face go redder than a beet as I look quickly out the window.
It’s a long time before I can even move my head again, and Noah being Noah, he doesn’t say a word about it.
He lets it go and we drive on in silence.
I half expect him to tell me after a while, but he only cocks his brow once I finally have the courage to look him in the eye, almost like he’s challenging me with my marriage comment.
We drive in silence for a while longer.
“Cletus?” I offer.
“Nope,” he says, deadpan without even looking at me.
“Baxter!” I yelp, almost wishing he’d just tell me already.
“Uh uh,” he says deliberately, with another firm shake of his head, fishing a toothpick from the console and sucking it between his teeth.
“William? Oxford? Fortescue?” I exclaim, grabbing any name I can from my mind, as long as it sounds ridiculous.
But Noah only shakes his head, grinning.
“Guess you’ll have to wait,” he says, knowing he’s silencing me.
Knowing I can’t wait for him to tell me.
Knowing I have the idea of marriage planted firmly in my brain.
We drive on for a little longer.
“Do you really want to know?” he asks, looking over to me as I hesitate a second before shaking my head again.
“Not until you want to tell me,” I confess, and I grimace at the thought. Wondering just how long he’ll hold this one thing over me.
“When we’re married then,” he says in a soothing tone, patting my leg and winking at me again. Leaving it, it seems all up to me as I groan aloud once more.
Throwing my head back against the cushioned seat, I can only sigh contentedly again. The thought of actually marrying Noah, guaranteeing every day of our lives together, gives me such a quiet thrill I literally do forget about everything else for quite a while.
He hasn’t actually proposed though. He does sound like he’s joking with me about his middle name, so who knows.
But, the very idea of it.
Mrs. Faith Holding-Templeton.
I smile to myself, allowed to have more than the fantasy now. The man himself is right next to me.
And I’m all his.
Chapter Eighteen
Noah
It’s good to see Faith smile, laugh for a change. She’s been so on edge and I know it’s not from worrying if my name’s real or not.
Something’s got her spooked, she damn near faded away when I spoke to her Dad on the phone, and that guy definitely sounded like he had something on his mind other than his daughter taking off for a couple of days.
“We can go straight through to Shreveport,” I suggest, noting her mood lifting since I not so delicately hinted at marriage.
I never thought she’d be interested in that, but I feel a certain thrill in my chest when I notice her looking clucky at the idea.
This is working out better than I’d planned. She’s the perfect girl, mine now and she’s not only up for the idea of a family; she’s smitten at the suggestion of actually tying the knot too.
I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but I’m thanking my lucky stars right now.
It’s like I’ve woken her from a daydream, and she thinks for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Unless you wanna stop for anything, we can probably make it in time for an early dinner,” I muse aloud, eyeballing her and noticing that worried look starting to take her over again.
A highway patrol car passes us from the opposite direction, and one following from behind suddenly speeds up, overtaking us and flashing its lights when it gets ahead of us.
I slow down, but he really takes off.
A lot of cops all of a sudden.
“You know Faith,” I start, motioning for her to slide on over closer. I like driving with her right next to me much better than having her all the way over there.
“I’m thinking, not to put you on the spot or anything… but how about, once I make my little delivery, we take off for good. You and me.”
Her eyes widen as she looks up at me, almost pleased at first, but then there’s that look again as her eyes turn to the front and look ahead down the highway.
“I don’t mean marriage,” I chuckle.
Not yet, anyway.
“I mean, well… how would you feel about moving in with me? We could just see how it goes at first. No pressure,” I finally manage to stammer, realizing how nervous I am, my hands starting to feel wet on top of the