LOST WITH YOU - Lisa Ann Verge Page 0,9
and broke my arm.”
“Not exactly a ringing endorsement.”
“No, no, it’s not like that. He climbed down the rock face and got me out of there like a champ. I just told him all about your expedition, and he’s game for the challenge.”
Dylan frowned. Garrick had taken up that sport only a few months ago, after their college reunion when he, Garrick, and Logan had found themselves on the rugby field at midnight, spilling their guts. How well could Garrick know the guy?
Better than Dylan knew Casey Michaels, that’s for sure.
“There is one catch,” Garrick said.
Of course there is.
“This guy is willing to commit,” Garrick confessed, “but he can’t leave this weekend. He can join you next Saturday—”
“Nope.” He would have jumped at the opportunity this morning, but he was done with delays. “I can’t put this off any longer.”
Nor would he. As reluctant as he’d been to take Casey on, this afternoon she’d proved herself strong and tough and game.
“C’mon, Dyl. Those college kids can wait a week, and it’s a hell of a lot better choice than ditching your plans altogether.”
“I’m not ditching them.” Partners, she’d said, with a look in her eye he was sure he’d misread. “I’m launching tomorrow.”
Garrick made a choking noise on the other end of the line. “Tell me you’re not thinking of doing this alone.”
“Hell no.” His jaw tightened, but why would he hold back the news from the guy he’d spilled his guts to at the reunion? “I’ve got a new partner.”
“What?! You mean I’m off the hook?”
“You still owe me a bottle.” Through the phone, Dylan heard an elevator door beeping, followed by the sudden rush of voices. “But flush the guilt, Garrick. It was an accident. I’m over it.”
“Good to know. Now tell me about my replacement.”
“Casey Michaels,” he said, hoping the androgynous name would slip right by Garrick’s ear. “A journalist who plans to write up the expedition for American Backroads. Just showed up today for an appointment I forgot. Runs, like, ten miles a day, has some experience canoeing.”
“Casey with a C or a K?”
Damn it. Of course Garrick was looking her up online. “C.”
After a moment, Garrick made a glottal noise, like he was choking on spit. “She’s a woman.”
Hell yeah.
You should see her in a bikini.
“Dyl, you didn’t tell me you were seeing anyone—”
“I’m not ‘seeing’ her.” Except in his mind right now, as he imagined her tilting her chin up to the showerhead, letting all that hot water drip over her naked skin. “Strictly partners. The rules are set.”
But not, maybe, in stone.
“Unless her profile picture is a lie,” Garrick said, “she’s a freaking knockout.”
“Shut up.”
“Dyl, you and Logan have all the luck.” Garrick barked a laugh that rang out above the honking of traffic in the background. “Have you told Logan?”
“This happened less than an hour ago. I’ve got a launch tomorrow morning, remember? A little busy here.”
“I can see that.”
Dylan braced himself for the inevitable grilling. “She’s not my type.”
“She’s exactly your type.”
“I have real work to do, for academic tenure, and for Pops.”
“You’re talking about work to me? Remember the reunion? ‘All work and no play makes Garrick a dull boy,’ you said. Over and over, if my memory isn’t hazed by whiskey.”
Dylan sliced into a new tomato. His knife hit the cutting board with more force than necessary. Garrick was a workaholic. Weaknesses were always easier to see in other people, tough to see in oneself.
“I’m just imagining the two of you,” Garrick said, amusement in his voice, “sleeping under the stars, crickets singing, a cool breeze in the trees—”
“Shut up.”
“Three weeks together.” Garrick’s voice had shifted to glee. “You just might beat Logan’s record.”
Dylan frowned. Logan had fallen like a ton of bricks—he met the girl, moved in with her, and bought a house within a few months. That sure as hell wasn’t about to happen to Dylan.
Not again.
Dylan said, “You’re way off base.”
“Am I? We talked about this, too, on the rugby field that night.”
“Are you done?”
Dylan regretted the tone of his voice, but he’d been knocked off-kilter all day. First by Casey’s arrival, then her offer, and now by the sound of the plumbing shutting off, which meant Casey would be walking into the kitchen soon.
“All teasing aside,” Garrick said, clearing his throat. “This is great news. I’m glad you found someone to join you on the expedition.” He paused a moment, the sound of the city around him loud in the silence. “You know I want the