Page 32 of Wish Lists and Road Trips

“My parents’ house in Chestnut Hill. Currently the posh digs of a homeless runaway bride.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everyone needs help sometimes.”

I stifled the urge to reply with a bashful “some more than others.” That crown had reappeared and I liked the way it felt.

I took the phone back, scrolling to the interior photos. Those were even worse. When I showed Nick, he laughed, but it was in commiseration.

He leaned back in his seat, eyeing me. “Why do you want it so bad? What is it about this place?”

I smiled, remembering the way my heart had knocked on my ribs when I’d seen the listing for the first time. “I just had a feeling this house was going to change my life somehow,” I said. And that I’d finally found something that needed me as much as I needed it. “Do you think that’s crazy?”

“Not even a little.”

I blinked, pushing away all the bad that had led to this point and focusing on the future. “Anyway, I think me and this house understand each other. We’re both a little bit of a mess.”

Nick licked his lips and stared at me. “A mess isn’t so bad.” He lifted his drink to his lips. “Sometimes it’s good to get your hands dirty.”

He winked and I completely missed my mouth. A big, saucy bite of pizza dribbled down my chest into my lap, leaving a trail of red on my T-shirt that made me look like the victim of a heinous crime.

Nick snort-laughed, nearly spraying his sip of soda all over our lunch.

“Really?” The first time he gave me that full laugh and it was at my expense. Whatever, I was so intoxicated by it that I didn’t care. But I did toss a balled-up napkin at his head. “Laugh it up, Nicky. That was your fault.”

“I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t, and his grin grew as I blotted the front of my shirt. “What?”

“You just . . .” He pulled a napkin from the table dispenser. “Here.”

He pressed his big palm to the side of my face, tipping my chin, and touched the napkin to my cheek. His lips turned up into one of those rare-gem smiles. There was a reason he kept those smiles at half-wattage most of the time. They were like a bullet straight to the heart—all rounded cheeks and crinkly-eyes.

A picture of that smile pressed somewhere on my body assaulted my brain and made me sigh audibly.

Oh my God.What was I thinking? I’d never survive a kiss from a man like Nick. All that brooding sexual intensity would incinerate me on the spot and I’d be left a pile of bones and mascara in a cute T-shirt. A cute, sauce-smeared T-shirt.

“I’m going to the car to change my shirt,” I blurted, nearly knocking over my drink as I stood. I looked at my dress-turned-skirt and saw the trickle of red had gone further than I thought. “Actually, my whole outfit.”

Nick’s smile dropped and he reached for his backpack under the table. “I’ll go with you.”

“You want to come watch me change?” My voice was allflirt like I hadn’t just imagined committing suicide by lip lock. What the hell was wrong with me?

He cocked his head in response, and I wasn’t sure if it was meant to flirt back or chastise me for such a ridiculous thought. “The car is behind the building,” he said. “We don’t know this neighborhood.”

Right. Not flirting then.I needed some air.

“It’s still light out, Nick. Besides—” I pointed to the winding line “—we’ll lose our table to these vultures. I’ll be right back.” I shoved out of the booth and half-jogged to the exit before he could stop me.

I blotted frantically at my shirt as I pushed out the door. It was my Hotter in Texas one and I wasn’t sure if it was salvageable. Losing it would be a major bummer. That was definitely why I’d run out of there like the place was on fire. Not because I was afraid if I stayed there any longer, I’d say something stupid like: “Hey, Nick, what do you think our children would look like?”

I could not be trusted.

Was I imagining that he and I kept having these weird moments? Sometimes I was sure he was going to leave me on the side of the road, and sometimes he looked at me like all of his secrets were behind a locked door and he really wanted me to find the key.

Boring. Pshh. Janessa, you fool.

I reached into my bag and clicked the unlock button on the key fob, listening for the beep as I crossed the wavy, heat-soaked parking lot. Nothing. I clicked it again and my pulse skipped. I must have forgotten to lock it. Good thing I didn’t let Nick come with me. Depending on which one of those moods he was in, I might never hear the end of it for putting our snacks and extra underwear in such profound danger.

But as I rounded the corner, my feet skidded to a dead stop, my wedge espadrilles nearly twisting my ankle. It took a minute for my eyes to accept it, another for the little gatekeeper of bad news in my brain to let it pass, but sure as this ridiculous crush I had on Nick, the Rover was not where I’d parked it.

---