Page 92 of Cookout Carnage
‘No! I, er, just didn’t know if you would be hot wearing a, erm, vest.’
‘I was concerned if I didn’t wear one, the illusion would be broken and you’d realise I’m not Lucas Hagen version 2.0,’ he replied.
She blushed deeply and shook her head. ‘You’d look good in anything.’
‘You sure?’
She nodded.
‘Well then.’ He stared at her and slowly started undoing the buttons. Underneath he was wearing a T-shirt, and he made sure it stretched across his torso as he removed the vest. Her lips parted as she breathed. He was desperate to kiss her again. ‘Would you like me to take off anything else?’
She blinked rapidly, then looked at his feet. ‘Er… You going to be okay in those?’
He was wearing flip-flops and she was in hiking boots.
He glanced up at the cloudless blue sky. ‘It’s been dry for a few days, right?’
She nodded.
‘I’ll be fine. Sir Edmund Hillary scaled Everest in a pair of these. Where’s your sense of adventure?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘In a box with a twisted ankle and a snake bite.’
He blanched. Snakes as well? Midway was a dangerous place.Man up. ‘I’ll take my chances,’ he replied with as much bravado as he could muster.
He grabbed his keys, took the bags from her, put them in the boot, then opened the passenger door for her. ‘Ma’am’ he said with a nod of his head.
She smiled. ‘Very good manners, Mr. Fawcett-Underwood.’
‘Brits invented manners, Southerners perfected them,’ he replied with a grin.
As they drove through Midway, Sherilyn spent most of the time bent over, either slowly re-tying her boots or rearranging the contents of a small rucksack. Tristan had the destination in the car’s satnav so didn’t need directions, but it was still unnerving to note that she was doing everything in her power to avoid being seen. Had that guy in the Buick been her ex? The brother of an ex? As the town ebbed away to be replaced with open fields and wooded hills, she sat back up, seemingly more relaxed.
‘So,’ he began.
‘Ye-es?’
‘Midway.’
‘Mmm?’
He cleared his throat. ‘Is there someone in town you’re trying to avoid?’
‘What?’
He glanced across at her. Her cheeks were pink.
‘You just seem a little on edge.’
She was silent.Fuck! He should have kept quiet.
‘I thought maybe Lucas Hagen might be in town,’ he continued, trying to lighten the mood. ‘And if we met, the space-time continuum would be disrupted, and the universe would implode?’
She rubbed her forehead, as if trying to erase a headache.
‘It’s complicated.’
His insecurity filled the silence. ‘Do you, erm, do you have a boyfriend?’
