Page 10 of Tricking an Introvert

Tessa beamed. “Chocolate cake and wine guaranteed.”

“Wait, art, wine, and chocolate? Is this an open session? Because I want in.”

Tessa lifted her chin. “I’m not sure I can be associated with the kind of person who reads the end of the book first.”

“I will bring pie.”

“Deal,” she shot back immediately. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Her enthusiasm was genuine and contagious. “If you're available, I’m free for the rest of the week,” Michael supplied. “No pressure if it’s too soon. I know you said you’d start soon, but I get you have some stuff on your plate.”

She shook her head. “No, I took the week off to recover from the con, and the train journey in and out of the city.” She wrinkled her little nose. “Mostly the train journey.”

“You didn’t fly?” Michael’s eyes widened.

Tessa grimaced, shaking her head again; her curls danced around her pretty face. “I don’t fly when it can be helped. And it can always be helped. I don’t really go anywhere, except here once a year. It’s just a couple of hours by train.”

She looked down at her toes. Cole wanted to lift her chin so she looked into his eyes. “Flight anxiety?” he guessed.

She nodded. “I flew to Europe with my class in tenth grade. The single most terrifying moment of my entire high school career. The teacher had to call my parents to ask authorization to give me drugs on the way back.”

“Shame. I love traveling.”

“I loved every second in Rome, and Paris, and London,” Tessa confessed. “Having to get there? Not worth it.”

“You could always sail?” Michael suggested.

“Right. If we set out and it turns out I’m terrified of boats too, I’d be stuck for weeks, not hours.”

“Start small. Do a cruise to Maine, or somewhere you can easily hop off in port if it goes badly.”

“I could,” she said carefully. “Or I could stay home in my fuzzy socks and watch the Nature Channel.”

It amused Cole to see Michael hellbent on trying to cure her anxiety when he had just as many hang-ups. Transport might not be an issue for him, but he barely got out of his house.

“As long as you’re happy,” Cole said.

“I am.” She sounded firm, a little on the defensive. “Despite that, sometimes I wish I got out more, you know? I mean, I love my yearly trip here.”

Cole nodded. He understood perfectly, because Michael and he had a similar discussion on a daily basis. “Well, in any case, no need to worry about the train back. I’ll drive you.”

Michael grinned, and Tessa opened her mouth in shock.

“You didn’t fly?”

Cole shrugged. “It’s just three hours, and that meant I could have a couple hundred books in the trunk. And I bet the Tesla beats the train—although it’ll add about an hour to the journey.”

“And you’ll have to put up with his music tastes.” Michael grimaced.

“What kind of music are we talking about?”

Cole winced while Michael emitted various beats and drums. “Dum da da dum da, boom, boom, boom, da. That sort of thing.”

“I like trance.” Cole was entirely unapologetic. “Lyrics demand my attention; classical music sends me to sleep… Trance allows my brain to rest.”

“Still beats the train. When are you leaving?”

“In the morning, probably around ten? I think that’s the checkout time at the hotel.”

“Perfect. If you really don’t mind…” That hesitation again.

“I offered. I wouldn’t have if I didn’t mean it. Shall we meet at half past nine in the lobby?”

“Sounds great. Hang on, should we trade numbers in case we can’t find each other?”

Cole smiled.

“Yes, please.”

---