Page 40 of Sipping Seduction
Evan glanced over at me.
“No worries, Mr. Bishop,” I said. “I’m sure it came as a shock to everyone, but you’ll be happy to know I’m no longer dating a Stewart.”
“You can date whoever you want, dear,” Mrs. Bishop said. She must have been listening in as well.
“Okay, well, we’re going to head home. I’ll check in later to make sure everyone’s okay.” Evan shook his head, but the smile on his face told me he was glad his parents had said something.
“Be careful, you two,” Mr. Bishop said.
“Do you want to drive back, or do you want me to?” Evan asked as he ended the call.
“Where’s your truck?” I didn’t want to admit it, but I’d rather ride shotgun in his four-wheel-drive truck than try to navigate the streets in my little crossover SUV.
“It’s at Mom and Dad’s place. No sense in trying to get over there to pick it up. You got this, Frannigan?”
“You drive.” He’d always been better behind the wheel. “But we’re going to have to switch places without getting out. Charice will kill me if I mess up my makeup before I get a picture.”
“That’s what you’re worried about? We could float away and the only thing you care about is not messing up your makeup?”
“Get over here.” I leaned close and held out my phone to snap a selfie of the two of us. “There. Are you happy?”
“Come on, we can do this.” Evan tried to pull me over the center console.
“Maybe I should get in the back first. Then you can switch seats and I’ll climb back into the front.” It seemed like the best option to me, but I wouldn’t make a move without Evan’s confirmation.
“Think you can climb into the back seat in that dress?” His gaze drifted down to my hips.
I’d picked the dress because it was the only thing in my closet that didn’t make me look like an elementary school principal. Now I regretted the formfitting skirt.
“Look away,” I said.
“Frannie, I’ll walk around. It’s no big deal.” He reached for the door handle and pushed the door open. The wind ripped the door out of his hand, and it banged into the car next to us. Evan ducked back in and struggled to pull it closed. “We’re not going anywhere. There’s a big tree down that’s blocking the drive out.”
Rain had blown into the car the second he opened the door. The top of my dress was soaked through, and I tried to wrap my arms tight around my middle to ward off the chill.
“Don’t you have a blanket in the back?” Evan pulled off his jacket and handed it over. “I know you usually keep one in the car in case of an emergency.”
“Yeah. It’s in the way back.” He’d never be able to squeeze between the seats to climb from the front to the back. I hiked my skirt far enough up my thighs that I could move my legs. Then I shimmied between the two front seats until I could reach something to give me leverage to pull myself the rest of the way.
“You know, if you flipped the back seat down, we could probably lie down and share the blanket until the storm passes.”
The wind and rain rocked my little car from side to side. “You really think we’ll be okay out here?”
“Yeah, I do. Scoot over. I’m coming back there.” He turned his hips and somehow managed to get from the front to the back seat without getting stuck. “Impressive, right?”
“Slightly.” I’d flipped one seat down while we’d been talking and pulled the lever to put the other one down flat.
Evan helped me spread the blanket out over the fuzzy surface. He was too tall to sit up against the angled window of the hatch, so he laid down on his back. “Come here, Frannie.”
I snuggled into his side and pulled the tux jacket over both of us. “Do you really think there’s a chance we might float away?”
CHAPTER21
Evan
Mother Nature was unpredictable,especially in the mountains, but I wanted to set Frannie’s mind at ease. “It’s just a bad storm. It’ll pass, then the sun will come out and it will be like nothing even happened.”
She burrowed deeper into my side. “I hope so.”
