Page 72 of Reckless
“Did the staff give them to you?”
“I found them.”
I blinked.He had?I took them from him carefully, mostly because contact was becoming too charged for something as innocent as sunglasses.
“Thank you.”
He smiled and leaned a little too close and reminded me my body had no moral center.
That detail made us look like people who already looked out for around each other naturally.
And that was a lie.I needed to remember that.
Outside, the day was bright enough to hurt.Summer heat lay over the drive.Salt air moved in from the water in warm gusts.People split between cars without much thought.Michael and Britney with the twins.Jeff and Miley together.Charlie and Hope and Avril piling into one SUV in a blur of noise.Isabel with Roman.
I should have hesitated before getting into Xerses’ car but I didn’t.
That was the second ugly truth of the weekend.The first had been that I liked being chosen beside him.The second was that I no longer felt awkward climbing into his world.
His car smelled like leather and him.The door shut and cut off the noise outside instantly.I fastened my seat belt and looked out toward the sweep of lawn and ocean beyond it before I could accidentally look at him instead.
He started the car and pulled us down the drive.
The compound receded behind us.We passed the White stone, blue sky and hydrangeas.
I turned my face toward the open sliver of window and let the sea wind cool my skin.
“Say what’s on your mind,” he said.
“I’m thinking this is all moving so fast.”
“Define fast.”
“Fast as in your mother is already calling me habibti and your brother tried to steal my sunglasses and you got them back for me.”
“Charlie steals everyone’s sunglasses.”
“That does not make it less alarming.”
“It makes it a day in my house.”
He kept his eyes on the road.
Family was easy for him.I held my breath and then asked, “That’s it?”
He glanced at me once.“Would you prefer arguments and shouting?”
“No.”
He nodded.“Good.”
I stared at his profile for a second.He looked good doing things no one should be allowed to look that good doing, like driving or breathing.
“You’re being a good man,” I said.
The rest of the drive into town was easier than it should have been.
By the time we met the others on the main street in Virgin Cove, I was laughing.
