
With both of them working, they had the windows scraped in no time. Cale then opened the door of his rental for her.
“Here take your glove back, this steering wheel is warm now, and mine won’t be.” Alex removed and handed him the second glove as she slid into the driver’s seat of the rental. As Cale took it, she added, “You should probably take the lead on the way to my house. You have to pull into the driveway first; otherwise, my car will be blocking yours.”
“Good thinking.” Cale pushed the door closed, and then jumped quickly into her car. A moment later they were both buckled up, and she was following her own car out of the parking lot.
Cale paused at the corner and glanced in the rearview mirror as Alex eased up behind him. A small smile claimed his lips as he recalled her reaction to his words that whether or not he stayed depended on her. She hadn’t looked put off or horrified by the suggestion, and he was feeling good about how things were going, hopeful for the future.
Now that he’d put the idea of permanency in her head, Cale intended on spending every possible moment he could with her and bringing it up again and again until she not only got used to the idea but wanted it as much as he did. Today and tomorrow were Alex’s days off, and Cale decided he would put them to good use. He’d make love to her until she couldn’t stand, work while she was sleeping, and then return and make love to her again. It would mean consuming a lot more blood. He could go without sleep for quite a while so long as he upped his intake, and—
Cale let these plans go and frowned as he noticed a dark pickup pulling out of a side street behind him. Alex had fallen back about two car lengths, and the vehicle took advantage and slid between them. Not thatthere was that much traffic at