Page 24 of Veiled Fantasies

Jill’s blue eyes fixed on his. It was like they could tickle his insides, those eyes. “What kind of work?” she asked.

“Logistics. Freight, mostly.” Surely this would bore her. But the way she was looking at him…Was she actually interested? In him, if not the work details? His toes fluttered in his shoes. Why don’t these situations come with a manual? And where the hell was the waiter with more water?

Jill had done a better job pacing herself with her drink. She took another long sip, like the key to something very important lay hidden at the bottom of the glass and she was working her way down to it, bit by bit. She lost herself there for a time before meeting his eyes. “Do you like it? Your job?”

A question he hadn’t considered in a long time. He shrugged. “Mostly.” Now he was the one giving one-syllable answers. Erik was tempted to reach for her glass. To relieve his dried throat, and if he was lucky, to find whatever truth lay at the bottom of it.

“What do you do when you’re not working?” she asked.

When he wasn’t working? When was that?

Work was easy. The rest was hard. But that wouldn’t really do for an answer. She’d only probe deeper, and that was no good so he dug further back in time for an answer.

“I play hockey.” Not really a fib even though it had been a while. Anyway, he’d played enough back then for two lifetimes. “What about you?”

He was expecting her to talk about running, but she started with something else. “I used to play a lot of soccer, a little lacrosse.”

He could easily picture those legs tearing down a field. Pictured them sliding over his under the table. And why not? Women he’d known for much shorter periods of time would have already pulled that one. Why wouldn’t she?

Because she wasn’t the type. She had class.

“After college I took up running,” she added.

Aha. He wanted to hear about the marathon. He wanted to hear about why. Why drive yourself through something like that? He wanted to hear everything. “Do you race?”

Her smile went wide. The candlelight danced in her eyes. “A bit.”

A major understatement and he knew it. Didn’t one of his colleagues complain that Americans were loud and boastful?

Not this one. This one was modest and inquisitive. A good listener. And if he didn’t watch out, he’d soon be hanging on her every word.

As if he already wasn’t.

* * *

It was so nice to be out, exploring, talking. Even after a full day’s work, Erik found it energizing. This was the way travel used to be for him—something new and interesting around each corner. For such a long time now, he’d been more mechanism than man. But tonight was different. He was alive and feeling good.

Was it the desert night? The city?

Her?

A thought that led to places he hadn’t visited in a long, long time.

She was so unlike every other woman he’d ever known. Little comments she made that hinted at big dreams—dreams she just might realize some day. She had so many layers, and he was itching to peel them away.

“Do you get white nights where you’re from?” she had asked as they left the restaurant and meandered along.

Of all the questions people ever asked him about Sweden, this was never among them. Jill asked like she couldn’t wait to experience it for herself. Long summer days when the sun never set? She’d probably dance the whole night through. The woman could live nine lives and still not feel satiated.

“What about the Aurora Borealis?”

Leave it to her to find light in the darkest time of year.

He imagined a roaring bonfire and Jill warming his side. She’d be watching the sky, delighting in every detail. Just being with her filled his mind with images. Things that were, things that might be. She had a quiet side and an exuberant side. And her eyes took everything in. She was always tuned in.

Right now, tuned in to him. He could feel it as they walked side by side.

They paused at a corner. “Which way?”

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